In the afternoon scrims against Huawei Team, Tong Yao indeed vented her anger on the opposing Mid Laner as Lu Sicheng had advised. Playing as Brand, she aggressively traded blows within the first three minutes, ultimately securing a solo kill with a sliver of health left, claiming First Blood!
The enemy Mid Laner typed in all chat: 【qaq sis is so fierce, super scared.】
Their own support replied in all chat: 【Don’t be scared, there’s still time to kneel.】
Ming Shen smacked Little Fatty on the head with a notebook: “Got time to type? Too free, huh? Want to tab out and scroll through Weibo too?”
Thirty-eight minutes in.
After establishing a significant advantage, the restless troublemakers of ZGDX started scheming. The AD, support, and jungler attempted to sneak the Baron, only to be caught mid-fight and surrounded by all five enemies—Lu Sicheng was the first to fall, but not before taking down the enemy AD. Little Fatty followed shortly after, dying in a tragic romance… Old K retreated while cursing: “I told you not to sneak it, but Little Fatty insisted! If we get reverse swept, it’s on you!”
Little Fatty, staring at his gray screen waiting to respawn, patted his belly: “Stay positive.”
Meanwhile, the four remaining low-health members of Huawei Team took over the Baron pit, swiftly finishing off the Baron at one-third health, thinking they had a chance to turn the tide—until suddenly, a red name flashed by. Pillars of fire erupted from the ground, fireballs rained from the sky, and the four freshly Baron-buffed Huawei members’ screens went black!
The top-right of the screen displayed Tong Yao’s Brand icon, followed by a rapid succession of enemy champion kill notifications. System announcements lit up the center of the screen—
Double kill!
Triple kill!
Quadra kill!
With all five Huawei Team members’ portraits grayed out, their last hope for a comeback was effectively crushed…
“Amazing! Just amazing!”
“This Brand is insane!”
“She actually dared to dive into the Baron pit… Talk about ‘newborn calves aren’t afraid of tigers’…”
Back at the team headquarters, Little Fatty sighed and clapped, while Old K looked dazed. Ming Shen, standing behind Tong Yao’s chair, paused before remarking on how deep her champion pool was—she could play anything convincingly.
Just then, Tong Yao calmly stole the enemy’s Blue Buff, only to hear Lu Sicheng mutter beside her: “Reckless.”
“I thought it was doable,” Tong Yao said. “They blew all their cooldowns killing you guys. After securing Baron, they were relaxed—perfect timing to strike.”
“Too risky.”
“Because I’m still young.” Tong Yao shot Lu Sicheng a glance.
Xiao Rui chimed in from behind: “Come on, Cheng Ge, confidence is good. Being timid is what’s annoying. I think Tong Yao’s style is great—see a chance, take it!”
Lu Sicheng shifted in his seat and dropped a final remark—“You’re all spoiling her”—before falling silent. The rest of the team, fired up by Tong Yao’s bold play, respawned and stormed Huawei Team’s High Ground, overwhelming them until they lost the match—
Another win!Tong Yao released her mouse and flexed her wrist, her mood that had been affected by the morning gossip finally brightening somewhat... Huawei Team was considered a mid-tier team in the LPL, likely making it to the second round of the Spring Playoffs this season. Beating them wasn’t an easy feat.
Winning two consecutive scrims in a short period, both with standout performances, could help silence those who claimed she was just parachuted into the team—Tong Yao knew that when news of her joining the pro scene got out, many had voiced skepticism. Some even insisted ZGDX’s move was purely for publicity...
And now, with the rumors about her and Lu Sicheng, some had doubled down on that belief—
[What’s a girl doing playing professionally?]
[Just go be a pretty face in the women’s team, alright?]
[This is a man’s game. Girls shouldn’t meddle in it. Some fangirls already make the scene toxic enough—if girls start playing professionally, won’t even the fundamentals rot from the roots?]
[Don’t drag ZGDX down in their S6 run.]
And so on.
Plenty of nasty comments.
