The LPL competition venue wasn't particularly large, and the players' stage wasn't too far from the first row of audience seats—so close that if someone in the front row stood up, they could hop onto the stage in two steps, and reach the competing players in three more steps.
At such proximity, whenever players spoke slightly louder during matches, the audience in the first three rows could hear them clearly.
"Is this person insane?"
Little Fatty held the note, his expression unusually grim for the first time. When the cleaning lady came over with a broom and asked worriedly, "Ah, why are there blades taped to the edges of this package? Is that young lady alright?", everyone in the room seemed to snap out of their shock. Xiao Rui called security and instructed that all player packages must no longer be opened by the players themselves. Then, leaving behind a room full of bewildered people, he hurried upstairs.
Tong Yao's door was slightly ajar, and the sound of running water could be heard inside.
Xiao Rui pushed the door open and entered, finding the faucet in the bathroom running while the room's occupant sat on the edge of the bed... Xiao Rui walked in and turned off the faucet for them, instantly making the room so quiet you could hear a pin drop—meanwhile, the two by the bed remained silent. Lu Sicheng was disinfecting Tong Yao's wound with alcohol. When the alcohol touched the wound, Tong Yao hissed and instinctively pulled back, but Lu Sicheng glanced up and held her hand firmly in place.
Tong Yao's eyes were red, brimming with unshed tears. After staring at her wound for a moment, she seemed to steel herself and extended her hand toward him with a look of resignation—Lu Sicheng swiftly completed the disinfection and other procedures, sprinkled some hemostatic powder on it, and wrapped it in a bandage...
His movements were gentle and careful throughout.
But soon, a faint pink hue seeped through the bandage, suggesting the wound wasn't shallow.
Xiao Rui stood at the doorway, frowning as he silently observed. After a long pause, Lu Sicheng finally spoke without looking up, "Something the matter?"
The man's voice was deep, beyond just sounding "in a bad mood."
"That package downstairs..."
Xiao Rui noticed Lu Sicheng's slight upward glance and instinctively hesitated, not daring to continue until Tong Yao—her eyes and nose still red—turned to him hoarsely and asked, "What about the package? Were there dead mice under the cockroach corpses?"
Lu Sicheng: "..."
Lu Sicheng pinched her chin and turned her face back. She shot him a look and muttered, "Blades and dead mice are the standard combo. They only used cockroaches because I mentioned on stream that I'm scared of them. I should've said I have a phobia of diamonds and gold instead..."
Lu Sicheng didn't release her chin and said coldly, "Tears are about to fall, yet you still have so much nonsense to say."
"........................That's from the pain." Tong Yao resumed her deadpan expression while sniffling softly. "You poured half the bottle of alcohol on my hand. Do you have any idea how much that hurts?"
Lu Sicheng replied flatly, "Oh. Doesn't hurt as much as my chest."
Tong Yao: "..."Lu Sicheng fell silent, sighed, and pulled her into his embrace. At the same time, he turned to look at Xiao Rui, his expression clearly telling him to spit out whatever he had to say—the gloomy glare made the team manager’s legs go weak. Xiao Rui said, “There was also a threatening letter in that person’s package, saying they’d cause trouble during the match the day after tomorrow… I’ve already reported it to the police and notified the tournament organizers to tighten security checks recently, but I doubt it’ll do much good—what I mean is, Tong Yao’s hand is injured again. For safety’s sake, maybe she shouldn’t play against Red Arrow the day after tomorrow. It’d be a good chance for Lu Yue to get some practice too. If he only plays scrims and never competes, I’m afraid he won’t be able to keep up when it’s time for the World Championship. What do you think…”
“No.” Lu Sicheng didn’t even look up. “There’s no reason to bench her.”
Xiao Rui’s eyes widened slightly. “Safety first, and her hand is injured!”
Lu Sicheng glanced at Tong Yao, who frowned, looking hesitant. “Audience members have to go through security checks to enter the venue. They probably can’t bring in anything dangerous. Besides, most of the people who come to watch are just kids—they wouldn’t do anything extreme…”
Xiao Rui countered, “Wasn’t today extreme enough?”
Tong Yao fell silent, avoiding a direct answer—her mind was a mess, unable to properly process any of this. But for some reason, she suddenly recalled that day during the interview, when amidst the sea of dark figures in the crowd, someone had held up a cheering banner with her in-game ID high in the air…
Tong Yao sighed. “My hand probably won’t hurt by the day after tomorrow.”
