CHAPTER 35
Half an hour later, the door to Lu Sicheng's room was kicked open as he
was lying in bed playing a game. He lifted his eyelids watching his team's
mid walk inside with her hands on her waist-- --
"So, you saw everything."
The person standing in front of him was blocking the light. His hands paused
from the game and took a look the person in front of his bed. Then he cast his
eyes down to continue with his game-- --completely ignoring her. After a long
while, as Tong Yao starting to suspect whether he was deaf, the man briefly
spoke: "I'm not blind."
Tong Yao felt her face starting to burn: "The prints are very small!"
"Oh, but I saw them."
Tong Yao could hear the fighting sound in his game. In her head, she used an
AK47 and head shot the man in front of her numerous times-- --
"Delete that nickname."
"You didn't knock when you came in."
"Delete that nickname."
"What nickname?"
"Delete that nickname."
"I don't know what are you talking about?"
"Delete that nickname."
"Remember what you said when I asked you to delete your Weibo post before?
-- --No."
Lu Sicheng flipped to the side, facing Tong Yao with his back. Tong Yao gasped
and pounced on him to shake his body: "That was so long ago, how can you hold
that grudge for so long? Besides, you shut the door on my face first. How can you
be this vengeful!"
Annoyed by the constant shaking, Lu Sicheng threw his handheld on the pillow
and turned around to sit up a little. He used one hand to support his head with a
spurious smile: "You have good memory, too."
Tong Yao stared at his devilish expression for quite a long time, for a brief moment
she almost felt that he had been possessed by Lu Yue's spirit…...After their staring
match had gone on for some time, Tong Yao sat down crossed legged on the floor
right next to Lu Sicheng's bed, trying to reason with him: "That nickname is too weird.
What if someone else see my underwear again in the future…...Then, they connect
the dots with that nickname, what do you think people will think?"
"..." Lu Sicheng stopped smiling. He glanced over the girl, who was resting her chin
on the bed and quite earnestly trying to reason with him, and said flatly: "You're thinking
of showing that outfit to someone again?"
Tong Yao: "..."
He did make some sense.
But, now was not the time to mull over that problem.
Tong Yao: "I certainly don't plan to do that again. But I feel quite uneasy with a name
like that on your cell phone."
Lu Sicheng: "What are you uneasy about?"
Tong Yao: "Don't you feel that using the underwear print of your teammate as her
WeChat name seems…...something a pervert does?"
"Pervert?"
Lu Sicheng paused.
Under the eager gaze of Tong Yao, Lu Sicheng curved up the corners of his
lips and slightly moved his body forward, towards the person who had her chin
on his bed-- --When they became especially close, he could feel that she was
now holding her breath, her pupils had shrunk slightly, and her fingers on the
bed quietly grasped the bedsheet…...just like a bristled feline.
Lu Sicheng reached out to touch her ear with his slender and slightly cold finger
tip. He watched her pale skin quickly turn red. His smile widened...
Tong Yao felt like her heart was going to burst through her ribs at that moment-- --
Lu Sicheng's pupils were dark brown, like the color of chocolate.
The unfamiliar masculine smell was inches away.
At this point, they were really, really close to each other. It was so close that if
she just happened to move forward a little bit, she would have touched his curled
up lips...
-- --Tong Yao felt that she was standing at the edge of death.
Until, the man's big hand changed directions. The hand next to her ear suddenly
covered her whole face, everything smelled like hand soap. Her head was lightly
pushed back-- --
"Even if I'm a pervert, I won't do anything to you. You think I don't have any sense
of taste? Are you crazy or am I an idiot?"
She heard the man's cold voice.
Tong Yao: "............."
Tong Yao froze at the position where she had been pushed back and fixed her
eyes on the ceiling for a short while…...till her face finally cooled down. She stiffly
lowered her neck to look at the man who had already turned to face her with his
back and continued with his game on his handheld. She silently got up from the
ground and stood behind him with her hands on her waist-- --
The man seemed oblivious to her glare.
