When Tong Yao went downstairs, she heard Little Fatty yelling that he was hungry and start claiming that he was becoming skinner from being so famished…...Tong Yao squatted in front of the shoe cabinet to look for shoes to wear and asked without looking up: "Little Fatty, did Cheng Ge bring you back to Master last night?"
It was dead quiet behind her.
She looked back and saw Little Fatty pointing to the black circles under his eyes: "Do you think these are the depressing black circles that a Master would have?"
Tong Yao: "..."
Tong Yao turned her head to look at Lu Sicheng who was making coffee for himself in the kitchen and asked: "Cheng Ge, why did you screw up our Little Fatty?" Lu Sicheng replied casually: "I didn't." Then he walked over to the doorway and stuffed a bowl of instant noodles into Little Fatty's arms: "Ask for hot water after we get to the airport. Stop yelling."
Little Fatty tightly held onto the instant noodles. At the same time Xiao Rui stood outside the door and announced loudly that the bus had arrived, everyone had to get out quickly without delay. Tong Yao hurriedly put on her shoes and as she was reaching out for her luggage, Lu Sicheng had already picked it up for her.
"I can carry it myself..."
"Get going." Lu Sicheng pointed with his chin.
Tong Yao turned to walk out with empty hands, but was stopped by Lu Sicheng: "Wait, get on the bus last."
Tong Yao looked back at him confused. When they finally walked out of the base, the B team kids had already gotten on the bus. The A team players followed them, then Xiao Rui, Ming god and the rest of the staff. Tong Yao and Lu Sicheng were the last two waiting to get on-- --
It was the first time the bus was this full. When Tong Yao got in, all the seats in front were occupied, only the last row was empty which was reserved especially for Lu Sicheng…...Little Fatty and Lu Yue were sitting in the first row. Little Fatty said to Tong Yao giggling: "Sorry, you're stuck with our captain."
Tong Yao opened her mouth about to say something but the man behind poked her with a finger. She walked towards the back while saying: "Is your captain a cannibal?" After she sat down, Lu Sicheng sat right next to her. Tong Yao glanced up at him.
Soon Lu Sicheng saw Tong Yao take out her cell phone and started typing.
In no time, he felt his own cell phone started vibrating inside his pocket-- --
[Rabbit holds tight of carrots: Move over, why are you so close to me?]
[fhdjwhdb2333: The air conditioner is cold.]
[Rabbit holds tight of carrots: Turn it off.]
[fhdjwhdb2333: I won't.]
[Rabbit holds tight of carrots: What do you mean you won't; what would it look like if you sit so close to me while there is plenty of room on this long row of empty spaces?]
[fhdjwhdb2333: No one is looking at us anyway, look up.]
Tong Yao looked up and indeed no one was paying any attention to them. Most of them were either playing games or listening to music or sleeping. The rest was looking down studying their notes from the practice match-- --Everyone was busy with their own business-- --Indeed, no one noticed them.
Tong Yao breathed out a sigh of relief. Through the corner of her eye, she noticed that the man next to her had slipped down a little, crossed his legs, and pulled the hood of his sweater over half of his face, taking the usual slouching position of the ZGDX captain-- --
But this time he had silently stretched one of his arms behind Tong Yao's back to hug her waist.
Tong Yao swallowed her breath of relief back. Her back slightly tensed and she sat up straight a little. She could feel the man using his lean fingers to pinch her waist and used a low and lazy voice to say, quite irresponsibly: "Relax."
Tong Yao reached over trying to pry open Lu Sicheng's hand, but those slightly cool fingers wouldn't budge at all-- --Until Tong Yao stretched out her index finger to pry his fingers off, the man finally released his hold on her waist but silently grabbed her index finger instead.
Tong Yao: "..."
Lu Sicheng pulled on her finger, pinched it, then gave a brief comment: "soft." Then he kept his position, half-leaning against Tong Yao and fell asleep feeling quite content.