Lu Sicheng looked at Xiao Rui. “Hear that?”
Xiao Rui: “What about Lu Yue…”
Lu Sicheng: “We’ll arrange for him to play later, but not now.”
Xiao Rui said nothing more. He knew Lu Sicheng was suppressing a storm of anger with nowhere to direct it and had no intention of giving the person who hurt Tong Yao the satisfaction. If they said Tong Yao shouldn’t play and she really didn’t, what kind of message would that send? Xiao Rui also knew his suggestion was hard to accept, but after careful consideration, it seemed like the most balanced solution… In the end, he could only mutter, “Think it over,” before turning and fleeing.
…
That evening, before Tong Yao could even snap out of her daze, the club issued a notice: for her safety, she would be temporarily benched for Sunday’s match against Red Arrow, with Lu Yue taking her place.
When she received the news, Tong Yao remained relatively calm, only lowering her head to glance at her injured hand with a stifled sense of frustration—what surprised her was that Lu Sicheng had the stronger reaction. At the time, he had been discussing new Jungler strategies with Old K. Upon hearing the news, he immediately stopped talking, looked up at the staff member who delivered the notice, then turned and walked out without a word.
The team headquarters’ door nearly flew off its hinges from how hard he slammed it.
Lu Sicheng left, but the oppressive atmosphere he left behind loomed over the entire base.
The staff member glanced nervously in the direction the captain had gone, then turned back, shrinking his neck slightly as he spoke cautiously to Tong Yao. “Take care not to get your wound wet. Honestly, the management is just concerned for your safety. At a time like this, there’s no need to risk your well-being just to prove a point…”"Mm," Tong Yao responded, then after a moment of thought added, "This doesn't need to be announced publicly, right? I think it's better not to say anything. First, I'm afraid others might follow suit and create a bad precedent—once that trend starts, I won't be the only one suffering. Second, I don't want the real fans to worry. If this gets out, there'll inevitably be another wave of unnecessary drama..."
"Alright, alright, we can definitely follow your lead on this."
The staff member agreed, wiping sweat from his forehead with a relieved sigh before turning to leave.
Watching his retreating figure, Tong Yao finally pulled out her phone. At the same time, she heard Old Cat behind her speaking in a particularly concerned tone: "Are you okay? Ah, this situation really sucks, but there's nothing we can do. For once, I actually understand the management's position. Don't hold it against them. If anything happened to you, a young girl, none of us would have the face to explain it to your family..."
"Mm," Tong Yao lowered her head and tapped on her phone, "What could possibly happen?"
[ZGDX、Smiling: Where'd you go? Come back.]
The WeChat message sent successfully. Tong Yao waited ten minutes with no response, then simply stood up, put on her shoes, and went to check the garage—unsurprisingly finding Lu Sicheng's car missing.
It was 9 PM.
[ZGDX、Smiling: I'm fine. It's just taking a break from one match, not a suspension. If I don't play, then I don't play... There's nothing to feel wronged about. Although a pro player's only job is to compete, the esports scene is like the entertainment industry—fans are an unavoidable byproduct. Sometimes you hate them so much you wish they'd just disappear; but other times, during low points, it's precisely those fans supporting us from places we might not even see...]
[ZGDX、Smiling: During that MVP interview, I saw someone in the audience holding up a sign cheering me on. The stage lights were so bright I couldn't even make out their face... I just remember suddenly feeling courageous enough to say what came next.]
[ZGDX、Smiling: I don't regret it now either.]
[ZGDX、Smiling: ...Never mind, I don't even know what I'm saying anymore.]
Standing in the parking lot, generously feeding mosquitoes while typing out this long message, Tong Yao put away her phone and glanced at Lu Sicheng's empty parking space before returning to team headquarters.
An hour later, around 10:30 PM.
Tong Yao took out her phone that had remained eerily silent for over an hour and called Lu Sicheng's number—it was turned off.
[ZGDX、Smiling: Curfew's coming up.]
Another hour later, around midnight, she called again—still turned off.
[ZGDX、Smiling: I'd rather not see tomorrow's headlines about a pro player driving a luxury car off Huangpu River to feed the fish. Are you coming back or not?]
Twenty more minutes passed.
