Tong Yao's chair was kicked from behind, causing her to sway slightly. She looked up and asked the person behind her, "What?"
"As the captain encouraging a new teammate, how dare you say I'm just sweet-talking?"
"I thought you didn't browse Weibo much?"
"Is that why you feel free to run wild on Weibo?"
"…………………………What running wild? That last post wasn't about you."
"Oh? Then who was it about?"
"...Captain, digging too deep isn't fun. People who dig too deep often come off as having really low EQ, seriously."
Tong Yao stuffed her phone away, muttering to herself, "So cold, why's the AC so low?" as she put on her hoodie backward, pulling the hood over her face in a clear "I'm not avoiding conversation, the AC is just too cold" gesture.
Behind her came the sound of Lu Sicheng scrolling through Weibo. Tong Yao shivered under her hoodie, only relaxing when the scrolling stopped. She peeked at her phone and saw her Weibo comments flooded with tags to Lu Sicheng. Her eye twitched as she cursed under her breath: "You Melon Skin fans think you know everything, huh? Bunch of Gods!"
She secretly browsed Weibo under her hoodie for a while longer before dozing off for about ten minutes... They returned to the team headquarters around 7 PM. Since they'd crushed the spring season's third-place team in their first official cross-group Group Stage match today, everyone was in high spirits. The team lounged on the sofa, loudly debating takeout options—Old K was treating since he'd earned MVP in the first game.
Old K: "Smiling also got an MVP."
"Smiling also got two months' pay deducted," Tong Yao replied without looking up from the sofa. "Come on, guys, I only got MVP because they wanted to gossip about me and Xu Tailun—"
She cut herself off mid-sentence.
Only because even she suddenly sensed something wrong. She looked down at the sofa beneath her, then sharply raised her head to meet Lu Sicheng's gaze across from her. The latter arched an eyebrow, calmly watching her before raising his hand to thumb-point at the door behind him: Remember now? Walk out yourself, don't make me move you.
Tong Yao: "..."
She obediently set down her phone and stood up.
Everyone except Lu Sicheng: "?"
Lu Sicheng also stood: "Moral education time."
Everyone except Lu Sicheng: "..."
Their expressions shifted from confusion to pity as they watched Tong Yao follow Lu Sicheng out the door... Outside, Lu Sicheng leaned against the doorframe like an impregnable fortress, glancing at Tong Yao. "Speak. Choose your words carefully."
Tong Yao thought about it—it didn't seem like a big deal, but Lu Sicheng's severity made her nervous.
After a pause, she answered honestly: "During halftime, I ran into Xu Tailun outside the restroom. He asked why I didn't defend him during my livestream when people brought up the cinema incident, why I gave ambiguous answers that stirred drama."
"What did you say?""My mouth is my own, I'll say what I want."
"Mm, no problem there."
Lu Sicheng glanced at her, recalling how during the mid-game break, the other members of the Great Qing Team had indeed come in asking all sorts of questions with unnatural expressions... The man narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze instantly turning displeased: "And then?"
"He asked if I'd shut up if they threw the match on purpose."
Lu Sicheng let out a cold laugh.
"Why would we need anyone to go easy on us when we can win fair and square? So I said no, then bit him and ran."
The cold smile on Lu Sicheng's lips froze.
His lips quickly straightened as he adopted an uncertain expression, his voice softening as he asked: "What?"
—For some reason, his tone sounded a bit off.
Tong Yao swallowed hard with an audible gulp: "I ran."
"The sentence before that."
"I said no."
"The sentence after."
"...I bit him." Tong Yao paused, then quickly added, "You said no fighting, right? So I bit him instead. Biting's okay, isn't it? It's not like I'd bite him to death."
Lu Sicheng seemed to completely ignore her rambling justification, going straight to the point: "Xu Tailun had bandages on his arm when the second match started—that was you?" "Yeah—Ow!"
With a light "smack," Tong Yao clutched her forehead and stumbled back several steps, staring blankly as Lu Sicheng, his handsome face icy, tossed out the words "Stay outside," pulled open the team headquarters' door, went in, and slammed it shut—Tong Yao pressed her ear to the door, hearing Lu Sicheng announce inside, "Don't let her in." She pulled her ear away, staring incredulously at the tightly shut door for a moment before pressing her ear against it again: not a sound from inside now.
He's serious?
Not cool.
Tong Yao walked over to the window, pressing her face against the glass to peer inside—spotting Little Fatty sitting by the window, she knocked on the glass as if grasping at a lifeline. Little Fatty turned to look at her, then grinned goofily.
Let me in—Tong Yao mouthed.
Little Fatty kept grinning, then pointed at Lu Sicheng's back in the distance and shook his head.
Tong Yao: "..."
Watching the people moving about inside the headquarters, the cat lounging on someone's lap, and the air conditioner's outdoor unit rumbling noisily in the yard, it was as if the entire team had collectively decided to ignore her pitiful figure standing outside the window...
Left with no choice, she ended up sitting stupidly in the yard feeding mosquitoes while watching a livestream—
Xu Tailun's livestream.
[Since HUAWEI Team won against ZGDX last time, I thought I'd try it, but it didn't work out.] Sitting before the computer, he still wore that gentle, warm-hearted persona, [Sorry for losing the match.]
