Tong Yao threw herself back onto the bed as soon as she returned to her room.
[ZGDX, Smiling: I chickened out. All crows are black under the sky—I really shouldn’t have forgotten the pain once the wound healed. The slap came so fast—I give up, you really can’t date pro players! Those model esports couples are all fake fake fake! No man can resist outside temptations! None!!!]
[A Mao’s Mom: ………………What the hell? What’s wrong with you? Why the sudden outburst? Did your captain cheat? Wait, you’re not even together yet, so how could he cheat? Then what happened? Screwing fans? Massage parlors?]
Tong Yao carefully recounted her encounters with Xu Tailun at the flower and bird market and the cinema via voice message. As she revisited the events, the humiliation of being played for a fool by Jian Yang while remaining oblivious, along with the disgust of unexpectedly running into him again, resurfaced. She felt her heart burning, so her words came fast and her choice of phrasing was harsh.
However.
[A Mao’s Mom: Holy shit, you went to the flower and bird market, had a meal, and watched a movie with our Cheng Ge?]
[ZGDX, Smiling: Focus on the important part, friend!]
[A Mao’s Mom: Isn’t the important part the fact that you two went shopping, ate, and watched a movie together? That’s a date, friend!!!!]
[ZGDX, Smiling: The important part is that this Korean Aid from the Great Qing Team has a girlfriend he constantly flaunts, using his reputation as a warm, strong, and devoted model esports boyfriend to gain fans—only to then go on dates with those same fans! And then he lies about not leaving the team headquarters all afternoon, saying he was just playing on a smurf account. Why lie if he wasn’t guilty? The worst part is his teammates helped him lie too! Are they insane?! Are these people insane?!]
[A Mao’s Mom: Calm down first.]
[A Mao’s Mom: Dragon, this Korean Aid, is the core player of the Great Qing Team. I heard from Ai Jia that their team is basically run by the Koreans because they carry… Maybe the other players had no choice but to go along with it.]
Hugging her phone, Tong Yao thought carefully and finally recalled that when Xu Tailun had his teammate speak for him that afternoon, the teammate’s smile had indeed seemed forced, and his tone had been off—but at the time, she’d been too angry to analyze it properly.
[ZGDX, Smiling: A Chinese club being run by Koreans is just laughable.]
[A Mao’s Mom: That’s why there are only a handful of Korean Aids who genuinely want to compete for the Chinese region—cherish them. And calm down, don’t randomly generalize. Jian Yang’s mistakes and Xu Tailun’s scumbaggery have nothing to do with your captain. You can’t just lump them all together with “all crows are black.”]
[ZGDX, Smiling: ……]
[A Mao’s Mom: Once bitten, twice shy.]
[ZGDX, Smiling: Yang Shen was my first love. He went to a massage parlor and had the time of his life while I lost ten pounds from stress, ending up fleeing the country in disgrace.]
[ZGDX, Smiling: So what if I’m scared! Scared!!!]
[A Mao’s Mom: So you’re giving up on your captain?]
[ZGDX, Smiling: ………………Yeah, I’m giving up.]【A Mao's Mom: Finally poked its nose out of its shell only to retreat again. Fine, I'm convinced!】
【ZGDX、Smiling: The best way to avoid being dumped, deceived, or played is simple: don’t fall in love.】
【A Mao's Mom: Sound reasoning, truly persuasive—I totally buy into your nonsense.】
【A Mao's Mom: Maybe you should eat shit to calm down.】
【ZGDX、Smiling: Who was the one who threw a tantrum and threatened to break up over a gift from a female fan?】
【A Mao's Mom: Me.】
【ZGDX、Smiling: If Ai Jia ever pulled the kind of stunts Jian Yang or Xu Tailun did, you’d chop his dick off. So don’t throw stones from a glass house… But I believe your Ai Jia is a rare exception—after all, he’s spineless. You should cherish him.】
After sending this string of messages, Tong Yao felt utterly drained. She removed her makeup, took a shower, changed into pajamas, and crawled into bed without even bothering to play games—only to be plagued by nightmares so awful she didn’t even want to mention them.
By the time she woke up, it was already late-night snack time.
