In reality, the conversation between the two people—whom the team leaders and teammates believed were heading to the flower and bird market to buy fish while incidentally settling their lifelong matters—went like this inside the car:
Tong Yao: "Cheng Ge, I heard that after I went upstairs to sleep last night, you searched for live piranha fry on Taobao..."
Lu Sicheng: "Yes."
Tong Yao fell silent for a moment. "Did you find any?"
"For some reason, the search results only showed Venus flytraps," Lu Sicheng replied. "Figured planting those next to the fish tank would have the same effect, so I bought them."
Tong Yao pulled out her phone and searched for Venus flytraps. Staring at the plant's naturally ferocious, toothy appearance in the images, she paused. "What effect?"
"Bite whoever dares to poke the fish again."
"......"
Tong Yao resumed her deadpan expression and looked straight ahead. The rest of the ride passed in silence—Lu Sicheng focused on driving, while Tong Yao's mind was occupied with the question, "Does he want to bite Mao or me?"... Only when they arrived and she jumped out of the car did Tong Yao realize the place was packed. Sellers hawked cats, dogs, flowers, birds, fish, and insects, their voices blending into a cacophony. A Labrador trotted past Tong Yao with a sign around its neck that read, "Seeking mate—I have money." Tong Yao gave it the highest level of a respectful stare.
Tong Yao: "......"
Even dogs have learned to visit the flower and bird market to hire ducks for procreation. Impressive, doggo.
Lu Sicheng parked the car and stepped out. After surveying the sea of people before him and glancing at the person beside him—who, despite wearing thick-soled shoes, was still short enough to vanish into a crowd—he remarked flatly, "I should get you an automatic alarm. Press a button, and it’ll beep to show where you are. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about losing you."
"……………………" Tong Yao looked awkward. "I have a phone. Why would I need an alarm? Just call me if I get lost."
"Won’t call," Lu Sicheng glanced at her. "Stay behind me."
Lu Sicheng was tall and dressed conspicuously. Standing in the crowd, he towered over everyone like Moses parting the Red Sea. The throngs of people eased slightly as he led the way...
Tong Yao followed behind him, unable to see anything ahead. The man loomed like a mountain before her, and when she looked up, all she could see was his broad back and the earring on his ear—a silver hoop that looked quite nice. Tong Yao hadn’t noticed before that Lu Sicheng wore such things, but now she couldn’t tear her eyes away from it.
"Cheng Ge."
"What?"
"I didn’t know you had your ears pierced. The earring suits you. Why don’t you wear it often?"
"Who’d see it at the team headquarters?"
"……Then who’s seeing it at the flower and bird market?" Tong Yao was baffled. "The fish?"
"You’re wearing a skirt too. Who’s that for? The cat?"
"You’re wearing new shoes."
"Are yours old?"
"......"
"......"
An awkward silence fell.
Tong Yao was pondering when the two of them could ever sincerely compliment each other without any hidden agendas when the person in front of Lu Sicheng suddenly stopped. The man halted as well—but Tong Yao, who had been craning her neck to admire his earring, crashed into him headfirst. Instinctively, she grabbed Lu Sicheng’s wrist to steady herself!The crowd blocking the two of them parted slightly, opening up a path ahead, but Lu Sicheng didn’t move. Instead, he lowered his head to look at the small hand gripping his wrist and paused for a moment. "Shorty."
Tong Yao: "?"
Lu Sicheng: "You’ve been pulling a lot of little stunts today. What’s with all the shamelessly taking advantage of me?"
Tong Yao: "………………"
Tong Yao: "Bullshit!"
She flung the man’s hand away and took three steps back to prove her innocence—Lu Sicheng chuckled and said, "Can’t even walk in heels, yet you try to act like an adult," before turning to walk toward the fish market. Tong Yao stood there glaring at his retreating back for a while before quickly catching up to him.
……The fish market wasn’t as crowded.
Since Lu Sicheng couldn’t keep piranhas, he settled for the cheapest option—goldfish. The two randomly picked a fish vendor and asked about the prices. Tong Yao crouched in front of the stall, hugging her knees and holding a small net, her eyes following the fish swimming in the basin. Without turning her head, she asked, "Cheng Ge, how many do you want?"
"Whatever."
"What color?"
"Black."
"Gold and red are so much prettier, with tails like little umbrellas."
"Oh, really? I want black ones."