[ZGDX、Smiling: I'm sleepy, but my hand hurts. Want the captain to hold me while I sleep.]After sending the WeChat message, Tong Yao stared blankly at her phone for a while before rubbing her eyes—the movement tugged at the wound on her index finger, causing a sharp sting. She let out a small "ouch" and put her hand down. She went downstairs to find a plastic bag to wrap around her hand, then took a shower. By the time she came out of the bathroom, it was past 1 a.m. She listened carefully but heard no signs of the man returning downstairs, just as there was no reply from him on her phone.
Frowning, Tong Yao went downstairs and scooped up the two cats from their cat bed, tucking them into her own blanket. Her phone rang, but it wasn’t Lu Sicheng. She answered with a "Hello?" and Jin Yang’s voice came through: "You’re not asleep, are you? How’s your hand? I just got back to Shanghai this morning after going home. Damn it, you took so long to answer—I thought you were dead!"
Her words were a bit frantic, and in the background, the gentle announcement of a plane landing reminded passengers not to turn on their mobile phones yet.
"I’m fine. Can’t the guy from the neighboring team keep his mouth shut?" Tong Yao rolled her eyes. "I was downstairs getting the cats and didn’t see my phone."
"Why’d you get the cats?"
"To sleep with me."
"..."
The other end of the line fell silent.
After a long pause, Jin Yang’s cold voice came through: "The last time you actively brought the cats to sleep with you was the night you broke up with Jian Yang. If you’re scared, just admit it. Stop pretending you’re fine. Who are you trying to fool with this 'strong act'? Think you’re the heroine of some Korean drama?"
Tong Yao: "..."
Lifting the blanket to let Da Bing and Xiao Cong burrow in, Tong Yao tucked them in, one hand stroking the cats while the other held the phone. She chatted with Jin Yang for a while longer until she was so drowsy she could barely keep her eyes open. She mumbled a goodbye and hung up before drifting off to sleep. But the night was restless—she had chaotic dreams, feeling as if she were trapped in an icy abyss, enveloped in darkness. Even under the blanket, a bone-chilling cold seemed to spread from the tip of her right index finger through her entire body.
A night of nightmares.
Just before dawn, at some point, she began to feel enveloped in warmth. The darkness and cold dissipated, and she finally settled into peace. Blinking groggily, she saw a broad chest in front of her, faintly illuminated by the pale morning light filtering through the window.
"What time is it?"
"Five-thirty."
"Just got back?"
"Yeah."
"You smoked."
"Yeah."
Tong Yao yawned and mumbled something, raising her hand to lightly smack the man’s chest before he carefully caught it and tucked it back under the blanket. The two cats she had brought into bed earlier had long been displaced, but she didn’t bother looking for them—something better than cats had taken their place.
"Sleep."
In the deep timbre of his voice, she nuzzled her nose against his chin, let out a contented sigh, and closed her eyes. After a night of unease, she had finally found peace.
...
Sunday.
China Telecom Team versus Red Arrow Team.
China Telecom’s starting Mid Laner, Smiling, was absent due to unforeseen circumstances, with substitute Mid Laner Lv stepping in. The two matches, including breaks, lasted only an hour and twenty minutes. China Telecom secured a 2:0 victory.After the match, the players of Red Arrow still looked a bit dazed—not just them, even the audience at the scene today seemed unable to process what had happened: Throughout both games, Lu Sicheng didn’t utter a single word. The shot-calling was led by Old K with support from the other teammates, while Lu Sicheng’s role was simply to dominate explosively, steadily controlling the tempo of the game from start to finish.
In this supposedly ADC-unfriendly meta, Lu Sicheng secured MVP for both matches, taking the audience back to the S2 era in just an hour and twenty minutes—as if overnight, the game had returned to the age where ADCs dictated the flow of battle.
“He was way too aggressive.”
“Played so fiercely. For some reason, it felt like Cheng Ge was out for blood today.”
“I think he was playing with emotions. There were a few plays where he went in even when it wasn’t the safest call, but he just brute-forced teamfights with sheer mechanics.”
“Yeah… like… he was angry? But why?”
As the MVP of the second game was displayed on the big screen, the crowd looked up at Lu Sicheng’s strikingly handsome yet icy expression, lost in speculation. But what they didn’t expect was that an even bigger surprise awaited them—
After the match, there was no MVP interview because Lu Sicheng himself had declined the invitation.
The scene was left with an awkward host, clueless commentators who had no idea how to salvage the situation, and a thoroughly bewildered audience.
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