The audience was buzzing with excitement, clearly enjoying this post-match bonus scene.
Little Fatty trailed behind the two, looking utterly confused. "What are you two doing? Piggybacking the bride like Zhu Bajie?"
Lu Sicheng: "Who's Zhu Bajie?"
Tong Yao's face flushed crimson as she patted Lu Sicheng's back and whispered, "Can you focus on the important part? Put me down."
Lu Sicheng didn't budge. He glanced at Little Fatty and kicked his elephant-like leg, which was stepping on Tong Yao's shoe. "Move your leg."
Little Fatty looked down and finally realized what was happening, letting out an "Ah!" before hastily retracting his foot. Lu Sicheng bent slightly to lower Tong Yao onto his own shoes. As soon as her feet touched the ground, Tong Yao exhaled in relief and bent down to put her shoes back on—only to discover that the strap between the toes had snapped from Little Fatty's step and her tug. Her heart sank instantly. These shoes were a Christmas gift from Jin Yang last year—black soles with a white camellia on the front. Though technically flip-flops, they were expensive flip-flops.
If that wasn’t bad enough, the worst was yet to come.
The real tragedy struck when a staff member, who had been hesitating nearby, finally mustered the courage to approach Tong Yao and ask, "Smiling, are you ready for the MVP interview?"
Tong Yao, standing on her broken shoe, thought, Do I look ready to you? But she couldn’t say it out loud. Not when the host was already in position not far away, the lights were set, and a crowd of ZGDX Team fans had gathered in front of the interview area, eagerly waiting.
After a brief silence, Tong Yao muttered an "Oh" and obediently shuffled toward the interview area, her steps uneven. But after just two steps, she heard a sigh behind her. Puzzled, she was about to turn and ask Lu Sicheng why he was sighing when suddenly a pair of large hands gripped her waist, lifting her off the ground. The next second, she was airborne—
The fans near the interview area erupted into screams and whistles, some even laughing boisterously!
"Ahhh—hey! Hey!"
Her head tilted back, bumping against the man's solid chest. From her angle, she could only see the perfect curve of his jaw.
Lu Sicheng, expressionless, carried her all the way to the high stool in the interview area and set her down, remaining utterly unfazed under the barrage of camera flashes. Once she was seated, he turned and walked away, heading back to the stage to pack his peripherals—and hers.
Tong Yao sat on the stool, watching as Lu Sicheng neatly coiled her headset and tucked it into his peripheral bag. She blinked, still dazed. Under the spotlight, the sea of fans below seemed like a dark, indistinct mass. Her mind was blank with nervousness, but one thought surfaced in her confusion: Did the staff forget to give me the interview questions beforehand?
And so, in what seemed like a rushed and chaotic moment, the interview began.
The host smiled warmly as he congratulated ZGDX Team for their 2-0 victory over Storm, securing the match and bringing their current group stage score to 3 points, temporarily placing them at the top of Group A.
Host: "Smiling, how do you feel about the team's current performance?"
Tong Yao tightened her grip on the microphone. "I'm... very satisfied. Thanks to my teammates for carrying me to victory. I hope we can maintain this momentum until the end of the season."The audience below burst into laughter. At this moment, Tong Yao's brain finally started functioning again, and her wildly pounding heartbeat gradually calmed down... The female host beside her smiled and praised her for being straightforward, then glanced at her question card to ask the second question: "Everyone knows our Smiling is the only female player in the LPL professional league. We're all curious—as a woman in esports, do you face more inconveniences and challenges than regular players?"
"It's not too bad. At first, I was really nervous, afraid I wouldn't fit in. But later I found my teammates to be very kind," Tong Yao scratched her head. "No one treats me specially just because I'm a girl, and that's actually the best thing. Let me praise my teammates again—to them, a girl playing professionally isn't some big deal. They've never thought that way—"
Tong Yao put down the mic, thought for a moment, then added: "If girls want to do this, they can do it just as well. Esports shouldn't be a field only for boys. I hope people with those stubborn ideas can change their perspective."
As Tong Yao finished speaking, she faintly saw a few girls in the audience put down their cameras and start clapping vigorously...
For some reason, she suddenly thought of that fan of Ming Shen she'd met at the Spring Split finals before joining the team. She wondered if that girl had really left the esports scene or if she still couldn't let go and was sitting in the audience cheering for ZGDX as before—
Tong Yao narrowed her eyes, trying hard to look into the crowd. She felt like she might have seen her, but the next moment she thought she must have been mistaken.
