They arrived in Xiamen late at night. After assigning rooms, everyone went to their own to sleep. Tong Yao finished washing up, got into bed, and exchanged a few messages with Lu Sicheng on WeChat. As they chatted, she drifted off to sleep still clutching her phone.
The last thing Lu Sicheng said to her was to remind her to lock the door. At that moment, Little Fatty, who had just finished showering and was drying his hair, floated past behind him. He peeked at the screen and casually asked, "Lock the door to keep out thieves or to keep you out?"
"……………………" Lu Sicheng set down his phone and turned to look at his support, who was wobbling his belly as he climbed into bed. "Are you done yet?"
"After witnessing that scene at the airport today that stirred this fatty’s maiden heart, I just can’t calm down. So I have to take it out on you," Little Fatty pulled up his blanket and glared at the ceiling. "I see Tong Yao as a teammate, but you just want to get her pregnant."
Lu Sicheng: "..."
Little Fatty rolled over. "Cheng Ge, Tong Yao’s really great, you know."
Lu Sicheng raised an eyebrow.
Little Fatty propped his head up with one hand. "Look at Yang Shen, look at A Guang, look at Li Hengshuo… all of them are protective of our Mid Laner. They can’t even bring themselves to gank her in matches? If you ever pull some scumbag move on her, half the Junglers from the twelve LPL teams will camp our bot lane—ruining yourself is one thing, but don’t forget there’s also adorable little me down here. One misstep, two lives lost!!!"
Lu Sicheng scoffed, then pulled back his own blanket and climbed in. "What exactly are you trying to say?"
Little Fatty sighed. "You’ve got a lot of competition. Stop acting like you’re some untouchable male god just because you think you are."
Lu Sicheng paused mid-motion as he settled under the covers. "I’m not acting. The day we got together, I wanted to announce to the whole world that my queen’s throne was taken. She wouldn’t let me."
"Why not?"
"At first, I thought it was better not to say anything—it might affect her performance. But later, I realized her skills have already earned recognition. Now, if anyone dares to say she’s not good enough or spout nonsense, they’d just be embarrassing themselves. Our team’s undefeated record in the group stage speaks for itself—when has China Telecom ever had such a solid three-core lineup in all its years? Just as I was figuring out how to make it public, that mess with Ai Jia and his girlfriend from the other team happened. It blew up, and afterward, my fans went to the forums to stir up drama, and she saw it." Lu Sicheng sighed helplessly. "Now she’s convinced that if I announce we’re together, I’ll lose all my fans."
Little Fatty muffled his laughter under the blanket, sounding like he was farting.
He happily patted his own face. "Girls really do worry too much about silly things."
"Yeah," Lu Sicheng said flatly, side-eyeing the chubby man. "How’s that face wash working for you?"
"Even jealous over face wash, you petty man." Little Fatty grinned smugly. After laughing his fill, he asked, "So what do you even like about her? Don’t give me that sappy wedding vow nonsense—let’s be real, Tong Yao’s looks are just average. Compared to your army of drop-dead gorgeous fangirls who could form their own battalion..."
Lu Sicheng turned off the light.
The room plunged into darkness.
After a long silence, Little Fatty heard rustling from the other bed, followed by a low, slightly drowsy voice—
"She’s strong."
Little Fatty: "No shit."
"She’s cute when she cries."
Little Fatty: "You freak."
"..."
Little Fatty: "Anything else?"
"Yeah."
Little Fatty: "What?"
"Love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation."Little Fatty: "…………………………………………"
Little Fatty: "Alright, that's pretty slick."
...
The next day.
The other teams from the Professional League gradually arrived in Xiamen. Early in the morning, Xiao Rui went to arrange the upcoming Scrims for the second team, leaving the first and second teams under their respective coaches' supervision to train at a pre-booked internet café near the hotel.
The training method remained the same as back at the team headquarters. The first-team players sat behind the second-team players, observing their performance in the Scrims and guiding them on better decision-making at each moment—when to use abilities, when to play defensively, and when to engage.
—At the moment, Greedy Wolf and the others were playing a Scrim against an LSPL team called "RMB." It had long been said that China Telecom's second team performed exceptionally well in the LSPL, with high hopes of entering the LPL as a newly promoted team this year. So facing an LSPL team wasn't particularly difficult for them...
Moreover, RMB was a second-tier team in the LSPL.
"Place a ward at their Red buff. Their Jungler showed up top over ten seconds ago. If they plan to come bot, they’ll definitely take the buff first. Get vision so you don’t overextend and get ganked."
—Little Fatty’s voice came from the next seat, and Po Jun responded with an "Oh, oh."
