"I'm not... I didn't... He couldn't— AHHHHHHHH!" Tong Yao slapped the table loudly. "If you keep spamming question marks, I'm ending the stream! What could possibly be between me and Lu Sicheng— Yes yes, that viewer named 'Lu Sicheng's Little Wife,' I guarantee he's still your little husband. I haven't defiled him, but whether he's still pure or not is beyond me. If you dare, go ask him yourself, but I definitely haven't defiled him... How would I defile him? My legs aren't even as long as his arms—how could I possibly force myself on him? Ride him? Damn it, I'm throwing a ton of detergent at you all—soak in it for ten thousand years before speaking properly again!"
Tong Yao began chattering animatedly with the live comments about the possibility of her forcing herself on Lu Sicheng—
Beside her, Lu Sicheng listened for a while before saying, "I'm starting my stream," and opening his broadcasting software.
Instantly, the viewer count in Tong Yao's stream visibly halved. She exhaled deeply in relief and kicked Lu Sicheng hard under the table... The man propped his chin lazily on one hand, giving her a sidelong glance before turning back to his screen. Faced with a flood of question marks and heartbroken accusations from his fan girls, he paused briefly before saying—
"I had a cold yesterday, and she was on her period. We skipped the post-match event and came back. She was half-dead, lying paralyzed on the bed—was I supposed to ignore her? If she dies, we won't have a Mid Laner for Sunday's match—Lu Yue isn't as good as her."
Lu Yue: "Hey?"
Lu Sicheng: "Did I say she was shivering in my bed?"
Then.
Silence fell upon the world.
【Cheng Ge, you always aim for the headlines.】
【Cheng Ge is so gentle! If I fell and my tummy hurt, I'd need Cheng Ge to hug me before getting up!】
【I almost thought my husband and my wife slept together. That would stack green hats so high Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk could climb straight to heaven.】
【QAQ I almost threw away my lunch, but now I think I can still eat a bit.】
...
【Little Zongzi Fur: So Cheng Ge, do you actually have a girlfriend? At your age, always scowling while gaming like you hate humanity—aren't your family worried?】
Lu Sicheng glanced at the comment: "This 'Little Zongzi Fur' person—your friend?"
Tong Yao checked her stream's moderator list: "How'd you know?"
Lu Sicheng: "Who else in the world says I hate humanity? The phrasing is too familiar."
Tong Yao: "..."
Lu Sicheng: "Shorty, stop spreading rumors. If I really can't find a wife later, who's gonna take responsibility?"
Amid the live comments frantically spamming "I'll take responsibility," "Jumping up and raising my hand to volunteer," and "Me me me me me," Tong Yao's next game started. She bought her starting items and potions without even glancing sideways, saying, "Stop the noise."
The very picture of a dedicated gaming addict.
...
Over at CK's team headquarters, Jian Yang sat curled up in his chair, clutching his mouse but not playing. He rested his head on his knees, clicking randomly with a blank expression—from his computer came a female voice, occasionally saying things like "forcing herself on him." After listening for a while, he seemed irritated, frowned, and clicked the "X" on the browser tab, closing the stream.
The base fell silent.
Haoyun Lai nudged Lao Wang: "What's up with him this time?"Lao Wang: "Watching his ex-girlfriend's livestream, obviously."
Haoyun Lai: "Whoa!"
Lao Wang clicked his tongue and shook his head: "Our jungler is hopelessly obsessed with the opposing team's mid laner. If he liked her so much, why did they break up in the first place... I really don't get it. Now she's joined the Operator Team, sitting right next to Lu Sicheng—like a lamb walking into a tiger's den. If I were a woman, I'd like Lu Sicheng too!"
Hu Die turned to glance at their support: "If you were a woman, is there anyone you wouldn't like?"
Lao Wang: "You? I'd definitely dislike you."
Hu Die sneered.
Haoyun Lai: "Bot lane duo at odds, jungler obsessed with another team's mid laner—this team's doomed."
Lao Wang: "Don't say that. Last time we got crushed by the Operator Team, it wasn't Yang Shen's fault. He actually played pretty well that day—at least I'd say he was evenly matched with the Operator Team's jungler..."
Amid their hushed discussion, Jian Yang shut down his computer and stood up. Tossing out a "Going out for a smoke," he left the team headquarters, leaving his teammates in silence before they exchanged bewildered looks.
What they didn't know was that Jian Yang didn't just stay outside to smoke. The moment he stepped out of the compound, he irritably stuffed an entire freshly opened pack of cigarettes into the trash, hailed a taxi, and headed straight for the China Telecom Team headquarters.
But when he arrived, he didn't dare knock on the door right away. Instead, he lingered at a nearby bar until sunset, when night had fully fallen. Only then did he leave the bar and walk toward the adjacent residential area. When stopped by the security guard at the gate, he claimed he was there to see someone.
The guard, seeing how young he was and slightly tipsy, worried he might be there to cause trouble, asked who he was visiting and told him to call that person. Jian Yang reached into his pocket for his phone, only to remember he'd been blocked. With a bitter laugh, he said he didn't have it on him. In the end, he borrowed the guard's phone to make the call. After two rings, someone answered, and a familiar voice came through—
"Hello, who is this?"