"Red is nice, looks festive too. Look how lively this one is, swimming around—definitely a long-lived one—"
"That last one would’ve lived a long life too if it hadn’t been eaten by the fat cat—I said black. Put the net down. Am I buying the fish or are you?"
Lu Sicheng crouched beside Tong Yao and snatched the small net from her hand. Tong Yao hissed and tried to grab it back, but Lu Sicheng dodged her effortlessly… The two of them jostled each other in front of the goldfish stall, arguing passionately over whether the 1.5-yuan fish should be red or black—both dead serious about it.
"My tank, my rules."
"If you hate red so much, why don’t you give up your Red Buff too? Hand it over."
"You dare touch my Red Buff and see what happens."
"If you’re so capable, why don’t you ask the game designers to invent a Black Buff in the jungle just for you? Say you like it, no objections allowed—your jungle, your rules. Be that domineering."
"Shut up."
This nonsense went in circles for about ten minutes, with eight of those minutes dedicated to China Telecom’s Double Carry duo declaring their rightful claims over jungle buffs and throwing threats at each other—the two neatly dressed young people arguing so seriously over such madness left the vendor utterly dumbfounded…
Finally, the vendor couldn’t take it anymore. Worried these two might argue over these 1.5-yuan lives all day, he interrupted them: "Big bro, why don’t you just listen to the young lady? What’s the point of arguing with your girlfriend? When they get upset, it’s us men who suffer—next month, when you try to hold her hand and she slaps you away, bringing up old grudges like ‘last month you wouldn’t even let me get fish in my favorite color,’ you’ll regret it."
Lu Sicheng: "..."Lu Sicheng paused for a moment, giving Tong Yao the perfect opportunity to swiftly snatch back the fishing net. She scooped up the fish she'd had her eye on for a while and plopped it into a nearby basin of clean water—then quickly shoved the net back to the stall owner while grinning, "You're so funny, haha. He and I aren't..."
"Will you sell this fish for one yuan?" Lu Sicheng asked.
Tong Yao turned her head to give him a baffled look: Dude, you drove here in a Maserati and you're haggling over fifty cents with a street vendor? Have you no humanity?
The scariest part was that the stall owner actually agreed.
Chuckling, he bagged the red goldfish for Lu Sicheng and handed it over, adding, "My girlfriend's just like yours—stubborn. Even a big, tough guy like me can't keep her in line."
Amid the stall owner's rambling, Lu Sicheng said nothing. He took the transparent bag with the goldfish, held it up to the sunlight, and examined it carefully—
His earnest, affectionate gaze made him look like a complete idiot.
Tong Yao rolled her eyes. "Boss, this guy and I aren't what you think—"
Thwack. Someone lightly patted the back of her head, cutting her off for the second time. She looked up to see the same person who had just been intently studying the goldfish now staring at her with cold, indifferent brown eyes. "What are you looking at? Pay up."
"......"
With a resigned expression, Tong Yao fished a coin out of her pocket and placed it in the stall owner's hand.
Lu Sicheng glanced at it, then said flatly, "Let's go," and turned to leave. Tong Yao stood up to follow—but just then, a cart loaded with goods cut between them. She had to stop and wait for it to pass. By the time it did, the crowd had already blocked her view. She stood on tiptoe, trying to spot where Lu Sicheng had gone, when suddenly, a large hand yanked her sideways. "This way. What are you looking at?"
Tong Yao stumbled in the direction of the man's pull.
"Why are you wearing a long-sleeved shirt in this heat?"
When she got close enough, she heard him murmur, his voice right beside her ear. She blinked up at him, but his expression remained unreadable. He turned and walked ahead, one hand holding the transparent bag where the red goldfish swam in circles, the other firmly gripping the slender wrist of the person behind him—never letting go...
Only when they reached the entrance of the flower and bird market, where the crowd thinned slightly, did he subtly release her. He scanned the surroundings aimlessly—cars, people, cars, people, cars, people—and frowned slightly, unable to remember where he'd parked. "Coming here once shaves three years off my lifespan. If you want me dead sooner, just let your cat eat my fish again."
Tong Yao: "......"
She was about to say something when her gaze suddenly caught on a few kittens at a roadside vendor's stall—one of them was curled up in a simple cardboard box, fast asleep under the sunlight, looking exactly as dopey and carefree as her Da Bing had in his younger days...
