Lu Sicheng started his live stream, and the other teammates gradually came downstairs to stream as well to make up for their hours. Tong Yao called for a box of fruit and squatted in her seat eating while watching a TV series... Lu Sicheng occasionally took breaks from gaming to chat with her, like—
Lu Sicheng: "You done with your streaming hours yet?"
Tong Yao: "Gave up on treatment. I'll deal with it next month."
Lu Sicheng: "It's 11:30."
Tong Yao: "So?"
Lu Sicheng: "A beauty's bedtime was an hour ago, and you're still squatting here eating watermelon..."
Tong Yao patted her stomach, thinking that as long as she didn’t step on a scale, the extra weight didn’t exist. So she finished the fruit with a clear conscience, then turned on her computer, opened a streaming platform, and entered Lu Sicheng’s live stream. The screen was flooded with questions about who that girl from earlier was, while the rest were mocking Lu Sicheng...
"A netizen said your Jhin was trash this week’s match, missing everything. True?" Tong Yao pointed at the screen. "I didn’t even notice."
"I’m an old-man AD, never learned how to play Jhin, that new Champion. Little Fatty was the one yelling at me to pick it," Lu Sicheng said as he locked in Jhin during a new game’s Ban & Pick phase while talking to someone beside him. "Might as well practice."
Tong Yao made an "uh" sound and shrunk back.
Lu Sicheng asked again, "What else are the live comments saying?"
Tong Yao glanced at him. "...Can’t you read them yourself?"
Lu Sicheng alt-tabbed to check. The moment he did, the live comments refreshed at a noticeably faster pace. After a moment of silence, he replied in his slow, lazy tone to the curious crowd: "That girl? Which girl? How do you guys know everything? Sherlock Holmes or something?... She’s no one, just a blind date my family set up... Why am I going on blind dates? I’m a healthy adult of legal marriage age, why can’t I? But I turned her down—yeah, not interested right now. I’d rather marry the Season 6 trophy, with a grand procession and all."
Tong Yao: "..."
"Not that she wasn’t good-looking, just not the right fit. And she’s not from this circle—too risky. Why waste time if we’d just break up eventually?... Why would we break up?"
While answering the netizens, Lu Sicheng reached over and turned his camera toward Tong Yao. The viewers were treated to the sight of ZGDX’s Mid Laner squatting on her chair, turning her head in confusion... Above the camera, Lu Sicheng’s calm voice rang out—
"Tell them your story."
On camera, ZGDX’s Mid Laner rolled her eyes hard. "What story? Screw that."
Lu Sicheng twisted the camera back and placed it properly on the desk. "Hear that? That’s what happens. If you want the full story, don’t ask me—go ask Yang Shen. Oh, and that one who said they used to think Smiling was too short but now thinks she’s not bad and could work with me... Moderator? Do your job. Ban them for a month. Reason: insulting my teammate for being short."Tong Yao saw a flood of live comments scrolling by: "hhhhhhhh," "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA," "666666666," and "What's with the tantrum? You just don’t wanna be shipped with anyone." She scooted her chair closer to Lu Sicheng and said, "I’m definitely not dating any pro players. Nope, no romance. I’m dedicating my youth and maiden heart to esports."
Lu Sicheng glanced at her. Tong Yao lifted her head. "What are you looking at?"
Lu Sicheng: "Can’t you stream on your own? Why squeeze in here?"
Tong Yao held out a fork with a piece of honeydew melon like a microphone toward Lu Sicheng’s mouth. "On behalf of the vast internet community, may I ask about our captain’s ideal type? So your Wife Squad can aim for that glorious goal."
Lu Sicheng lowered his head and swallowed the fruit in one bite.
After chewing twice and thinking for a moment, he said, "Haven’t I said it before? Someone who plays better than me."
Among the live comments, alongside the "hhhhhhhh" and "66666," there were now many "???????" Tong Yao tossed the fork back into the fruit box and clapped her hands. "Hear that? He doesn’t like women. One point for the Husband Squad."
"You said in your own interview today that women can be just as good as men if they want to."
"Want to—on the condition of not shopping, not eating good food, not getting manicures, not wearing makeup, not buying new clothes, and not browsing Taobao," Tong Yao said. "Women would die without these things, while men’s lives never included them in the first place. That’s your only natural racial advantage."
"..."
...
Tong Yao propped her head up and watched Lu Sicheng’s stream for a while before yawning and heading off to sleep. The next morning, when she woke up and found the team headquarters still empty, she sneakily turned on her computer to start streaming—she hadn’t completely given up on her streaming schedule. She usually made up for lost time by streaming in the mornings or afternoons while her teammates were still asleep.
Her fans often lamented that this girl woke up earlier than a dog, making her a completely unqualified esports professional.