Lu Sicheng was already seated at his spot. Noticing the disheveled, dark-eyed figure plopping down beside him with hair like a bird’s nest, he asked, “Been out stealing? You didn’t even show up for dinner.”
Tong Yao gave him a lethargic glance and muttered an unenthusiastic “Mm.”
Lu Sicheng paused, then turned to look at her. “Duo queue?”
Tong Yao peeked at his screen before retreating. “You’re back in Diamond I. What’s the point?”
“Use Lu Yue’s account.”
“No way. Even boosters get paid. He uses my account to tank my rank, and I use his to climb? That’s just stupid.”
With that, Tong Yao queued up solo and went to the fridge for a drink. Lu Sicheng leaned back, catching Old Cat’s stunned expression from the corner of his eye. Mouth agape, Old Cat silently mouthed: What’s wrong with her?
Lu Sicheng shook his head, signaling he had no clue what kind of madness had taken hold of her.
For the rest of the night, Tong Yao was unusually quiet.
Especially around Lu Sicheng.
It was as if she’d suddenly contracted a terminal illness called “Lu Sicheng Allergy.”
While waiting in queue, Tong Yao noticed the drama about Great Qing Team’s jungler, Dragon, allegedly dating someone other than his girlfriend had blown up. But the so-called "evidence" was just a blurry photo of a figure—fans quickly defended him, pointing out that during his afternoon livestream, Dragon was wearing completely different clothes than in the photo, so the person captured earlier couldn’t possibly be Xu Tailun.
This guy really leaves no room for error.
Tong Yao smirked coldly but said nothing, turning on her stream and idly scrolling through the Forum on her phone during the queue. Then she stumbled upon a post from a fan who claimed to have spotted Smiling and Chessman at a cinema earlier that afternoon.
At first, the thread was just buzzing with speculation like “What are these two doing watching a movie alone together?” But by the 30th reply, someone suddenly asked:
【Wait, isn’t this the exact same time and theater where that alleged photo of Xu Tailun was taken? The background in that blurry shot matches Wan Tai Cinema, and the wall clock’s time checks out too!】
Tong Yao’s fingers froze mid-scroll.She put down her phone and switched back to check the live comments, only to realize that at some point, the chat had shifted from casual chatter to a flood of two specific topics—
Half the fans were asking about her and Lu Sicheng—why they went to the movies alone together; the other half were asking if she had seen Xu Tailun yesterday.
"We went to buy goldfish with Cheng Ge, and since we finished early, we just decided to catch a movie—no one said only couples can watch movies together. If there really was something going on, who the hell would blatantly hold hands in public just to give you all gossip fodder? As for the jungler from the other team you mentioned, I’m not sure if he was there. The theater was packed, and a lot of people sneaked in like thieves after the lights dimmed..."
Tong Yao paused here and let out a cold, ambiguous laugh. "If you’re so curious, why don’t you ask him yourself?"
The moment her words landed, the live comments exploded. Some persisted in asking what she meant by that, what the laugh implied, whether she actually knew something... Just then, a new game started, and Tong Yao outright closed the live chat with the excuse of "not wanting to discuss this topic," focusing entirely on her game—
So she had no idea that everything she said would later be dissected word by word by forum masters with the analytical skills of perfect-scoring gaokao Chinese examinees. Nor did she know that, after a series of wild extrapolations, her cold laugh would eventually be interpreted as evidence accusing Xu Tailun of screwing fans.
Well, to be precise, even if she had known, she wouldn’t have cared.
...
Four days later.
Their match against the "Qing Dynasty Fell 500 Years Ago" team was scheduled for Sunday at 3 PM.
After getting her makeup done at the venue, Tong Yao wandered around and ran into Xu Tailun in the hallway. If it had been any other pro player, she would’ve politely gone over to say hello. But for this one—whom she’d once held in decent regard—she chose to turn a blind eye, floating right past him without even a sidelong glance.
She knew he turned to look at her after she walked away.
Thirty minutes later, the match began.
"Tong Yao, what are you picking today? They left so many mid-lane champions open... Kassadin? Karma? Diana? Syndra? Leblanc?" Ming Shen’s voice came through the headset. "You can take any of them, since you play them all."
