After the three LPL teams last year suffered crushing defeats in the quarterfinals and group stages, ZGDX Team finally brought immense pride to the LPL region—on October 30th, they would face G4 in Los Angeles for a world-class showdown!
And before that, right now, major domestic media platforms were celebrating as if it were New Year’s Eve!
[How many years has it been? LPL finally advances to the S6 finals—I’ve said this phrase so much it’s worn out, but let me say it again: this is LPL’s most promising year!]
[HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA finals against G4, unbelievable. Since the S-series began, isn’t this the first time the LCK region got completely wiped out in the semifinals? Just for this, I’ll stan the Operator Team for life!!!]
[Honestly, this should be the most hard-earned finals spot ever—first taking down OP, then crushing TAT. I feel like I’ve already watched the finals twice…]
[For real, the moment they destroyed the enemy base and I saw Tong Yao rush into Lu Sicheng’s arms, I cried too—half from excitement, the other half because at 19, she’s standing at the pinnacle of the world fighting for glory while still finding time to show off her love for her teammate. Meanwhile, at 19, I could only silently eat dog food in front of my iPad.]
[……………………Has anyone checked the Korean forums? I wanna see what their mood is like right now HAHAHAHAHA!]
[I was there live—the atmosphere was absolutely electric. When they took down the base, everyone on our side jumped to their feet. I was so moved I cried. Now my friends and I are planning to buy a huge, massive national flag: Screw the argument that the Professional League is just a Club League and doesn’t represent the country—this is an All-Chinese Team!!!!]
...
And so on.
On the way back to the hotel, Tong Yao browsed through the jubilant posts on the Forum and couldn’t stop grinning—ever since the World Championship began, the LPL had been cursed, always narrowly missing the championship. Six years, a full six years, and the label of "eternal runner-up" stuck to them like glue… The LPL desperately needed an S-series championship to prove itself!
And this time, the finals were against G4, a non-LCK team—honestly, after taking down the two strongest LCK teams one after another, ZGDX’s march toward the championship was practically unstoppable!
“China Telecom’s colors are blue and white. Ah, a blue-and-white Cape for Leblanc’s Championship Skin would look so good, HAHAHAHA, perfect—I’ll pick Leblanc for the skin…” In the back row of the van, the girl lounged lazily in her man’s arms—he had one arm wrapped around her while the other held his phone, reviewing the match replay with headphones on… The only moment he had shown clear excitement was when they destroyed TAT’s base—Tong Yao could still feel how tightly he had held her when she threw herself at him, his arms nearly crushing her waist. But then, just as quickly, he had reverted to his usual calm, unreadable self.On the way back, everyone on the team was bouncing with excitement—except for Captain Lu Sicheng, who sat there unmoved no matter how Tong Yao tried to provoke him, calmly watching videos. At first, Tong Yao herself was too busy scrolling through the forum, reading all the praise for her performance, to pay him any attention. She had no idea what he was watching so seriously... until she stumbled upon this post while browsing:
"Seriously, did you guys only watch the official broadcast of the match? Then you missed out on a real drama. Yang Shen was live-streaming his commentary on the match… Is there anything more thrilling than commentating on your ex-girlfriend’s game? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I wonder if anyone recorded it!!!"
Tong Yao: "..."
The smug grin on her face froze instantly. With a sudden jolt, she sat up and, as if struck by a realization, grabbed Lu Sicheng’s arm to peek at his phone—sure enough, the video playing had a small camera feed in the bottom right corner, showing a figure sitting steadily in CK’s team jersey.
Tong Yao: "……………………………………"
Lu Sicheng was watching Jian Yang’s commentary on their do-or-die match.
At that moment, the video reached the 20-minute mark—the crucial team fight near Baron that had turned the game into a grueling endurance battle. Tong Yao remembered that in this fight, she had positioned herself too aggressively, getting taken out along with Braum before dealing much damage. She blinked, then yanked out Lu Sicheng’s earbuds.