The live comments were naturally filled with "It's okay," "Try harder next time," "Win next time," and other comforting words... Of course, some asked if he was deliberately retaliating against Tong Yao for not supporting him during her stream. To this, his response was—["Those rumors aren't true either. I didn't do anything inappropriate with fans," Xu Tailun said. "Actually, Smiling was right—if you haven't done anything wrong, you shouldn't fear rumors. My relationship with my girlfriend is very good; there's no way I'd like someone else. She was really upset when she heard the rumors, and I comforted her for a long time, but she's fine now."
Tong Yao: "..."
Tong Yao made a gagging face at the screen.
["Mimi? She's sick, but it's not serious,"] Xu Tailun read the live comments. ["What do you mean by 'week cat'? Oh, I see. No, that's not it—she just has a cold, a simple cold. I already asked a friend to take her to the hospital."]
Thinking back to the struggling little life in that bag a couple of days ago, Tong Yao's expression turned blank again.
["Yeah, I've been really unlucky lately—so many misfortunes. Today's second match didn't go well, and we lost. We shouldn't have gone for those early ganks, but my mid-laner signaled me, so I thought, 'What if it works?' and went for it. Who knew... Ah, of course, it's not my teammates' fault. I'm just really upset right now! No need to comfort me—I didn't perform well... Gifts? Don't send me gifts. I didn't play well; I don't deserve them."]
As his calm voice spoke, the live comments were flooded with crying emoticons and messages like "my heart aches for you." But the most ridiculous part was that right after saying "I don't deserve gifts," Xu Tailun opened the Givenchy official website and started browsing the latest T-shirts...
Tong Yao was utterly dumbfounded.
Yet, in her dumbfounded state, she found entertainment—
She propped her chin on her hand, sitting on a small stone bench in the courtyard outside, watching Xu Tailun's one-man show with great interest for an hour and a half. By the time the neighborhood lit up with the glow of countless homes and the sound of a delivery rider's electric bike rang through the complex, Tong Yao put down her phone and craned her neck—
She stood up, walked to the gate, and intercepted the delivery guy. Recognizing her as a familiar face, he handed over the food without suspicion. "It's sweltering out here, and the mosquitoes are terrible. What are you doing outside alone?"
"Enjoying the cool breeze."
Tong Yao took the takeout containers and replied with absolute nonchalance.
After the delivery guy left, Tong Yao carried the food meant for seven or eight people to the team headquarters' door and called out, "Hey! Two choices: either let me in, or I get eaten alive by mosquitoes out here while you all starve inside. Your call!"
A minute later, the door opened.
Tong Yao grinned and held up the takeout bags, addressing the expressionless man standing in the doorway. "Mr. Lu, your delivery?"
Lu Sicheng opened the door. Tong Yao shoved the bags into his hands, then ducked under his arm like a slippery eel, squeezing inside. She leaped onto the sofa and scooped up the cat snoozing there, clinging to it with a "try and make me leave now" stubbornness... Lu Sicheng ignored her, turning to place the food on the table and calling the others to eat.
Tong Yao watched longingly.
A moment later, she felt her phone vibrate.
[fhdjwhdb2333: Learned your lesson?]
Tong Yao looked up, bewildered, and glanced toward the dining table not far away. The man sat slightly turned, one leg crossed over the other, his cheek resting on his hand while the other held his phone... His gaze was lowered, his expression cold yet focused on the screen, the phone's glow reflecting off the bridge of his tall, straight nose.
Little Fatty: "Cheng Ge, come eat."
Lu Sicheng didn't look up. "Not hungry."Little Fatty: "You just said you were hungry."
Lu Sicheng still didn't look up: "Not hungry anymore."
Little Fatty: "Who are you texting? A woman?"
Lu Sicheng paused, then gave an "Mhm."
The previously lively dining table instantly fell silent. Everyone stared wide-eyed at their captain. The man lifted his eyelids to glance at them: "What are you looking at? Can't I talk to a woman?"
They all shook their heads like rattle-drums.
Tong Yao: "..."
[ZGDX、Smiling: ..........................Got it got it!]
[fhdjwhdb2333: What will you do if this happens again?]
[ZGDX、Smiling: Run away while twisting my head? Call the police? Scream for help?]
[fhdjwhdb2333: Call who?]
[ZGDX、Smiling: ...The others from Great Qing Team had you tied up today.]
[fhdjwhdb2333: Call who?]
[ZGDX、Smiling: Alright alright I get it.]
[fhdjwhdb2333: Call who?]
[ZGDX、Smiling: You.]
Tong Yao threw her phone aside as if it were a hot potato.
Yet her peripheral vision kept drifting back to the phone... until its screen dimmed, then lit up again with a new message—
[fhdjwhdb2333: Come eat.]
Tong Yao rubbed her ears and stood up. When she looked toward the table, her captain had already put down his phone at some point. Now holding chopsticks in one hand, he was slightly tilting his head to speak with someone beside him... his expression calm and composed, the corners of his lips curled in a faint smile, seeming to be in a rather good mood.
—As if he hadn't just been aggressively cornering some poor, innocent soul on WeChat until she said exactly what he wanted to hear.
He really wasn't a good person.
........................Absolutely a wolf in sheep's clothing.
OpenNovel