HCILH Ch. 61

Chapter 61: Birthday Party

Hou Mo walked out of the bathroom, towel-drying his hair, and casually adjusted the air conditioner up by one degree.

Through the gap between the towel and his face, he spotted Sui Houyu lying on the bed, playing on his phone.

By now, Sui Houyu had already changed into his own clothes: a loose blue-and-white striped shirt and long pants, his bare toes flexing.

It was hard to tell whether it was due to Sui Houyu’s natural flexibility or the uneven surface of the blanket underneath him, but even lying down, his posture exuded a sense of curve and flow. His slender frame made the shirt stretch over his shoulder blades, revealing the contours of his firm back.

When Sui Houyu noticed Hou Mo walking out, he immediately sat up and asked: “Want me to go with you to warm up?”

“Uh…” Hou Mo had wanted to admire him a bit longer. Why did he have to sit up so soon?

Sui Houyu asked in confusion: “What?”

“Let’s eat first.”

“Okay.”

They sat down at the table together. As Hou Mo opened the food containers, he remarked: “You didn’t have to wait for me. You could’ve eaten first.”

“You showered so fast, what’s the big deal in waiting?”

“But you eat fast too. You could’ve finished while I was showering.”

“I wanted to wait. Why do you talk so much?” Sui Houyu replied impatiently, clearly irritated. If he wanted to wait, that was his choice—no need for Hou Mo to nag about it, or it would just annoy him.

Politeness and small talk were wasted on Sui Houyu; they were unnecessary and only made him more irritable.

Hou Mo, realizing it wasn’t worth setting off Sui Houyu’s short fuse, silently put some food on his plate.

After eating for a bit, Sui Houyu casually invited: “I rented a venue for Ran Shu’s birthday tonight. You should come too.”

“Why would I go? I’ve only known him for two days, barely talked to him, and he clearly doesn’t like me. I probably don’t even have a decent gift. Forget it.”

“He likes crowds and lively settings. And since I’ve already rented the place, it’d be a waste if not enough people showed up. Deng Yiheng and the others will be there too.”

Hou Mo hesitated: “Where is it?”

“Near Hongqiao Road in the city center, around here…” Sui Houyu said as he opened a map app on his phone to find the exact location.

Hou Mo gave a noncommittal response: “Oh, I know the area.”

“I’ll arrange a place for us to stay tonight. Wherever I stay, you stay too.” They were used to sharing a room, after all.

“Alright.” Hou Mo reluctantly agreed. “I don’t like noisy crowds, though. I’m just worried you won’t be able to sleep without me.”

Sui Houyu glanced at him without replying.

Outside of school or competitions, he wasn’t exactly comfortable seeking out Hou Mo’s company.

But since Hou Mo had brought it up, Sui Houyu wouldn’t refuse.

“Can we book a room with a king-size bed?” Hou Mo suddenly asked earnestly. “Booking a twin room but sleeping in one bed anyway is pointless.”

“Sure.” Sui Houyu agreed without hesitation.

*

Hou Mo’s afternoon match went smoothly.

Or rather, he won easily.

He was facing Liu Mo, an old rival, but Hou Mo always had a way of surprising him with new tactics.

In this match, Hou Mo once again introduced fresh moves that left Liu Mo frustrated. He was so exasperated that he didn’t even make it to the third set—Hou Mo won before that.

Watching from the stands, Sui Houyu got a firsthand experience of Liu Mo’s exaggerated “hey” and “hah” noises during play, scratching his face in discomfort at the strange sounds.

Ran Shu sat in the audience, leaning slightly back as he watched the match, his expression serious.

Sang Xian sat not far away. Having just finished a match and placed third, he seemed quite relaxed. 

After taking a quick shower, he came to watch the match, though he didn’t seem to find much to comment on, simply resting his chin on his hand and watching quietly.

Ran Shu finally couldn’t sit still and scooted over to ask Sang Xian: “H-how much prize money will there be for this competition?”

“This time, the prize is sponsored, and it’s just at the provincial level. First place in singles gets 30,000 yuan. First place in doubles gets 8,000, and second place gets 5,000. That 5,000 will need to be split between the school, Hou Mo, and Sui Houyu, so Sui Houyu will get about 1,500 yuan,” Sang Xian answered.

“After all this hard work for so many days, and that’s all he gets?”

“For a youth tournament, what more do you expect? In higher-level competitions, there’s much more. Some open tournaments give up to a million dollars for the singles champion, and even the doubles champions can earn 400,000 dollars. Plus, many professional tennis players compete year-round, almost nonstop.”

Ran Shu mentally converted the prize money into yuan, his eyes darting. Then he sidled up to Sui Houyu and whispered, “In-in the future, when you and Hou Mo break out of Asia and make it big globally, you’ll earn a lot. You should buy me an island, and I’ll sculpt a statue of you and place it in the center of the island.”

Sui Houyu imagined the bizarre scene and frowned deeply.

Ran Shu, on the other hand, seemed delighted by the idea, feeling smug that the childhood friend he raised would one day take care of him.

After Hou Mo’s match ended, Coach Wang began organizing the players to pack their things at the hotel since they would be heading back by bus that day.

They were almost done packing and were wheeling their luggage to the parking lot when they happened to run into the team from Dongti Affiliated High School.

Lu Yanxin ran over and hugged Su Anyi tightly, not letting go: “I’ll call you when I get back to school. You have to reply to my messages!”

“Mm, okay,” Su Anyi responded.

Su Anyi wasn’t particularly good at socializing, but Lu Yanxin had somehow become one of her rare female friends, which was quite a remarkable experience.

Lu Yanxin took a towel out of her bag and handed it back to Deng Yiheng.

Deng Yiheng looked a bit embarrassed: “You can keep it if you want.”

