Last night after the interview, when Lu Sicheng returned to the players' lounge, he noticed the person waiting at the door to greet him had a sparkle in her eyes. As he approached, she fluttered like a little bird and crashed into his embrace, wrapping her arms around his waist and looking up at him with a dreamy smile. "I've never cooked for you before," she said.
"Yeah," Lu Sicheng nodded. "The only time we ever used the stove was when I cooked for you, remember?"
She did. That time he had a fever, and she had period cramps. They were the only two left at the team headquarters. She had wanted to make congee, but he, half-dead, struggled out of bed and snatched the pot from her hands... Even though it was just congee, Tong Yao remembered it clearly—because afterward, no matter how much she pestered him to make it again, his responses were either "make it yourself" or "order takeout"... Until she finally realized that his gentlemanly charm, the kind that made a girl's heart flutter, was just a fleeting moment—something to cherish if you ever got to see it once in a lifetime.
Tong Yao: "You were so good to me back then."
Lu Sicheng: "Am I not good to you now? How many MVP interviews have I done this season? Either praising how amazing you are or outright confessing my feelings for you. My whole life revolves around you—you're everywhere."
Tong Yao: "..."
After a brief silence, Lu Sicheng felt the arms around his waist tighten slightly. "Lu Sicheng," she murmured, "even if I searched with a lantern, I wouldn’t find anyone better than you."
If the sun rose from the west, his little girl would still manage to spout sweet nothings.
Teachability at its finest.
Lu Sicheng maintained his composure, patting her head while thinking, If you dare look, I’ll have the guts to burn down every lantern factory in Yiwu.
But saying that out loud would sound a bit childish, so he chose to keep quiet. Instead, he dragged the clingy burden attached to his waist back to the lounge to regroup with the team before boarding the van back to headquarters. Everyone seemed to be in high spirits—Little Fatty was humming, Lu Yue was replaying his highlights and arguing with Ming Shen about how the first game’s MVP should’ve been him, not his brother. Old K was wrapping Old Cat’s wrist with bandages, Old Cat complaining, "Be gentle," and Old K retorting, "Stop being so dramatic..."
Today’s match wasn’t against a particularly strong opponent, but first, they had won, and second, their recent scrims had finally paid off. During the first round of the Group Stage, they had occasionally been caught off guard by Storm’s unexpected ganks and had struggled with their astonishing rotation speed and decision-making. But today was different—not only had they won smoothly, but they had done so in style.
Naturally, everyone was happy.
That evening, they ordered takeout and gathered around the table to eat. Xiao Ruo told the first team that the second team had a good chance of advancing to the LPL this year, which lifted everyone’s mood even higher. After dinner, they happily dispersed to train. Tong Yao hadn’t been playing in matches recently, so the club had strict requirements for her Ranked Games playtime and scrim participation. As a result, her hours spent sitting in front of the computer watching British, American, or Thai dramas had drastically decreased. Now, the moment she turned on her computer, it was all gaming—until she shut it down to sleep.
Lu Yue: "After all, the water dispenser isn’t that fun to watch, substitute player ."
Tong Yao: "Shut up. I’m the hidden ace they’re saving for later!"
Lu Yue: " Substitute player ."Tong Yao: "It's the ace!"
The captain of the China Telecom Team kept his eyes fixed on the computer screen, but that didn't stop him from being annoyed by the meaningless and trivial conversation next to him. With a deadpan expression, he asked, "When exactly are you two planning to graduate from kindergarten?"
Without missing a beat, Tong Yao replied, "Never, because in your eyes, I'll always be a baby."
The sound of Lu Sicheng clicking his mouse suddenly stopped. He slowly turned his head and gave her a meaningful glance, his eyes faintly smiling... Tong Yao's face flushed slightly under his gaze, and she stiffened her neck, protesting, "What? What? What?"
"Nothing," the man withdrew his gaze, the corners of his lips curling slightly. "I'm live streaming."