After she had been glaring at his wide back up and down several times, he didn't
even seem to care. Tong Yao finally couldn't take it anymore. She raised her foot
to give his muscular waistline a vengeful kick with the words, "you win." She turned
to leave Lu Sicheng's room like a raging Godzilla with flames under her feet-- --
The door slammed shut with a loud thud.
It was so strong that the windows were shaking.
After the room quieted down, except for the sounds coming from the game, Lu
Sicheng put down his handheld and used his hand to rub that part of his waist
that just received the kick.
It didn't really hurt.
"...Tsk."
That night Tong Yao had nightmares all night about a rabbit and a carrot.
In the dream she had become a rabbit and was constantly chased by a
furry rabbit. In the end, the rabbit began to rub it's fluffy face against her.
All the white hair almost suffocated her.
"Damn you rabbit, don't be so perverted!"
In the dream, Tong Yao struggled to push the rabbit away. As she was
pushing the rabbit's face away from her, the face of the rabbit changed
into the face of her captain, with a calm face and indifference in his eyes-- --
[Even if I'm a pervert, I won't do anything to you. You think I don't have
any sense of taste? Are you crazy or am I an idiot?]
Tong Yao: "..."
The voice was in stereo surround sound-- --
It was so frightening that it woke her from the dream.
She opened her eyes, it was overcast outside the window. It was already
9 o'clock in the morning but the sun didn't seem to have any intention of
showing its face...It was almost June, the raining season in Shanghai.
It felt a little chilly in the central aired room. Tong Yao touched the arm
which was outside the blanket and felt the goosebumps. She reached
out to push the cat away from her pillow, which was sitting on her face,
its tail practically stuffed into her nose. She sat up and grabbed her bath
towel: "Dabing, next time if you dare sit on my face while I'm sleeping,
you'll have to sleep outside."
The cat gracefully jumped onto the floor and turned around to glance at
Tong Yao: "Miao."
…...The cat seemed to understand that she was only venting out her anger.
Tong Yao took her time to shower, dress, and put on lotion. By the time
she went downstairs, it was almost noon time. Most of her teammates
were up and doing their daily training-- --Since the summer season was
approaching fast, the club was more strict on regulating the team's daily
routine. Some of the matches during the summer competition would be
in the early afternoon and the club wanted to make sure the team would
be functional at that time of the day.
When Tong Yao went downstairs, Lu Sicheng was about to leave the house
with cell phone in hand-- --
The man was wearing a long sleeved sweater over a white shirt and loose
fitting shorts. With his earphones on, he looked like a student from the
neighboring Physical Education University when he bent down to put on
his sneakers...
Though, it was highly unlikely that a college student would wear a pair of
sneakers costing 5 digits figures.
Tong Yao stopped half way down the stairs, leaned against the railing,
and asked her captain: "Cheng Ge, where are you going?"
His earphones were probably not on. He paused, raised his chin to took a
look at her, then pulled off the earphones and said: "The AD next door got
lost in the mall. I'm going to pick him up."
The AD next door?
…...It was that Pope.
Tong Yao: "? ? ? ? What does that have anything to do with you?"
Lu Sicheng answered with a blank face: "Their team's translator has gone
home for an emergency and the only one in his WeChat that speaks Korean
is me."
Tong Yao: "..."
Lu Sicheng put the earphones back on.
Tong Yao: "A foreigner just came here and goes out shopping on his own.
What's wrong with him?"
Lu Sicheng: "The Support next door, that's their captain Liangsheng, went
with him but got separated halfway."
Tong Yao: "Oh."
Tong Yao skipped down the stairs. Before the man was ready to walk out,
she grabbed the corner of his sweater. He turned his head around and saw
the girl behind her looking up at him with sincere concern on her face: "It's
going to rain soon. Bring the umbrella."
Lu Sicheng: "..."
Tong Yao: "You'll catch a cold if you get rained on."
Lu Sicheng paused for a moment, glancing at his other teammates who
were concentrated on their games. Then he slightly bent over using a voice
that could only be heard by the two of them: "You know, I won't delete that
nickname even if you kiss up to me like this."
Tong Yao: "..."
Tong Yao: "Damn it."
