You're Beautiful When You Smile

CHAPTER 88

The next day, Chen Jinyang got a very excited WeChat message from her best friend first thing in the morning when she was still half-awake-- --

[ZGDX, smiling: Dabing has a brother now! Come look!]

Jinyang, while still struggling to get up, was very confused. She knew that Dabing was a single 'child' yesterday, how could Dabing have a brother today? She yawned as she sent a question mark in reply. Then she got up, washed, put on makeup, changed clothes, and went out of the door.

Two hours later, Jinyang and ZGDX's mid sat on the stairs shoulder to shoulder at ZGDX's base. Both of them cupped their faces with their hands, looking at the two bowls of cat food, three litter boxes, and two cats a short distance away.

The little one was only the size of a human palm with a short tail and short legs. It was like a furry ball and was focused at the moment on eating the canned kitten food in one of the bowls-- --Right next to the kitten, there was a fat cat squatting there watching the kitten eat with a rather serious demeanor.

"Look at it, look at it. Our Dabing is really a gentleman, so graceful and at ease." Tong Yao was quite satisfied: "It's not timid around Xiao Cong at all. And it doesn't bully the little kitten just because it's bigger. Dabing is so friendly."

Just as Tong Yao finished her praises, the fat cat suddenly moved. It raised its paw to push the head of the defenseless kitten into the bowl as swift as a sudden clap of thunder. The kitten slipped and fell into the bowl, its face now smeared all over with cat food!

Tong Yao: "......"

Jinyang: "That was a great joke. Your Dabing is truly a gentleman, so graceful and friendly."

Tong Yao shouted: "Dabing, ahhhhh." She stood up, without putting her slippers on, dashed over to where the two cats were, and grabbed the confused Dabing-- --She then strode over next to Lu Sicheng's computer and threw the heavy cat onto Lu Sicheng's lap-- --The fat cat landed on Lu Sicheng's lap just as he was farming, causing him to miss a siege minion. He looked up, about to blow up, but he was met with a pair of eyes that were fuming even more than him.

Lu Sicheng: "......"

Lu Sicheng: "What are you doing?"

Tong Yao: "Dabing pushed Xiao Cong's head into bowl of cat food. What a mean cat!"

Lu Sicheng: "Oh." He patted Dabing's head, who now refused to move from his lap: "What's the big deal. What's all the shouting about-- --The big cat is curious about the little cat, it's just normal for it to touch the little one. Why are you in so much shock? Who knows how many brothers have a falling out just because they have parents like you who play favorites......"

"Oh." Tong Yao raised her eyebrows: "It looks like it does make some difference when this bad cat snuggles next to your smelly feet all the time."

"They're all small furry animals, there's no distinction that one is more valuable than the other."
Lu Sicheng released his hand on Dabing and slowly glanced over Tong Yao's face. Then he looked back to his computer screen and casually said: "Can't you put on your slippers?"

Tong Yao lowered her head to look at her bare feet.

Then she noticed that under the computer desk, Lu Sicheng used his feet to push his pair of men's slippers out. All the while the game made a death notification sound. Tong Yao looked up to see the enemy AD explode on-screen......

After grabbing a kill, Lu Sicheng continued farming, pushing the minion lane closer to the enemy's turret-- --

He looked like he was seriously playing the match.

Tong Yao blushed slightly and put on the slippers which were much bigger than her feet. She quickly went back to the stairs and put on her own slippers. Then she bent over to pick up Lu Sicheng's slippers, ran back to Lu Sicheng, and put them squarely next to his feet-- --She squatted down next to his chair, then patted his knee. Lu Sicheng lifted his feet and quietly swept the slippers back under the desk.

......The whole series of actions were done rather quietly.

Old Cat, who was sitting on the other side of Lu Sicheng, heard some rustling noise and turned over to ask: "What are you two doing?"

Tong Yao stretched her head higher than the arm of Lu Sicheng's chair, her face was blank from nervousness. Lu Sicheng remained at ease: "Something dropped on the floor, she's looking-- --Have you found it?"

Tong Yao: "I've found it."

As she spoke, she stood up and dashed back to the stairs. She sat down next to her best friend and before Jinyang could ask a question, Tong Yao started talking: "I know what you are going to ask and I know I can keep silent after you ask and whatever I say will be used as evidence-- --That's right, Xiao Cong is the kitten that jerk Xu Tailun and his fangirl had. Xu Tailun got banned and doesn't feel like keeping the kitten. So our captain went over to the Qing Dynasty and asked for it. I don't know whether he paid for the kitten or not. It happened last night. I'm the one who named it Xiao Cong because it's my kitten too. Then the problem is why one kitten has two owners and there's only one answer, my captain and I are having an indescribable relationship."

Jinyang: "?"

Tong Yao: "That's all there is."

Jinyang: "? ? ? ? ? What the heck? ? ? ?"

Tong Yao gritted her teeth: "That's all there is."

Jinyang: "What? ? What the heck? You and who? ! Chess-- --"

Tong Yao nervously covered Jinyang's mouth before she finished yelling-- --Jinyang's pupils enlarged then slightly shrunk. She turned to look at her uptight friend besides her. There was a light blush on Tong Yao's fair skin and Tong Yao's eyes were sparkling. Tong Yao lowered her voice and whispered into Jinyang's ear: "Don't yell. No one knows about it!"