They were infuriating to read, and there were also many who argued back or tried to reason with them... But Tong Yao knew changing these people’s minds would be hard. The only way was to prove them wrong with real results.
“...”
Tong Yao stretched her fingers, sore from the intense focus earlier, and glanced beside her. Lu Sicheng was comparing post-game stats with Ming Shen, analyzing their damage output and other metrics... Sensing her gaze, the man paused his conversation unhurriedly and turned to look at her...
A brief silence.
“Good game.”
“Mhm, hehe.”
The girl’s usually slow expression broke into a grin, her eyes curving into crescents.
By evening.
Just as Tong Yao had expected—though she didn’t know who leaked it—details of their scrim against Huawei Team had made their way online. The situation was exaggerated into something like: “Smiling single-handedly turned the tide, stabilizing the game when the team’s misplays nearly led to a reverse sweep.”
A wave of drama in the morning, another at night—so when Tong Yao started her stream that evening, her viewer count hit a new peak.
Half were asking about her, Jian Yang, and Lu Sicheng; the other half wanted to know if she’d really carried the scrim earlier.
Tong Yao: “Jian Yang is my ex from school. We broke up—why? Young people break up over the smallest things, what’s there to explain? Where is he now? In China, in Shanghai, at CK Team’s headquarters, and in my blacklist.”
After streaming for several days straight, Tong Yao had turned into a seasoned veteran, effortlessly playing while chatting with the live comments. When she said “in my blacklist,” she caught Lu Sicheng glancing at her out of the corner of her eye, his lips quirking as if silently mouthing: Childish.
Tong Yao: “...”Tong Yao: "As for this afternoon's scrims, we were actually at a big advantage. I recalled right under the enemy mid laner's nose to swap items, while Cheng Ge, Little Fatty, and Old K grouped up top to push the turret. After taking it down, Cheng Ge had a sudden inspiration and said: 'How about we sneak the Baron?'"
Lu Sicheng: "????"
Tong Yao: "So off they went to do this sneaky business—turns out such things are best avoided. Under the harsh sunlight, everything is revealed. The Huawei Team's vision caught them red-handed—five enemies swarmed them instantly with the Baron spewing damage everywhere. Surviving was impossible... It wasn't me carrying, really wasn't. Maybe the enemy's desire to kill them was too strong, burning too many abilities, so I just cleaned up the fight."
At this moment, everyone watching Tong Yao's stream saw a large hand reach into her camera frame and yank her headphones down—
"Who wanted to sneak the Baron? Say that again if you dare."
Live comments immediately flooded with—
"666666666", "The Team Tyrant's wrath", "Domineering Cheng Ge falls for me", "What's really going on between you two", "Why aren't you avoiding suspicion", "Just stream properly, why feed us dog food out of nowhere"...
Tong Yao snatched her headphones back, adjusted them properly, then said lightly: "No need to avoid suspicion, because there's nothing to avoid—don't overthink it. Holding hands while shopping? Never happened. The only time Cheng Ge and I appeared together on the street was when I first joined the team, got lost, and he was assigned to take me to buy slippers. What hand-holding? What shopping?"
Lu Sicheng: "Besides, I'm not a pedophile."
Tong Yao: "Right, plus he's not a pedo—wait, what did you say?"
Beside her, Lu Sicheng expressionlessly put on his headphones and turned his computer volume to maximum.
Tong Yao turned back to the live comments, paused, then added: "So we're not together. I haven't been here long—if we really got together, I'd tell you guys... Yes yes, we'd treat you to wedding candy... What do you mean shameless? That viewer named 'Nexus Exploded', watch your language—moderator! Moderator, do your job, why isn't this guy muted yet!"
Lu Sicheng: "Except that day will never come."
Tong Yao: "...Weren't you wearing headphones?"
Lu Sicheng tugged his headphone cord, then expressionlessly held up the unplugged end for Tong Yao to see...
Tong Yao: "...Who are you acting for?"
Lu Sicheng: "My ears were cold. Just keeping them warm."
Tong Yao: "..."