He'd seen through her ploy; the concern on her face disappeared. She let
go of the man's sweater and backed away, saying, "Well, goodbye." Then
she went over to the refrigerator to get cat food...The man watched her
kneeling in front of the refrigerator, searching. After a short while, he sneered
and turned around to leave.
...
Ten minutes after Lu Sicheng left, the wind was blustering outside.
Fifteen minutes after Lu Sicheng left, muffled thunders could be heard outside.
Seventeen minutes after Lu Sicheng left, it became stormy outside.
Watching big raindrops splashed on the window while leaning on the sofa,
Tong Yao lazily yawned and sarcastically remarked with a smile: "The weather
of Shanghai is really ever-changing. I sure hope Cheng Ge had taken the car."
"He sent his car in for maintenance yesterday." Xiao Rui happened to walk
by the living room.
Tong Yao squinted her eyes and the smile on her face widened-- --But a few
minutes later, she couldn't smile anymore. Xiao Rui returned to the living room
with cell phone in hand. He looked around at all the people on the first floor: "
Cheng Ge called to say that he doesn't have an umbrella with him. Can
someone bring him an umbrella? He's right at the mall nearby."
It was close to the end of the month, the time pay was calculated. Everyone was
working hard on their games to keep their rankings so as not to get any deductions-- --
Only the Mid of the team who had already reached Master was sitting on the
sofa playing with her cat.
She looked up and met the team manager's eyes. She spoke without thinking:
"Are you sure? I'm very busy!"
"Busy with what? It's you! Bring a few more umbrellas, the other two from next
door don't have umbrellas as well." Xiao Rui picked Tong Yao up from the sofa.
"When you first came here, didn't Cheng Ge take his time to bring you to shop
for all your daily necessities? One has to be grateful..."
"...I'm a ungrateful person."
"Don't talk nonsense. Get moving."
Tong Yao had no choice but to go. She got dressed, combed her hair, looked
at the pouring rain outside, and sighed. With one hand to click open her own
umbrella, she carried another 3 umbrellas under her arm and said to the team
manager who was standing at the doorway with hands on his waist: "I'm going
now. It'll probably take 20 minutes because I have short legs. Tell them to find
a warm place to wait for me."
"Go, go."
Tong Yao went out the door.
She sent a WeChat message to Lu Sicheng as she left the house, asking
him where he was, whether he had located his friend, Pope, and that she
had left the house and would call him when she got there…...Holding the
cell phone in hand, she waited for ten minutes without receiving any response
from Lu Sicheng. She muttered: "Is his phone dead?" She put her phone into
a pocket and quickened her steps-- --
It was raining hard and the wind was strong. An umbrella was of little use.
When Tong Yao arrived at the mall, she was soaking wet…...The cool air
inside the mall made her shiver and sneeze. She pulled out her phone to
call Lu Sicheng. At first it was silent on the other end of the line, then she
heard the disappointing voice prompt-- --
[The number you're calling cannot be reached at the moment...]
Tong Yao took the phone away from her ear and looked at it as if it was
some kind of monster. She couldn't believe that the jerk's phone was out
of battery right now…...She was standing dumbfoundedly at the entrance
and desperately looking at the humongous mall...
She sent a message to Xiao Rui telling him the unfortunate news that she
couldn't get in touch with Lu Sicheng. Tong Yao then started searching every
coffee shop at every floor of the mall. For now, she still had confidence at her
captain's intelligence.
Until, she saw the next door captain, Liangsheng, who was as confused and
anxious as her, at a bakery on the third floor.
Liangsheng looked even younger than Tong Yao. He was wearing a short
sleeved top with fuzzy hair and looked like an easy going person. When he
saw Tong Yao, his eyes instantly brightened up as if he had been rescued.
He rushed over, holding onto her arm: "Ahh, you're the Mid next door. Do
you have time now? Could you please do me a favor-- --"
Tong Yao: "..."
Tong Yao: "I know you're looking for your AD, I'm looking for our AD too-- --
As far as I know, about half an hour ago your AD got lost and sent a WeChat
message saying that he was lost and asking our AD to come get him. Then
our AD set out here…...half an hour later, your AD and our AD disappeared
together. His cell phone has been turned off. I'm here to look for him."
