HCILH Ch. 104

Chapter 104: End of Training Camp

When Sui Houyu and Hou Mo arrived together, they saw Sang Xian holding his head, glancing at Ran Shu by the fence several times.

Outside the fence, Ran Shu was hopping and waving at Sui Houyu: “Brother Yu! Brother Yu, do you need anything else? I can buy it for you tomorrow!”

Sui Houyu walked over and glanced at Sang Xian, puzzled as to what had happened between him and Ran Shu this time, but he didn’t ask. Instead, he replied: “No need. The heating problem is solved; we can manage everything else.”

Ran Shu asked again: “Do you want me to buy a few phones and bring them over?”

Before Sui Houyu could answer, Hou Mo interjected: “No! If we get caught, they’ll take away our electric blankets. It’s only a short time in the training camp, we can endure it.”

Ran Shu pursed his lips, thinking, and then asked: “How about some food?”

The three people inside the fence fell silent at the same time.

It was an extremely tempting offer.

When conditions reach an extreme level of difficulty, demands for both material and entertainment decrease accordingly.

What they craved most was fulfilling their basic need for sustenance.

Now that “warmth” was no longer an issue, “satiation” was the next challenge.

Ran Shu understood and said: “Alright, I’ll come over tomorrow night. I know what’s allowed and what isn’t. You only get free time at this hour, right?”

Sui Houyu considered it and, worried about Ran Shu being out alone at night, suggested: “Come during our lunch break. We’ll come out to meet you then.”

“Got it. I’m heading off now; do I need to show you the car plate number?” Ran Shu held up his phone to show the license plate of his hired car. “The driver is waiting for me, so I’ll leave now!”

Sui Houyu watched Ran Shu leave, still anxious, and muttered to Hou Mo: “He’s so clueless. What if he gets kidnapped?”

Hou Mo put his hands in his pockets, looked down, and asked: “Is this his first time going out alone?”

“Not exactly…” Sui Houyu’s voice dropped, “He once stayed abroad alone for half a year.”

“Studying abroad?”

“His dad didn’t want him hanging out with me, so he sent him overseas for school.”

Hou Mo paused in surprise, then asked: “How did he come back?”

“He borrowed money through various means and bought a plane ticket himself. Once he was back, he hid in the country for three months without attending school, only occasionally coming to see me. His family eventually gave in.”

Sang Xian frowned upon hearing this, recalling how Ran Shu spent the New Year alone abroad without his family caring and how they hadn’t given him any pocket money for ages. He asked suddenly: “Does his family not care about him?”

“His family…” Sui Houyu hesitated and then sighed. “Anyone else living in that household would probably end up depressed. It’s rare for him to stay so optimistic.”

They always thought of Ran Shu as a pampered rich kid, but it turned out he had hidden struggles of his own.

It seemed no one’s life was truly perfect.

*

Ran Shu stayed in the city for five days, bringing food for them during four of those days at noon.

Considering the travel time between the training camp and the hotel, plus the time needed to buy food, Ran Shu had little time left for sightseeing.

He was always extravagant with his purchases, bringing enough food each time for everyone to have their fill.

Deng Yiheng called over Lu Yanxin, and Hou Mo called over Liu Mo and a few others, but even then, there would often be leftovers.

They dared not bring the food back in case they were caught, so they had to eat in the rough conditions by the fence. Huddled in the cold wind, the group of over a dozen eating together looked pitiful yet felt exceptionally content.

After Ran Shu flew back, Liu Mo would make rounds by their group several times, asking: “Is the ‘Little Sculpture’ not coming back?”

“Yeah, he’s gone home.” Hou Mo answered casually.

Liu Mo started to sit down and said: “That ‘Little Sculpture’ has been looking quite handsome lately, oddly likable…”

Before he could finish his sentence or sit down properly, Sang Xian kicked the chair away.

Liu Mo, not wanting to push his luck, left without further complaint.

He was just making rounds to see if there were any snacks left, though he’d chosen the wrong opening line.

The next few days passed routinely.

Everyone woke up on time and persisted with their training.