Tong Yao streamed for about an hour, occasionally chatting with the live comments. Time passed quickly. Around ten o’clock, the door to Lu Sicheng’s room opened. The man shuffled downstairs in slippers, bleary-eyed, wearing a wrinkled shirt and what looked like Little Fatty’s Ultraman-print boxers, his hair a complete mess—clearly fresh out of bed.
This was the esports "God" in the hearts of the masses.
Tong Yao minimized the game to glance at the live comments—
[From Lu Sicheng’s Wife: Please tell my husband to pull up his Ultraman boxers. We can see his underwear.]
Tong Yao read the comment out loud, word for word. The man drinking water in the kitchen paused, silently tugged at his pants, and said, "Why are you streaming so early in the morning?"
Then, holding his coffee cup, he walked around behind Tong Yao. Seeing her playing Azir, he noted that the game was at the 9-minute-and-30-second mark, and her creep score was 99. In thirty seconds, the 17th minion wave would spawn from both bases—
Based on Lu Sicheng’s precise understanding of minion waves, this meant she hadn’t missed a single creep in the past nine and a half minutes.And at this moment, with her personal stats at 1 kill, 0 deaths, and 0 assists, not only had she not missed any minions, but she had also found time to coordinate with the jungler to secure a kill...
Lu Sicheng raised an eyebrow, about to say, "This Azir's last-hitting has really improved," when the opposing Mid Laner logged in. To his surprise, the ID above the enemy Mid Laner's head read "TAT、TEI." Lu Sicheng swirled his cup and glanced down at the person sitting in front of him: "On performance-enhancing drugs?"
Tong Yao looked up at him: "You should shave."
Lu Sicheng touched his chin: "That's A Tai on the other side."
Tong Yao: "So?"
Lu Sicheng: "A week ago, you were still trembling at the sight of him. How did you end up like this today?"
Tong Yao paused: "A Guang taught me."
"Who?"
"The jungler from Team King," Tong Yao said slowly. "He told me that no opponent is as terrifying as they seem on the surface. They only appear strong because they've put in more effort... Most people are mediocre, and hard work can bridge the gap. There's no need to compete with them on talent alone."
Lu Sicheng looked down at the coffee in his hand. The steam rising from it smelled like chicken soup. After a moment of thought, he asked: "That time in the men's restroom?"
"..."
"You two little animals managed to grasp so many life lessons in a restroom?"
Tong Yao silently switched to check the live comments—
[……………………Baby, what were you doing in the men's restroom?]
[Hahahahahahahahahaha damn, my girl!]
[#LPL's No. 1 Mid Laner might be the biggest hoax of the year, her true identity is a transgender#]
[Transgender with a chest that flat? At least be scientifically accurate.]
[Look on the bright side, maybe she ran out of money for the surgery...]
"I went to the men's restroom because I took a wrong turn, okay?! I just happened to run into A Guang and we chatted. Why in the restroom? Because there was no one else there, perfect for talking! To whoever said my chest is flat—moderators, ban them, ban them for life, no parole! And this one saying I joined esports to earn enough money to finish the surgery—what the hell, ban this one too! Where are the mods—never mind, I'll do it myself!"
As Tong Yao chirped away, busy arguing with the live comments, Lu Sicheng suddenly fell silent. There was no particular reason—he just happened to recall that morning after the scrims with his former team. Almost the same time, the same place, the same person sitting here playing the same Champion. Back then, her face was pale, dark circles under her eyes, and she had broken down in tears for the first time, devastated by the blows she'd taken in the professional scene...
And now.
The morning sunlight streamed into the team headquarters from the side, casting a glow on half of her face. A slight downward glance revealed the fine fuzz on her healthy, faintly pink cheeks. Focused on the game (and the comments), her eyes seemed to sparkle.
At this moment.
For the first time ever, Lu Sicheng stopped himself from mocking her for casually spouting motivational nonsense. The corners of his sleepy, indifferent eyes softened unexpectedly. He reached out and patted her head.
"Let's solo later."“Why?” Tong Yao, who had been arguing with the live comments, paused mid-sentence and looked up in confusion.
“Because I feel like it. Let’s bet on tonight’s supper—loser treats.”
With that, Lu Sicheng turned and walked away.
Tong Yao watched him leave, baffled, then switched back to check the live comments—only to discover a whole new world—
[66666666 I wanna see the solo too! Don’t turn off the stream!]
[Solo him, crush him, and marry him!]
[Yesterday he said he wanted to be with someone who’s better at gaming than him… This is your interview, girl!]
[HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA but you can’t beat him! Back in the day, Cheng Ge was a solo king—even that Melon Skin Li Junhe couldn’t take him down!!!!]
[Dog food out of nowhere first thing in the morning.]
[My Cheng Ge’s hair is a mess but he’s still so handsome. Let me tell you, a man like this is perfect for keeping in bed to admire from morning till night—every second is a beautiful sight. Whether you go for it or not is up to you.]
OpenNovel