Tong Yao was left to face the anxiety all by herself. She was worried that either Dubhe or Alkaid who were sitting in the row ahead of them would turn their heads-- --She was left agitated for two whole hours until the bus arrived at the airport. Lu Sicheng, still in a daze, lifted his head up from the flabby body of the person next to him. Tong Yao, the person he had used as a pillow, was crowded into the corner of the last row, curled into a rather miserable ball.
Lu Sicheng sat up, moved the hood back, and bent over to hide behind the back of the front seat to grab Tong Yao's hand up to kiss it. Then he felt completely refreshed and said: "Appreciated."
Tong Yao, with her waist almost going to break, pulled her hand back and was totally unmoved by his appreciation: "Shut up, you shut up. I'll never sit in the same row with you again. Next time, I'd rather sit on the floor."
Lu Sicheng: "Gee."
Tong Yao: "What are you geeing for."
Lu Sicheng: " To express my disappointment. I really want to sit with you."
The two kids at the front row turned their heads back and gave them a look as if in horror. Facing their looks, Tong Yao had no choice but to remain silent.
...
ZGDX had decided to arrive at Xiamen two days early before the competition. They soon found it to be a wise decision. After they had all received their boarding passes, it was announced that the flight would be delayed and there was no estimated time as to when the plane would be fixed-- --
At first, there were passengers circling around the airline staff demanding a more definite answer.
The staff soon lost patience and replied plainly: "The airplane is having a mechanical problem. They're fixing it. Do you want to fly in a broken airplane?"
Everyone quieted down and returned to their seats without any more complaints. Everyone from ZGDX was waiting in the VIP lounge…...One hour later, Tong Yao impatiently stood up and told the others that she was going to walk around outside-- --At the time, Lu Sicheng was discussing game strategies with the B team kids. He looked up when he heard her voice and said flatly: "Don't go too far, bring your cell phone, and don't talk to strangers."
There was a momentary silence inside the lounge.
Tong Yao, with both hands in her pockets, looked straight without much expression at Lu Sicheng. Little Fatty thought for a little while and broke the silence: "Captain, you do know that our mid is an adult?"
Lu Sicheng looked deeply at Tong Yao then answered slowly: "I know."
Tong Yao categorized that look as a part of his "rogue behavior" and gave him a hard look before turning around to go out of the room.
The airport was bustling with people hurrying to and fro…...Tong Yao had figured that the chance of being recognized by fans here would be less than 5% and so didn't wear a face mask or flat cap like movie stars would. Then twenty minutes later, she was successfully ganked by a fan-- --
As she was bending over to check a certain skin care product, she felt someone pulling her clothes and heard a timid voice: "Are you…...Smiling?"
Tong Yao turned her head and found a 13 or 14 years old kid standing behind her. When their eyes met, the kid's eyes brightened and began stammering before Tong Yao could answer: "It's really you! Wow, I, I, I'm your fan. Ahh, your fan! Even before you started playing professionally, I already loved watching your streams. I also played mid and learned a lot of skills from you-- --I'm Dimond 1 now on China Telecom Ionia server. After I move up more, I'll probably be able to play matches with you. My dream is to play a match with you!"
Tong Yao couldn't say anything since the kid kept talking. Yet she felt quite happy seeing the kid's red face and gladly signed an autograph for the young fan. Then they took a picture together amid odd looks from passerby-- --
It was clear on their faces: Who's this? A movie star? What TV drama is she in?
After taking the picture, the kid wasn't done with his questions and grabbed Tong Yao to ask in a small voice: "I'm now 13 and Diamond 1. I'm sure I can move up to Master during summer vacation. Smiling, do you think I can play professionally?"
"You're Diamond 1 at such a young age. As long as you work hard, for sure you can play professionally. But to play professionally, you probably still have to have your family-- --"
Before she could finish her words, a well dressed middle aged woman hurriedly walked over from behind. Without waiting for the kid to turn his head, the woman dashed forward and grabbed him from behind while scolding: "I took my eyes off you for just a minute and you've wandered off, even chatting with random people everywhere. It's almost time to board and I have to look for you everywhere. Why can't you let me worry less? !"
The smile on the kid's face instantly wiped away. He took a glance at Tong Yao, probably feeling especially embarrassed being scolded in front of his idol. He listlessly said: "I haven't wandered off or talked to random people. This girl's my favorite esports player-- --"
"What player?"