Lu Yanxin wrinkled her nose in disgust: “It smells like sweat!”

“Oh…” Deng Yiheng dejectedly reached out to take it back.

Seeing Deng Yiheng’s foolish expression, Lu Yanxin laughed and gave him a playful pat: “Thanks!”

Deng Yiheng, tongue-tied, could only grin and laugh awkwardly.

Hou Mo, watching Deng Yiheng’s lack of composure, couldn’t help but chuckle. He leaned over to Sui Houyu and whispered: “I think Little Deng is about to get a girlfriend.”

Sui Houyu, sitting on his suitcase and watching Deng Yiheng and Lu Yanxin, smiled subtly but reservedly. “Then shouldn’t he treat me to a meal?”

“Mm, I’ll remind him.” Hou Mo then noticed the bus arriving and placed a hand on the luggage, pulling Sui Houyu, who was still sitting on it, along with him.

Seeing this, Lu Yanxin exclaimed dramatically: “Are all doubles partners like this now?”

She quickly took out her phone and snapped a picture of Hou Mo and Sui Houyu.

Hou Mo glanced back but wasn’t annoyed. Instead, he reminded her: “Remember to send the photo to my son and have him forward it to me.”

Hou Mo didn’t have Lu Yanxin’s contact information.

Lu Yanxin asked the same question again: “Who’s your son?”

Both Sui Houyu and Hou Mo pointed to Deng Yiheng at the same time.

Deng Yiheng was so angry that his face twisted in frustration.

But when he heard Hou Mo’s next words, Deng Yiheng couldn’t stay mad.

Hou Mo waved goodbye to Lu Yanxin: “Bye, daughter-in-law!”

Deng Yiheng, who was as happy as a flower, said to Lu Yanxin: “Don’t pay attention to him. He’s just being cheeky. I’ll send you a message on WeChat when I get back. Bye!”

Lu Yanxin, watching the Fengyu High School team leave, suddenly blushed and covered her face before running back to her own team.

As soon as she returned, she heard Tang Yao coldly remark: “You seem to get along well with them. Why even bother coming to Dongti?”

“What, is Dongti all about cliques? If I don’t hate the people you can’t beat, I can’t stay at this school? Ha, shameless.” Lu Yanxin rolled her eyes dramatically and walked away.

Tang Yao was hit right where it hurt, and couldn’t say a word for a long time.

*

On the return trip, the bus would pass through the city center before heading back to Xiangjia Alley.

Su Anyi specifically informed Coach Wang about the place they needed to go, so the coach had the driver make a detour to Hongqiao Road, allowing those attending Ran Shu’s birthday party to get off directly.

Everyone got off the bus, and Ran Shu stood on the curb, grinning.

Once at this location, Ran Shu knew exactly where they were going.

Sui Houyu motioned with his things toward Ran Shu: “Let’s go.”

“Hmph, I knew you wouldn’t forget!” Ran Shu said, then confidently ran toward the venue.

He had thought it would just be these few people, but once inside, there was a whole crowd waiting—many were old friends from Qingyu High School, as well as some of Ran Shu’s other friends.

Seeing all these people, Ran Shu finally got excited, screaming like a little madman.

Ran Shu’s personality thrived on attention.

Despite his stutter, he never got stage fright and had plenty of friends.

Especially female friends.

Deng Yiheng and the others came in with their luggage and, after placing it on the racks near the entrance, took a look around and couldn’t help but exclaim: “It feels like we’ve entered the Spider’s Lair.”

Hou Mo and Sang Xian stood silently, staring at the massive nightclub stage. The flashing lights, the blaring sound system, and the vibrating floor were overwhelming.

He shouldn’t have agreed to come. This place wasn’t suitable for someone like him, a “health-conscious” youth. He had thought they would just gather for a meal and cut a birthday cake.

Sui Houyu, sensing his discomfort, led them to a booth and brought them snacks and fruit platters. He said something to Hou Mo, but Hou Mo couldn’t hear clearly.

Sui Houyu reached out and grabbed Hou Mo by the collar, pulling him close to whisper into his ear: “I’ll come back in a bit.”

“Oh, okay.” Hou Mo nodded in response.

Sui Houyu seemed familiar with the place. He navigated around the seating area and made his way up to the stage.

It looked like there was a lighting technician present, as the spotlight immediately locked onto Sui Houyu when he stepped on stage, triggering a wave of screams from the crowd.

The fact that the cheers were audible even over the booming music showed just how excited the audience was. It was clear they adored Sui Houyu.

Sui Houyu gave a small smile, then began adjusting the equipment. He made a countdown gesture with his fingers, and soon the music started playing.

Deng Yiheng scooted over to Hou Mo, marveling: “DJing, huh! Brother Yu really knows how to do everything. At this point, I’m not even surprised anymore whenever he picks up a new skill.”

Hou Mo also looked over at Sui Houyu. His delicate appearance didn’t quite fit the wild atmosphere, yet he stood there effortlessly, his body subtly swaying to the beat. He held a microphone, occasionally saying something or singing along.

His voice was pure and clear, his pitch perfectly in tune, and to Hou Mo’s surprise, he sang quite well.

Hou Mo found himself liking Sui Houyu’s opera-like singing style even more.

After watching for a moment, Deng Yiheng sighed: “Man, look at those moves… Brother Yu’s got some hips, huh.”

Hou Mo unscrewed his water bottle and took a sip, his gaze drawn back to Sui Houyu. The laser lights swept across his body, the colorful beams creating a surreal and dreamlike beauty on his face.

He watched as Sui Houyu swayed his hips—smooth and rhythmic without seeming too flamboyant.

Suddenly, Hou Mo felt thirsty, despite just drinking water.

Omake:

Hou Mo: “You’ve got some serious moves. Guess I’ll have you dance all night someday.”