HCILH Ch. 95

Chapter 95: Kiss in the Snow

Ran Shu’s performance was the grand finale of the evening. Typically, the last act is the most explosive.

Ran Shu teamed up with a few other boys from different classes who were good at dancing to put together a routine. Due to the rushed preparations, most of the movements were borrowed from previous dance routines, with only some formation changes.

As for the center position, of course, it was Ran Shu, the Great God.

They didn’t even order special costumes, wearing the regular school uniforms from Qingyu—white shirts, indigo trousers, and matching white sneakers.

But even with their loosely tied neckties, they still looked incredibly stylish.

Ran Shu, who usually seemed like he couldn’t survive in the tennis team, was completely different on stage. His personality was bold, his control of force and balance in his dance moves was excellent, and he drew all eyes to him.

His facial expression management was also flawless, showing no sign of nervousness, instead looking like he was enjoying himself, at ease.

Sui Houyu, watching from the audience, looked like a kind father and asked Hou Mo: “He dances well, doesn’t he?”

Hou Mo, blowing on the back of his hand, which had been pinched a bit too hard, lazily raised his eyes and gave a perfunctory nod.

In order to continue watching Ran Shu’s performance, Sui Houyu pulled his hand away after holding it for a while. Hou Mo, unwilling to let go, tried to hold his hand again, only to be pinched by him.

Feeling wronged, Hou Mo naturally refused to look at him again.

Sang Xian, propping his chin up, watched the dazzling young man on stage, and a rare smile appeared on his face.

This smile was “three parts appreciation, three parts indulgence, and four parts nonchalance,” very much like a domineering president.

When Ran Shu finished his performance and was about to leave the stage, a group of girls suddenly came up to give him flowers. He paused for a moment, then grinned and leaned on the edge of the stage.

He knew this was definitely arranged by Sui Houyu and Su Anyi. Over twenty girls came, each holding a bouquet, and in case the auditorium was too dim to see the flowers clearly, every bouquet had a star-shaped light inside, making them shine brightly.

What does Ran Shu like?

It’s not about practicality or cost-effectiveness; he likes things that are flashy and extravagant. The more ostentatious, the better.

For example, a noisy birthday party or hiring over twenty little girls to give him flowers after a performance—Ran Shu really liked that.

After the party ended, Ran Shu, holding a bouquet, excitedly followed Sui Houyu and the others as they exited. He was still bragging: “D-Did you hear the cheers? I’m too handsome! Everyone’s been conquered by my charm.”

Sui Houyu nodded: “Mm.”

“You r-really had to practice tennis and not team up with me. If we did, we’d be invincible!”

“Different interests.”

As they walked out of the auditorium, they saw the world outside covered in pure white.

The snow was still silently falling from the sky, swirling in the air before gently landing on the ground, forming a thin layer.

When they stepped on it, the snow stuck to the soles of their shoes.

Hou Mo raised his hand and helped Sui Houyu put on the hood of his down jacket. He took the now lukewarm hand warmer from Sui Houyu and placed it in his own pocket, saying: “Let’s go back to the dorm.”

Sui Houyu, still holding the bouquet, looked up at the sky and asked: “If it snows heavily tomorrow, will they cancel morning exercises?”

“If it’s a normal day, the student athletes are responsible for clearing the track and then continue running. Winter training is the strictest; they’re afraid of gaining fat. But tomorrow is the 31st, and we’re off in the afternoon, so we might not be asked to shovel the snow. Not sure…”

Almost everyone who’s close to Ran Shu had flowers, and since they bought them, they weren’t about to waste them, bringing them back to the dorm.

Especially in Sui Houyu’s dorm, once they returned, the air was filled with a fragrant scent, though no one knew exactly what flower it was.

Deng Yiheng, changing into his pajamas, asked: “With so many plants inside, can we still avoid having nightmares?”

Ran Shu, answering from the side with annoyance, said: “When you propose to your partner, and they want 999 roses, what are you going to do? You’re surrounded by plants, and you still think you’ll avoid nightmares? You’ll end up single for life.”

Hou Mo helped organize the flowers in the dorm and sighed: “These flowers are so gaudy. Why do you like this kind of stuff?”

Ran Shu, clearly unhappy, replied: “I thought straight guys didn’t understand this stuff, but look at you. You’re no better. If Brother Yu likes it, would you buy it or not?”

Hou Mo immediately fell silent.

The others in the dorm started chuckling.

In a dorm, someone who’s quick-witted can never win against someone who’s a stutterer. Who would they reason with?