"..."
Opening Lu Sicheng's live stream, she was greeted by a flood of live comments like "66666," "Damn it, this is a porn stream, I'm reporting it," "We get it, you're still together, next couple please," "I just want to watch gameplay, not a K-drama intermission," and "I'm gonna puke"... Tong Yao closed his stream. For the next hour, she adhered to her self-imposed default mode of "If Lu Sicheng is streaming, I must be as quiet as a chicken." After quietly and obediently playing a game, she thought, since I have to pretend to be mute anyway, why not stream myself to pass the time? With that in mind, she turned on her own stream—
Tong Yao's stream naturally didn't have the same popularity as Lu Sicheng's, but there were still plenty of people who came to join the fun... Especially since she hadn't been playing as the starting lineup in recent matches, the number of trolls in her chat had drastically decreased. Most of the live comments were asking when she'd return to the matches, expressing admiration and calling her the pride of female gamers, urging her not to give up. Today, there were some additional comments—
[Is your hand seriously injured?]
"Not serious, it's almost healed," Tong Yao raised her bandaged hand to the camera and wiggled her fingers. "See? I can bend it freely now. It's just bandaged to prevent infection from water..."
[Wifeyyyyyyyy, why are you cooking for that guy next door who has perfectly good hands and feet? Let him starve or order takeout!]
[qaq OMG, is it true you'll be back for the Playoffs?]
[No matter what, we'll be waiting for you on the battlefield. Your cheering banner will always be lit for you!]
Tong Yao was easily moved to tears. It had to be said that while the esports community had its share of crazies and trolls, the overwhelming positivity from the little angels who showed up to support the players could dispel most of the darkness... Tong Yao often read comments and private messages on Weibo. Even if they were just different people repeating the same phrases like "Keep it up" or "You played well this round," she could happily bask in them for half a day. When her teammates asked if she ever got tired of seeing the same words, she genuinely didn't.
Of course, simply taking them as words of encouragement would be boring.
But if she added a little more drama to it, seriously imagining one by one what kind of emotions her little fans had when typing out "Keep it up," she could effortlessly feel joy, as if she'd received an abundance of blessings..."What should I pick this game? Aurelion Sol? I'm better with Aurelion Sol than Lu Yue, what was that thing he played... I heard during today's Ban & Pick he resisted so hard when they made him pick Aurelion Sol, might even make it into next week's Tournament Quotes—you don't believe I can play Aurelion Sol? Fine, I know this is reverse psychology but I'll humor you just this once. Locked in, Aurelion Sol. If I carry, remember to apologize to me."
Switching screens to see the flood of "6666" and rapidly scrolling small gifts, Tong Yao smiled—
She was truly glad she hadn't dismissed Xiao Rui's late-night professional gaming invitation as a scam half a year ago, and deeply grateful to her mother who had practically forced her at knifepoint to come to Shanghai... Over these six months, she had experienced so many things she'd never dared imagine or felt before.
Surprise outweighed disappointment.
Joy surpassed sorrow.
Growth outpaced weakness.
Gains exceeded waste.
Just as she'd said in that MVP interview: She had no regrets.
Never regretted stepping into this world.
...
August 7, 2016.
With CK Team's victory over Great Qing Team in their final BO3 match, the group stage of the 2016 League of Legends Pro League Summer Split officially concluded.
ZGDX Team advanced to the Playoffs as Group A's top seed with only one loss. According to this year's format, the top-seeded team would directly qualify for the Playoffs semifinals.
The Chinese region still had three slots for the S6 World Championship: one for the Summer Split champion, another for the team with the highest year-round total points (calculated by combining Spring and Summer Split rankings), and the final slot determined through the Gauntlet among top-point teams—
A year of hard work, all for one S6 World Championship ticket.
The eight LPL Playoff teams sharpened their claws, preparing to unleash their true strength, just like Champion Ezreal's iconic line: "Time to show them what I've got!"
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