The interview footage of Lu Sicheng being released caused a minor earthquake within the fan community. The original Weibo post was forwarded over ten thousand times in a short period, thanks to many players and industry insiders voluntarily sharing it. Opinions were mixed...
[My idol is absolutely right. Even though we call him "hubby" all the time, everyone has their own lives. If you truly like someone, you should wish for their happiness, right?]
[Liking is indulgence, but love is restraint.]
[So what the hell does dating have to do with how well you play the game?! Huh?!]
[No offense, but those fans who harass Ai Jia’s girlfriend really need to be electrocuted. What the hell does their relationship have to do with you?]
[Hahahahahahahahaha well said! My Cheng Ge has such a righteous worldview. You fans who camp outside the team headquarters and ambush players in real life need to know your limits.]
...
—These were the supportive comments.
[I get the logic, but if you’re earning such a high salary, just focus on playing well, okay? Of course, you could argue that the salary isn’t coming from us.]
[I can’t accept my favorite player having a girlfriend. I know it’s inevitable, but I’ll still unfollow.]
[I don’t accept Cheng Ge having a girlfriend. It’s that simple.]
[Oh, doesn’t stop me from unfollowing if you get one.]
[Unless his girlfriend is Marilyn Monroe, I’ll oppose it to the end. Of course, if she dies young like Marilyn, then fine. Call me delusional, I don’t care!!!!!!]
[……………………………………I understand the reasoning, but you people up on your high horses will never understand the humble love of us fans. "Stay close to the stage, but far from their lives"? Saying something like that is just too selfish.]
...
—These were the opposing comments.
And then there were some...
Who completely missed the point—
[Holy shit holy shit holy shit my Cheng Ge has someone he likes ahhhhhhh! That’s the real takeaway here, folks!]
[I refuse to believe Lu Sicheng is capable of liking a human being :), I refuse.]
[Bro, you’re either streaming at the team headquarters or competing at Hongqiao Tiandi every day. Aside from Smiling, even the cockroaches at the headquarters are male. Where the hell would you find someone to like?!]
[I’ll just listen to you spouting nonsense with a straight face.]
[Unless you’re secretly involved with my Smiling—that support who steals your cannon minions and your Red Buff.]
[After reading the above comment, suddenly Smiling still being alive feels like the strongest evidence that Cheng Ge likes her zzzzzzz]
...
"......"
Sitting in the car on the way back to the team headquarters, Tong Yao scrolled through the comments under the interview footage Weibo post. Then, as she kept reading, she suddenly came across a small but trending comment with only a dozen or so likes—
[Eating some Cheng-Yao candy today: I know shipping is a sin, but I have to say—when Cheng Ge said his last line, his right hand went under the table. At the same time, Smiling’s hand was also under the table. Cheng Ge’s hand moved. So, what did you two do?]
Tong Yao gasped, her hand trembling, and her phone clattered onto her lap.Turning to glance at the back row of the bus, where someone who had just been spouting nonsense was now curled up in the corner, his face covered by the long sleeves of his team jacket, sleeping soundly without a care... Tong Yao stood up and walked over to him. She leaned down, one hand resting on the headrest beside his head, the other lifting the hoodie covering his face—the latter, rudely awakened from his peaceful slumber, opened his eyes with annoyance, only to immediately soften upon recognizing the face before him.
Lu Sicheng lifted his eyelids slightly, scanning the bus. Aside from the driver, everyone else was asleep.
So the man raised his hand, tucking a stray lock of hair behind the ear of the girl who was leaning over him in this intimate "wall-pinning" manner, and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"
Tong Yao raised her phone, making sure the comment from the self-proclaimed "Esports Sherlock Holmes" was front and center on the screen, then silently held it up for him to see.
Lu Sicheng skimmed it quickly and then chuckled. "Impressive."
Tong Yao: "…………………………Huh?"
Impressive?
What kind of bizarre reaction was this?
