Chương 99: CHAPTER 99
With a guilty conscience, Tong Yao jogged over to Lu Sicheng's side and took a look at the cigarette in the trash, it seemed that he had only taken a few puffs before extinguished it-- -- Tong Yao remembered Little Fatty had said that Lu Sicheng wasn't a heavy smoker to begin with and would only smoke when he was upset or needed to relax…...Since the team banned smoking, he would go to the yard outside the base to smoke so as not to bother his teammates, though it was easier for Xiao Rui to catch him smoking and deduct his pay this way.
After Tong Yao joined the team, he seldom smoked, though he still enjoyed the game he played with Xiao Rui hiding cigarettes as one of his favorite pastimes.
Tong Yao stood before Lu Sicheng, but before she could say anything, Lu Sicheng had already straightened up and said after a short pause: "Let's go down to eat."
He strode forward with his long legs as he spoke. Tong Yao had to quicken her steps to catch up: "Why didn't you go down to wait for me at the restaurant?"
Lu Sicheng slowed down a bit and answered after thinking for a while: "Don't want to go there by myself."
Tong Yao gripped the tail of his sweater. Lu Sicheng didn't turn around nor refused. They walked forward without saying anything to each other with Tong Yao attached to his sweater-- --Tong Yao was quite familiar with his stone face which seemed cold and mean. At the moment, he was her captain alright, but not her boyfriend.
Tong Yao released her grip on his sweater and quietly reached over to grab his hand. However, it seemed that Lu Sicheng had eyes on his chin as he casually lifted his hand, avoiding Tong Yao.
Tong Yao: "..."
She was certain by now that her captain was unhappy.
Tong Yao tried again to hold his hand and Lu Sicheng still avoided her hand-- --
Tong Yao couldn't take it anymore, she used both hands to grab Lu Sicheng's wrist as if catching a rabbit. "Tsk." Lu Sicheng made a sound and pulled his hand out-- --He simply wouldn't cooperate with Tong Yao…...Having no other choice, Tong Yao gave up on holding his hand and went back to grabbing the tail of his sweater. She twisted the hem and the loose bottom was twisted into a small triangle-- --Lu Sicheng could feel the pulling from behind and slightly raised his eyebrows to look back. He was met with a pair of black eyes which were looking up at him at the same time…...Tong Yao earnestly said: "Earlier I saw our team's fans in front of that Korean BBQ place across from us, that's why I threw your hand away."
"Oh."
Lu Sicheng didn't have much response.
At the time, they happened to pass by a houseware store. Under Tong Yao's confused gaze, Lu Sicheng turned to walk into the store and picked out a black mask from the shelf.
Tong Yao followed him into the store and watched him take the mask to the register to pay for it. She stood next to the register and stretched her head out to ask: "Why are you buying a mask?"
Lu Sicheng paid for the mask, tore open the package, put the mask on, and said calmly: "I'm being considerate, since I'm an eyesore next to you."
Tong Yao: ".........."
The cashier behind the register looked at Tong Yao in confusion and her look seemed to say "Girl, are you alright, how can your boyfriend be an eyesore? You should count your blessings."
Tong Yao stood on her tippy toes trying to take the mask away. Lu Sicheng put both of his hands in his pockets and leaned backward. Tong Yao wasn't tall enough to reach the mask on his face.
The cashier's gaze became even more complicated.
Tong Yao grabbed Lu Sicheng's arm and dragged him out of the store and scurried away.
-- --With the black mask on his face, Lu Sicheng, with a pair of dark brown eyes showing above the mask and his tall and straight stature, looked like a movie star who had come out in disguise.
Many passersby glanced at him from the corners of their eyes, then gathered to discuss in low voices.
If it wasn't for the fact that Tong Yao was hanging onto his arm like a sloth, she would probably be taken as the assistant of the movie star while walking next to him…...Since she was the one who had made the mistake, she had nothing to complain about it. She dragged Lu Sicheng downstairs to eat at that restaurant-- --
But even in the restaurant, Lu Sicheng hadn't stopped punishing her.
