Thursday was the match against Team Storm.
Team Storm was that veteran All-Chinese Team—even their newest member had played with the squad for two and a half seasons. Their exceptionally high execution ability was their defining trait, firmly anchoring them in the LPL. Team Storm's execution was always a hot topic, though due to the players' limited individual skills, their results were mediocre at best, placing them in the lower-middle tier of the professional league. Yet, thanks to their cohesion and low error rate, they often caused upsets against top-tier teams.
Many analysts spoke highly of this team: they were like the LPL's quality inspectors. No matter how strong a team was, their current form would be laid bare after a match against Storm—sometimes, flaws that weren't visible in other matches would suddenly be exposed. Some teams truly fell apart against Storm, revealing their reliance on early-game lane dominance and individual carry potential to brute-force victories.
Commentator B: [Hahahaha! In the first round of the Group Stage, the Operator Team crushed Storm purely through lane dominance and hard-carrying their dual carries. Guess what—will they do the same today?]
Commentator A: [That won't cut it. The LPL Summer Split is nearing its end, and S6 is right around the corner. When you face the Korean meme teams, the Korean operator teams, or RP Gaming—all squads with god-tier individual players—do you really think you can still rely on lane dominance to steamroll them? That's just unrealistic... Let's be honest, everyone knows the Operator Team is definitely going to S6 this year...]
Commentator B: [Pffft—hahaha!]
Commentator A: [What's so funny?!]
Commentator B: [Just laughing at how you're such a diehard Operator Team fanboy.]
Commentator A: [No, I mean—am I wrong? Fans in the audience, tell me—is there anything wrong with saying the Operator Team will absolutely claim one of the three S6 slots?]
The crowd erupted in laughter and roared in unison: "No problem at all!"
Commentator A: [See? No problem. Since there's no problem, I'll continue. As one of the teams definitely competing in this year's World Championship, the Operator Team can't afford to focus solely on winning a single Group Stage match anymore. They seriously need to start thinking about Worlds. This year, it's not just the Korean region—I've heard the competition in the Taiwanese league is fierce too...]
Commentator B: [Didn't you text me earlier saying the Operator Team was revamping their strategies? Checking today's starting lineup—well, no need, since the players are already seated—we can see Lv Xuan Shou is replacing Smiling again. Does this mean Lv is a key component of their new tactical system?]
Commentator A shot a glance at Commentator B: [China Telecom's mid lane has always operated on a rotation system. With Ming Shen retiring this season, Smiling, as a rookie, needed experience and held the starting spot for most of the split. If you keep stirring up media drama, I'm throwing you off the commentary desk...]Commentator B and the audience below chuckled together, and the matter of China Telecom's starting Mid Laner today still being Lu Xuan Shou was brushed over lightly—
Sitting backstage, Tong Yao let out a sigh of relief.
This time, since she didn’t have to worry about personal safety, Tong Yao had come to the match venue with the team. From the moment they arrived in the lounge until the match began, she had been sitting there, anxious—before the match, the official Weibo comments were flooded with questions about whether she would play today, and the number of people holding her cheering banners had noticeably increased. It seemed like everyone truly believed the rumors that she had offended the management and been benched, sparking a wave of resentment toward China Telecom’s management… Tong Yao was afraid this negative sentiment would spill over onto Lu Yue. Though Lu Yue was annoying, he was still her brother-in-law, and she didn’t want him to relive the same ordeal she had gone through.
So when the starting lineup was announced earlier, Tong Yao couldn’t help but feel nervous. Fortunately, the two commentators were seasoned and knew how to handle it, casually laughing it off.
Now that the match had begun and entered the Ban & Pick phase, ever since Lu Yue’s standout performance with Twisted Fate during Tong Yao’s suspension, Twisted Fate had been an automatic ban in every match he played. Not that it mattered—China Telecom had no intention of using Twisted Fate in the LPL again to give opponents material to study. They only brought it out during internal scrims between the first and second teams of the Operator Team. As the commentators had said, China Telecom was indeed already preparing for the World Championship.
The Ban & Pick phase concluded, and it was clear that the champions China Telecom had picked this time had shifted from their previous preference for lane-dominant early-game champions to ones with better skill synergy, like Kennen and Aurelion Sol—a combination focused on large-area crowd control and AoE damage…
Three minutes into the match, Tong Yao sat cross-legged on the sofa, watching intently. Ming Shen pushed the door open and walked in. Without taking her eyes off the screen, Tong Yao half-turned and waved at him haphazardly. “They actually let Lu Yue pick Aurelion Sol.”
Ming sat down beside her. “Had to force him to pick it. He acted like we were killing him… This hero spoon—if he had even half your champion pool, I’d wake up laughing in my dreams.”
Tong Yao: “He calls it ‘less but refined.’”
Ming: “Bullshit. By S6, if the enemy bans Azir, Twisted Fate, and Ekko against us, it’s basically like banning our Mid Laner outright. Then it’s four versus five—how is that acceptable?”
Just then, the screen cut to Lu Yue’s face, which was full of tension and displeasure. Tong Yao hugged her arms and giggled foolishly…
In today’s match, Lu Sicheng was completely different from his silent demeanor during the last match against Red Arrow. He talked nonstop, constantly directing the team… Playing Sivir, he wasn’t aggressive in lane at all, just farming like crazy, not missing a single minion, steady as a rock—occasionally even stealing a couple of Old K’s jungle camps, thoroughly enjoying himself… When the enemy tried to gank him, he slipped away like a loach, leaving them frustrated and helpless.
