It was around noon when they came out of the flower and bird market carrying a fish.
Still reeling from the shock of the "nice guy jungler turning into a fan-f***er," Tong Yao felt her stomach growl from fright as she sat in the car—but burdened by some girlish pride, she couldn’t bring herself to say anything. Instead, she stubbornly pretended to gaze at the scenery outside the window...
The longer she held it in, the harder it became to suppress the churning in her stomach.
As they neared the team headquarters, all Tong Yao could think about was whether there was any leftover beef or vegetables in the fridge to cook instant noodles—a 1.5-yuan pack of Huafeng Three Delicacies noodles, with a beaten egg and a slice of cheese... The more she thought about it, the hungrier she got, practically drooling over the thought of that steaming bowl of noodles—
Then, the unthinkable happened.
Just as they were about to reach the headquarters, Lu Sicheng suddenly turned onto a completely different road, one that definitely didn’t lead back to base—
Tong Yao: “...?”
“Where are we going?” Watching her noodles sprout wings and fly away, Tong Yao panicked. “Cheng Ge, our headquarters is the other way on XX Road. Why are you going this way? Did you take a wrong turn?”
“No.”
“What do you mean ‘no’?”
“I didn’t take a wrong turn,” Lu Sicheng said. “Sit still. Are there thorns on your seat or something? Why are you fidgeting so much?”
Tong Yao slammed back against the seat: “……………………Lu Sicheng, where the hell are you driving?”
She even used his full name.
Lu Sicheng gripped the steering wheel, the corner of his lips quirking up slightly. He didn’t stop her—he found it amusing to hear her grit her teeth and enunciate his name so clearly.
Feeling mischievous, the man lazily replied, “To some random village, where I’ll sell you for booze—”
“I’m so hungry I could die right now. All I want is to get back to base and eat a steaming bowl of noodles. I have zero patience for your jokes, so before I beat you into the ground and dominate your Red Buff for a month—both in and out of matches—you better start talking properly.”
“...”
Lu Sicheng gave the person in his passenger seat a look reserved for the insane. Seeing her deadly serious expression, as if she might lunge at him and bite him at any moment, he fell silent for a second before switching to a more serious tone. “We’re going to eat. I’m hungry too. When I grabbed a Coke this morning, I saw the fridge at base was empty. Were you really in such a hurry to go back and gnaw on dry instant noodles like a cat eating canned food?”
“...”
“You went through the trouble of washing your hair and putting on makeup just to go to the flower and bird market? Was it worth it?”
“Going to the flower and bird market wasn’t worth it, but starving to death on the road is?”
“...” The girl, driven mad by hunger, was uncharacteristically bold, her face practically screaming, “I’ll fight the heavens, the earth, and the air itself.” Lu Sicheng gave up arguing with her and asked, “What do you want to eat?”
“Noodles.”
“Shouldn’t girls prefer things like Japanese cuisine—” “Girls? What’s that? I want noodles. Steaming hot noodles with broth, meat, and an egg. If there’s a gender that loves eating noodles, then that’s me.”
“...”
And so.
Lu Sicheng parked the car in the plaza of a shopping center near the China Telecom headquarters. After hanging the goldfish—trapped in a plastic bag—from the rearview mirror and poking an air hole in the bag, he patted the steering wheel. “Get out. Let’s eat.”
Tong Yao stared at the goldfish swimming around in the bag: “The news says you’re not supposed to leave pets alone in the car. Do goldfish count as pets?”Lu Sicheng: "Then what if I want to take another pet that's so hungry it's howling at me to eat?"
Tong Yao: "..."
Lu Sicheng: "It can't talk so it's at a disadvantage. Satisfied? Here's a life lesson for you—when you've gotten the advantage, keep quiet and enjoy it secretly. Now get out of the car, or you can stay here and keep it company."
Tong Yao: "..."
Puffing her cheeks, Tong Yao muttered complaints under her breath as she unbuckled her seatbelt, opened the door, and jumped out. At the same time, Lu Sicheng also got out, slamming the car door shut with a "bang," and led the person who had circled around from the passenger side—looking like a starving ghost reincarnated—away from the parking lot.