Lu Sicheng sat across from Tong Yao with his hands still in pockets. He wouldn't look at the menu and instead he fixed his eyes calmly on Tong Yao. Tong Yao felt like the gaze had burned a hole in her face-- --Finally, Tong Yao raised the menu to block the terrible gaze and didn't put it down until she had decided what to order: "I've decided. What do you want?"
"I'm not eating."
"What?"
A deep, muffled, husky voice came from behind the mask: "Such a ugly person like me has no right to eat."
"..."
The first reaction of Tong Yao was to look at the waiter. As expected, the waiter looked completely confused.
Then the waiter looked at Tong Yao as if he was accusing Tong Yao.
When Tong Yao's eyes met the waiter's, it was quite an awkward moment.
Tong Yao quickly decided to order two of the things she wanted and sent the waiter away who kept peeking at Lu Sicheng as if he wanted to see whether the face behind the mask was disfigured or not. Tong Yao reached over the table to grab the mask away from Lu Sicheng's face!
Lu Sicheng: "Hiss."
Lu Sicheng: "What are you doing?"
Tong Yao was about to burst but got timid under Lu Sicheng's glance: "Alright, fine, I'm wrong, ok? Lu Sicheng, can you just let me off-- --There were fans over there! How would they think if they saw us hanging out here hand in hand? ! Remember those comments from your fans that day? They couldn't accept that you have a girlfriend! They won't accept!"
Lu Sicheng frowned: "I don't care."
As he was speaking, he reached over: "Give me my mask back."
Tong Yao held the mask in hand and leaned backwards, avoiding his big hand. However, Lu Sicheng had long arms; his fingers teasingly touched Tong Yao's face here and there then pinched the tip of her nose…...Tong Yao almost slapped the table: "You don't care, but I care. It's not that I'm afraid they would treat me like they had treated Jinyang or said that I don't do my job well, only knowing how to lure their idol-- --My only concern is that ever since you started playing professionally, no one has said anything bad about you-- --Not even those on Tieba that do nothing but diss players!"
Lu Sicheng released his hand which was pinching Tong Yao's nose. There was something twinkling slightly in his dark brown eyes: "So, then?"
"I won't allow myself to be the breach for those trolls to diss you."
"..." Lu Sicheng was quiet for a few seconds. Then he sat back squarely in his chair: "Isn't it too late to think about this now?"
"?"
"But you are."
"? ?"
"Any normal human being will have his Achilles' heel. I'm not a god, so I have it too."
"..."
"And you're it."
Lu Sicheng became quiet after saying so and changed his sitting position: "I don't care what they say. If their assessment of me is positive, I would be very happy and feel very honored. But my own behavior won't be coerced by complimentary remarks-- --My reputation comes from my actions. It's not the other way around, that I behave in certain ways to fit into those remarks-- --It seems that's too complicated for you to understand?"
Tong Yao looked confused.
Lu Sicheng lightly sighed: "I just happen to like a girl. I haven't done anything wrong. Why are you so nervously trying to protect me?"
Tong Yao's confused look was starting to fade away.
It wasn't that she didn't understand what Lu Sicheng just said. It was that she was suddenly hit by a realization that she didn't know what to say-- --She didn't know what she had done or said to become the Achilles' heel of the number one male idol in the LoL professional circle. Yet the term had come out of the male idol's mouth so naturally in a tone of voice as if to say 'I'm reasoning with you"...
Tong Yao had to try hard to recall whether she had indeed saved the galaxy in her previous life-- --
Lacking a large enough vocabulary, Tong Yao was unable to tell the man across from her that indeed she was very anxious about protecting his reputation and keeping him from being blamed for anything.
It was because she felt especially lucky just for the fact that she was 'being together' with him.