By now, the gossip-filled comments about Jian Yang and Lu Sicheng were finally replaced by waves of "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA", "66666 jiejie fighting", "Waiting for Summer Split, it's gonna be lit"...
—Lu Sicheng was right. Compared to pro players' romantic rumors, people are ultimately more interested in their professional careers. Overnight, headlines like "LPL's Strongest Female Mid Laner", "Who Says Girls Can't Game", "I'm Starting to Anticipate ZGDX in Summer Split", and "A Girl Finally Leading the Team to Claim the Finals Trophy We've Waited Six Years For—Now That's the Ultimate Flex" dominated esports media front pages...At this point, the esports "Legend of the White Snake" drama came to an end.
...
A few days later.
The Mid-Season Tournament was nearing its conclusion, and the CK Team lost to the Korean Operator Team in the finals. While this outcome was regrettable, it was still acceptable to most—after all, before the tournament began, everyone had assumed the LPL region would be utterly crushed on home soil.
But once the Mid-Season Tournament started, people were pleasantly surprised to find that the LPL wasn’t the only region struggling—the six major regions were essentially a bunch of noobs pecking at each other. Many couldn’t help but muse: "Looking at it this way, there might still be some hope for this year’s World Championship."
As the Mid-Season Tournament closing ceremony wrapped up, half of May quietly slipped by. With the weather in Shanghai growing increasingly hot, the preparation period for the League of Legends Summer Split in the Chinese region, set to begin at the end of May, was in full swing.
The not-too-long, not-too-short offseason had finally come to an end. Players from all teams gradually returned to their headquarters, and every team, after the brief transfer window, began finalizing their starting and substitute rosters for the season... Along with this came a noticeable uptick in scrim requests.
As ZGDX was a traditionally strong team, countless squads lined up daily to request scrims. Xiao Rui would pick one or two to play against—some strong, some weak. At most, Tong Yao played three scrims in a single day—
And won every single one.
Not a single loss.
Even though scrim results were usually kept confidential, word inevitably spread. Soon, both within the professional scene and the broader esports community, everyone knew one thing: ever since ZGDX got their new Mid Laner, their form had skyrocketed, and they were practically invincible in scrims.
Fans grew excited and restless, eagerly anticipating the new-look China Telecom Team in the Summer Split... But just then, a minor internal issue arose within Tong Yao’s team—
And it all started because of scrims.
One day, after finishing a scrim against a noob team, the team gathered to discuss the shortcomings from the match and new strategies. Ming Shen flipped through pages of data in his notebook when, suddenly, team manager Xiao Rui drifted past them and casually dropped a remark: "Cheng Ge, your old team wants to schedule a scrim. I accepted."
The man, who had been turning to look at the Summoner’s Rift map drawn on the small blackboard behind them, paused slightly at these words. Frowning, he turned back and asked, "What did you say?"
Without exaggeration, Tong Yao could feel the atmosphere shift instantly.
Little Fatty and Old K, who had been quietly discussing the Jungle-Support Duo Roam tactic the noob team had pulled out during the scrim, suddenly fell silent. Old Cat, who had been listing his current pool of viable Top Laner Champions, looked up. Even Ming Shen stopped flipping through his notebook—
Tong Yao sat in the middle of them all, utterly bewildered.
"We’ve been scrimming domestic teams for so many days—it’s about time we practice against a strong Korean team, right?" Xiao Rui rubbed the tip of his nose. "So I scheduled one with the Meme Team."
Lu Sicheng: "..."As per usual conventions, active team members had no right to question whether the team manager scheduled scrims or which teams they scheduled them with. But ZGDX was different. Their current team captain, Mr. Lu Sicheng, was also one of the club's shareholders... So sometimes he could make decisions that bypassed the team manager and directly challenge the management—
Like right now.
The man, usually lazy and indifferent, frowned with genuine anger: "I remember saying now isn't the time to schedule scrims with TAT."
Xiao Rui tried to correct him: "You said that a month ago."
Lu Sicheng: "Did I say in the past two days that this restriction could be lifted? Or do I have to repeat this every single day?"