The commentators were amazed, exclaiming repeatedly: “Today’s Cheng Ge is the commanding Cheng Ge!”The commentators weren't wrong—Lu Sicheng's shot-calling today showed remarkable improvement compared to before. Faced with Storm's incredibly high execution speed and rotations, he didn't flinch at all. China Telecom never appeared passive, handling everything with composure from start to finish...
Summoner's Rift was like a sand table he could oversee from above. Standing beside it, the man had eyes and ears everywhere. The entire team of five and all jungle resources were like models under his command, deployed with effortless ease...
It was as if Lu Sicheng was single-handedly controlling all five accounts of his team.
By the twentieth minute of the match, after flawlessly escaping three consecutive perfect ambushes by Storm, commentator A nearly jumped onto his chair in excitement: ["Unbelievable!!!! I really feel like I'm dreaming!!!! That mid-lane ambush just now was executed perfectly by Storm—truly impeccable—but China Telecom did even better! Three ambushes perfectly countered—I refuse to believe this is coincidence!!! It can't be coincidence!!"]
Commentator B was equally exhilarated: ["Well done, well done. Today's China Telecom... wow, they really brought something new to the table! Alright, alright, maybe you should tone it down a bit and save some tricks for the World Championship?"]
The audience, swept up in the commentators' energy, burst into laughter. By the time the first match ended, the live stream was flooded with "666" Live Comments, the screen nearly obscured by the white barrage. All of China Telecom's fans felt their hearts finally settling into a place of reassurance...
The second match began, with China Telecom maintaining the same steadiness, decisive shot-calling, and flawless execution as the first. Throughout the game, fans in the front row could clearly hear Lu Sicheng's voice. And almost the moment his words fell—ignoring the built-in game delay—the corresponding teammates would execute his commands on screen...
As the match entered the late game, China Telecom launched a suffocatingly fast-paced counterattack, reminiscent of their former dominance over the LPL as a top-tier team!
When they secured victory before anyone could react, the entire venue erupted in thunderous applause. Fans on China Telecom's side leaped to their feet, their chants of "Go China Telecom!" filling the arena.
The atmosphere was electric. After the match, as the team stood up, every member of China Telecom looked visibly relieved—
"Great, just great. Now there'll be even more comments saying Lu Yue played so well that I don't need to come back," Tong Yao teased, hugging her knees with a grin.
Ming Shen took a sip of water, exhaling deeply before patting her head. "He's still green."
...
Lu Sicheng was awarded MVP for both matches. It seemed the officials were determined to interview him after he'd skipped out once before. This time, perhaps in high spirits, Lu Sicheng didn't storm off but gladly accepted the interview.Host: [Congratulations to China Telecom Team for securing another victory today. We finally have the long-awaited Chessman, Cheng Ge, joining us on the interview stage!]
Lu Sicheng took the microphone from the staff and greeted the audience.
Host: [Today's match was incredibly thrilling. We witnessed many things we didn’t expect to see from China Telecom Team. There are rumors that this is related to the team's recent slump. Cheng Ge, is this true?]
Lu Sicheng: "I wouldn’t call it a slump. There have been some tactical adjustments within the team recently, and the players needed time to adapt."
Host: [So it seems it’s true.]
Lu Sicheng: "Maybe. I’m not entirely sure either."
Host: [Alright, it seems Cheng Ge’s answers today can reassure most of our China Telecom fans… Now, let’s move on to another question everyone’s curious about—ahem. During recent matches, we’ve seen Lu Xuan Shou as the starting player for China Telecom. Is this also part of the tactical adjustments?]
Lu Sicheng fell silent.
Tong Yao stared at the TV screen, focusing on the host’s meticulously made-up face and the audience’s widened eyes. Expressionlessly, she mentally translated the host’s question into simpler terms: Where’s Smiling? Has Smiling been benched? Is Smiling done for?
Tong Yao shifted her sitting position slightly, tilting her chin up. Just as she settled in to hear how Lu Sicheng would answer this question—which would determine whether he slept in her bed or the cat’s crate tonight—the man replied calmly, "For the World Championship, our team will implement a Mid Laner rotation. Recently, we’ve been giving Lu Yue some practice. As for Smiling’s absence in the last few matches, it’s because of a hand injury."
Tong Yao froze in front of the TV.
The fans below the interview stage erupted in chaos. Even through the audio feed, Tong Yao could hear the collective gasp of concern.
The host was equally stunned: [An injury?]
Lu Sicheng: "Yes, but it’s nothing serious. Just cut her hand while cooking for me."
The audience: "…"
Tong Yao: "…"
Before the host could fully process the implications of Lu Sicheng’s words, he continued on his own, "Since we’re on the topic, I’ve heard some unfounded rumors online recently. First, even as the captain and a partial investor, I don’t have the authority to decide whether a player gets benched. Second, if we were to bench anyone, it wouldn’t be Smiling—clearly, Lu Xuan Shou, who nearly argued with our Data Analyst today over being forced to play Aurelion Sol despite his limited champion pool, would be the better candidate to be stuffed into the freezer. Lastly, I appreciate everyone’s concern about my personal life. All I can say is that, for now, I’m very satisfied—progress in that area is slightly smoother than the team’s improvement. Mainly because she couldn’t find anyone better than me even with a lantern, and neither can I."
The audience: "…"
Tong Yao: "…"
Lu Sicheng handed the microphone back to the dumbfounded host, pushed himself up from the chair with his long legs, and walked off without another glance.………………It was clear that he had taken this seat today just to say those final words—once he found the opportunity to speak them, the interview could end.
Not surprising.
After all, this was the Chessman people imagined.
A man who remained willful no matter his age.
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