Ten minutes later.
“Delete the Weibo post.”
“No.”
“Delete the Weibo post.”
“I won’t.”
“Last warning, delete the Weibo post.”
“I refuse.”
Lu Sicheng sat on the sofa, glancing at the short-haired girl seated directly across from him—dressed in a T-shirt and oversized shorts, wearing flip-flops, with a cat whose face looked like it had been divided by a demarcation line cradled in her arms. Beside her sat the suitcase she had just dragged in. At this moment, she was grinning brightly.
“……”
It made Lu Sicheng’s eyes ache.
Frowning, he simply averted his gaze and picked up his phone, which he had tossed aside earlier, reopening Weibo—despite not having posted anything new in over ten days, his "@" notifications had been blowing up nonstop for the past ten minutes. When he tapped in, he saw the spectator masses frantically tagging him under a certain post, which read:
[Salty Fish Girl Smiling: I arrived at the team headquarters’ front door and knocked. Cheng Ge came to open it, took one look at me, then shut the door again—so now I’m standing outside the door once more, along with my Da Bing.]
Attached was a photo: the ugly cat with a face like a demarcation line sprawled limply beneath a potted plant, with the ZGDX Team headquarters’ entrance in the background. The plant was one of Xiao Rui’s potted greens.
Seven hundred comments.
Below were a flood of reactions like:
“LMAOOOOO I feel so bad for you, sis”
“OMG HAHAHAHAHAHA WHY THO HAHAHAHAHA”
“Did you look too much like an insurance salesperson?”
“Da Bing is so cute though”
And then there were comments like:
[CleanFreak: How could Cheng Ge treat you like this?! Too much. Let’s get revenge on him together, sis! Like secretly taking unflattering photos of him and selling them to us (。?﹃?。)]
[——SideEye: Da Bing, go eat all his fish! @ZGDX Lu Sicheng]
[Dreams and Salty Fish and You: I’m dying of laughter. @ZGDX Lu Sicheng Cheng Ge, open the door for our Smiling! She has dreams—she wants to go pro!]
[A Mao Cat: Yeah, even if she’s not much to look at, closing and reopening the door won’t magically turn your new mid laner into a fairy @ZGDX Lu Sicheng]
[I’m Your Biggest Fan: Fine, keep her outside, but at least let Da Bing in? @ZGDX Lu Sicheng]
[I Doubt You’re a Salty Fish: Eat his fish [shrugs]]
[Chicken Mua: Eat the goldfish! Devour his goldfish!!!]
“...How pointless.”
Lu Sicheng tossed his phone aside, stood up, and walked over to his computer, bending down to queue up for a new ranked match. The others, having already greeted the newcomer, gradually dispersed and returned to their own computers… Just then, the manager Xiao Rui came downstairs. The girl on the sofa—Tong Yao—stood up, looking slightly nervous as she said, “Rui Ge, I’m here to report in.”
“Ah, you’re here,” Xiao Rui hurried over, eyes lighting up as he reached out to take the large cat hanging from her arm. “Come here, let Da Bing’s big bro hold you—damn, this cat’s heavy… Hey, Tong Yao, I just saw your Weibo. Did Lu Sicheng really shut you out?”
Tong Yao twitched her lips.
Lu Sicheng: “I thought it was a fan trying to gank the team headquarters.”Xiao Rui reached out to stroke Da Bing's head. The cat lowered its ears and let out a contented purring sound... He glanced down at Tong Yao's flip-flops: "Have you ever seen a fan who ganks the team headquarters dressed like this?"
Lu Sicheng stared at his computer screen without turning his head, answering matter-of-factly: "No, that's why I closed the door."
Tong Yao: "..."
Sorry for not dressing up properly, I guess?
Xiao Rui: "Tong Yao, your room is ready. Want to go upstairs and check it out? You can put your luggage there too. We haven't bought things like toothpaste, toothbrushes, or towels yet. After you settle in, I'll have someone drive you to the nearby mall to get everything at once."
Tong Yao nodded. Seeing how satisfied Da Bing looked snuggled in its new servant's arms, she handed the cat over to Xiao Rui and dragged her suitcase toward the upstairs room—just then, top laner Old Cat kicked support Little Fatty: "Go help."
Little Fatty looked at Old Cat's already-started game, then at his own interface where he hadn't queued for another match yet, and reluctantly stood up to take Tong Yao's suitcase. She quickly thanked him, to which Little Fatty smiled honestly: "We're teammates now, gotta help each other out. Don't mind Cheng Ge if he seems unfriendly..."
Tong Yao: "?"
Little Fatty: "Actually, he really isn't that friendly."
Tong Yao: "..."
Little Fatty: "But it's fine, everyone else at headquarters is easy to talk to—so after you settle in, carry me in some ranked matches, okay? The monthly evaluation is in two days, and if I don't rank up to Grandmaster soon, my salary's getting docked."
Tong Yao looked bewildered at Little Fatty's sudden topic change, to which he grinned: "It's so hard for supports to rank up solo."
"Alright, alright," Tong Yao nodded. "We'll queue up."
Little Fatty looked thoroughly pleased. Meanwhile, Old Cat, as if he had super hearing, called from downstairs: "Tong Yao, don't listen to his nonsense. This guy causes trouble every time he tries to rank up—carrying him is just asking to lose points. He's a wolf in sheep's clothing!"
