The person being carried by Lu Sicheng with his hands under her bottom shook her head like a rattle drum: "No! There's a ghost at the headquarters!"
Lu Sicheng repeated: "Get down."
Tong Yao: "I won't!"
Lu Sicheng gritted his teeth: "I'm letting go. How can someone flat-chested and short weigh over a hundred pounds? You're as heavy as a dead pig... One, two—"
The girl shrieked and clung tightly to his neck: "You wouldn't dare!"
Lu Sicheng: "..."
As he carried his trembling Mid Laner back like a baby, the captain of ZGDX Team silently swore to himself: In the future, the so-called "Mrs. Lu" would either be a fairy who never touched alcohol, or he, Lu Sicheng, would remain a quiet and asexual pretty boy—if it was the latter, the culprit would undoubtedly be the person currently hanging around his neck, babbling, "Baby saw a ghost, baby is scared."
"Tong Yao."
"Hmm?"
The person in his arms turned her head, her hair brushing against his neck with a faint tickle—what a heart-fluttering scene, if not for the fact that the person clinging to him was drunkenly widening her eyes, struggling to focus... Lu Sicheng curled his lips impatiently: "Promise me you won't deny everything you did today once you sober up tomorrow."
"What if I admit it?"
"I'll get a month of peace." Lu Sicheng glanced at the half-open door of the headquarters, still left ajar from the girl's frantic escape, and kicked it open. "That's the only reason I didn't throw you into the fountain we passed earlier."
As he spoke, Lu Sicheng freed one hand to flip on the lights in the first floor of the headquarters—
The lights flicked on with a click , illuminating the person standing in the open kitchen opposite the entrance, bent over the fridge. The figure paused mid-motion, then turned around, locking eyes with the man standing in the entryway—someone whose features seemed almost identical to his own. After a beat—
"Huh."
The person by the fridge curled his lips into a roguish grin, pulling out a yogurt from the fridge before flicking his wrist to shut the door—
A soft thud .
"I thought it was something serious. This noisy little shrimp—your girlfriend?"
Lu Sicheng: "..."
...
Ten minutes later.
Tong Yao watched eagerly as everyone yawned their way out of their rooms, rubbing their eyes with complaints written all over their faces. Then, upon spotting the people downstairs, their expressions all morphed into the same blank look.
Little Fatty, Old K, Old Cat, then Ming Shen, Xiao Rui, the team leader, Coach Hou—they filed into the living room one by one, filling the once-empty space until it was bustling and crowded.
Yet despite the crowd, the silence was deafening. No one spoke, save for team manager Xiao Rui, who leaned down to sniff near Tong Yao: "How much did you drink?"
Tong Yao replied flatly: "I had iced tea, okay? I'm not drunk."Tong Yao raised her eyes as she spoke, looking at the two people sitting across from her—one was leaning slightly to the left, with black hair and no accessories except for what was rumored to be an expensive watch. At the moment, he was resting his head on one hand, eyes lowered, while the other hand played with his phone. The other was leaning slightly to the right, also with black hair, except for the rebellious green dye on the sideburns facing the group. His ears were adorned with silver rings, and he was barefoot, slurping yogurt with an earnest expression.
Their profiles were almost identical.
Tong Yao: "..."
Tong Yao: "...So, not a ghost."
The green-haired, earring-clad guy lifted his head from his yogurt: "Have you ever seen a ghost this handsome?"
Tong Yao: "..."
Lu Sicheng: "Lu Yue."
Just a simple call of his name, but the tone carried a clear warning—usually, when Lu Sicheng spoke like this, anyone would immediately shrink back like a scolded child. But the person named "Lu Yue" didn’t. He just... became slightly more restrained.
Tong Yao: "...You two look pretty alike, huh?"
Lu Sicheng lifted his eyelids, shooting Tong Yao a look that said, "If you have nothing useful to say, shut up." In contrast, Lu Yue grinned: "Same parents, of course we look alike."
When he wasn’t smiling, he resembled Lu Sicheng, but once he grinned, the mischievousness made him look nothing like his brother... That’s right. The person earnestly sipping yogurt in front of her was Lu Sicheng’s younger brother, Lu Yue, the same age as Tong Yao. The most outrageous part? Just like his star-studded older brother, he had once been a Professional League player, with the ID: ZGDX, Lv.
Position: Mid Laner.
—In other words, the very same "Lv" whom everyone avoided mentioning, and whose name elicited looks of disdain whenever brought up.
"I thought the whole world knew Cheng Ge had a useless younger brother who couldn’t amount to anything," Little Fatty stroked his chin. "Didn’t you even Baidu this ID before? A quick glance at the Baidu entry would’ve told you his relationship with Cheng Ge..."
Tong Yao wanted to say something, but Lu Sicheng shot her a glance, stood up, walked over to her computer, bent down, and checked her search history. He found that she had indeed Baidu’d "Lv," but all the search queries were things like:
[China Telecom, who is Lv?]
[China Telecom, is Lv any good?]
[China Telecom, which matches has Lv played in?]
[China Telecom, what’s Lv’s Champion pool?]
Lu Sicheng: "..."