"Bot lane, are you ready to hit level 6 first? Check the CS, check the minimap. If your AD is ahead in CS, time it properly—don’t wait for your teammate to call for TP (*Teleport) before you react. Look for opportunities to TP proactively. If your AD is struggling, then you need to prevent their Top laner from TP’ing first..."
—Old Cat’s voice came from the next seat, and the second-team Top laner nodded silently.
"Don’t even look. Bot lane is struggling. Their AD is Quick Star, and he’s on Jinx. No chance."
—Lu Sicheng’s indifferent voice rang out. Greedy Wolf showed no reaction, though the sound of his mouse clicking grew louder.
Tong Yao: "..."
Tong Yao turned her head to glance at the two ADCs who were like oil and water, then turned back and pressed the keyboard of the person in front of her. Amid his hiss of protest, she checked the scoreboard: ten minutes into the game, and bot lane was already down twenty CS. The situation was brutal.
So she poked the back of the person sitting in front of her: "Who’s Quick Star? How does your brother even know about an AD from a second-tier LSPL team?"
Lu Yue paused for a moment: "Do you have anything technical to discuss, or is gossip all you’re good for?"
Tong Yao: "I do."
Lu Yue: "What?"
Tong Yao: "Their Mid Laner is clearly scared of you, and you’re playing just as passively. Are you two planning to hug your respective Turrets and live out your lives, swearing never to cross the river? This game has no laning phase in mid—I’ve watched for ten minutes and still don’t even know what skin their Leblanc is using today. You guys are really something, playing like this."
Lu Yue: "...Quick Star isn’t some Melon Skin third-tier AD. A couple of years ago, when my brother first returned to the LPL, he was the starting AD for the CK team. He was strong—really strong. Especially on Jinx and Ashe. His ultimates were insanely accurate. Back then, he was at least a 50-50 matchup against my brother."
Tong Yao widened her eyes: "Huhhhhhh?"Lu Yue maneuvered his champion out of the turret and ventured slightly toward the enemy side. The opposing Mid Laner peeked out: "Look, the Elderwood skin, see it? Now that you've seen it, stop yapping. I'm going back to playing safe—steady farming is half the battle to winning—back to the gossip—later, the CK team performed poorly in the S4 World Championship, with Quick Star shouldering most of the blame. He got instantly deleted in team fights, had questionable positioning, and couldn't hold his own in lane. Domestic fans were utterly disappointed, and the Forum was practically exploding at the time."
"How bad was it?"
"People were screaming for him to crawl back home in shame, saying he didn't deserve a plane ticket—some even wished for his plane to crash. Ugh, the insults were brutal. After returning, the CK team couldn't withstand the pressure. By the next Spring Split, they replaced him with Hu Die, who's now the starting AD for the CK team. Originally, Quick Star was benched to lay low, but he couldn't stomach it and transferred to an LSPL team instead..."
"...What was his reason?"
"He wanted to prove himself—to personally lead an LSPL team back into the LPL and shut all the haters up."
"...And the result?"
"The result is that even a pro like you has no idea who Quick Star is."
"..."
"Cases like this are common. Whether it's pride, stubbornness, or money, some players drop to the LSPL thinking they're so good they'll carry their way back into the LPL..."
Another wave of minions pushed forward. Noticing the enemy Jungler was top side, Lu Yue followed the minions past the river, then abruptly turned toward bot lane. There, Azir ulted, knocking back the retreating bot duo—though it could've hit both, Quick Star's mechanics were decent enough to dodge the Emperor's Divide with a swift sidestep. Lu Yue auto-attacked the support twice, then yielded the kill to Greedy Wolf.
He turned and ducked into a bush to recall.
"Players like him just fade away from their peak into obscurity," Lu Yue remarked. "It's unfortunate, but the gap between LSPL and LPL is real—teammate skill, team synergy..."
Tong Yao nodded vaguely, only half-understanding.
She glanced worriedly at Greedy Wolf beside her—
His expression remained calm, eyes fixed on the game. After securing the kill, his gold had barely evened out with Quick Star's, easing his laning phase considerably. He no longer looked as restrained.
Tong Yao averted her gaze and leaned over her chair to whisper to Lu Yue, "Who were you really talking about just now?"
The clicking of Lu Yue's mouse paused. He glanced at her and smiled faintly, sidestepping the question. "Greedy Wolf's pretty strong. Wonder if he'll last as long as Hu Die did back in the CK team."
Tong Yao nodded with an "Oh," then frowned. "...Are you cursing your own brother to retire?"
"He's old. Still strong, sure, but kinda in the way from us young folks' perspective. Old-timers just don't fit in."
Tong Yao rolled up her sleeves and smacked Lu Yue's head hard.
...