By then, Little Fatty had already escorted Tong Yao and her luggage to her room. Dropping a "Duo queue tonight," he wobbled his belly and dashed off before she could reconsider... Left with no choice, Tong Yao turned and entered the room, only to realize how much effort the team had put into preparing it. The room was spotless, with brand-new bedding, a white wardrobe and vanity, and even a fluffy carpet under the bed—the whole setup was overwhelmingly girly!
Deeply moved, Tong Yao unpacked her rough-and-tumble clothes (which completely clashed with the room's aesthetic) and hung them in the wardrobe. She tossed her skincare products onto the vanity. The remaining small box was filled with Da Bing's canned food and snacks, which she stuffed into the room's mini-fridge, finally emptying all her luggage.
Tong Yao flopped onto the soft bed, rolling around to rest for a bit before checking her phone. Eventually, she got up and headed downstairs to find Rui Ge for that shopping trip...However, when she went downstairs, she realized that although she had only been in her room for less than an hour, the downstairs had already transformed into another world—the first floor of the team headquarters was quite quiet at the moment. Aside from Old Cat and Little Fatty occasionally discussing Champion talents and builds, everyone else was sitting in front of their computers, focused on playing the game.
Xiao Rui was nowhere to be seen.
Her Da Bing... was curled up into a fluffy ball, lying at Lu Sicheng's feet like a sea cucumber, hugging his foot with all four short legs, sleeping soundly.
Lu Sicheng was completely absorbed in the game, seemingly unaware that there was a very warm, fluffy thing clinging to his foot.
"Da Bing, you..."
Damn it, Da Bing, you little bootlicker! Out of everyone in the headquarters, you somehow know exactly whose leg to hug for survival!
But it's useless!!!!
To him, you're just a fluffy little creature that might eat his son!!!!
Tong Yao, looking utterly disheveled, walked over to Lu Sicheng and bent down to pick up the bootlicking cat. The cat meowed and struggled, refusing to be held, but Tong Yao forcibly scooped it up, calling its name to soothe it while naturally planting a loud kiss on its fluffy little head—
The moment she did this, she noticed the man beside her, who had been gaming, suddenly stopped and turned to look at her.
Tong Yao felt a chill under his gaze: "...What?"
Lu Sicheng: "That cat just rubbed its head against my foot."
Tong Yao: "???"
Lu Sicheng: "If it makes you feel any better, I took a shower this morning."
Tong Yao: "……………………"
Tong Yao thought for a moment, then decisively threw the cat out of her arms and frantically wiped her mouth with her sleeve. Da Bing clearly had no idea why it was suddenly being rejected. It landed on all fours, tail raised, and ran a few steps away before turning its head to let out an indignant "meow" at Tong Yao—
Lu Sicheng: "Feeling better now?"
Tong Yao: "Not at all."
Lu Sicheng smiled briefly in satisfaction.
At this point, Tong Yao finally realized: "That Weibo post will never be deleted."
Lu Sicheng didn’t even look up: "Whatever."
"I'm going to pin it to the top."
"Oh? How terrifying."
"..."
"..."
As the two stood in silent confrontation, Xiao Rui walked in through the door, glanced at Tong Yao and Lu Sicheng, and asked, "Tong Yao, did you put your stuff away?"
Tong Yao nodded. Xiao Rui gave an "Oh," then said very naturally, "I just lent my car to the photography team for an outdoor shoot. Cheng Ge, why don’t you take her to buy some daily necessities?"
Lu Sicheng paused, turned to frown at the team manager: "I'm busy."
Xiao Rui leaned over to glance at Lu Sicheng’s computer screen: "Busy AFKing? You’re about to drop to Diamond II, buddy."
Lu Sicheng: "So I’m busy. End-of-month assessment is in two days."
Xiao Rui: "You think you can climb from Diamond II to Grandmaster in two days? Are you a god or something?"
Lu Sicheng thought for a moment, probably realizing it was indeed unlikely, and sighed helplessly before slowly standing up. He glanced down at the girl who was now looking up at him with wide, expectant eyes, paused, then casually tossed out a "Let’s go," grabbed the car keys haphazardly lying next to his computer, and walked out the door without another word.Tong Yao stood rooted to the spot, dazed for a moment before finally snapping back to reality. She hurriedly quickened her pace to catch up with the tall figure whose single stride required her to take two small running steps—
"Wait, Cheng Ge... Hey, can I call you Cheng Ge?"
Lu Sicheng looked down at the petite girl bending over to put on her shoes, who barely reached his waist. After kicking her flip-flops into place and receiving no response, she curiously raised her head to look at him—
"..." The corners of Lu Sicheng's lips curled into a slightly sardonic smirk. "Calling me 'Dad' would be more fitting."
"..."
"Shorty."
"What shorty? Speak properly. Since we've met by chance, it must be fate—why are you so hostile?"
"Delete that Weibo post."
"No way. You're the one who slammed the door first."
"Because I didn’t expect my future teammate to be a minor."
"I'm nineteen!"
"Your height tells me you're lying."
"............ I pinned the post to the top of my feed."
"Hmph."
Tong Yao strode ahead with her head held high, only for the team headquarters' door to be slammed shut with a loud "bang" by the man behind her. Their pointless, unresolved bickering was left outside, fading into the distance as they headed toward the garage.
OpenNovel