Chapter 9 (2)
The ZGDX substitute for the fifth round was one of the youth trainees from the club. He didn’t have much experience playing in major competitions. It was understandable that he was somewhat overwhelmed when his first game was the final round of the Spring season finals– —
The enemy jungler took advantage of the situation.
Ten minutes into the fifth round, that damn Jian Yang practically lived at mid. He attacked mid four times in ten minutes, succeeding three times. ZGDX’s substitute mid had 0 kills, 3 deaths, and 0 assists– —
Though ZGDX’s top and bot had the upper hand, mid was a lost cause, the enemy had turned it into no man’s land.
Thirteen minutes into the game, near dragon, facing against a strong mid and jungler, the substitute mid initiated a teamfight, though it wasn’t a good time for ZGDX to do so– —
ZGDX teammates had no choice but to follow.
In the end, though ZGDX obtained three kills thanks to quick thinking on Lu Sicheng, playing Kog’Maw, ZGDX couldn’t avoid losing the teamfight……
CK killed their first Infernal Dragon, increasing the team’s attacking power. It was especially helpful for the winning side. The match at this point was unsalvageable for ZGDX, not even Lu Sicheng or a miracle worker could save them ……
Finally.
ZGDX, missing one of their regular players, lost by a landslide. The match ended at the 33rd minute. They had lost the championship for the 2016 Spring season finals!
When the ending music began to play, Tong Yao collapsed in her seat; she felt that watching the game was even more tiring than playing it herself……CK’s players left from their seats, cheering and hugging each other. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the ZGDX side, checking on the man who was sitting closest to the audience– —
Lu Sicheng was very calm.
He didn’t look like he had just lost an important competition. He remained in his seat, clicking on the mouse to check the final statistics, before he stood up to shake hands with the players from CK who had walked over.
Then the losers packed up their mice and keyboards to leave the stage,
as the winners came to the center of the stage to bow to the audience and lift the trophy up……
Jian Yang was the MVP of both the fourth and fifth rounds based on his performance. When his teammates swarmed around to rub his hair, hug him, and praise him for a job well done, he giggled in glee as he accepted the compliments before he looked down at the audience like he had suddenly remembered something– —
Yet, in the front rows of the ZGDX fans, he couldn’t find the familiar figure whom he really liked to see……
……
On the way back to the hotel, Tong Yao was still struggling with her guilty conscience– –Since it was her words that impelled the enemy’s jungler to play so fiercely, she felt like a traitor to her future teammates.
By the time she reached the hotel, she received a text message from the manager, Rui Ge. He told her to stay in the hotel for two more days and report to the base next Monday. The team didn’t have time to ready a personal suite for her until now since they had been busy preparing for the Spring tournament earlier– —
Tong Yao had no objection to that. She replied in the affirmative and then turned around to go into the supermarket to purchase items she would need for the next two days at the hotel.
It was an hour later when she went back to the hotel, carrying everything that she would need.
She walked into the elevator hugging bags of her purchases which was so high it could almost bury her and tried to push the close button with one finger– —
Someone hurriedly rushed into the elevator right right then. The man wore a black jacket with the zipper halfway down. There was a black and red t-shirt inside the jacket. Tong Yao saw the ZGDX logo from in between all the shopping bags……
Hum?
Who was this?
Tong Yao turned sideways with great difficulty while keep the bags balanced. She raised her head to see a perfect chin line and thick lashes……This man had a tall nose bridge, single eyelids, with earphones on. He was quite handsome but, with thin lips, looked a bit harsh– —
It was Lu Sicheng.
……Lu Sicheng? !
Tong Yao tightened her grip on the bags. Bullet comments in various colors flew across her brain: Ahhhhh, Lu Sicheng is in the same elevator with me. Ahhhhh, a live Lu Sicheng in the elevator with me, breathing the same air as me!
The man didn’t pay any attention to the expressive face hiding behind all the bags. He stood stone faced behind Tong Yao, reaching to push the close button. The elevator door slowly closed, then he pushed the button labeled “21”– —
That button was located right next to Tong Yao’s neck.
He backed away after pushing the button and leaned against the wall to look at his cell phone.
Tong Yao, “……”
She lived on the 46th floor.
When the man behind her pushed his floor number, she realized that it wasn’t time to go crazy now. She needed to push the number for her floor– –But when she tried to do so, she encountered a problem: the button “46” was right at the height of her eyebrows. The bags in her arms made it impossible to press the button.
Tong Yao tried several different positions, but her index finger lingered around the number “36”– —
Tong Yao, “……”
She embarrassingly looked at the only lit button.
The man behind her was still concentrated on his phone. Just when Tong Yao gave up trying and was going to put down all the bags, the man asked without lifting his head, “Which floor?”
His voice was even more commanding than the military education officer during high school. Tong Yao reacted instinctively and answered, “……46.”
The man put down his phone and straightened up, reaching out with his long arm, using his slender and clean finger, he easily pressed the button labeled “46”……Tong Yao caught a whiff of a mixture of hand soap and tobacco when his hand moved before her eyes.
Tong Yao, “……Thanks.”
The one behind her didn’t reply.
The inside of the elevator returned to a state of awkward silence.
The elevator ever slowly moved upwards.
Tong Yao somehow felt that the man behind her had misunderstood her. The more she thought about it, the more she felt uncomfortable. When the elevator reached the 19th floor, she abruptly spoke, “I can reach it.”
Lu Sicheng’s finger paused on his phone.
Tong Yao, “That button is only up to my eyebrows. You see, I really can reach it.”
She made an extra effort to stretch her index finger which was still circled around “36”.
Lu Sicheng, “……”
Lu Sicheng, “Oh.”
Tong Yao, “…………………………..”
The elevator had reached the 21st floor, the door opened, and the man walked out of it.
The door closed behind him.
Only Tong Yao with her stubborn index finger remained inside the elevator.
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