"We've been scrimming them for a month," Xiao Rui frowned. "Tong Yao should have adjusted by now—"
"If you wanted to schedule scrims with a Korean team, why not their operator team? Why go for TAT of all teams..."
"They came to us first!"
"And why did they come to us? Because they heard the rumors—now the whole world is hyping up our new mid laner as invincible in scrims... Where’s your brain? Couldn’t you have discussed this with me?"
"Back then, you were still scrimming against a bunch of noobs! And it’s just scrims—if we lose, so what? I thought it’d be good for the top teams from both regions to test each other before the new season starts. What’s the big deal?" Xiao Rui’s tone hardened. "We’ll face TAT sooner or later anyway..."
"I said, now is not the time." Lu Sicheng’s voice turned icy. "Do you not understand human speech?"
"Then when is the right time?"
"I don’t know."
"I say it’s now."
"...Fine, whatever." Lu Sicheng sneered, stretching his long legs. "When things go wrong, don’t come crying to me to clean up your mess."
Xiao Rui was left speechless. Without another word, he turned and left... The atmosphere turned awkward and tense. No one dared to speak, and Tong Yao was completely lost, having no idea what just happened—she only saw the two of them part ways in anger.
She vaguely sensed that Lu Sicheng’s refusal to scrim against TAT was because of her. She felt she should say something, but when she looked up and saw the captain’s frosty expression, she swallowed her words and quietly picked up Da Bing, who had been darting between the benches, stroking him to calm herself down.
Too scared to even squeak.
—This sudden conflict left the entire team headquarters as silent as a graveyard for the rest of the day.
The loudest voice in seven hours came from the food delivery guy.
Everyone sat trembling at their computers, grinding ranked matches in silence. When Tong Yao passed behind Old Cat and Old K while making milk, she noticed they were still duo-queueing—the funniest part was that these two, sitting right next to each other where even a slight movement could bump their hands, didn’t dare speak a word, communicating entirely through in-game chat.
On the sofa, Ming Shen was reviewing recent match footage of TAT, his notebook densely filled with pages of notes.Tong Yao sat back in her seat and opened QQ, noticing Little Fatty’s avatar blinking. She clicked on it and saw the support player, who was just a couple of seats away from her, cautiously asking: 【Where’s our Cheng Ge?】
Tong Yao replied: 【I heard some noise outside when I passed the window earlier. Probably smoking… Why are you texting me? Lost your voice?】
Little Fatty: 【I’m scared.】
Tong Yao: 【……】
Little Fatty: 【Seriously, I haven’t seen Cheng Ge like this in ages. For the past year, he’s been in full retirement mode—fishing, bird-watching, tea-drinking, all grandpa vibes.】
Little Fatty: 【This is bad, really bad. Xiao Rui just went out to the courtyard too. You don’t think they’ll get into a fight, do you? Killing someone right before the season starts—major violation. A Suspension would be disastrous.】
Tong Yao: 【？？？？】
Hearing this, Tong Yao genuinely started to worry that the team manager might inexplicably get beaten to death. She quickly scooped up Da Bing, who had been snoozing and purring on Lu Sicheng’s seat, to bolster her courage, then tiptoed to the living room window to eavesdrop…
No sooner had her face pressed against the glass—before she could even steady herself—than she faintly heard Xiao Rui’s agitated voice from the courtyard—
“...You’re way too protective of her, always stepping in. Fine, whatever. But now you won’t even play Scrims? That’s just absurd. You know full well that practicing against a top Korean team before the season would improve us way more than playing against domestic teams that are already below our level—so what if we lose one match? It’s not like we’ll collapse from one loss. I just don’t get it, Lu Sicheng. Do you actually like her? Since when the hell did you have a thing for little girls??”
“...”
Tong Yao’s hands trembled.
She nearly dropped the cat in her arms—
What the hell?
So Lu Sicheng refusing to play Scrims against the Korean meme team really was because of her?
...Forget Xiao Rui—even Tong Yao herself didn’t understand: Why the hell would that be?!
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