Hou Mo was occasionally called by the coach to give demonstrations, which turned into events with dozens of people watching. Coach Huang, with a megaphone, would give live instructions on how to defeat Hou Mo.

During this time, Hou Mo became the focal point of everyone’s attention. As each challenger faced him, Coach Huang would ask: “Anyone else want to challenge him?”

Hou Mo, acting like the master of the ring, could only continue defending his title, visibly resigned.

On rare breaks, Liu Mo and the trainee who’d won second place nationally would take his place.

During these moments, Hou Mo would take Sui Houyu to challenge skilled doubles players. Even Gu Libo and Tang Yao were provoked into playing another match against them.

Although these were practice matches, having Sui Houyu on the team made every match intense. His competitive nature stirred up opponents, making them want to win.

After gaining some real match experience, their improvement was rapid, evident even during the games.

Sometimes, Hou Mo would take Sui Houyu to watch others play, whispering strategy breakdowns.

Their aim was to become an all-around pair, building their tactics bit by bit and learning from others.

Hou Mo even considered challenging He Shibi and his partner to familiarize themselves with potential opponents for future encounters.

But those two were currently not on speaking terms, so a challenge wasn’t possible.

As the training camp neared its end, for the first time, Hou Mo woke Sui Houyu just as he’d fallen asleep.

If not necessary, Hou Mo would never have done it.

When Sui Houyu opened his eyes, he saw Hou Mo crouching beside him. The tall boy had curled up into a ball, poking his cheek repeatedly with his finger, looking pitiful as he said: “Brother Yu… help me, Brother Yu.”

The words “help me” startled Sui Houyu. He quickly sat up, looking around and asking: “What’s wrong?”

He had just woken up, his eyes still bleary, confused, but with a hint of alertness.

Hou Mo didn’t even want to look in that direction and pointed instead: “Under the bed… a cockroach the size of a palm… it’s almost as big as your face.”

Sui Houyu breathed a sigh of relief. Hearing that immediately after waking up was truly a bit scary.

He stood up, put on his jacket and shoes, bent down, and started looking around while asking: “Where is it?”

“The last time I saw it, it was still under the bed, crawling around it.”

He grabbed a slipper, circled the bed, and really did see the cockroach.

At first, he thought Hou Mo was exaggerating. How could a cockroach be that big? A palm-sized one is like a crab, and one as big as his face is a small turtle!

But after seeing it, he froze for a moment. He even thought it was the end of the world; cockroaches had mutated.

Holding the slipper, he swiftly swung it at the cockroach, but it didn’t die in one hit. The cockroach’s shell was as tough as armor.

He looked around, grabbed a chair, and started smashing it with the chair leg. After five or six hits, the cockroach finally stopped moving.

Hou Mo was still too scared to move, curled up on the bed, trembling as he asked: “Brother Yu, do you want me to help you sweep the cockroach body out?”

Sui Houyu ignored him and crouched beside the cockroach’s body, muttering to himself: “Why is it so big? A cockroach this size should be sent for research, right? By smashing it, have I hindered scientific progress?”

Hou Mo didn’t even want to respond.

Sui Houyu fetched a broom to clean up the body and casually said: “They say that if you see one cockroach, it means there’s a whole nest in the house…”

“F*ck, f*ck, f*ck!!!” Hou Mo thought about it and felt disgusted all over again. He trembled on the bed as if he was now contaminated.

After a while, when Hou Mo didn’t hear any more sounds, he gathered his courage to look at Sui Houyu and asked in a weak voice: “Brother Yu, do you need help?”

Sui Houyu coldly replied: “If you didn’t scream, you’d be helping.”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m planning to tear down its nest.”

“Good luck…”

“Yeah, just don’t cause trouble.”

Sui Houyu moved all the furniture around in the dorm, checking everywhere. He then reached out to push the bed, moving it along with Hou Mo, who was too scared to get off the bed, but he didn’t see another cockroach.

However, he knew that Hou Mo wouldn’t be able to sleep well, so he decided to go out to find the dorm supervisor.

