Chapter 94
Lu Sicheng didn’t think too much about it when Tong Yao went to check on Ai Jia and Jinyang. He only reminded her to return to ZGDX’s own break room afterwards so the team could go over their strategy for the coming match, then he turned to walk away.
After ten minutes into the third match between YQCB and Huawei, Tong Yao still hadn’t shown up in the ZGDX break room. She wasn’t in the audience either. Lu Sicheng had no choice but to go look for her– —
Lu Sicheng found his team’s mid in front of the door of YQCB’s break room. She looked like she was in a daze, her face looked drawn.
“What are you doing here?” Lu Sicheng went up to pull Tong Yao up.
“YQCB didn’t put Ai Jia in for this critical match, they used a substitute.” Tong Yao staggered to stand up. Her eyes met Lu Sicheng’s but weren’t in focus.
“I see.”
“……”
Tong Yao was the kind of person who once bitten, was twice shy. When she saw YQCB switch the player for the third match, her heart skipped a beat. Then she squatted down by the door of YQCB’s break room and couldn’t move away from there– –When she saw how calm Lu Sicheng seemed to be about it, her eyes brightened up as if she had found a piece of driftwood to cling to. She grabbed his hand: “Ai Jia didn’t do anything, he was just talking a bit loudly. He won’t get any punishment, will he? He won’t get banned? Jinyang also didn’t do anything. Normally, she wouldn’t be short changed at all, but today she was even willing to swallow her pride just because Ai Jia was playing. Isn’t that enough? They’re simply in a relationship, where’s all the whys, where’s all the conspiracies– –No one really cares whether the person one likes is a shining player or star, it’s just as simple as one liking the other……”
She was incoherent.
She even stammered several times as she spoke.
Lu Sicheng patiently listened for a while. When he saw Tong Yao was getting more despondent and her face began to turn pale, he finally gave a frustrated sigh and lifted his hand to cover her mouth– —
He could feel her trembling slightly.
When the big dry warm hand pressed down on her cold face, Tong Yao’s mumbling abruptly stopped……
They stood in the empty hallway. Not far from them was a poorly insulated door. They could hear the commentators’ voices coming from outside……Tong Yao had her back against the wall, as if it was the only thing keeping her standing. She slightly blinked, raised both of her hands, and silently held onto the hand covering her mouth.
She stared into that pair of calm dark brown pupils for a few seconds, then she lowered her eyes, pulled his hand off her mouth, and asked in a deep voice: “Professional players are also human beings, who have someone he likes, and wants to be with the one he likes. What’s wrong with that?”
“……”
“Or maybe.” Tong Yao asked in a small voice: “That kind of thinking is wrong in the first place?”
“‘Because a player is a public figure, therefore his body and soul don’t belong to himself. The meaning of his existence is to win the game, please the fans, serve the team, and reach all these goals at any cost’– –Is that what you’re talking about? Certainly, there are people who think this way. But it would be bad if the player himself thought that way……” Lu Sicheng took his time to say the long sentences which he seldom spoke: “In my opinion, winning or losing a game is certainly important. Compared to the fans’ satisfaction of a team, our players are the ones who have to face the consequences directly. Selfishly speaking, this is our own business– –We thank your enthusiasm and support, but it seems that to win or lose a game really doesn’t have anything to do with you– –That’s a more realistic way to think about it– –”
“Cheng Ge.”
“What?”
“Can I hug you?”
“……”
When Tong Yao looked up to say it, Lu Sicheng’s calm voice suddenly halted. At the same time, without waiting for his reply, Tong Yao already opened her arms and buried herself into his chest– –Her cheek pasted to his chest and her arms gathered around his waist under his jacket……
“I don’t care, I don’t care.” She buried herself in his arms and sounded depressed: “Let me hug you first.”
“……” Lu Sicheng looked down at Tong Yao as she pressed her face against him like an ostrich. The corner of his lips twitched a bit: “……What’s the matter? You sound like doomsday is coming?”
“When I think about all these excellent muscles that may not belong to me tomorrow.” Tong Yao rubbed her face against his chest: “It’s like doomsday.”
“……”
Lu Sicheng didn’t know what to say.
After a long while, the commentators outside were commenting on a team fight and yelling in annoyance: “Damn, if Ai Jia was here, he definitely wouldn’t have made a mistake like that.” Lu Sicheng reached out with his arms to embrace Tong Yao– —
It was a very intimate embrace.
He could clearly sense Tong Yao’s uneasiness was even more vivid and definite than before.
For the first time, against her uneasiness, he didn’t know where to start. It irritated him– –He didn’t know what to do.
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