The host asked a few more questions, like why she picked Diana, and Tong Yao answered them one by one. After three or four questions, Tong Yao thought the interview was about to end and was ready to hop off the chair when the host suddenly stopped her. Turning her head, she met the host's smiling eyes: "We have one last bonus question. All the fans here, including me, want to know—what exactly happened when you were walking back after thanking the audience, that made Chessman suddenly turn around and scoop you up in his arms... Honestly, seeing such a romantic moment on the League of Legends professional stage—"
The audience erupted in laughter, murmuring among themselves.
Tong Yao twitched her lips: "Little Fatty stepped on my shoe, I tripped, and he caught me."
Host: "But recently, all the gossip forums have been discussing you and our Cheng Ge—"
Tong Yao: "It's still completely innocent. He just occasionally says some flirty things or pulls some flirty moves. Don't let him stir up trouble."
Host: "..."
Tong Yao: "If one day our captain decides to start liking humans and gets together with me, I'll announce it to the whole world and send out wedding invitations everywhere."
Host: "..."
Host: "You'd really tell us?"
Tong Yao: "I'd stand on the competition stage with a megaphone and shout it."
Host: "Hahahaha!"Tong Yao was so straightforward, without any trace of coy shyness, that it actually put at ease those who had initially suspected there was something between her and Lu Sicheng. By the end of the interview, everyone was laughing and chatting, the atmosphere relaxed and pleasant... It wasn’t until the host announced the end of the interview and people began dispersing in small groups that Tong Yao finally let out a relieved sigh and hopped down from her chair. When she handed the microphone back to the host, her palms were drenched in sweat.
………………To prevent their team captain from getting tangled in all sorts of pink rumors, she had practically worn out her maiden heart.
As she limped toward the backstage lounge, her right foot dragging the corpse of her shoe... she texted Jin Yang along the way—
【ZGDX、Smiling: My shoe broke ahhhhhhh TAT The expensive one you gave me TAT】
【A Mao’s Mom: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I saw it, it’s fine, I’ll buy you another one HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA So how was it being lifted up by the electric pole at the entrance of Lu Village? Any risk of electrocution?】
【ZGDX、Smiling: Not great.】
【A Mao’s Mom: That’s the electric pole bending over to invite you, the yellow dog, to take a piss. And you’re unhappy about not peeing.】
【ZGDX、Smiling: I just love your imaginative optimism.】
Still texting, Tong Yao finally reached the lounge. Pushing the door open, she found a few staff members still inside. One of the girls ran over and handed her a pair of disposable hotel slippers—
Tong Yao: “Where’d these come from?”
Staff girl: “Cheng Ge just went to a nearby hotel to get them.”
Tong Yao let out an “Oh” and muttered “He’s so nice” as she bent down to change her shoes. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a large bouquet of flowers on the table. She paused, straightened up, and watched as the staff packed up and turned to leave—no one seemed to be taking the flowers with them.
“Aren’t you taking the flowers?” Tong Yao pointed at them.
“Cheng Ge didn’t say to take them.”
Tong Yao leaned in to sniff them—they were all fresh imported blooms, still in bud. It seemed a shame to just leave them there. After a moment’s thought, since she didn’t have much else to carry, she decided to hold the corpse of her expensive sandals in one hand and the bouquet—so large it nearly buried her face—in the other. She followed the staff, huffing and puffing as she climbed onto the team bus—
On the bus, Lu Sicheng sat in his usual seat at the very back, eyes closed, resting. Tong Yao walked over, bent down slightly, and tugged one of his earphones out: “Captain, thanks for the slippers.”
The man opened his eyes. His deep brown pupils met hers calmly and coldly for three seconds. On the fourth, his gaze shifted to the flowers at her feet: “What’s this?”
“Flowers from a fan.”
“That’s not what I meant. Why did you bring them up here?”
“They’re perfectly good flowers, why not take them? Are you allergic to pollen?”
“……”
Lu Sicheng fell silent for a moment, staring at Tong Yao before finally tossing out, “You’re the one who wanted them, so don’t complain later.” As she gave him a baffled look, he snatched his earphone back, stuffed it into his ear, and pulled his jacket hood over half his face—
A silent command expressed through action: Get lost.Tong Yao chuckled and sent a WeChat message to Jin Yang: [The evil K-drama villainess Huang Gouzi peed for the third time today. I think I’m definitely going to hell when I die.] Then she turned back to her chair, the bouquet of flowers still at her feet. Crossing her legs, she idly scrolled through Weibo—
And accidentally stumbled upon a post.