*

The next morning

When the students athletes woke up, they found the snow had piled so thickly that it covered the entire track, as if the whole world had been filled with white.

Stepping outside, the snow was ankle-deep, especially around the corners where the wind had piled it up, making it about a meter thick.

A group of student athletes lingered at the dormitory door, waiting for the teacher’s instructions.

The teacher was blocked by the snow and couldn’t get through, so they could only notify them by phone: Free activity; no need to clear the snow.

Sui Houyu had planned to head to the cafeteria but was suddenly hit by a snowball. From a distance, Deng Yiheng provocatively called: “Come on! Let’s have a snowball fight!”

Hou Mo walked over to help Sui Houyu brush the snow off him, saying: “Let’s not. Our hands will freeze.”

Sui Houyu was about to leave, but then he heard someone say: “Brother Yu’s aim is bad. Without a good throw, he won’t hit us.”

Whether they thought that a snowball fight with just a few people would be boring or that they just wanted to provoke Sui Houyu, they used reverse psychology to trigger the most competitive part of his nature.

Sui Houyu stopped in his tracks, then turned to look at the group.

Hou Mo immediately felt a chill in his heart, knowing Sui Houyu’s strange competitiveness had kicked in.

Soon, they saw Sui Houyu walk into the snow, gather a snowball in his delicate fingers, and throw it at Deng Yiheng, hitting him right in the face.

Deng Yiheng wiped the snow off his face, only for another snowball to come flying.

Shen Junqing quickly helped his partner, throwing a snowball back at Sui Houyu.

Sui Houyu, already forming another snowball, sprinted through the snow and threw it right onto Shen Junqing’s head.

The boys from the tennis team, seeing their familiar faces in the snow, gathered around and joined the snowball fight.

The snow that had fallen all night stopped by morning.

The student athletes, who woke up the earliest, rushed into the snow, leaving no footprints, the snow untouched and fluffy.

They ran into the snow, even without gloves, their fingers freezing red from the cold, but they didn’t stop. Laughing and tumbling into a chaotic snowball fight.

The boys from the tennis team, dressed in black down jackets with the words “Unyielding Rose” embroidered on them, stood out in the snow. They were the liveliest group on the field.

At first, it was just a free-for-all, but eventually, everyone teamed up to resist Sui Houyu—and still couldn’t compete with him.

For many years to come, when the boys from the tennis team remembered the morning of December 31st that year, they would still feel a sense of fear.

They would always remember how Sui Houyu, 1 vs. 20, still crushed all 20 of them.

Sui Houyu was very slender, and his feet wouldn’t get stuck in the snow. His body was light, allowing him to run freely, and he gathered snowballs with impressive speed. Everyone at the scene had been attacked by Sui Houyu.

“Senior Brother! Can you do something about Brother Yu? He’s gone crazy!” someone shouted to Hou Mo.

“I wouldn’t dare.” Hou Mo responded lazily, standing by the edge of the field with his hands in his pockets. Watching Sui Houyu in the snowball fight made him want to laugh.

Others were playing, but Sui Houyu was focused on winning!

Deng Yiheng, struggling to avoid Sui Houyu’s attacks, was even begging: “Brother Yu, I was wrong! Stop aiming at me, my neck is covered in snow.”

Sui Houyu gritted his teeth and asked: “Are you sure?”

“Yes! Yes, I’m sure!” Deng Yiheng answered, almost crying.

Meanwhile, Hou Mo secretly made a snowball. When he saw Sui Houyu coming closer, he tossed it at him.

Hou Mo threw it lightly, as if he were just goofing around.

Unexpectedly, Sui Houyu instantly stopped targeting Deng Yiheng and turned toward Hou Mo. As he walked, he quickly scooped up a snowball and slammed it right onto Hou Mo’s face.

Hou Mo instinctively backed away. Just as he was about to wipe the snow off, he saw Sui Houyu preparing another snowball.

Hou Mo ran faster than a monkey, shouting as he fled: “Brother Yu, I was wrong! I was just playing around!”

But Sui Houyu didn’t care. Clutching the snowball, he relentlessly chased after Hou Mo.

Soon, the two of them were creating a little whirlwind in the snow. Hou Mo’s back took several hits, but Sui Houyu wasn’t planning on letting him off.

Hou Mo looked back and saw Ran Shu and Su Anyi handing snowballs to Sui Houyu. He nearly lost it.

How can this be fair?!

How could there be support for him?

