The next morning, when Tong Yao woke up, she found Greedy Wolf already sitting in the training room across the hallway. She hadn’t paid much attention before, but now that she thought about it carefully, she realized that most of the time, she and Greedy Wolf were usually the first and second ones up in the morning...
Gazing across the corridor at each other, Tong Yao wondered if, in those few seconds when Greedy Wolf glanced up at her and muttered a single "Morning," he had noticed the guilt on her face.
Tong Yao pulled out her phone and sent a message to her team captain:
[ZGDX、Smiling: I’m up. You’re all still asleep. Greedy Wolf is up too. Mind if I grab him some breakfast?]
After typing and sending the message, she pocketed her phone, went downstairs, opened the fridge, and took out a bag of bread and a carton of yogurt. Then she hurried back upstairs and plopped the yogurt and bread in front of Greedy Wolf. "Eat up, Mr. Salty Egg Dog."
Greedy Wolf looked up, his gaze slow and dissecting as it swept over her face, as if peeling her apart layer by layer. Then, obediently, he let go of his mouse, grabbed the bread, and tore it open. In the game, his teammates, seeing him suddenly stop moving in the brush while farming, pinged him twice and added a "?".
He typed while chewing on the bread: [eatbreakfast.]
Tong Yao stood behind him, watching, then pulled out her phone. Only then did she realize that her captain, who should have been dead asleep at this hour, had actually replied to her message:
[God Wants to Tie the Red String with You: No.]
Tong Yao: "..."
[ZGDX、Smiling: Already did it. Asking for forgiveness rather than permission.]
[God Wants to Tie the Red String with You: You’re already a corpse.]
[ZGDX、Smiling: ……………………]
[God Wants to Tie the Red String with You: I’ll deal with you when I wake up.]
Maintaining a perfectly calm smile, Tong Yao stuffed her phone back into her pocket. By then, Greedy Wolf had already refocused on the game. Tong Yao stood behind him, hesitating, unsure of what to say. Just as she was about to slink away, Greedy Wolf suddenly spoke up: "Saw the forum post?"
Tong Yao: "...Yeah."
Greedy Wolf: "Checked it this morning?"
Tong Yao shook her head and pulled out her phone to look. The post was still floating on the forum’s front page, but scrolling further down, it was filled with Old Cat’s famous words— Have you ever seen the U.S. President tweet? Have you ever seen the China Telecom Team captain apologize?!
[Random User A: That man… actually apologized.]
[Random User B: We still don’t know how many "f*ck your moms" Old Cat muttered after receiving the captain’s apology.]
[Random User C: Reply to above, probably enough to get this month’s salary docked completely.]
[Random User D: So pitiful. I can picture it—the Operator Team kids must’ve been scared out of their minds… 6666666 OP, weren’t you bragging about how Cheng Ge would never admit his mistakes and how China Telecom was doomed? You were so loud yesterday, why so quiet today?]
[Random User E: Stop. I watched Old Cat’s stream yesterday. Even through the screen, I could feel the madness in his eyes.]
[Salty Egg Super Dog: Oh, all you bootlickers are making me sick.]
Tong Yao: "..."
Hundreds of comments, all marveling at the fact that Lu Sicheng had actually apologized—
That guy, who in many people’s minds should have been as perfect as a god.Tong Yao put her phone away again, slightly furrowing her brows as she watched Greedy Wolf play the game. After observing for a while, she finally mustered the courage to ask, "I thought you'd be eager for Lu Sicheng to fall so you could take his place? Weren't you the one who showed us that post yesterday? Why are you helping him now?"
She fired off the questions in one breath, but Greedy Wolf ignored her. Tong Yao pressed again, "Why, exactly?" Still, Greedy Wolf paid her no mind, eyes fixed on the computer screen as if wholly absorbed in the game—Tong Yao leaned down and swiftly pressed the "F" key on his keyboard, forcing his character to flash forward abruptly with a "bang"!