Hou Mo jumped up, put on his slippers, and followed him, clutching Sui Houyu’s clothes tightly: “Brother Yu, don’t leave me alone.”

Anyone who didn’t know would think there were ghosts in the room!

Sui Houyu looked back at Hou Mo’s pathetic appearance, frowning slightly. The more Hou Mo chased after him, the less he wanted to be with him. He had been a little moved when Hou Mo confessed, but after thinking it through, he felt like they weren’t suited for each other.

188 cm was a waste of height.

The two of them went to the dorm supervisor, and Sui Houyu made a gesture with his hands to describe the situation: “Coach, we have a cockroach in our dorm, this big, it’s probably mutated.”

The supervisor looked at them with a bit of helplessness: “Students from the north always make a big deal out of things.”

Then, he took out some bottles from the cabinet and went to their dorm. After spraying everything, he told them: “Close the door and wait for forty minutes before going in. After that, open the windows to let the smell dissipate, or it’s toxic. The effect of this spray is that the cockroach will die, and so will you.”

While standing at the door waiting, Sui Houyu crossed his arms and thought seriously: “So… it’s really possible for cockroaches to be that big?”

“Seems like it…” Hou Mo regretted his cowardly reaction, looking serious as he didn’t know how to recover his image.

Maybe he should try to get Sui Houyu used to it?

Once you’ve seen enough, you won’t care. At this moment, Deng Yiheng and Shen Junqing walked over, surprised to see the two of them standing outside the door: “What are you two doing here? I thought you were already asleep!”

Sui Houyu pointed at the dorm: “This guy here was so scared by a cockroach the size of a fist that he won’t go inside. They sprayed the room with something, so it’s in destruction mode right now, and we can’t go in.”

Deng Yiheng laughed: “All it takes to make Senior Brother collapse is two steps. First, put a cockroach in front of him, then take Brother Yu away.”

Shen Junqing shook his head: “Not enough. If you want to make Senior Brother more miserable, you should put a cockroach in front of him while letting him see Brother Yu holding hands with someone else.”

Deng Yiheng thought about it and found the scene hilarious, adding: “I think Senior Brother would be so mad, he’d grab the cockroach and throw it at the person holding Brother Yu’s hand.”

Hou Mo asked with a dark face: “Do you think I can’t handle a knife?”

Deng Yiheng and Shen Junqing both shut up, clearing their throats to feign calmness.

Deng Yiheng looked at them for a moment before suddenly laughing again.

He was so in a good mood he couldn’t keep a serious face, so he announced to them: “I came here to tell you both something. I… am no longer single.”

This time, both Hou Mo and Sui Houyu were shocked, looking at Deng Yiheng and asking, “Did Lu Yanxin agree?”

They didn’t even need to ask who the girl was.

Deng Yiheng smiled widely: “I confessed, and she agreed. She even said I’m really good at holding back, managing to wait this long.”

Upon hearing this, Sui Houyu suddenly glanced at Hou Mo, with even more disdain in his eyes.

If Hou Mo were as successful as Deng Yiheng, wouldn’t they be planning to celebrate their hundredth day together by now?

Hou Mo was still cheerful, saying: “Nice! You’ve done well, my son.”

Deng Yiheng pointed to Shen Junqing: “A girl asked for his WeChat, from the nearby provincial sports school.”

Hou Mo looked surprised again: “Is she planning for a long-distance relationship?”

Shen Junqing quickly explained: “No, her goal is to get into Dongti. If possible, I also want to go there. We’re still getting to know each other, not necessarily dating. She seems to have a good personality; I’ll introduce her to you guys tomorrow.”

Hou Mo put his hands on his hips and looked at the pair of them, asking: “So, you two are here for training, or for public-funded romance?”

The two just smiled without answering.

Hou Mo suddenly realized, while his teammates were all in relationships, he’d been pursuing someone for so long and still hadn’t succeeded. It was a bit of a blow…

But it’s okay, it’s fine—heterosexual relationships don’t have obstacles. They don’t need emotional groundwork. It’s fine!

