Chapter 93: Eye Cleanser

The next day.

After morning exercises, members of the tennis team gradually made their way to the tennis court.

Sui Houyu was holding a cup of soy milk with both hands, using it to warm them as he drank.

Hou Mo, who was walking beside him, opened a plastic bag and placed a bun in an accessible position before offering it to Sui Houyu: “This one has pickled cabbage and beef filling.”

Sui Houyu took a bite, chewed a few times, then took another bite, following it up with a sip of soy milk.

Hou Mo finished the remaining half of the bun in one bite.

After eating, Hou Mo tilted his head slightly, signaling to Sui Houyu.

Sui Houyu handed over his cup of soy milk. Hou Mo bent down, sipped through the straw, and Sui Houyu could feel the cup becoming noticeably lighter.

Retrieving the cup, Sui Houyu opened the lid to check and then glared at Hou Mo: “I asked you before if you wanted any, and you said no. Now you’ve almost finished mine.”

Hou Mo just grinned at him cheekily and took out another bun: “This one’s vegetarian.”

Sui Houyu took a bite and, chewing, muttered: “I prefer meat.”

“Then I’ll make sure to get beef buns next time,” Hou Mo said, promptly eating the entire vegetarian bun himself.

“Mm.” Sui Houyu responded.

When they reached the tennis court, they saw Su Anyi sorting through the newly delivered down jackets by herself. Though slender, she effortlessly lifted a large, tightly packed bag, flinging it onto a cart with such force that the cart wobbled under the weight.

After greeting them, she pushed the cart into the indoor court, seemingly unbothered by the need for help.

Sui Houyu wiped his hands with a wet tissue and went over to assist with unpacking the bags. He pulled out one of the jackets and shook it open to inspect it. The front seemed fine, but when he flipped it over and saw the back, he froze.

Hou Mo, who had just tidied up their trash, looked up at the sight of the opened jacket in Sui Houyu’s arms and was equally stunned into silence.

Players who came into the indoor court after them took one look at the jackets and collectively gasped. They exchanged glances but remained silent.

Su Anyi noticed their reaction and asked softly: “You don’t like it?”

Knowing Su Anyi had chosen the style, Sui Houyu finally found his voice after a moment: “We like it.”

Hou Mo quickly added: “Yes, it’s… unique. Really eye-catching.”

The rest of the team chimed in, forcing smiles that looked more like grimaces: “Yes, has a lot of personality. Wow!”

But everyone was laughing as much as they were crying. 

The last to enter, Ran Shu, glanced at the jacket and chuckled: “It’s so flashy, I love it.”

Standing slightly behind, Sang Xian turned and walked out, not wanting to see more, nor did he seem inclined to take one.

The jacket was long, primarily black with white stripes down the sleeves, a common style for athletes.

Moreover, this down jacket has many pockets and looked quite practical. 

The chest bore the words “Fengyu” and a small rainbow beside it—no issue there.

However, the back featured large embroidered characters: “Unyielding Rose^[1].”

Pointing at the design, Su Anyi explained: “It’s from a song lyric: Wind, Rain, Rainbow, Unyielding Rose. Our school is called Fengyu^[2], and there’s a small rainbow, so I thought these characters fit.”

Sui Houyu strongly felt that even a plain back would be better than those four words.

Hou Mo regretted it; Su Anyi’s taste wasn’t much better than his mom’s. Even if they’d chosen from 18 design options, anything would have been better than Unyielding Rose.

Once the players accepted reality, they tried on the jackets to check fit and quality before taking them. The common trend? They took them but didn’t wear them out, instead stowing them back into their bags.

On the way back, Hou Mo, now at a safe distance from Su Anyi, asked Sui Houyu: “Are we really going to wear these? It’s not exactly… macho.”

“You’re already flamboyant enough. What’s a little more?”

“But… Unyielding Rose…” Hou Mo fretted, scratching his head.

“Ugh… we’ll wear them. Su Anyi would annihilate us if we refused. Besides, we did leave it all up to her, so it’d be a bit unfair to complain now.”

“Okay.” Hou Mo reluctantly agreed.

Back in the classroom, Su Anyi turned and suggested: “Brother Yu, maybe I should collect the jackets and place another order at my own expense. When I was ordering, I collaborated with the girls’ team, and they thought the phrase was meaningful…”

Sui Houyu, focused on his homework, didn’t even look up: “It’s fine. Really.”

Ran Shu chimed in: “I love it!”

Finally, Su Anyi looked at Hou Mo, who forced a smile: “I love flashy things.”

“Oh, i-is my Brother Yu flashy?” Ran Shu teased.

“Don’t make trouble!” Hou Mo warned him.

Su Anyi’s attention was quickly diverted, tugging Ran Shu’s sleeve to chat softly.

Moments later, she turned back to Hou Mo with an impressed look: “I respect you; you’re a true man.”

Anyone who dared to pursue Brother Yu, she reasoned, had to be.

Hou Mo couldn’t help but laugh at that.

As Sui Houyu worked on his homework, his phone buzzed with a notification. He reached for it, and Hou Mo’s gaze followed.

Since hearing about Yu Shiyue’s existence, every time Sui Houyu picked up his phone, Hou Mo would sit up straight, stealing glances his way.

Finally fed up, Sui Houyu set the phone down on the desk: “I don’t even have Yu Shiyue’s WeChat or any other contact information.”

Hou Mo pretended to stay calm, letting out a simple, “Oh.”

Sui Hou Yu continued: “I’ve already rejected him.”

“You rejected me too.”

He was exasperated, flipping the statement back: “Think carefully. Did I ever explicitly reject you? You, on the other hand, rejected me.”