Lu Sicheng hissed and immediately pressed her head against his chest with one large hand. At the same time, Tong Yao heard her ex-boyfriend’s voice blaring from the now-unplugged earbuds—
Jian Yang: "Honestly, Tong Yao’s positioning was way too forward here. Getting picked off without dealing any damage is a waste of all those kills and assists she had. Basically, she just handed the Meme team a free win…"
Tong Yao jerked her head up from Lu Sicheng’s chest. "What did he just say?!"
Lu Sicheng patted her Dog Head. "Weren’t you too far forward?"
Tong Yao: "He said I handed the Meme team a free win !"
Lu Sicheng scoffed. "Wasn’t it you and Little Fatty who handed them a free win?"
Little Fatty: "If you two are gonna fight, keep it between yourselves. Don’t drag innocent bystanders into it… As Braum, am I supposed to stand in the back behind the AD and just throw an ult before running away?"
Lu Sicheng lazily glanced at Little Fatty, then reached for the earbuds in Tong Yao’s hand. She stretched her arm out to keep them away—though hers wasn’t nearly as long as his. After a brief tussle, they both collapsed onto the backseat. Lu Sicheng pinned her waist with one hand. "Give me the earbuds."
His voice was deep and magnetic, his breath brushing against her lips. Tong Yao tilted her head up and kissed his slightly cool mouth, then stuffed the earbuds into her own pocket. "No."
Lu Sicheng froze, staring at her for a moment before saying sternly, "This is a public place. What kind of hooligan behavior is this?"
Tong Yao jutted her chin toward the phone in his other hand. "Let’s watch together."Lu Sicheng sat up, his large hand resting on Tong Yao's waist pulling her up along with him—returning them to their original position of leaning against each other, which drew teasing from Little Fatty: "It's over thirty degrees outside, are you two that cold to be clinging so tightly?"
Without looking up, Lu Sicheng replied, "You can go hug Lu Yue instead."
Lu Yue was engrossed in his mobile game and also didn't look up: "Ugly. Rejected."
As the men spoke, Tong Yao adjusted his arm, and the two watched Jian Yang commentate their recent match as a form of review—professional players' commentary was undoubtedly far more insightful than regular casters. Ordinary commentators could at most describe what someone did in a teamfight or predict their next moves in the coming minutes... But once a pro player took the commentator's seat, they brought an incredible macro perspective—just like Tong Yao had done while sitting in the audience during the Spring Split finals: often, they could predict the next twenty minutes or even the entire game's flow based on a single ward placement.
Jian Yang was a jungler, and his grasp of macro play surpassed that of other roles—so while watching the video, Tong Yao and Lu Sicheng occasionally engaged in discussions about his analysis... This harmonious review continued until the final teamfight, one already hailed by the spectator masses across major regions as a top-three teamplay of the year even before Worlds concluded—when Tong Yao's Twisted Fate drew a Red Card, precisely threading through the narrowest gap in the enemy frontline to burst TAT's AD Carry. Jian Yang shouted "Nice!" and marveled: [This Red Card was absolutely crucial. To weave through such a crowded frontline and hit the AD—either Tong Yao's prediction skills are god-tier, or Lady Luck smiled on her, aka pure dumb luck.]
Hearing this, Lu Sicheng chuckled. Tong Yao smacked the phone screen: "Damn, is it so hard to admit I'm just that good?"
No sooner had she spoken than the video showed Lu Sicheng's near-death Twitch retreating, while Tong Yao stepped forward to secure a double kill and complete the cleanup—the live cheers from the venue resonated even through the recording. As Tong Yao parted her lips to say something, Jian Yang remarked: [This Twisted Fate is insane... Tomorrow, I'm gonna force our Mid Laner to practice TF—]
In the video, ZGDX pushed straight to the enemy base.
The moment TAT's headquarters exploded, the broadcast cut to a side-angle shot of their five players, just in time to capture Tong Yao tossing her headphones and leaping into Lu Sicheng's arms... The camera clearly captured her radiant smile and, as she tilted her head up to grin at Lu Sicheng, her dark pupils shimmering like stars under the stage lights... Jian Yang paused, then laughed along happily.
