The scene at that moment was probably as chaotic as it was lively.
Old Cat and Old K wore mysterious smiles that seemed to say, "I fucking knew it," as they elegantly clapped along with everyone else.
Little Fatty sat there with an expression that screamed, "So what if I got cuckolded?"
Xiao Rui looked utterly bewildered, as if thinking, "Who am I? Where am I? What just happened? So what else did you two do in that room besides Lu Sicheng taking a shower?"
From a distance, Lu Yue stood up from his seat, took off his headphones, grabbed his phone, and made a call—though no one could hear what he said from so far away.
Jian Yang was forcibly dragged back to his chair by their Top laner and Mid Laner. He slammed his mouse down, prompting their AD to urgently call for staff to help replace it...
The whole scene resembled a wedding ceremony.
Due to the reactions from all sides, the match was forced to start twenty minutes late—but for the first time ever, no one complained. Everyone was so thrilled by the delay that they not only didn’t demand compensation from the organizers but seemed eager to donate an extra fifty cents to express their satisfaction with the impromptu drama.
As for Tong Yao, she wasn’t any more composed than their team manager. Her mind buzzed incessantly—all she could recall was the familiar touch of lips against hers and the warmth of a large hand gripping her wrist...
She barely remembered how the match played out afterward—what Champions were picked, how long it lasted, or even who won or lost. The only thing she knew was that the notebook she’d brought to record data ended up clutched in her hand, completely blank by the end of the match, as she zoned out the entire time.
She only knew one thing for certain: from that moment onward, Lu Sicheng never let go of her hand for the entire duration of the match.
...
After the match, her teammates practically carried her to the car. When she opened her phone, her WeChat was exploding.
[Midnight Angler-Crazy Fisherman: Damn, Yao, you’re killing it. If I were you, I’d brag about that moment to my grandkids: ‘Back in your grandpa’s day…’]
[Owner (Dad): ???????? Call me.]
[Owner No. 2 (Mom): The guy’s pretty handsome, haha. How’d he end up with you?]
[Bratty Brother: HOLY SHIT SMILING IS MY SISTER AND CHESSMAN IS MY BROTHER-IN-LAW HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I FEEL LIKE MY SOCIAL STATUS JUST WENT UP THREE LEVELS?! Bring him home for New Year’s—I’ll brag to my classmates until graduation! I’ll say, ‘See that idiot Chessman kissed? That’s my sister! I’m also surnamed Tong, she’s really my sister!’ They won’t believe me HAHAHAHAHAHAHA PROVE IT TO ME SO I CAN RUB IT IN THEIR FACES!!!]
[Friend A: …Chen Jinyang just mass-sent a bunch of GIFs. Well done, your boyfriend’s hot. Sending congratulations.]
[Li Huanshuo, the Brat: QAQ Sister, why didn’t you wait for me?! I really like you—how could you just get together with Chessman like that?! Ah, I’m seriously going crazy!!! Going crazy!! Can’t sleep tonight, don’t even wanna play this afternoon’s match. That’s it! I’m so disappointed in this game!]
[Friend B: You stole my husband QAQ I demand an autograph before I’ll get up off the floor!]
[Yang Shen: So this is what you meant by ‘disappointed in pro players’?]
[Friend C: You never told me you could find a boyfriend hotter than Hugh Jackman by playing games. Our friendship has cracks now.]
...【Owner (Dad): Call me immediately!】
Tong Yao: “…”
After reading through the congratulatory messages from friends and family on WeChat one by one, Tong Yao originally planned to obediently call her dad, who seemed to be on the verge of losing it. But then she thought about what he might say—or worse, that he might have already bought a plane ticket to Shanghai and was preparing to board—so she sent her mom a text saying, “Hold Dad back.” Then, with a (?????????????) expression, she put down her phone, silently turned it off, and chose the ostrich approach to avoid the impending storm.
At that moment, she was sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with Lu Sicheng in the very back row of the car.
The interior lights were dim. As she set her phone aside, she heard Greedy Wolf quietly complaining, “He treated me like Cheng Ge and kept ganking bot lane.” “Ten minutes in and only twenty CS.” “I’m seriously going insane…”
Little Fatty and Po Jun burst into laughter, though Po Jun’s smile was tinged with the shadow of death.
Tong Yao: “Sigh…”
She fidgeted uneasily, but the big head of the person sitting next to her was currently resting on her shoulder—ever since that kiss at the competition venue, he had emerged like someone finally crawling out from underground to breathe fresh air. There was no going back now, so he might as well indulge without restraint. Leaning his tall frame against her like a clingy girl, he held her hand tightly, as if afraid she’d run away. And right now, his other hand was holding a phone…
Making a call.
【It was too noisy at the venue earlier, couldn’t hear anything… Why’d you call me? Can’t you just focus on watching my brother’s match?】
【I already told you I’m not gay. You jumped to conclusions and got it wrong, and now you’re blaming me?】
【That girl…】 Lu Sicheng lifted his head and glanced at Tong Yao, who happened to be looking down at him. With his head still on her shoulder, he stretched his neck and kissed her again, then casually continued his call, leaving her blushing furiously. 【That girl is my teammate—yeah, yeah, she looks young, but she’s over eighteen, so it’s not illegal… What was that sound just now? Oh, I kissed her.】
Tong Yao instantly bristled.
