After watching the movie, the two had originally planned to have dinner before heading back. However, as soon as they stepped out of the cinema, Lu Sicheng's phone started vibrating incessantly. When he answered, Tong Yao could hear Little Fatty's loud voice on the other end of the line—
["Hey? Cheng Ge? Did you two go shopping all the way to Las Vegas to get married? Are you coming back or what? The second team moved downstairs this afternoon, and we’ve got Scrims scheduled with Obsidian at 8 PM tonight! Ming Shen wants you back here to keep an eye on those kids!!!"]
Lu Sicheng held the phone to his ear without responding, simply muttering a quick "Hold on" before instinctively glancing down at Tong Yao. She shrugged as if to say, "Well, guess we’re going back. What else can we do?"
The ZGDX LOL second team consisted of kids selected from various youth training camps of other teams, most aged between fifteen and nineteen. Normally, they played Scrims against secondary league and city alliance teams from the second floor of the Team headquarters... These second-team members were truly a bunch of kids, regarded as the reserve force for ZGDX Team. Naturally, most of them were the rebellious stars of their regular schools, stubbornly defiant in their teenage angst, making them much harder to discipline than the average player... Ming Shen, Little Fatty, and Old Cat had all risen from the old second team, and as a senior, Ming Shen carried a lot of authority and respect. The only other person who could command these kids' obedience was the first-team captain, Lu Sicheng—simply because he was strong enough, and when he got angry, he was scarier than a school principal.
So Xiao Rui and the others were desperate to drag Lu Sicheng back to stabilize the situation, lest the Team headquarters get wrecked by the overexcited second-team kids.
"..." Lu Sicheng clearly wasn’t thrilled about returning to play babysitter, so he covered the phone and said to Tong Yao, "Actually, we don’t have to go back. Ming Shen can handle those little monkeys."
["F*ck your mother, Captain! Fatty can hear you! You think this is some TV drama where covering the mic magically makes you inaudible?!"]
Lu Sicheng: "..."
Tong Yao: "..."
Lu Sicheng obediently hung up the phone, and the two took a car back to the Team headquarters. As she buckled her seatbelt, Tong Yao chuckled and said, "Feels like dating a celebrity—hiding from fans, sneaking around, and now getting called back in a rush before even having dinner."
"Unhappy?"
"Not at all," Tong Yao quickly waved her hands. "Next time. There’ll be other chances."
The man in the driver’s seat perked up slightly at the words "next time" and "other chances," his gaze flickering briefly over the lips of the person in the passenger seat beside him. He gave a low "Mm" in response before starting the car and driving out of the parking lot.
...
Upon returning to the Team headquarters, Tong Yao saw Little Fatty, Old K, and Old Cat squeezed together on the sofa as she took off her shoes. Old K and Old Cat each held a cat in their laps, petting them, while Little Fatty watched enviously...
The second-team members had indeed already gathered on the first floor. Everyone was excited about the rare opportunity to train downstairs, chatting and laughing in their assigned seats—only Tong Yao’s chair was empty. That was because Lu Yue, the seasoned troublemaker, had recently succeeded in his scheme to secure a spot for himself, so he already had his own place on the first floor.Tong Yao noticed someone sitting in Lu Sicheng's usual spot—his in-game ID was Greedy Wolf, just fifteen years old and not yet of the official age requirement for league and international competitions. However, Tong Yao had long heard her teammates mention him in passing: despite his youth, his talent was already evident. As a core carry in the second-string team, his aggressive, fierce playstyle and nimble positioning faintly echoed Lu Sicheng’s early days.
Some called him "Little Chessman," likely intending it as praise, but Tong Yao suspected Greedy Wolf himself didn’t particularly like the nickname—much like how Lu Sicheng had once refused to remain merely Pope Li Junhe’s "shadow."
"Little Wolf, what are you planning to pick against Obsidian tonight?"
Tong Yao walked over, dropping her bag as she greeted the kid occupying Lu Sicheng’s seat. He happened to be drinking from a cup, and whether startled by her sudden voice or not, his hand jerked, spilling water everywhere—the cup nearly slipped to the ground.
Tong Yao swiftly caught it.
Just then, the second-string support, Po Jun, called out, "Room’s ready!" Greedy Wolf scrambled to his feet, flustered, glancing briefly at Tong Yao before murmuring, "Sister Tong Yao, could you pick for me?"