"Esports."
"What esports, isn't it just playing games?" The middle aged woman shoved the kid: "You kids get addicted to the games that interfere with your studies and still try to come up with glorified excuses. What esports-- --"
"What are you talking about, there's no addiction to games. Esports has been officially recognized as the 99th regular sports event by the General Administration of Sports of China!"
"Hrm, a sports event? Are you kidding me, if it's a regular sports event, why isn't it in the Olympics-- --Alright, alright, stop talking nonsense, hurry, it's time to board!"
The woman pushed her kid in the opposite direction. Tong Yao was speechless but also felt quite amused. The kid suddenly turned his head to wave to Tong Yao: "Smiling! I also want to play professionally! To win the championship! But I'll leave this year's world championship to you, please!"
His mother forcefully slapped his head.
Tong Yao was surprised by his words and covered her mouth to laugh, the frustration she had felt seemed to have dissipated a little. She nodded and waved back at the kid, gave him a gesture to say go for it, and watched him be led away...
As the kid and his mother disappeared into the crowd, a cold voice came from behind Tong Yao: "What are you goofing around again?"
Tong Yao: "............."
It was her captain.
Tong Yao turned her head and looked at the man standing behind her: "Why are you here?"
Lu Sicheng checked his watch then said with a stone face: "You've disappeared for a total of 30 minutes. I thought you'd been kidnapped by someone."
"I don't have money." Tong Yao, with a smile, reached out with both of her hands to hug Lu Sicheng's waist, snuggling against his body: "I haven't even played professionally for three months but already got deducted for three months' pay. My personal assets are negative."
"I have money. What if they kidnap you to ask money from me? I have to pay even if they ask for 5 million..." Lu Sicheng held the person in his arms: "Who's that kid just now?"
"A passerby fan."
Tong Yao seemed to have remembered something while she spoke and hesitatingly pulled her head out of his arms getting ready to back away. Lu Sicheng, however, seemed to have guessed her intent and lifted one hand to push her head back against his chest: "What did you two talk about?"
"He asked for an autograph and took a picture with me. He also wanted to be a professional player-- --" Tong Yao heard a sneering laugh coming from the top of her head. She slapped his waist and the laugh stopped, then she continued: "But the kid got ganked by his mom on his way to be professional. His mom retorted quite compellingly that if esports was a sports event, why isn't it in the Olympics?"
"...Golf only gets to be part of the Olympics this year but can you say it's not a regular sports event?"
"..."
"Read more books and newspapers." Lu Sicheng said with a tone of voice as if pitying a retarded person. He thought about it then added: "But if being ignorant means you'll throw yourself on me more, then I don't mind it at all. You can continue to be retarded like this, no problem at all."
"What are you talking about? I was treated as an internet addicted girl by his mom."
"You're an internet addicted girl…...I don't mind."
Lu Sicheng lowered his head to look at the person against his chest while he was talking. Tong Yao in the meantime was probably still afraid of being seen by a passerby and carefully buried her red face in his arms-- --Something flashed in Lu Sicheng's eyes and Tong Yao happened to look up at this time. They looked at each other for two seconds.
Lu Sicheng: "Let me ask you a question."
Tong Yao: "What?"
Lu Sicheng: "Have I passed my probation period?"
Tong Yao: "..."
There was a three-second silence.
Tong Yao grabbed Lu Sicheng's clothes to pull him downwards a bit, while at the same time she stood up on her toes and quickly smacked him on the lips…...After the light kiss, Tong Yao's feet landed back on the ground and was getting ready to back away. Lu Sicheng got ahold of her and was getting ready to further pursue her lips-- --
At that moment, Tong Yao felt the hands on her waistline suddenly pause.
She looked up at Lu Sicheng baffled, then turned her head and followed the direction of Lu Sicheng's quiet eyes-- --
She quickly discovered, amid the bustling crowd, Little Fatty who was quietly looking at them without much expression with a plastic fork in his mouth and a bowl of instant noodle in one of his hands.