[Unspeakable Esports Secrets: A fan at the venue tipped off Quanquan today—someone sitting in the first row of the Operator Team’s fan section was acting strangely. She clearly wasn’t part of the esports circle because while everyone else was busy taking photos of player Kun, who was right in front of them, she inexplicably asked the person next to her, “Who is he?” and “Why are people taking photos of him?”—Also, during the first match, there was a huge bouquet of flowers at her feet. Right before the first match ended, she left her seat with the flowers. By the time the second match started, she returned—without the flowers. When someone asked which player she was here to watch, she replied: “I’m Lu Sicheng’s friend."Unspeakable Esports Secrets: Another staff member revealed they personally saw a woman hand the flowers to Lu Sicheng backstage." They definitely know each other—they even exchanged a few words. Later, the woman seemed to leave in a huff…]
Tong Yao’s lips twitched. She uncrossed her legs and sat up straight, thinking to herself that nothing in this world could stay hidden for long. Glancing down at the bouquet of flowers—the root cause of all this—she found it looking increasingly innocent… Exiting Weibo, she skimmed around and realized news about this mysterious woman had already spread like wildfire—
[Plum Blossom: Y’all kept saying Smiling was too short and didn’t deserve Cheng Ge. Well, look at you now—at least she can play the game.]
[Not Bad Huh: My heart had just settled about Smiling, and now it’s fucking dangling over some random woman we don’t even know.]
[Whale Swim Swim: ……………………Her makeup is way too heavy.]
[Friendship First: Just gonna say this—she might genuinely be an outsider. Because in our circle, we either call him Chessman, the Operator Team’s captain, or Cheng Ge. Straight-up using his full name is rare—As for who she is and why she came to the venue to show off, beats me.]
[Oh Man: When you think about it, Cheng Ge is actually at the age where he should be dating. The more you think about it, the scarier it gets.]
[Alalalai: Posting a ‘lift-up’ GIF to calm everyone down (*a looping screenshot of Lu Sicheng picking Tong Yao up). This woman was obviously doing it on purpose. If she wanted to keep a low profile, she wouldn’t have sat in the first row.]
[Wildfire: ^This. On purpose +1. Cheng Ge has barely had any dating rumors his entire career—what’s this woman trying to pull?]
[Wahaha: Hehehehe so are y’all still gonna criticize us Double Carry (*ADC and Mid Laner) shippers for forcing a ship? At least today, when y’all saw Cheng Ge dragging Smiling around, you could still laugh. Can you still laugh now, facing this flower-delivering woman?]
Tong Yao: “…”
After reading for a while, Tong Yao hadn’t expected that a girl delivering flowers could stir up so much drama. The netizens had all transformed into esports Sherlock Holmeses—and the scariest part was, most of their guesses were spot-on.
As for whether that girl had done it on purpose—Tong Yao stood up and moved to sit next to Lu Yue, noticing that he was engrossed in his phone, talking to someone. She nudged him with her foot, and he looked up blankly at the expressionless girl beside him. After a pause, he lowered his voice, "...You saw what they're saying on the Forum and Weibo too, huh?"
Tong Yao: "With my feminine sixth sense, I'm gonna throw some shade: that girl did it on purpose."
Lu Yue rolled his eyes and handed her his phone—Tong Yao realized it was actually Lu Sicheng's phone, but Lu Yue was currently in a heated argument with someone named [Luoluo]. In short, Lu Yue was ranting: I added you on WeChat for him, not so you could stir up trouble! Now the whole internet's saying our captain's dating, that his girlfriend came to watch his match and even gave him flowers, blah blah blah...
[Luoluo: So what? Are you gamers not allowed to date or something? How old is he? Can't he have his own life?]
[Luoluo: Yeah, I did it on purpose. What about it? Those fangirls all act like they own him, calling him 'my husband' without any shame... Might as well crush their delusions.]
[Luoluo: So there's gossip. Isn't more exposure a good thing?]
Lu Yue's face darkened as he snatched the phone back from Tong Yao and immediately blocked her.
"It's not that he can't date," Lu Yue stuffed the phone into his pocket, "it's that he can't date this kind of person. Too much need to show off, too competitive, overflowing with superiority, and completely clueless about the state of this scene. It's not entirely her fault, but none of us want to waste time on this kind of drama."
"You're really worrying too much," Tong Yao leaned back into her seat.
"My brother's a public figure, whether he likes it or not. Not just him—the people around him need to be aware of that too. That's the only way everyone can peacefully do what they want."
Tong Yao thought for a moment, then reached out to ruffle Lu Yue's hair. "You're pretty mature for your age, huh?"
Lu Yue yelped and shrank back. Just as Tong Yao was about to tease him further, her outstretched arm was suddenly yanked back from behind. Both she and Lu Yue looked up to see a towering figure looming over them, his face drowsy.
"What are you two doing?" Lu Sicheng asked.
Lu Yue: "Having a meeting."