"This person has sharp observational skills. She almost figured it out."
Lu Sicheng took Tong Yao's phone and casually liked the comment. Tong Yao hissed and immediately snatched the phone back to undo the like, shooting him a glare. Unfazed, he pulled her down to sit beside him, lazily asking, "Why so tense?"
Tong Yao sat cross-legged and began reading out the reactions from his fans—both the good and the bad. After finishing, she paused. "...Now you see why I’ve been keeping things under wraps?"
Lu Sicheng: "?"
Tong Yao: "Once exposed, Your Majesty would lose half his kingdom."
Lu Sicheng: "Oh."
Lu Sicheng: "Then why do you think I agreed to keep it under wraps?"
Tong Yao wanted to say, "For the sake of your kingdom," but she didn’t dare, because the faintly amused look on his face clearly warned, "Try saying that and see what happens." So she shook her head and said she didn’t know.
"It’s because I’m afraid some lunatics might drag you through the mud," Lu Sicheng said calmly. "Comments like, 'She’s playing poorly because she’s too busy dating,' or 'Women only care about these things,' or questioning your motives for going pro..."
"I don’t care."
"I do," Lu Sicheng said firmly. "It might not happen, and even if it does, I’m confident we can shut them up with results. But just the thought of it is annoying. You’re the type who likes to read gossip and see what people are saying—it’d probably affect you deeply. That’s why I hesitated about getting together in the first place. If another male teammate ever tried to get close to you, I’d be the first to object."
Lu Sicheng paused, his expression blank. "And then coldly warn them: 'Don’t bother her. She’s here to focus on her career.'"
In the dim light of the bus, shadows enveloped the two in the back row. The man’s voice was low and conflicted, his face unreadable in the faint light... Tong Yao hugged her knees, burying her face in them as she stifled laughter, her shoulders shaking.
She nudged the person beside her with her elbow. "And then?"
"...What’s so funny?""Don't mind me," Tong Yao continued to tremble, the corners of her lips twitching uncontrollably. "And then?"
"What do you mean 'and then'? Before you could react, you'd already thrown yourself into my arms."
"..."
"By then, even if you regretted it, it'd be too late... Hmm? Not that kind of regret," Lu Sicheng sighed, finally raising his hand to pat the head of the person curled up against him. "Anyway, you need to focus on playing well and winning. If we can't hold back, it's my fault—I committed the crime first."
"Got it."
"Don't get me sentenced to life imprisonment."
Tong Yao turned to look at Lu Sicheng, and at the same time, he seemed to sense her gaze and turned to meet her eyes. Their stares collided in the darkness. A brief silence fell as neither spoke... The man's eyes lowered slightly, his gaze sweeping over the lips so close to his. He paused, cleared his throat, and was the first to turn his face away, pulling the hood of his sweatshirt over his head to hide his expression.
"That's all I wanted to say," he muttered. "We're almost at the team headquarters. They'll be waking up soon—get back to your seat."
"Being this harsh won't get you past the probation period."
"Then I'll go tell the person who questioned what we were doing under the table that her observational skills are full marks."
"..."
Tong Yao stood up, took three steps back to her seat, and plopped down—
She put away her phone.
She knew her captain's concerns were serious. He was afraid she'd be caught in a whirlwind of public opinion if their relationship came to light.
And she was serious too. She didn't want him to fall from grace because of her—the ID "Chessman" had never been associated with any scandals or negative news since the start of his professional career. Maintaining such a reputation might seem obsessive or even laughable... Even though Lu Sicheng himself believed he'd already committed an unforgivable mistake by breaking his initial resolve, she was still stubbornly fixated on this matter.
—There was no rule in the world that men had to protect women. The only thing that existed was the mutual, unconscious safeguarding between two people in a relationship.
This was good enough.
Tong Yao told herself.
Don't ask for more. Don't demand more.
...