She flailed, trying to snatch the phone from him.
Lu Sicheng sat up straight, pressing a large hand against her head to stop her from moving while casually pinching her scrunched-up face. 【Don’t come to Shanghai, you’ll scare her… Why do you care what her family does? What do you mean, register? She’s not even nineteen yet, not old enough to get married—I never said I wouldn’t take responsibility. What do you mean, ‘ruining her innocence in front of millions of people’? Those streaming platform viewer numbers are fake, okay? Ugh, stop screaming. Where’s Dad? Oh, working overtime… I told you, she’s not even nineteen, can’t get married—no, throwing money at the civil affairs bureau won’t work either—stop talking like some nosy aunt who has nothing but money. If you keep being unreasonable, I’m hanging up.】
Tong Yao: “………………………………”
Lu Yue walked over to the back row. “Dad watched the livestream too. I made him watch it before the match, but I didn’t expect him to see something even more exciting than me starting as the main roster.”
After a pause, he added, “He said your line’s been busy.”Lu Sicheng lifted his eyelids to glance at Lu Yue, then kicked him with his foot and mouthed the word "Scram." Lu Yue flashed him a shameless grin, revealing a row of white teeth, and simply plopped down in the back row—before turning to beam at Tong Yao: "What's the new password for your account?"
Tong Yao: "Why should I tell you?"
Lu Yue: "Gotta butter up your future brother-in-law so he won’t make life hard for you when you marry into the family—Ow!"
Before he could finish, Lu Sicheng reached over and smacked him hard on the head.
Xiao Rui, sitting beside Lu Yue, was searching for door installation services in Shanghai, planning to replace the flimsy door in Tong Yao’s room with a security one to prevent any… unexpected pregnancies. Lu Yue peeked over and mocked, "No matter how many layers you install, it won’t help. This girl would just open the door for him anyway."
Xiao Rui paused his browsing and turned to Tong Yao: "Would you?"
Tong Yao couldn’t answer.
Xiao Rui let out a sigh of exasperation.
Just then, Lu Sicheng finished his call. The first thing he said after hanging up was earth-shattering news: "Mom’s insisting on coming to Shanghai. Lu Yue, tell her to knock it off—we’re in the second half of the league season."
Lu Yue didn’t react, but Tong Yao stiffened instantly. She sat up straight, staring nervously at Lu Sicheng: "Why is your mom coming? Is it to see me? Or to have a private chat with me?—Lu Sicheng, I refuse. You can’t do this to me. The poor commoner heroine and the noble mother of the male lead sit in a café, and the mom opens with, ‘How much money will it take for you to leave my son?’ If the heroine doesn’t name a price, a scalding cup of coffee comes flying at her face………………"
Lu Sicheng: "..."
Tong Yao: "What if it scars me?"
Looking down at the panicked girl clutching his hand and flawlessly reenacting every cliché K-drama trope, he sighed helplessly. "Then just name a price."
He felt her grip freeze.
Then he added, "Make sure to ask for a lot. Demand ten million, and we’ll split the money when she pays up. I’ll buy you a Maserati."
Tong Yao thought for a moment before wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face in his chest. "I don’t want a Maserati. I just want you."
Everyone in the car who heard this made exaggerated gagging noises, rejecting the "disgusting display of affection," with Xiao Rui being the loudest. He even issued a warning: "You two, keep it down. If you keep flaunting your love like this back at the base, I’m throwing you both into the storage room."
Their discomfort went ignored.
Lu Sicheng, hearing Tong Yao’s words, was reminded of his own declaration—"I don’t want fans, I just want you." Now that the same words were being thrown back at him, he was effortlessly moved to mush. Just as he was about to hug her back, he heard her mumble against his chest, "What would I do with so many cars? You already gave me yours."
Lu Sicheng: "…………………………"
Patting her head with forced gentleness, he gritted his teeth and said, "Don’t worry. Someone like you wouldn’t get coffee thrown at them. My mom probably wouldn’t even get a word in before you’d say: ‘Two and a half million. No checks, cash only. No consecutive serial numbers. Pay up, and I’ll disappear.’"
Tong Yao lifted her head to look at his perfectly chiseled jawline. "Why two and a half?"
Lu Sicheng: "Because that’s the number that suits you."Tong Yao: "In my heart, you're worth at least five million."
Lu Sicheng: "...I don’t have to say thanks, right?"
Tong Yao: "..."
...
Coming out (?) is hard—harder than ascending to the heavens.
First, you have to get past your teammates.
Then, you need your parents’ approval and the blessings of friends and family.
—Hmm, for most straight couples, this would be about the time to tie the knot and bow to heaven and earth. But for Tong Yao, this was probably just the beginning. Back at the hotel, she turned her phone back on. Aside from over a dozen missed calls from her dad, she logged into Weibo and saw—unsurprisingly—her notifications flooded with reposts and comments, and her inbox stuffed with DMs from strangers.
Tong Yao clicked on the first one—
[ssman's S7 will definitely shine bright: Bitch.]
Tong Yao: "..."
Once again wearing a "(?????????????)" expression, she exited Weibo, uninstalled Weibo, uninstalled the Forum, and uninstalled Mobile League of Legends.
Goodbye, haters.
OpenNovel