Tong Yao: "Having a meeting."
"Bullshit. Kindergarteners don't have meetings," Lu Sicheng let go of Tong Yao's hand, his expression disgusted. "We're here. Get off and eat."
Tong Yao looked up—sure enough, they'd arrived at the restaurant.
The match had ended just in time for dinner.
Tong Yao followed them to the meal in her hotel slippers, surprised that the restaurant staff, despite their baffled looks at her footwear, didn't kick her out.
No one dared bring up the unprecedented dating scandal involving their captain during the meal. But after they'd eaten their fill, Lu Sicheng himself made a sudden, startling proposal: "Let's buy matching team shoes. Watching you all wear slippers, sandals, and running shoes randomly is giving me a headache."
Tong Yao: "Slippers and sandals are so convenient, why the hate?"
Lu Sicheng: "Today, I should've let you faceplant hard enough to knock your teeth out. Let's see how 'convenient' that'd be."Tong Yao lowered her head to glance at the hotel slippers on her feet and obediently shut her mouth.
Xiao Rui: "We still need to apply for funding..."
Lu Sicheng: "I'll handle it."
Xiao Rui thought for a moment, realizing he was indeed the boss, and nodded: "Cheng Ge has money, Cheng Ge pays? Sounds good to me."
The team was quick to agree. After dinner, seeing there was still time, they decided to stroll around the mall near the restaurant. The so-called team shoes were just six identical pairs of running shoes from any sports store. They rushed into a shop, picked and chose, and finally settled on a blue-and-white men's basketball shoe. Little Fatty tried them on, and everyone agreed they looked good.
"These then," Lu Sicheng pulled a card from his pants pocket. "Tell me your sizes."
Amid the chorus of "41," "42," and "40," someone in the corner hesitated before saying, "35."
Silence fell. Lu Sicheng paused while handing over the card.
When the entire team turned to look at Tong Yao, the girl lifted her chin defiantly: "Size 35. Go ahead and kick me out if you dare."
"...What are you so smug about?" Lu Sicheng muttered under his breath before turning to the sales assistant.
The assistant blushed under his gaze: "The smallest size for this men's shoe is 39, but... but I know there's a similar women's version."
She went to the women's section and returned with a red-and-white pair of the same style, placing it next to the men's shoes. They matched surprisingly well.
"What a coincidence," the assistant smiled. "The shoe you chose happens to have a women's version—it's a couple's set."
Tong Yao kicked off her slippers and tried them on, bending down to compare her shoes with Little Fatty's men's pair, wondering how they could be considered a couple's set. When she looked up, Lu Sicheng had already handed over the card for payment.
Tong Yao: "Huh, I think I can still look around some more."
Lu Sicheng: "If we keep looking, it'll be dawn. Where's your discipline?"
Tong Yao: "..."
...
With new shoes in hand, they returned to the team headquarters in high spirits. Having won the match and received new shoes, everyone was satisfied, thinking "Cheng Ge has money, Cheng Ge pays" was an excellent phrase.
Back at the headquarters, the team dispersed—some went upstairs to put away their peripheral bags, others to shower. Xiao Rui clung to Da Bing, coaxing the feline overlord with canned food. Soon, only Tong Yao and Lu Sicheng remained on the first floor. Seeing Lu Sicheng sit at the computer, seemingly ready to continue Ranked Games training, Tong Yao hesitated before walking over. She pulled a coin from her pocket, took Lu Sicheng's hand, and placed it in his palm.
Lu Sicheng: "?"
Tong Yao: "Jin Yang said giving shoes as a gift is bad luck. The receiver has to give the giver some money to ward off evil."
Lu Sicheng: "...Which remote mountain did you trek from to enter the city and go pro? Do they even have internet there?"
Tong Yao: "......"
Lu Sicheng deadpanned: "That saying only applies to couples."
Tong Yao let out an "Oh," thought for a moment, then blushed slightly and bent down to pry open Lu Sicheng's hand, whispering: "Then give it back."Lu Sicheng pulled his hand back, then swiftly tossed the silver coin into the lucky cat piggy bank before Tong Yao could grab it. Tong Yao gasped sharply, "You think just because you threw it in there, I won't be able to find—"
Before she could finish, the man in front of her raised an eyebrow, grabbed the lucky cat piggy bank, and shook it vigorously a few times before shoving the entire thing into her arms. "Take your time looking."
Tong Yao: "…………………………………………"
Tong Yao: "Lu Sicheng, you're so childish!"
Lu Sicheng: "If I'm childish, you're stingy. You even want your dollar back after giving it away. Go fish for a needle in the ocean and don't get in the way of my live stream."
OpenNovel