When the car arrived at the team headquarters, everyone woke from their naps, chattering excitedly about what to order for food. Tong Yao and Lu Sicheng blended into the crowd, acting as if nothing had happened between them earlier.
But as everyone settled on the sofa, loudly debating their takeout choices, the man's occasional absent-mindedness betrayed that he was still preoccupied with what had transpired—
It was clear that at first, Lu Sicheng had also agreed to keep their relationship hidden. But after realizing why Tong Yao was being so secretive, he felt unsettled. The captain of China Telecom now had the awkward sensation of being the one being protected instead.
Tong Yao noticed this subtle shift in his emotions.
She didn't say anything.
Only after dinner, about fifteen minutes after Lu Sicheng announced he was going back to his room to sleep, did the girl hugging her knees while watching an American drama suddenly widen her eyes. "Ah!" she exclaimed, then turned to Little Fatty, who was staring at her in confusion. "My power bank is still in Cheng Ge's bag.""He barely used his phone today, yet he borrowed your power bank?" Little Fatty turned his head back without suspicion. "Then go get it quickly, he probably isn't asleep yet."
Tong Yao hopped off her chair and dashed upstairs.
Pushing open her captain's door, she immediately saw a large lump under the blankets on the bed. Her captain had his back to the door, curled up under the covers playing games—probably just out of the shower, his hair still damp.
As Tong Yao approached, he spoke without turning his head: "The hair dryer's broken, can't dry my hair, so don't nag."
His tone suggested he thought it was Little Fatty who'd entered.
Only when Tong Yao stood firmly behind him, crouched down, then spread her arms to bear-hug the man along with his blanket while cheerfully exclaiming "Bed ambush!" did Lu Sicheng drop his game console. He turned his head in bewilderment to meet a grinning face—his expression blank, he rolled over under the blankets, then extended his arms to lift the person clutching his covers and deposit her onto his bed, leaning forward.
Tong Yao was still laughing at this point, leaning back slightly to avoid him.
Lu Sicheng continued advancing.
Tong Yao kept leaning back until the atmosphere began turning somewhat peculiar—by the time she was nearly at a 45-degree angle, her smile vanished, face tense: "Captain, my flexibility isn't that good, my waist's about to break."
Lu Sicheng halted. Their faces were now a finger's breadth apart, extremely close.
Lu Sicheng lowered his eyes, tone indifferent: "What are you dodging for? You're the one who climbed onto a man's bed."
A soft hand rose to press against the man's expressionless face, pushing him back as Tong Yao's flustered voice sounded: "You're dangerous, with all those dirty thoughts in your head."
Her palm inadvertently brushed against his lips.
Lu Sicheng paused momentarily before swatting her hand away, seizing her wrist to pull her into his embrace. He then flipped the blanket over to cover the person now pressed against his chest, his other hand naturally settling at her waist: "What do you want?"
"Do we have to talk in this position?"
"Or you could lie beneath me."
"……………………You old pervert."
"Are you going to talk or not?" Lu Sicheng's hand exerted slight pressure, poised to push her down into the mattress.
"...Okay okay okay," Tong Yao froze momentarily, then quickly wrapped her arms around the man's waist like a koala to maintain this comparatively chaste position. "I wanted to thank you for cooperating so well today and trying so hard with that protect-the-carry strategy, demonstrating textbook play from behind. And thank you for being so brave announcing to the entire nation that your heart belongs to someone."
"So you climbed into my bed? This form of gratitude is accepted."
No sooner had he spoken than his arm was pinched—a painless, cat-like scratch.
Lu Sicheng looked down to meet a pair of eyes sparkling beneath the covers, then heard the excited voice from his embrace: "Cheng Ge, are you free tomorrow?"
"Yes. Rank Up. Challenging for top rank."
"………………Anything else?"
"Nothing."
"Then... let's go on a date? Huh? A date! The normal human kind—not on Summoner's Rift."
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