Greedy Wolf hissed through his teeth. Amidst a flurry of "????" from his support teammate, he lifted his head to meet the smug, unrepentant face of the prankster behind him—clearly thinking, "Serves you right for ignoring me." The two engaged in a childish staring contest for a few seconds before Greedy Wolf finally looked away. "His hand can still hold out until next year's Spring Split at least. I don’t want to work my way up only to inherit a team that’s been relegated to the secondary league."
Tong Yao: "..."
That... was actually a pretty solid reason.
She parted her lips, but before she could speak, Greedy Wolf added, "I can’t stand seeing people ruin what I want but can’t have."
Tong Yao: "?"
Greedy Wolf: "Wasn’t it you sitting there dazed and heartbroken after losing to YQCB?"
Tong Yao: "What?"
It took her brain a few seconds to process his words. Her face flushed red, and she took three steps back. The atmosphere grew awkward, her heart pounding wildly as she forced a strained smile. "Is sweet-talking girls just a China Telecom Team tradition for you AD carries?"
Greedy Wolf: "?"
He seemed surprised, glancing up at her briefly before pausing and clarifying, "I meant I want a good Mid Laner as a teammate. You happen to be one."
Tong Yao: "…………………………"
She eyed the chair beside her, fighting the urge to hurl it at Greedy Wolf’s head—instead, she stuck her tongue out at his retreating back. Just then, the door to the China Telecom Team captain’s bedroom creaked open.
Lu Sicheng emerged, his face groggy and hair a disheveled mess, yet his steps were resolute as he strode straight toward Tong Yao and Greedy Wolf. Without a word, he stopped in front of them, scooped Tong Yao up in one swift motion—
Before she could even process what was happening, her arms instinctively wrapped around his neck as she heard his cold, low voice address the only other living person in the room: "Taking out the trash."
Without waiting for Greedy Wolf’s reaction, he turned and carried Tong Yao away without a backward glance.
Into the room. Door kicked shut.
The loud "bang" of the door made Little Fatty jolt upright, yanking off his sleep mask. His eyes met those of his Mid Laner, currently cradled in Lu Sicheng’s arms. "Holy shit," he muttered, pulling the mask back down and flopping onto the bed, covering his head with the blanket as if the sight was too much to bear.
Tong Yao was unceremoniously dumped onto the man’s bed—she struggled to sit up—only for the bed’s owner to kick off his slippers, yawn, and climb back in. He wrapped an arm around her waist, forcefully pinning her down, his large hand pressing her head against the pillow. "Sleep with me for a bit."
Tong Yao: "...I’m already awake."Lu Sicheng: "Then you send those kinds of WeChat messages so I can't sleep either?"
Lu Sicheng: "Go back to sleep."
Tong Yao: "Can't sleep."
Lu Sicheng: "Then just close your eyes and rest."
Tong Yao: "But I want to play games."
"...What games? Mornings are for sleeping."
The man muttered, drowsiness creeping back into his tone—yet the arm wrapped around the waist of the person in his embrace didn't loosen in the slightest. Tong Yao struggled slightly but couldn't break free, only to receive a light but firm slap on her buttocks...
And then the hand on her bottom didn't move away.
Lu Sicheng: "If you're not sleeping, we can do something else."
As he spoke, he pressed her hips closer to him. Tong Yao's hands pushed against his chest, but then her thigh brushed against something warm and unexpectedly firm—as if struck by a paralysis spell—she instantly stilled...
When she looked up, she saw the man's brows slightly furrowed in the morning sunlight, his eyes closed with faint shadows beneath them...
Tong Yao froze for a moment.
She raised her hand and carefully smoothed the crease between his brows with her fingertips.
After withdrawing her hand, she wrapped her arms around the man's waist instead, burying her face in his chest...
"Captain."
"..."
"You've suffered."
Tong Yao felt the large hand on her buttocks shift slightly. The man's brows, which had just been smoothed out, furrowed again.
"Keep talking like some emperor who's just finished with his concubine and can't wait to leave, and I'll fuck you until you cry."
"..."
"Sleep."
"..."
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