"Not sure," Tong Yao replied, glancing at the enemy team’s lineup. Their second pick, Dragon, instantly locked in Lee Sin, a jungler with insane early-game gank potential. A bad premonition flickered in her mind, and she hesitated. "What if I just pick Lulu and we go full protect-the-carry?"
"........................Lulu? What happened to the ‘Fierce Battle Maiden’? Since when is our mid-laner not aggressive? Did Lu Yue possess you or something?"
"Uh... fine, whatever."
Tong Yao rubbed her face, realizing she might just be paranoid, and casually locked in Syndra. She side-eyed the enemy team’s second pick, thinking to herself: Even if you wanted to pull something, your teammates wouldn’t let you, right? Hmph.
Then the game started.
And then she got thoroughly humbled.The enemy team started off like they were playing a Bronze-tier game, completely disregarding strategy—all five of them grouped up in the mid-lane river bush and ambushed Tong Yao, securing First Blood. After that, their Lee Sin seemed to have taken up permanent residence in the mid-lane, relentlessly ganking and abandoning his top and bottom lane teammates. Within the first ten minutes, he had come mid four times. Tong Yao was practically kicked into stupidity by his Resonating Strikes and could only cower under her tower, trembling.
And even then, the enemy still Tower dove to kill her.
By the twelve-minute mark, Tong Yao had died repeatedly and only managed to farm forty-something Minions, falling a level and a half behind the enemy Mid Laner!
Yet the kill score was 7:5, with ZGDX leading by nearly 1500 gold—all because—
Caster A: "This makes no sense! What’s up with Dragon today? He’s completely lost his rhythm, fixated only on the mid-lane, only ganking mid! This isn’t the Spring Split third-place team we know!"
Caster B: "Maybe he saw how HUAWEI Team’s one rare victory against ZGDX came from relentlessly targeting the mid-lane, so he’s mindlessly copying that."
Caster A: "But it’s not working! HUAWEI is a triple-core team—shutting down mid still leaves the other two lanes evenly matched, so they have a chance. But what’s Great Qing Team’s excuse? Dragon’s only camping mid while the other two lanes are getting crushed by ZGDX. What’s the point of only shutting down one lane? Old K’s been ganking top and bottom nonstop, and the other two lanes are getting stomped into oblivion!"
Caster B: "I don’t get it either, don’t ask me! Maybe interview Dragon after the match and see what he was thinking."
As the casters spoke, Dragon finished clearing the top-side jungle and, at a completely unreasonable and unexpected timing, camped in the top-side river bush, preparing for his fifth gank on mid—
Caster A: "Honestly, this is just excessive."
Caster B: "Smiling must be screaming internally, wondering why this guy is targeting her so hard!"
Caster A: "This blind targeting feels, let’s be real, borderline disrespectful—I can’t even tell what Great Qing’s game plan is this match. After watching for over ten minutes, all I’ve gathered is that they just want to kill Smiling."
Caster B: "Hahahaha, watch what you say, Old A. Don’t say I didn’t warn you—just check your Weibo comments later from Great Qing’s fans and you’ll see why."
At that moment.
The casters were utterly baffled.
The audience was equally confused.
And on the rift, Tong Yao was fuming. When Lee Sin appeared mid for the fifth time, her Flash had just come off cooldown. The moment Lee Sin placed his ward, she instantly Flashed back under her tower—only to see him follow up. Q-E-W-W-Q-R, she knocked him into tower range with her Dark Sphere, unleashing a full combo with maximum damage and Ignite. Her items were terrible, though, and the damage simply wasn’t enough. Tong Yao’s heart sank as she calculated the numbers—even if she pulled off the play of her life, at best, she’d trade one-for-one with this idiot.
But then, from the bottom lane, a massive Enchanted Crystal Arrow came flying—landing squarely on Lee Sin!
Caster A: "Aaaaaaand it hits!!! From that angle!!!"Commentator B: ["Lu Sicheng's Ashe! Did you think shutting down my mid lane would help? Don't forget our bot lane is also a carry point!"]