At this point, Deng Yiheng was able to take a break. Panting, he leaned against a wall and, with some spare time, pulled out his phone to video chat with Lu Yanxin. He said: “We’re having a snowball fight with Brother Yu, and twenty of us couldn’t beat him. It’s the first time I’ve seen someone so serious about a snowball fight.”

Lu Yanxin burst out laughing: “Hahaha! Brother Yu is so cute.”

“Did you see those two? Brother Yu and Senior Brother, Brother Yu’s been chasing Senior Brother around the track for five or six laps. He’s faster than our morning exercises!”

“I can’t even see them! They’re moving so fast, they’ve become blurry.”

“Of course! Our Brother Yu is a man who even a thirty-million-pixel camera can’t catch. Though it could just be my internet being slow.” Deng Yiheng added, both of them laughing. The background noise became chaotic as Lu Yanxin prepared for breakfast.

Deng Yiheng laughed along.

In the video, Hou Mo and Sui Houyu gradually moved out of the frame. Deng Yiheng stopped recording and headed for the cafeteria.

Hou Mo ran to the edge of the back field, with no way to go. He raised an arm to block the snowballs, and with a forced expression, he walked toward Sui Houyu.

After throwing two more snowballs, Sui Houyu was lifted by Hou Mo, who carried him for a short while before tossing him into a snow pile in the corner.

The snow here was deep, and the snow didn’t hurt when he landed. The snow pile was soft.

He rolled around in the snow, still not steady, when Hou Mo quickly pounced on him, covering him with more snow, as if preparing to bury him.

Realizing what was happening, Sui Houyu immediately reversed the situation, pinning Hou Mo down and pressing him into the snow.

Unfortunately, in the struggle, Sui Houyu wasn’t as skilled as Hou Mo. Soon, Hou Mo had the upper hand, pushing Sui Houyu back into the snow.

The two of them remained locked in a struggle for a while.

Ran Shu, who had been delivering snowballs to Sui Houyu, couldn’t help but smile and comment: “As expected of Hou Mo, even like this, he’s still chasing him? Such a bold move, who can handle him?”

Su Anyi, holding a few snowballs, watched the two of them and smiled: “Brother Yu isn’t just anyone, and he seems to be having a great time.”

Ran Shu was still dissatisfied, preparing to go help Sui Houyu.

Just as he took a few steps, he saw the two of them suddenly stop. Hou Mo wiped the snow off Sui Houyu’s face, then unexpectedly bent down and kissed him.

Upon seeing this, Ran Shu froze in place, looking around nervously, more anxious than the two people kissing.

Fortunately, they had run far, and there were no other students around. Most normal students were still asleep, and some of the athletes had already gone to the cafeteria.

Su Anyi also noticed. She saw Sui Houyu, lying in the snow, extending his hand, not pushing Hou Mo away but instead pulling him closer by the shoulder. She tossed her snowballs and grabbed Ran Shu to walk back.

Ran Shu, reluctantly, followed her, mumbling: “He got kissed right in front of me by a dog…”

The snow was cold.

Sui Houyu felt snow entering his collar. His fingers had gone numb, yet the tips still felt hot.

When Hou Mo buried him in the snow, his hair and face got covered. Hou Mo wiped them haphazardly but didn’t clean it all up.

When they stopped, the snow on his face seemed to melt into his skin, causing a chill.

The temperature contrast was so sharp that it made the kiss feel especially hot.

It was as if he was experiencing both ice and fire.

Hou Mo’s hand pressed into the snow, sinking bit by bit. His body followed, sinking into the snow as well. The snow creaked under their weight, as if struggling to support them.

A gust of wind blew, lifting more snowflakes, which settled onto the two of them.

Sui Houyu reached out, pulling Hou Mo’s shoulder. The sound of their down jackets rustling filled the air. He held him tighter, even responding more actively to the kiss.

He was far more proactive this time.

Perhaps it was the cold, but he felt completely awake, no longer drowsy.

This allowed the kiss to feel complete.

Later, Hou Mo adjusted his position, pulling Sui Houyu tightly into his arms, holding his neck with one hand, turning his head slightly.

Their broken breaths blew away the last bits of snow on his face.

The kiss didn’t stop for a long time, as if they were trying to savor each other completely.

He wasn’t Hou Mo’s ideal type.

But he was the one Hou Mo most wanted to be close to, walking toward him without hesitation, embracing him boldly.

He was also the only person Hou Mo would open up to, the only one he was willing to welcome and accept…