"......" Jinyang pushed the hand over her mouth down and took a deep breath. The first thing she said after she calmed herself: "You're really something, Mulan. You haven't accomplished what you set out to do and damn, you've slept with our General Lu first."

"..........................................Hush, hush, hush, not yet, not yet. I haven't got the chance to sleep with him."

"Huh, you even feel sorry about that? !

"Hush! ! !" Tong Yao shrunk her neck and widened her eyes: "Don't talk so loud!"

"Oh." Jinyang nodded: "So when are you going to apply to Beijing and Qinghua Universities?"[1]

Tong Yao: "......"

Jinyang: "Did you hear that? That's the sound of you being slapped in the face."

Tong Yao reached over to pinch her, Jinyang backed away, giggling all the while. The two of them playfully huddled into a ball. Tong Yao released Jinyang after a while and looked around before whispering like she was a thief: "Actually, I didn't mean for it to happen this way. I really didn't. But yesterday, somehow, this thing came up. He even used the kitten to trick me and I agreed because I didn't hold my ground. Now it's the trial period. Our captain said that the only way to examine the truth is through practice."

"What truth?"

"That he's a good man, not like Jian Yang and them......" As Tong Yao was saying it, she realized that it didn't sound quite right. Her voice became quieter and she started to twist her fingers. After a short pause, she added: "Something like that."

"...........................Can't you two have a normal relationship like everyone else? Ok, you want to keep it a secret, but treating it like an experiment! Can you return it if you're dissatisfied?"

"Three months trial period and five years warranty."

"...................Alright, alright, then make good use of your trial period." Jinyang emphasized the word "use" and grabbed her friend over giggling: "My cabbage finally learned to slowly move herself under a pig's nose."

"......"

"Good choice. At least he's the king of pigs." Jinyang sighed: "Unlike me, I just randomly picked a little pig from the pigpen next door. Aside from eating, sleeping, and irritating me, he only knows how to roll in the mud."

"......"

Jinyang left in the evening.

Tong Yao was leaning on the back of Lu Sicheng's chair watching him play. Then she found him involved in a conversation in Korean with someone with an id she didn't recognize. They talked before the game started and continued after the game had started-- --Tong Yao didn't know Korean, but she recognized some of the Korean words kept popping up, such as hahaha, hehehe, or wuwuwuwuwu. She thought about it and asked: "Captain, who are you talking to?"

"A normal social contact."

"?"

"The AD next door."

"......"

Oh, it was Pope from next door.

"What are you two talking about so happily?"

Lu Sicheng turned sideways ever so slightly to glance at the person who was leaning on his chair like a gecko. Tong Yao shrunk back a little. Lu Sicheng turned his face back and slowly said: "This is what happens when you don't read books nor newspapers. Ever since the Xu Tailun incident, plus our interviews yesterday-- --public opinion is questioning whether all the foreign help in China has disciplinary problems. A lot of clubs are reasserting their management over their players. I asked Li Junhe whether we can go do something together later, like getting some drinks. He said the club has curfews now, they can't go out after 10 pm unless it's a team activity and someone from management has to tag along. Otherwise, all they can do is order takeout even if they're famished."

"......"

To Tong Yao, it sounded like they were overdoing it.

Tong Yao looked behind herself at the sofa where Xiao Rui was sitting enjoying his time with a cat in each hand. Tong Yao jokingly said to him: "Rui Ge, did you hear? The other clubs have started to make changes, we can't lag behind."

"I heard it, I heard it." Xiao Rui moved Dabing's fat claw away from Xiao Cong's head: "Our team is very self-disciplined. We don't need to do all that."

"......Your team's AD was just inviting the other team's AD to go out to have a drink. What self-discipline!"

Tong Yao lifted her hand to point at Lu Sicheng from above his head.

She was stretching her neck to look in the direction of the living room.

Just then, the man who was playing a game at the moment seemed to have eyes on the top of his head and reached up with one hand and held Tong Yao's hand in his. Tong Yao was taken aback. She checked her surroundings to make sure no one was looking and tried with all her might to pull her hand out of his grip. Despite her efforts, Lu Sicheng's grip was too strong. He used his fingers to forcefully separate Tong Yao's fingers before pushing his long fingers in between hers-- --

Now their fingers were interlocked and palms pressed against each other.

The warm and dry palm closely touched hers.

Tong Yao quieted down. She put her chin on the back of his chair and carefully watched the two interlocking hands gradually come downwards. Lu Sicheng played with her hands for a while before calmly releasing her hand.

Tong Yao's heartbeat was far from calm. She cleared her throat and stood up from her captain's chair with the warmth still lingering in her palm......She walked over to the living room and sat down on the sofa. She took Dabing from Xiao Rui..... and stroked Dabing a couple of times until her cell phone vibrated from inside her pocket. Tong Yao took it out to take a look-- --

[fhdjwhdb2333: Why is your hand so soft.]

Tong Yao: "......................................."

One minute later, the cell phone in front of Lu Sicheng, who was concentrating on his game, lit up.

[rabbit holds tight of carrots: Rotten scoundrel!]

[1]: Callback to when Tong Yao said she'd prefer to spend her time getting into top universities in China rather than date a professional gamer.