After the scrims, the second team predictably won. The mood on their faces was night and day compared to yesterday.After the scrims, it was time for everyone to freely summarize and practice in Ranked Games. Tong Yao glanced at Lu Sicheng and noticed he was holding a notepad filled with notes, having a private discussion with Greedy Wolf. Greedy Wolf was playing with his fingers, head lowered—who knew if he was even listening?
It looked like they were going to be at it for a while.
Tong Yao raised her hand and sent Lu Sicheng a WeChat message: "Baby's hungry." Then she put her phone away. Surrounded by the atmosphere of everyone else having one-on-one discussions, she turned her head and locked eyes with Lu Yue in an awkward, expressionless stare for a few seconds. Lu Yue, equally deadpan, said, "Different styles don’t mix—you know whatever you say, I won’t respond, right?"
"Exactly what I was thinking, substitute ," Tong Yao flipped her hair. "Wish you a triumphant start. You can ride my coattails for the LPL Summer Split trophy, but for the Demacia Cup, you’ll have to carry it home yourself."
Lu Yue stared at her for a moment before suddenly laughing and shoving her aside, then returned to his seat to queue up for Ranked Games.
Hands stuffed in her pockets, Tong Yao wandered around the internet café. Seeing that Lu Sicheng was still yapping away with Greedy Wolf, she grumbled inwardly— Wow, you really can talk. You say more in these ten minutes than you do to me in a whole day. Then she turned and sat alone on the sofa, browsing nearby food options...
After a while, someone came looking for her—
It was Little Fatty.
The moment she looked up and saw him, Tong Yao tensed up, afraid he’d grab her and say something like, "You two can date, but don’t let it interfere with Cheng Ge’s training," or "Everyone’s eager to prove themselves in the S-series—don’t be the reason we fall short." She was already nervous enough—hearing that would probably make her even more timid. Honestly, she really hoped at least her teammates would support her.
When Little Fatty called her outside, Tong Yao was full of anxiety, her mind racing with thoughts like— "Little Fatty didn’t say no yesterday," "He didn’t seem to mind," "Was he just pretending?" "Oh god, I thought he wasn’t against it ahhhhh—"
The two stood outside the internet café, steadying themselves. Tong Yao braced for the storm—only for Little Fatty to suddenly whip out his phone, hand it to her, and nudge her with his elbow. "Listen to this."
Confused, Tong Yao gave him a look before tapping the pre-loaded audio—
[ "So what do you even like about her? Don’t give me that wedding-vow nonsense—let’s be real, Tong Yao’s looks are just average—compared to your army of drop-dead gorgeous fangirls who could form their own battalion." ]
Amid the static background noise, Little Fatty’s voice rang out.
Tong Yao froze, lifting her head to look at him. Little Fatty grinned, pointing at the phone and nodding for her to keep listening. "This is some next-level shit. Keep going."
Tong Yao: "..."
[ "She’s strong." ]
The moment Lu Sicheng’s voice came through, Tong Yao’s face flushed red.
[ "She’s cute when she cries." ]
Tong Yao nearly suffocated— This damn pervert! How can he say this to Little Fatty with a straight face?!
In the recording, Little Fatty pressed, "Anything else?" Lu Sicheng fell silent. Just as Tong Yao thought the recording had ended, she heard the man’s deep, unhurried voice—
[ "Feelings arise without reason, yet once they do, they run deep." ]
Tong Yao: "……………………………………………"Tong Yao clutched the phone, her face red as a tomato, and turned to look helplessly at Little Fatty. Leaning against the street railing, Little Fatty was laughing so hard he was slapping his chest and stomping his feet. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA," he wheezed, asking Tong Yao if her man was being shameless. Tong Yao's tongue tied into knots as she fumbled for words before shoving the phone into her pocket in a panic. A few seconds later, she remembered the phone was Little Fatty's and, flushing even redder, pulled it back out to return it—
"You want me to send you a copy? HAHAHA," Little Fatty grinned, his eyes disappearing into slits.
Just then, the door of the internet café behind them swung open. The captain of the China Telecom Team stepped out, his usual deadpan expression in place. "Going to grab food?" he asked, then paused as he took in the odd tension between his support and his Mid Laner. Glancing down at the phone in Tong Yao's hand, he arched a brow. "What are you two talking about?"
No sooner had he spoken than his Mid Laner fluttered toward him like a little bird, wobbling unsteadily before burying her face against his chest.
The man raised his arms, accepting the unexpected hug, and peered down at the person in his arms in bewilderment. She tilted her flushed face up at him. "Food, food, I'm starving! What took you so long?"
"?"
Lu Sicheng patted her head.
After a moment's thought, he decided something felt off. Glaring at Little Fatty, he warned sternly, "Stay away from her. Quit scheming up all these shameless, weird antics."
Little Fatty straightened up, schooling his expression. "Got it."
Warning received.
Too bad it was too late.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
OpenNovel