Liangsheng: ".............."
Tong Yao pulled her hand back, patted his shoulder, felt like she had finally
found a comrade: "Hurry, call your AD, let him tell our AD to pick up the phone."
Liangsheng answered: "Oh." But he didn't do anything.
Tong Yao: "...It can't be that you don't have his number?"
Liangsheng: "He doesn't speak Chinese, why would I have his number for."
Tong Yao desperately covered her face with both hands. The "solo journey"
turned into "a desperate search party of two people." She and Liangsheng
together searched aimlessly for the people they were looking for-- --
Until, another half an hour later.
The two of them wished that they could turn the mall upside down and shake
it as they reached the arcade on the top floor. They could hear the sound of
the machines from afar. Tong Yao covered her ears and asked Liangsheng:
"Those two have a combined height of at least 4 meters, they couldn't possibly
be in this childish place?"
When she finished, she noticed the young man next to her had fixed his eyes
at a place not too far from them-- --
There was a row of various claw machines over there.
Tong Yao followed Liangsheng's eyes and easily spotted a crowd gathered
in front of one of the machines. There were two tall, eye-catching men standing
in the middle of the crowd-- --
Amidst the admiring eyes of young girls and the envious eyes of children,
one of the men held a sack full of the various toys from different claw machines
and leaned against the claw machine which was even shorter than he was; the
other man, with a huge Pikachu hanging from his neck, was standing in front
of the machine controlling the stick with his lean and long fingers. He had
successfully picked up the palm sized stuffed animal...
The people around them cried out, "so cool" "how many is this one" "they've
almost cleaned out all the machines here"-- --
The man had his eyes cast down and had no emotion on his face.
He acted just like the numerous times that Tong Yao had watched him control
his champion to pulverize the enemy's nexus.
Tong Yao: "..."
She stood there speechless. The young men next to her had already happily
rushed towards the red haired man leaning against the machine while calling
the man's game id. He pushed away the crowd with all his might and squeezed
in front of the red haired guy, grabbing the man's wrist and starting to gesture
lively while talking...
Lu Sicheng bent down to take out the stuffed animal from the claw machine.
When he straightened up, he took a look at the grateful captain from next door
who had finally found his AD. He seemed to sense something and turned to
look back-- --
He immediately saw his own Mid behind him who had three umbrellas under
her arm and one umbrella in her hand. She was looking at him incredulously
and not willing to get any closer to him.
Lu Sicheng took out his cell phone to check the time and found out that his
phone had ran out of battery and died.
He put the phone back into his pocket, then noticed that his friend was saying
sorry while pushing the sack of toys into the young man's hands. His friend
said something in Korean, Lu Sicheng considerately translated for him: "He
said he's terribly sorry and all these toys are for you."
Liangsheng: "..."
Lu Sicheng walked over to Tong Yao and took over all the umbrellas she was
carrying: "Did you look for us long?"
Tong Yao moved around her arm: "One hour."
Lu Sicheng: "Oh." He was about to tell Tong Yao to call for a taxi to go back.
When he looked down, he saw the girl was still fixing her eyes on that sack of
toys in Liangsheng's arms.
He paused: "What are you doing?"
"..." Tong Yao shifted her eyes, lightly glanced over the Pikachu on Lu
Sicheng's neck, and flatly said: "Nothing. Let's go back. I'm freezing to death."
She turned to walked away after she spoke.
The man paused a bit, then followed her.
Tong Yao walked in the front, ignoring the person behind. Suddenly she felt
something heavy placed on her shoulders and pressing against her back. She
stopped and lowered her head to check the claws of Pikachu around her neck.
She raised her head and confusedly looked back. The man pushed the last
stuffed animal he had caught into her hand and patted her head: "It's still raining
outside. Call for a ride back on your phone."
Tong Yao replied with an oh and looked down. The stuffed animal in her hand
was a pink lop-eared rabbit, holding a carrot in its arms.
…...It was a cute stuffed animal.