He understood Sui Houyu; he knew Sui Houyu must be feeling conflicted.

Turning to look at Sui Houyu, he noticed that Sui Houyu seemed a little angry for some reason…

Why was he angry?

Was it because he didn’t help kill the cockroach?

*

On New Year’s Eve, the training camp arranged a bus to take them to the airport, and they flew home.

Throughout the journey, Hou Mo kept looking at Sang Xian with approval, even feeling somewhat fatherly.

Sang Xian felt uncomfortable under his gaze and asked: “What’s up? You want to be my dad or something?”

“You’re more reliable. These kids fall in love at the drop of a hat, and you’re the only one keeping me company while I stay single.”

“Sui Houyu’s keeping you company, right? Does it really matter if anyone else is around?”

“That’s different! Now that all of you are in relationships, I’m getting anxious. Sigh… Brother Yu hasn’t talked to me properly for days. He seems so annoyed with me. It’s really stressing me out.”

“Yeah, if it were me, I’d be annoyed too.”

Hou Mo asked seriously: “Why’s that?”

“Figure it out yourself.”

After getting off the plane, Hou Mo grabbed his phone and reported to his mom, then said to Sui Houyu: “I’m going to my grandmother’s today. She misses me. It’s a family tradition to spend this day with them. You can stay by yourself for one day, okay? I’ll come back to see you tomorrow morning.”

Sui Houyu looked down at his phone and messaged Ran Shu, while replying: “It’s fine.”

Before he ran into Hou Mo again, he had been doing fine on his own. He didn’t necessarily need to be with Hou Mo all the time.

Plus, recently, every time he saw Hou Mo, he felt irritated, so it might be better to spend some time apart to clear his mind.

Hou Mo could be really annoying with him around all the time.

Then he messaged Ran Shu, telling him he wanted to visit, but Ran Shu refused, agreeing only to hang out with him on the first day of the New Year.

Looking at his phone, Sui Houyu felt confused.

So, he was really going to spend this New Year’s Eve alone?

Well, it’s whatever. 

It’s just one holiday.

*

After they got home, Hou Mo and his mom went straight to his grandmother’s house in the evening to help make dumplings.

Sui Houyu stood by the window watching them leave the compound, suddenly feeling a little unhappy.

Back in his room, he hugged his tablet, watching a learning app. After a while, he felt frustrated.

Opening the fridge, he saw the fruit brew he had stored and hesitated before reaching for two bottles.

It tasted like fruit juice when drunk, with a light alcohol flavor, but strong aftereffects. Last time, Sui Houyu had embarrassed himself after drinking it. With Hou Mo not around, it was a perfect time to indulge.

Maybe he’d even sleep better after a drink.

Sitting at his desk, sipping fruit brew while watching a tutorial video, he picked up his phone again to check WeChat.

Scrolling through his chat with Ran Shu, he suddenly felt something was off.

Ran Shu always liked sending voice messages and disliked typing. Why was he only texting him today? Was the atmosphere at home not good?

He sent Ran Shu another message: “What did you have for dinner tonight?”

Ran Shu didn’t reply for a while.

*

Later that night, Hou Mo sat on his grandmother’s sofa watching the Spring Festival Gala when he suddenly received a call from Sui Houyu.

He thought Sui Houyu was calling to wish him a happy new year, but upon answering, he heard Sui Houyu’s excited voice: “Come back and hang out with me!”

Hou Mo’s heart skipped a beat. He immediately said: “Don’t go out! I’m coming back right now.”

Hanging up, he stood up quickly, grabbing his coat, moving so fast he created a gust of wind.

There was also a cousin at home who asked: “Why the rush?”

“Saving the neighbor.” Hou Mo replied. “My friend’s going to make a drunken fool of himself and start knocking on doors. Please tell Mom and Grandma I’m leaving now. I’ll come back to celebrate tomorrow.”

He opened the door and left.

Omake:

When sober: “Ha, one day apart, and I finally get some peace.”

When drunk: “Come back and stay with me!! Now! Immediately! I’m causing a scene!”