A polite yet distant inquiry for an unknown number, but the tone was gentle.
Jian Yang gripped the phone silently. After two more "Hello?"s from the other end, followed by a muttered "Weird, no one's talking," a cold male voice sounded from her side: "If no one's talking, just hang up. Your minions are under the tower, you see that?" Tong Yao let out a yelp.
Jian Yang chuckled: "Yao Yao, it's me. I'm at your team's gate. Can you come out?"
Silence fell on the other end. After a long pause, Tong Yao's tone shifted: "You've been drinking? Where are you? At my team's gate?"
"Yeah," Jian Yang mumbled in a pitiful, puppy-like whine. "The guard won't let me in. I'm at the courtyard entrance."
A moment later, just as Jian Yang was starting to think he'd be rejected, he heard Tong Yao mutter, "What's wrong with people these days?" There was the sound of a chair scraping—she must have stood up. Then she called out in some direction: "Lu Yue, come finish this game for me. Something came up—I need to step out for a bit."
Jian Yang's eyes lit up, his heartbeat quickening.
He hung up, returned the phone to the guard with a polite "Thank you," and even slipped him twenty yuan for the call. The guard looked pleased: "Your girlfriend coming to get you? Go on in then. It's dark out—don't let her walk too far."
Jian Yang thanked him and headed into the compound.
...
Meanwhile, inside the China Telecom headquarters."Who's drinking at our headquarters?" Lu Sicheng asked.
Tong Yao put on her jacket: "Jian Yang."
At this moment, Tong Yao had already turned off her livestream, but Lu Sicheng's was still running. The live comments were flooded with messages like "66666666," "No wonder Yang Shen suddenly ended his stream," "Cheng Ge, I bet it’s because of your 'shivering in bed' comment—this is on you"—
[Little Zongzi Mao: With all due respect, none of you can grasp the real point. The real highlight here is: the esports version of Legend of the White Snake just got a sequel.]
After posting this, "Little Zongzi Mao" left the stream.
Lu Sicheng glanced at the comments. Some urged him to go out and listen to the gossip, while others encouraged him to go stir up trouble. The most ruthless suggestion was for him to wait until the two of them were deep in conversation, then suddenly appear under the pretense of buying cigarettes—preferably asking Tong Yao to lend him money since he "forgot his wallet," just to kill the mood and prevent her from getting swept away by emotion and being lured back by CK Team's Jungler.
Lu Yue: "...'Otherwise, we might witness some mid-jungle synergy between CK’s Jungler and the China Telecom Team’s Mid Laner during matches—that’d be tragic.' Damn, this comment is savage."
Lu Sicheng: "Shut up."
Just then, the sound of the front door opening and closing echoed through the headquarters. Lu Sicheng lifted his gaze briefly before looking away, his expression so calm it was as if nothing had happened—or as if whatever had happened had nothing to do with him.
Meanwhile, Tong Yao stepped out of the headquarters. As she passed the neighboring team’s building, she noticed a front-row gossip spectator leaning over the railing. Jin Yang, clad in a sleek black dress with her long hair flowing, blended so seamlessly into the night from the waist down that, from a distance, it looked like just a head was perched on the railing. Tong Yao nearly jumped out of her skin when she turned and saw it—
Tong Yao: "Holy shit! What the hell are you doing?!"
Jin Yang giggled: "Just here to remind you—you promised. A good horse doesn’t turn back to graze. No dating esports athletes."
Tong Yao: "...And didn’t you swear you’d eat shit if you ever got back together with Ai Jia? How many tons have you scarfed down by now?"
Jin Yang: "..."
Tong Yao: "Alright, alright, I get it. No, we’re not getting back together. I’ve moved on. What’s there to reconcile? He’s drunk and showed up here—I just need to send him back... Otherwise, if the CK Team’s Jungler dies on the way to the China Telecom Team’s headquarters, how bad would that look?"
As Tong Yao finished speaking, Jin Yang’s expression softened into satisfaction, her earlier teasing fading slightly. After a pause, she asked, "Want me to come with you?"
Tong Yao: "...You think this is a fight where numbers guarantee victory?"
Jin Yang: "If it were a fight, I’d suggest you bring Lv. That guy’s so hot when he throws hands, I can’t even keep my legs together."
Tong Yao stepped forward, stood on her tiptoes, and patted the head on the railing: "Get lost."
Jin Yang yelped and retreated. Just then, Tong Yao heard someone call out, "Yao Yao," in the distance. She paused and turned to see a figure standing under the streetlight, wearing CK Team’s Summer Split jersey with a jacket haphazardly draped over his shoulders. Hesitating for a moment, she glanced back—only to find that the person who had just been hanging on the railing, offering to accompany her, had vanished without a trace.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket.
[A Mao’s Mom: Remember, a good horse doesn’t turn back to graze. If you dare misbehave, I’ll tattle to your captain about your teenage romance! I’m monitoring you!]
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