Lu Sicheng: "Shorty, what dynasty did you time-travel from? Why are you pretending to be a modern gamer?"
Tong Yao: "What? What? Got a problem with that?"
Lu Sicheng: "Is that how you use Baidu? Why were you checking his Champion pool?"
The girl, who had been defiantly straightening her neck, suddenly flushed red as if her deepest secret had been exposed. She guiltily glanced at the real "Lv" sitting across from her and muttered under her breath, "Occupational habit, okay?"
Lu Sicheng walked back and sat down—this time beside Tong Yao, opposite Lu Yue. He crossed his arms and coldly stared at his younger brother: "Your turn."
Lu Yue lazily lifted his eyelids and glanced at Lu Sicheng: "What?"Lu Sicheng: "Stop playing dumb. What are you doing here?"
Lu Yue tossed the empty yogurt bottle aside, stretched lazily, and yawned: "I accidentally saw online about your newly recruited Mid Laner getting tricked by that A Tai from the Korean Meme team. Heard she got bullied so pitifully by the Koreans. Ah! Right then, a voice in my head said, 'Lord Lu Yue, it's time to return to professional gaming'—so here I am."
As he spoke, he spread his hands dramatically—
Then paused, staring at Tong Yao: "So, you're the new Mid Laner who got bullied so pitifully by the Koreans."
Tong Yao's lips twitched. Before she could respond, the person beside her had already lifted a long leg to kick the guy opposite—
Lu Sicheng: "Who said you could ask questions?"
"Just asking," Lu Yue shrugged, looking exasperated as if dealing with an old man. "Thought she was your girlfriend. Almost texted mom to celebrate—her eldest son isn’t gay, and that guy from the neighboring team didn’t come to China 'chasing his wife across thousands of miles' like the internet claims. She can sleep peacefully now—almost."
Lu Sicheng rubbed his temples, looking pained: "Shut up."
Xiao Rui spoke simultaneously: "You're too late. The team already has a starting Mid Laner."
Lu Yue scoffed: "Too late? I was Suspension for a season anyway. Coming back earlier wouldn’t have helped... Besides, I’m not here to fight for the starting spot. I’ll just be the substitute again—doesn’t matter to me."
Turning to the team coach, he continued: "As far as I know, the substitute slot for the Summer Split hasn’t been finalized yet, right?—Coach, I want to play professionally."
Coach: "..."
Xiao Rui: "..."
Lu Sicheng: "No."
Lu Yue: "Huh!"
Lu Sicheng: "‘Huh’ won’t work either."
Lu Yue pulled out his phone, typing as he spoke: "Texting mom: 'The weather’s getting cold. Thought I’d drop by the Team headquarters to bring big brother some warm clothes, but accidentally saw him and that Korean guy...' Hmm?"
He paused, then continued typing: "Locked in a passionate embrace."
Tong Yao: "..."
Lu Sicheng: "Try sending it."
Lu Yue put his phone away, his joking demeanor fading: "You know you’ll eventually face that Meme team again—seriously, instead of pinning hopes on your starting Mid Laner—this young lady here—to regain confidence and rise up to defeat the person who once brought her despair in an official match... why not be smart and prepare a reliable backup who can render A Tai powerless—that would be me."
"Dreams are important, sure. Stories of rising from adversity are tear-jerkingly inspiring."
Lu Yue’s smile grew clearer—
"But sometimes, what’s truly valuable is facing reality. After all, no matter how loud you chant or how perfectly you march, the S6 trophy won’t roll into your bowl by itself."
For a moment, no one spoke.
Lu Sicheng frowned, clearly not buying into the nonsense before him—but his silence was misinterpreted by someone as tacit approval. And so, the person who had been forcing composure all along suddenly burst into tears.Lu Sicheng, sitting beside her, noticed the unusual commotion and glanced over, only to be so startled that he nearly jumped out of his seat.
"Am I getting a substitute? Am I being benched? Am I about to become the only starting player in the entire Professional League who's permanently stuck on the bench? Will I never get to play professionally again? Seriously, just because we lost one match, why do I have to be benched? I don’t want to watch the Water Dispenser... hic —" The person rambled on like Xianglin's Wife, letting out a sob between words as tears streamed down uncontrollably. "I want to play professionally. I want revenge. I’m really strong. You can’t make me watch the Water Dispenser."
"..." Xiao Rui looked dumbfounded. "How much did she drink?"
Frowning, Lu Sicheng bent down, grabbed two tissues, and pressed them—almost suffocatingly—onto the face of the person who was crying so hard her shoulders shook. "No idea. Tomorrow, we should report that bar on the street. Say they sold alcohol to a minor. We can pull the surveillance footage as evid—"
Sniffle—
The sound of someone blowing their nose beside him cut him off.
A slightly cold, small hand reached over, forcibly pried open his larger one, and stuffed a crumpled, snot-filled tissue into his palm—
"Here, Cheng Ge," she mumbled, head still hanging low. "This is the last gift I’ll give you as the starting Mid Laner."
Everyone: "..."
Lu Sicheng: "..."
"See that?" The man lifted his head, expressionless, and looked at his younger brother. "One crazy person per team is enough. Ours is full. You can go ask the neighbors if they need any."
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