Instantly, live comments exploded—
[66666666666666]
[Right in the feels, bro.]
[My heart aches]
[……………………Maybe don't laugh, your smile hurts me too, man.]
[What's it like when your ex-girlfriend is better at gaming than you? @Yang Shen, the day you went pro, you never imagined you'd one day sit lonely in the team headquarters commentating your ex's S-series semifinal...]The last live comment must have been seen by Jian Yang. He first said, ["Congratulations to ZGDX, congratulations to LPL,"] then fell silent for a few seconds before continuing calmly: ["Honestly, I never expected it—her and me, well, that summer vacation, I taught her how to play League of Legends. We spent the whole summer playing ranked matches together, me as the Jungler and her as the Mid Laner... Yeah, she was Mid from the very beginning. With me, the God-tier Jungler from Rank 1, backing her up, which lane couldn’t she dominate?"]
Tong Yao: "..."
Jian Yang’s voice was calm, and there was even a faint smile on his lips—
It wasn’t forced at all.
After all this time, it wasn’t just Tong Yao who had grown up.
["Later, when summer ended, I got an offer to go pro with Team CK—I was so excited back then, didn’t think much about it... I still remember that day, right before summer break ended, she ran over all excited to ask if I’d finished my homework."] As if recalling something, Jian Yang’s smile deepened. He closed the match replay and leaned back in his chair. ["I told her I hadn’t done my homework because I was going pro... She looked at me like I was insane, completely dumbfounded, hahahahaha... No, there’s nothing I can’t say—it’s all in the past now. We’re both pro players now, and honestly? I’m kinda proud. Without me, where would you have the world’s best Mid Laner, Smiling? Or the Twisted Fate duo stars of LPL?"]
Faced with a flood of live comments like ["My heart hurts"], ["I’m gonna cry"], ["Damn, this is too sad, I can’t listen to this kind of story"], Jian Yang chuckled helplessly—["Seeing her shine on the international stage makes me happy too, sincerely. LPL really needed a world champion,"] he said lightly. ["Though if you’d told me a year ago that it’d be Tong Yao who fulfilled LPL’s dream, I’d have never believed it—"]
Jian Yang: ["Do I regret teaching her League?"]
Jian Yang: ["Of course not."]
Jian Yang: ["Sure, Cheng Ge got lucky, but hey—it’s Cheng Ge. If I were a girl, I’d like him too, no question... Really, really, I’m happy for them. Sure, I’m a little jealous—you know, ‘teach your apprentice too well, and they’ll surpass you.’ The apprentice’s off winning championships while the master gets knocked out in quarterfinals, goddammit... But mostly, I’m happy for them!"]
Finally, Jian Yang waved with a smile, said goodbye to everyone, and closed the video.
The recording ended there. Lu Sicheng exited the match replay and glanced at the title, which cheekily read ["The Most Heart-Wrenching Commentary in LPL History"]. Lu Sicheng: "..."
At that moment, Tong Yao was curled up in Lu Sicheng’s arms, unmoving. He patted her shoulder and looked down at her, noticing her slightly reddened eyes. He pressed his rough thumb against the corner of her eye. "Touched?"
"Very," Tong Yao replied hoarsely. "Feels like watching my son grow up."
"……………………" The hand at her eye paused, then the man laughed and pulled her tighter into his embrace.
"What’s so funny?" Tong Yao looked up at him.
"Poor Yang Shen. Gave such a heartfelt speech, only to get the ‘son card’ in return."
"..."Tong Yao rolled her eyes dramatically, and Lu Sicheng patted her head. "Do your best in the finals. Avenge CK and YQCB."
Tong Yao nodded, wrapping her arms around the man's waist and burying her face in his chest as she took a deep breath. The familiar scent filled her senses—at this moment, her heart was unprecedentedly calm, yet brimming with passion. She felt wholly complete, filled with an unwavering determination and longing to win the upcoming finals.
Author's note: Here we go, here we go! A rare slice-of-life moment!
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