She waved him off, signaling him to hurry, and he dashed away, water dripping from his clothes. At that moment, Lu Sicheng approached with a handwritten noteboard, tapping the pen against the head of the person in his seat. "What are you doing here slacking off? Where’s that brat Greedy Wolf?"
"He spilled water—I’m just picking for him," Tong Yao clicked her mouse rapidly, not bothering to turn as she asked the second-string top laner beside her, "Did Little Wolf say what he wants to play tonight?"
The moment she finished speaking, she heard someone behind her mutter "Little Wolf" under their breath, laced with disdain.
She turned, locking eyes with the deadpan man for three seconds.
Tong Yao: "Don’t stand behind me, you’re blocking the light."
Lu Sicheng: "..."
The other three second-string members shot envious looks at Tong Yao. The jungler, A Yue, craned his neck to ask Lu Yue, "Hey, A Lu, does everyone on the first team talk to Cheng Ge like that?"
Lu Yue rolled his eyes. "Do Fatty and the others look like they’ve got a death wish, same as Smiling?"
A Yue shook his head. Lu Yue smirked, casually locking in Ekko for himself. By then, the mid laner had picked, and it was the AD’s turn. Tong Yao glanced at their team comp—they’d already picked Alistar, and most meta ADs had been banned. Raising her voice, she asked, "Little Wolf, can you play Kalista?" Just as she was about to lock it in, Greedy Wolf’s flustered voice rang out from behind her:
"Not Kalista!"
Her hand paused mid-click. Both she and Lu Sicheng turned to see the kid rushing back from the bathroom, face slightly flushed.
"Jinx is fine," he said. "I’ve been practicing her lately."
Tong Yao hummed in acknowledgment. Lu Sicheng stayed silent, offering no objection. After locking in Rampage Loli Jinx for him, Tong Yao stood to return the seat. Greedy Wolf murmured his thanks before settling in.
By then, the Ban & Pick Phase was nearly over.The scrim between ZGDX’s second team and Obsidian began—
Truth be told, ZGDX’s second team was one of the stronger teams in the LSPL (Secondary Professional League) this season. With Lu Yue stepping in as the new Mid Laner to compensate for the lack of experience, the team’s overall strength had significantly improved. They should have had a high chance of winning, not just against LSPL teams, but even against weaker LPL teams like Obsidian. So before the match started, everyone was fairly confident they could secure a smooth victory. However, the outcome turned out to be far from what they expected...
Tong Yao stood behind the second team’s players alongside Ming Shen and Lu Sicheng, watching the match. She noticed that apart from Lu Yue maintaining his usual level and pinning the opposing Mid Laner under their tower, the bot lane’s performance was shockingly subpar.
“Fall back, fall back! Can’t you see the support’s Trinket Ward is on cooldown? No vision in the river, yet you’re pushing so deep—waiting to get ganked? If their Jungler had come just now, you’d be dead, handing them a double-kill starter pack.”
“If you had both engaged just then, the enemy would’ve died. Where’s the communication with your support?”
“Missed a last hit.”
“Missed again.”
“Open the scoreboard and see how many minions you’re behind.”
“Step forward a bit. The moment I say something, you chicken out. If you’re going to play scared, why let Po Jun pick Alistar? Might as well have him pick Soraka to heal you all game.”
Lu Sicheng’s voice became the only sound in the headquarters aside from Po Jun’s shotcalling—his cold, relentless questioning successfully drew sympathetic glances from everyone in the room, including the two cats, all directed at Greedy Wolf.
Under Lu Sicheng’s icy stare from behind, Greedy Wolf was forced to farm under tower, harassed by Obsidian’s AD. For some reason, he seemed miscalculating Jinx’s auto-attack damage, frequently missing last hits...
Tong Yao tugged at Lu Sicheng’s sleeve—he leaned slightly toward her but kept his eyes fixed on Greedy Wolf’s screen.
Tong Yao: “You’re scaring him so much he can’t even last-hit properly.”
Lu Sicheng paused, then replied loud enough for the entire room to hear: “He hasn’t played Jinx once in the past two weeks, whether in Ranked Games or scrims. If he hasn’t practiced her, why lie and force-pick her now? Who’s he trying to impress?”
Greedy Wolf’s hand faltered mid-last-hit, his mouse clicking audibly against the desk.
Tong Yao stiffly released Lu Sicheng’s sleeve.
Lu Sicheng: “This is a scrim, so winning or losing doesn’t matter, right? Are you planning to ‘surprise’ your teammates like this in the Demacia Cup too?”