Feeling guilty, Hou Mo muttered: “No bringing up old grievances.”

“Then you don’t get to hold onto old jealousies.”

“Okay…”

Sui Houyu glanced at his phone again: “Check yours too. You probably got the same notification.”

Hurriedly, Hou Mo pulled out his phone to find a message from Coach Wang.

During winter break, Coach Wang had signed them up for a training camp, fully funded by the school and with stipends. The camp would last a month, with their return set for New Year’s Eve.

Only top-performing players were invited, There were ten people in total and the list included familiar names: Hou Mo, Sang Xian, Sui Houyu, Deng Yiheng, and Shen Junjing.

Replying to the message, Hou Mo looked at Sui Houyu and asked: “Are you going?”

Cherishing every chance to improve, Sui Houyu immediately said: “Of course. I’ve got nowhere else to be during break.”

“If you’re going, I’m going.”

“Why, you didn’t want to go?”

“I didn’t go last year. Whether I go or not, those guys can’t beat me. Sang Xian didn’t go either; his family made him work during winter break as a young company president at 17…”

“What did you do while staying home?” He was a little curious.

“Oh, I helped my mom with accounting. End of the year is busy, and she was overworked, so I stepped in.”

“Oh… so this year…”

“It’s fine. Last year I overdid it, taking on accounting for five clients. This year will be easier.” Hou Mo sent his response, implying he agreed to attend.

Deng Yiheng called out to him, probably to ask about the training camp, and Hou Mo turned to reply: “Both Brother Yu and I are going.”

“Got it!” Deng Yiheng quickly replied to the message.

Sang Xian also replied and added: “Count me in too.”

Hou Mo smiled and asked: “Not playing the young CEO anymore?”

Sang Xian sighed and responded: “Yeah, last year I caused the company a loss of over 30 million. My dad doesn’t want me going back.”

Everyone burst into laughter.

As the first class of the morning began, Sui Houyu pulled out his workbook to read.

They study very quickly.; typically, all courses were completed by the end of sophomore year, with the entire senior year dedicated to review.

With finals approaching, teachers had stopped introducing new material, focusing instead on workbook exercises.

During class, while Sui Houyu was attentively watching the blackboard, he felt someone stealthily hooking his finger.

His hand dangled by the side of his chair as Hou Mo cautiously reached out, hooking Sui Houyu’s pinky with his own and refusing to let go.

Annoyed, Sui Houyu pulled away, worried that any contact with Hou Mo during class would make him sleepy.

Hou Mo withdrew his hand but reached out again shortly after, placing it on Sui Houyu’s leg.

At first, he acted decently, merely resting his hand there, but soon he grew restless.

Sui Houyu grabbed Hou Mo’s sleeve and moved his hand away.

Hou Mo behaved for less than five minutes before extending his hand again, this time slipping it under Sui Houyu’s shirt.

Sui Houyu didn’t hold back this time. He kicked Hou Mo away, causing him to spin and nearly fall into the aisle.

The teacher giving the lesson was startled by Hou Mo’s sudden movement. Embarrassed, Hou Mo smiled and explained: “Dropped my pen. Almost fell. Sorry…”

The teacher, without further comment, continued the lecture.

Hou Mo, back in his seat, let out a small grunt, rested his chin on the desk, and gloomily paid attention to the class, leaving Sui Houyu alone.

After class, the Chinese teacher approached Hou Mo and Sui Houyu with their test papers, saying: “Your recent quiz results were problematic. Sui Houyu, it seems you didn’t fully grasp the reading comprehension, and your expressive essay was dry. And you, Hou Mo, when asked to write about the person you respect most, you wrote about your partner? The emotion was there, but it read like a romance novel.”

With that, she placed the papers on the desk.

Sui Houyu quickly grabbed Hou Mo’s paper and read it, growing angrier as he saw how Hou Mo had depicted him so coquettishly. Was he looking for death?

The teacher continued: “Both of your essays are problematic. You lost significant points in the last standardized test due to your essays. You didn’t participate in the midterms because of the competition, so I don’t know your level. But this quiz essay was still a mess. If necessary, buy a book of model essays, memorize some examples, and develop a feel for writing. It’s as if my subject is dragging your scores down, making it seem like I’m the one holding you back.”

Both nodded in agreement.

After the teacher left, they both sighed in unison.

Essays—

So difficult—

After class, Hou Mo went to find Coach Wang to get the training schedule.

Sui Houyu picked up Ran Shu’s phone. Ran Shu often read novels, so he planned to find a couple to read in hopes of improving his essay-writing skills.

Opening the app, he came across a novel titled The Secret of Koi Subduing the Dragon. It seemed to have a strong martial arts vibe, so he clicked to read a bit.

As he read, confusion set in.

Were both main characters men?

At first, everything seemed normal. There was talk of a sea region haunted by a monstrous creature, with rumors of a great dragon stirring up chaos, troubling the shrimp soldiers and crab generals in that sea.

But as he continued reading, Sui Houyu grew more bewildered.

The protagonist’s… “little sunflower” connected to the sea every time he and the other main character were intimate. And the other character’s… seemed to pierce the sea.

Was that dragon…?

Seeing this, Sui Houyu put down the phone and fell into deep thought. Had he misunderstood? Was his reading comprehension really that bad?

He kept reading, and it seemed true…

The other protagonist even frequently mentioned that their intimate moments had a unique feeling, sometimes with a stinging sensation that was oddly stimulating.

In reality, it was the shrimp soldiers and crab generals fighting the dragon.

Unable to keep reading, Sui Houyu returned the phone to Ran Shu and went to the restroom before the next class.

He felt the need to wash his eyes.