The commentator's passionate shout sent the audience into a frenzy. Ashe's ultimate skill perfectly pinned the enemy Lee Sin under the turret for several seconds, forcing him to tank full turret damage—
Tong Yao seized the moment to land two basic attacks.
Then decisively retreated—
Once the freeze effect ended, Syndra, now at a sliver of health, retreated to the second turret, while Lee Sin perished under the first turret from Ignite's burn effect!
The crowd erupted in cheers and applause!
Commentator A: ["That arrow deserves the top spot in any 'Heroic Rescue' highlight reel. Let's be honest—if that arrow hadn't hit, Smiling wouldn't have stood a chance against Lee Sin just now."]
"I told you we should've picked Lulu this game!"
Tong Yao's champion circled near the second turret as she recalled back to base, her frustration boiling over—this was the second time she'd faced such targeted harassment in the LPL. If the first time with A Tai had been chaotic but still ended in victory, this time, with Dragon fully aware that his remaining two lanes were no match for ZGDX Team, his actions could only mean one thing—
He was doing it on purpose.
In a normal ranked match, any regular player subjected to such mindless targeting would've likely gone AFK under turret and started flaming in all-chat: "Did your mom die, enemy jungler? Need my blood to water her grave?"
But Tong Yao knew the staff backstage were recording all in-game comms, so she couldn't curse outright. She could only endure the fury and her abysmal KDA (1/12/3), watching helplessly as Lu Sicheng and Old Cat soared to victory on the path paved by her suffering—
And because Dragon had camped mid lane so relentlessly, Great Qing Team's jungle was completely dominated, with top and bot lanes practically steamrolled by Old Cat and Lu Sicheng. By the 40-minute mark, Tong Yao stared blankly at her gray screen (revive timer counting down), expressionless as her teammates pushed into the enemy base.
The Nexus exploded.
The victory theme played.
Finally unleashing the "F*** your mom" she'd bottled up for forty minutes, Tong Yao slammed her mouse, tore off her headset, and stormed toward the break room without looking back!
"What's Dragon's problem? That was completely uncalled for."
"You think he actually believed Tong Yao was throwing shade at him during her stream and decided to retaliate?"
"No way, pulling this in an official match? Did his team even agree to this?"
"What's one loss in the Group Stage? Besides, Great Qing Team's whole thing is 'four protect one'—four Chinese players babysitting one Korean, heh heh heh..."
The teammates chattered noisily as they entered the break room. At the doorway, Lu Sicheng, who'd been silent at the front, suddenly turned to glare at the three talkative players behind him (top, jungle, support). They immediately fell quiet—
Just then, Tong Yao yanked the break room door open from inside.
Lu Sicheng: "Where are you going?"
Tong Yao: "Pee break."
Lu Sicheng: "...Next game, we're doing 'four protect one.'"
Tong Yao: "Play whatever you want. Even if I pick a full-tank champion and camp mid, I'll still get slaughtered... If he keeps camping me next game, someone better report him for griefing after the match."
Head held high, Tong Yao marched out of the break room.Standing outside the rest area, her four teammates collectively twisted their faces as they watched her leave—
Little Fatty: "Damn, I thought she was gonna cry."
Old Cat: "Same here."
Old K: "Probably too pissed to even react."
Lu Sicheng: "Are you guys going in or not?"
Everyone: "..."
The group noisily filed into the rest area.
Meanwhile, Tong Yao once again found herself face-to-face with Xu Tailun, who was leaning against the wall near the women's restroom at the end of the hallway. The atmosphere instantly turned awkward, sparks flying—almost literally, to the point where blood might have been spilled.
If not for her former crush and current team captain forbidding fights, she would've gladly jumped up and scratched that smug, pretentious face of his...
Speaking of former crushes.
Tilting her chin up slightly and straightening her posture, Tong Yao imagined Lu Sicheng's usual arrogant demeanor as she walked past Xu Tailun—only to suddenly have her wrist grabbed and be slammed against the wall.
Tong Yao: "..."
...What the hell is this? Getting pinned by a cockroach-like creature? Even my ex-crush never got this close!
OpenNovel