Greedy Wolf’s back straightened rigidly. He adjusted his posture slightly, silently finishing the wave under tower before recalling.
Tong Yao took three steps back.
Then she darted back to the couch, crouching beside Little Fatty and trembling. “Holy shit, why is the captain so scary?”
“…………………… The captain’s always been this scary,” Little Fatty side-eyed her. “Last night, I asked him to duo for Rank Up. I played Bard the entire night—Bard! For a whole night! Can you imagine?”
Little Fatty’s Bard was notoriously bad—his ultimates were either whiffs or accidentally saved low-health enemies, making his gameplay painful to watch.
He would never pick this Champion when climbing solo...
Little Fatty: “If not for Cheng Ge carrying us to victory, and if this wasn’t an account Riot gave to pro players, I’d probably have been reported countless times last night for ‘skill level not matching rank’ and banned.”
Tong Yao: “...”Little Fatty: "Don’t you feel like the fact that you’re still alive and kicking after stealing the Red buff from the captain means you’ve been exceptionally spoiled? Like you’ve got divine protection or some cheat code activated?"
Tong Yao: "………………Stop it. I’ve also been locked in the Black House for some ‘quality education’ before."
Little Fatty: "But the captain does it for our own good, you know? Look at Greedy Wolf—he’s been resisting Kalista just because it’s the captain’s signature Champion. That’s not good. In a lineup like the one we just had, Kalista was the right pick. When it comes to matches, nothing else matters—winning is everything."
Tong Yao nodded solemnly.
……
In the end.
They lost the scrims to Obsidian due to a poor performance in the bot lane, leaving everyone visibly dejected—they all knew Obsidian was practically a pushover in the LPL, and the scrims had been arranged to boost the confidence of the second-string players.
Yet they still lost.
As soon as the match ended, Old Cat and the others stood behind their respective positions, analyzing the post-game stats and explaining to the second-string players where they had gone wrong…
But before Lu Sicheng could step forward to say anything, Greedy Wolf stood up and walked out of the team headquarters on his own… Lu Sicheng set down the cluttered notepad he’d been scribbling on, glanced at Greedy Wolf’s retreating figure, and said nothing, though his brows furrowed slightly.
Tong Yao leaned over for a look and saw that Lu Sicheng’s notepad was densely packed with notes on Greedy Wolf’s performance during the match, along with the correct responses he should have made at each moment—
At X:XX, misjudged positioning—should have moved to XXX to avoid skill shots and prevent being engaged on first.
At X:XX, miscalculated skill damage—at level six, Jinx’s base damage is XXX, and with items XX and XXX equipped, her Q skill damage should be XXX.
At X:XX, missed last hits—insufficient mastery of Champion damage; needs to practice last-hitting more.
At X:XX, recklessly pushed the lane despite knowing the enemy top laner’s Teleport was up and that their support had vision behind them—careless.
At X:XX…
Tong Yao scanned through the entire notepad. The earlier notes were scribbled in a furious, barely legible scrawl, likely due to the captain’s irritation. But as space ran out, the handwriting grew smaller and neater, eventually shrinking into tiny, cramped characters…
Tong Yao: "……"
And the notes became increasingly detailed… as if he’d wanted to grab the mouse and take over himself.
…………………This is next-level babysitting!
As Tong Yao marveled at this, the notepad was abruptly snatched from her hands from behind. She hissed in surprise and turned to meet a pair of indifferent dark brown eyes.
"……" Tong Yao blinked. "What?"
Lu Sicheng’s expression twisted briefly—just for a second—before returning to its usual deadpan. He ordered, "Go call him back."
Tong Yao: "Huh?"
Lu Sicheng: "Greedy Wolf."
Tong Yao: "……You’re the one who scared him off."
Lu Sicheng pretended not to hear, muttering to himself, "Running off before the post-match review? Whether he listens or not is up to him. If he doesn’t, I’ll just throw this notepad away."
"…………" Tong Yao stared at him for a long moment before gritting out through clenched teeth, "Stop being so tsundere. You drove him away, and now you want me to clean up the mess.""I don't understand what you're talking about," Lu Sicheng said with an air of righteousness. "Anyway, Lu Yue doesn't want you to do the summary. Go call Greedy Wolf back—aren't you his sister? He'll listen to you."
Tong Yao glanced back in the direction Greedy Wolf had left, made a face at Lu Sicheng, and hurried after him in her slippers.
OpenNovel