Five minutes later, the two stood in front of a ramen shop—
Pushing open the door, they found the shop sparsely populated due to it being a weekday. They found a corner seat, and Tong Yao flipped through the menu, swiftly ordering the noodles she wanted before staring expectantly at Lu Sicheng.
She stared for ten seconds.
Finally unable to take it anymore, Lu Sicheng snapped the menu shut with a "bang," his face dark. "The same for me, that's all. The key is speed—someone here is about to starve to death."
Tong Yao made an ugly face at him, while the waiter holding the order pad stifled a laugh, jotting down their orders before leaving. On his way out, he thoughtfully left a menu for Lu Sicheng—who tossed a "satisfied now?" look at the person across from him before reopening the menu and leisurely adding a few side dishes...
A short while later, the noodles hadn't arrived yet, but the side dishes did.
Lu Sicheng broke apart his chopsticks. "Eat something else first to fill your stomach. Stop glaring at me like a tiger—who's denying you food?"
Tong Yao didn't respond but did retract her gaze, no longer glaring at Lu Sicheng like a predator. After eating a chicken wing, the gnawing hunger in her stomach subsided, and her desperation for food cooled slightly. Peeking over the rim of her bowl, she glanced at the person across from her—even he didn't seem quite as hateful anymore.
When the noodles arrived, the two ate in silence—
Ever since her salary was docked, Tong Yao hadn't indulged in such generous portions of meat unless someone else was treating her. Now, she ate with single-minded focus until the person across from her suddenly set down his chopsticks, swiping absently at his phone as he asked, "What are you doing after this?"
Tong Yao was slow to react, barely registering that Lu Sicheng was talking to her. "Going back to the team headquarters..."
Before she could say "to play Ranked matches,"
Lu Sicheng cut in, "No Scrims today. Don't feel like gaming. Let's go watch a movie... 'Independence Day 2' just came out, and I haven't seen it yet. Been waiting forever. If Little Fatty beats me to it, he'll spoil it again. This time, I'm getting ahead of him. You're coming with me."
Tong Yao: "..."
...What the hell?
That was nothing but declarative sentences from start to finish.
…………………………What the hell???
Quietly slurping up a mouthful of noodles, Tong Yao thought for a moment. "Watch a movie? The two of us?"
"Mn," Lu Sicheng replied without looking up, tapping a few times on his phone. "There's a new theater on the top floor of this mall... what's it called again? Oh, Wanda Cinema. Tickets are booked."
Tong Yao: "..."
Tong Yao: "What do you mean, the two of us watching a movie?"
Lu Sicheng: "What do you mean, 'what do you mean'? How many people do you need to watch a movie? Do you usually go alone?"Tong Yao shook her head, about to say "with my best friend," but then she remembered Jin Yang, that country bumpkin who never watched foreign blockbusters. Back when they went to Universal Studios to watch Transformers together, she had to patiently explain: the colorful ones are the good guys, the black metallic ones are the bad guys, the good and bad fight, and the goal is to drive the bad guys off Earth...
Tong Yao nodded again: "Watching movies alone is nice. No need to worry about interacting with the person next to you."
Lu Sicheng paused for a moment, then smiled: "I won’t disturb you."
Tong Yao looked at the slight upward curve of the man’s lips and nodded with an "Oh," saying, "Alright then."
After that, seeing Lu Sicheng temporarily put down his phone, she lowered her head again to focus on eating her noodles—after a few more bites, she suddenly realized something wasn’t quite right: her point wasn’t about "whether someone would disturb her" at all!
Tong Yao clattered her chopsticks down: "Captain, you tricked me again."
Lu Sicheng made an "Mhm" sound, picking up the phone he’d set aside earlier and tapping away without looking up as he asked: "What did I do to you?"
Tong Yao: "You coaxed me into watching a movie with you."
Lu Sicheng paused his phone fiddling: "I need to coax you just to watch a movie together?"
Tong Yao: "..."
Lu Sicheng: "You’re the one with issues here. I’m very hurt."
Tong Yao: "...Sorry."
Tong Yao: "…………………………"
Tong Yao: "……………………Lu Sicheng, I never want to talk to you again."
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