Now she was quite surprised to find out that Lu Sicheng seemed to feel the same way.
-- --In this budding relationship, Tong Yao had thought the scale was tilted towards Lu Sicheng's side in terms of their standing. It wasn't till about a minute ago when she suddenly realized that it wasn't the case at all. The scale had never been tilted in any direction, it was exactly balanced.
The result was that Tong Yao stuffed the mask back into Lu Sicheng's pocket with a red face and buried her face in food…...The conversation between them turned rather benign. They were basically talking about the trip to Xiamen for the Demacia Cup.
Lu Sicheng used his cell phone to check the list of the B team players who would be playing the Demacia Cup and said in the tone of a captain: "This time Lu Yue will be playing too. He's the only one who's an A team substitute to go to the Cup. Looks like the club wants to win at least the first three places, if not the championship."
Tong Yao used her cell phone to check travel websites to see what to see and where to eat in Xiamen. She talked in the tone of a tourist: "What's in Xiamen? Pineapple cake? Pork jerky? Night market? Is the hotel we're staying close to the night market? It wouldn't be fun if the night market closes before the games are over."
Lu Sicheng: "..."
Tong Yao: "What about the weather there? Is it hot? Is it alright to wear short sleeves?"
Lu Sicheng: "Tong Yao."
Tong Yao: "Huh?"
Lu Sicheng: "We're going there to watch the B team play a nationwide competition, not sightseeing."
"...I didn't say that I won't be there to root for them." Tong Yao put down her cell phone with a serious look on her face.
"You go root for them to make sure they can win the game faster so you can go to the night market?"
"..." Tong Yao palmed her face then pointed to the food in front of Lu Sicheng: "Eat your food."
...
After lunch, they still wanted to hang out together but were afraid of being seen by the fans on the street. What to do? The only solution was to go into a movie theatre where no one could see them in the dark.
Lu Sicheng put his black mask back on when they walked out of the restaurant. Tong Yao frowned: "You have the strength to be disgruntled again after eating?"
"No." Lu Sicheng slightly tilted his face to look at his face which was reflected on the window of a nearby store: "I was going to teach you a lesson at first, but then I found out that I look good wearing the mask."
".........."
Tong Yao followed behind him and rolled her eyes.
They walked to the theatre on the top floor. There was already a long line. Tong Yao and Lu Sicheng continued with their conversation about the Demacia Cup. They discussed the strength and weakness of the B team players while waiting in line. Pretty soon, they were at the head of the line and made their choice of which movie to see. As Lu Sicheng was pulling out his wallet, a burst of laughter could be heard coming from the entrance of the theatre.
Tong Yao looked across the crowd behind her and noticed that it was that group of fans she had seen earlier-- --
However, there were many people between them and her.
Tong Yao and Lu Sicheng exchanged a look. Lu Sicheng cast his eyes down and took out money to pay for the tickets. From the corner of her eye, Tong Yao noticed that those fans were circled around the self-service ticket machine. She looked up at Lu Sicheng-- --
Lu Sicheng thought she was still uneasy about it and lifted his hand to pull the hood of Tong Yao's sweater up to cover her face.
He heard Tong Yao say his name suddenly and said: "What's that on your face?" It looked like she was raising up her hand trying to wipe it off. Lu Sicheng bent over with his wallet in one hand-- --
At that moment, he felt Tong Yao's warm hands reaching to his ears to take off his mask. The next second, Tong Yao stood on her tippy toes and quickly gave him a light kiss on his lips.
It was as light as the feather.
She giggly put the mask back on for him. There was a splash of pink on her fair cheeks. She looked like a silly Siberian roe deer[1] which had just accomplished an amazing prank.
[1]: Original footnote in Chapter 92 Siberian roe deer are known to be very curious and often die because of it. So there's a saying in Chinese, especially in Northeast of China, where they refer stupid people as stupid siberian roe deer.
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