Tong Yao felt as if magnets had grown under her feet, pulling her toward the kitten.
Lu Sicheng, still struggling to find his car, turned his head and raised an eyebrow when he realized the person who had been standing beside him moments ago had vanished. His gaze swept the roadside until he spotted his Mid Laner in her little skirt and blouse, crouched in front of a litter of furry little creatures—Instantly, her headache worsened.
As she walked up, intending to warn the guy eagerly asking the cat seller about the price not to mess around, a soft female voice suddenly sounded behind them: "Aww, what an adorable kitten!"
Immediately after, a hand reached over, forcibly pushing Tong Yao's aside to scoop up the kitten herself... Tong Yao felt the irritation of having her prey snatched from the tiger's mouth. Frowning, she was about to say "I was here first," but when she looked up, she saw the tall man standing behind the pretty girl. He was well-dressed but wore a mask, revealing only half of his high nose bridge and striking eyes—
He looked incredibly familiar.
Tong Yao let out a puzzled "Huh?" and spent a long moment failing to match that half-face with anyone she knew. Just then, she heard Lu Sicheng behind her greet the man in a not-too-enthusiastic tone—in Korean.
From the pronunciation, it sounded like he was calling him some kind of "hyung."
...Tailun-hyung?
Tong Yao froze, taking a while to realize this was the savior jungler from the Great Qing team next door. She parted her lips, about to offer a polite greeting, when the girl who'd snatched her cat clung to Xu Tailun's arm, cooing, "Oppa, buy this for me! I want this kitten—it can keep me company when you're not around!"
Affectionate and clingy.
She didn’t even glance at Tong Yao, merely gave Lu Sicheng a once-over before refocusing on Xu Tailun.
Xu Tailun, however, remained silent. He looked at Lu Sicheng, then down at Tong Yao, his dark eyes flickering with something before settling into calmness—without even a perfunctory exchange of pleasantries, Lu Sicheng grabbed Tong Yao and turned to leave.
As they walked away, Tong Yao overheard the girl whisper to Xu Tailun, "Is that person Chessman?"
She didn’t get to hear the answer—how did this girl even know Chessman? Was she part of the scene? Then why did she seem completely unfamiliar with Tong Yao and barely acquainted with Lu Sicheng?
Tong Yao was utterly baffled.
"...Wait, wait, what’s the rush? That was my cat—I was here first!"
Lu Sicheng found the car and opened the door. "One fat cat is enough—you want another? The team headquarters already has two nuisances. No room for a third."
"What two nuisances?" Tong Yao was shoved into the car but stubbornly stuck her head out to ask.
"You. And the cat."
"..................That kitten was so cute, like Da Bing’s little brother—after being forced to watch some random woman flaunt her relationship and steal my cat, I won’t be able to eat tonight!" Tong Yao turned to glare at the man now in the driver’s seat.
"Flaunt what relationship?"
"That Great Qing jungler and his girlfriend."
"His girlfriend is a Korean Professional League hostess. They were just flaunting their relationship on Facebook yesterday," Lu Sicheng said as he started the car. "No idea who that girl who stole your cat was—probably just a Great Qing fan. The kind who only watches their games or doesn’t even watch matches, just chases individual players. The type that drags down the reputation of all female fans in the scene—oh right, aren’t you the one who hates that kind the most?"
"..................??????"
What the hell? Cheating? Screwing fans? Scumbag!
Forget the girl—what about Xu Tailun? Weren’t you supposed to be the warm, gentlemanly type of player?!"Right, Xu Tailun has always been that kind of person. Now please look up at your expression in the rearview mirror—see it? Can you see the word 'awkward' written all over your face? Still want me to learn Chinese from him, the designated central air conditioning system?"
"…………………………"
"Do you?"
Tong Yao flushed red. Seeing Lu Sicheng's expression that clearly said he wouldn't step on the gas and drive properly until he got an answer, she finally gave in, lowering her head and shaking it slightly.
Lu Sicheng was satisfied.
"Mhm, first Li Huanshuo, then Xu Tailun. You've never once been right about people. From now on, just keep quiet."
"...Why didn't you tell me that day?"
"You wouldn't have believed me if I did. You'd just say I was making unfounded accusations out of jealousy."
"..."
Ugh.
Having a captain who knows you too well can be exhausting sometimes—he instantly identifies your weaknesses and delivers profound life lessons without leaving any room for resistance.
OpenNovel