Tong Yao was looking at the little kitten lying next to her hand and figured that Lu Sicheng wasn't here to pick her up but to prevent her from stealing a kitten......She mindlessly replied to the pet shop worker: "You got it wrong, he's my co-worker, not my boyfriend-- --"
Lu Sicheng happened to push the door open and walk in just then and hear Tong Yao's denial.
His hand paused on the door. Tong Yao was looking down and didn't see him. When she raised her head up, Lu Sicheng had already removed the expression on his face and was standing right in front of Tong Yao with a poker face. He took a look at the kitten next to her, the expression on his face somehow became even more inscrutable: "Didn't you come here to get Dabing a bath?"
"......I am."
Tong Yao pointed towards the back. Lu Sicheng looked in the direction where she was pointing and could see a struggling Ragdoll cat through the transparent glass window......His facial expression relaxed a bit. He looked back and pointed at the kitten next to Tong Yao with his chin: "Why is Xu Tailun's cat with you?"
"I happened to see you know that person who went out with him." Tong Yao thought about it and didn't know how to address that young lady: "You know, his that person. She took the kitten here to see the vet-- --They probably thought it had feline distemper like all weak cats, but the blood test shows the kitten just has the common cold......"
Tong Yao grabbed the blood test report on the desk to show him. Lu Sicheng took a glance without checking the details.
"This is why you plan to steal-- --"
Before he could finish his sentence, Tong Yao nervously covered his mouth-- --Lu
Sicheng cast his eyes down at her. His cold stare made Tong Yao rather embarrassed and she withdrew her hand. She rubbed her hands against each other and said uneasily: "Don't say it out loud. The staff here would think that I'd really do that......I'm just thinking that Xu Tailun and her don't really want to raise the cat, nor know how, so why bother. If they had the kitten tested for feline distemper right after they bought it, then they didn't need to bring the kitten to see a vet just for a cold. It hasn't gotten inoculated yet and it's fragile against the germs in the hospital. A minor cold can be treated simply by keeping it warm and feeding it Synulox. Even the vet will only prescribe canned L-lysine for the common cold. How could they bring the kitten here? I asked the vet and the kitten doesn't have a serious diarrhea problem either. They even asked the vet to give the kitten a shot. What does such a little kitten need a shot for-- --"
Lu Sicheng continued silently staring down at Tong Yao who had begun seriously nagging about raising a cat with furrowed brows.
He didn't interrupt her.
Though he didn't understand much of what she was saying, he didn't really care about raising a kitten......
Lu Sicheng just quietly looked at her until she had finished all she wanted to say. Then he lightly said: "But this is somebody else's cat now."
"......" Tong Yao frowned again and suddenly lowered her voice: "I know. I can't really steal it."
Lu Sicheng paused for a moment.
He lifted his head to look beyond Tong Yao, then bluntly changed the subject: "How much longer for Dabing?"
Tong Yao took a look at Dabing, who was still struggling with the handler as if taking a bath would kill it, and relaxed her eyebrows a little. She looked at the clock in the shop and slightly sighed: "Who knows. They have to brush its hair afterwards, probably a little over an hour."
"Then, I'll wait for you in the car."
"Eh? You don't need to. I'll go back myself......What are you going to do sitting in the car for an hour?"
"I'll watch some of OP's competition videos. Time goes by fast that way." Lu Sicheng walked towards the door while talking, but stopped after a few steps: "You want to come watch together?"
Tong Yao hesitantly took a look at the kitten next to her and was about to say nevermind. She heard Lu Sicheng speak again rather impatiently: "Make up your mind, quick. The air conditioning in the shop is set too low, I'm freezing."
Tong Yao paused, checked the kitten sleeping on the mat which had nothing to cover it, then thought a bit before asking: "Then can I bring it with me to the car?"
Lu Sicheng had already pushed open the door. He replied before he walked out of the shop after hearing Tong Yao: "It's up to you." -- --Tong Yao didn't expect the usually difficult Lu Sicheng to agree so easily. Somewhat surprised, she went to the worker in the shop to tell her if the owner of the kitten comes back, she could look for the kitten in the car parked in the front. Then Tong Yao brought the kitten with her and went to Lu Sicheng's car.
Lu Sicheng had also turned on the air conditioning in the car, but hadn't set the temperature too low. He also allowed Tong Yao to open the car window so the sunlight could shine directly onto the kitten which was lying on the mat on top of Tong Yao's lap......The kitten sneezed a few times, then seemed to breathe more easily with the warmth of the sunlight. Tong Yao stroked the kitten's head with her fingertips while slightly squinting her eyes and turning her head sideways to watch the video on the cell phone in Lu Sicheng's hand-- --
The sunlight was warm.
It was quiet inside the car.
There was only the sound of the commentators and the game.
Occasionally, Tong Yao would discuss with Lu Sicheng about OP mid's precise movements. Later on, Lu Sicheng felt the commentator was too noisy and turned down the volume-- --
Then Tong Yao found that with her head turned to the side, she was very close to Lu Sicheng, so close that she could hear him breathe.
"After the last patch, I haven't seen anyone using Cassiopeia competitively......Jin Yuguang's really something, a little wimpy in the early game and after reaching level 3, he just kept harassing others. Even Victor seems unable to handle him."
"So do you know how to play this champion?"
"En, no, I don't."
"Why not?"
"........................................I just don't. You think I have a champion ocean? She's hard to play. She can't buy boots after the last patch and her speed only goes up as she levels. You have to get really familiar with the speed at each level to be figure out when's the best time to attack or retreat. You can get killed if you're not careful!"
"Then, why can Jin Yuguang use it?"
"He's Jin Yuguang! You can't compare me with him? !"
"If I can't compare him to you, then who should I compare you to? If you aren't better than him, how can we win the championship?"
"......"
That sounded reasonable?
Tong Yao became quiet.
The little kitten on her lap yawned, stretched, and staggered to stand on the mat. The kitten curiously looked at Tong Yao with its round eyes-- --Tong Yao used her finger tips to scratch under its chin and the kitten tilted its head to rub against Tong Yao's fingers......
Lu Sicheng paused the video.
He turned his head sideways to watch the person next to him as she became distracted playing with the kitten.
He heard her murmur: "So cute, I really want to kidnap you."
Lu Sicheng: "......"
-- --They heard the noise of high heels coming towards them. A slender figure with long hair hurriedly approached the car. The faint smell of perfume floated into the car through the open window. A face with perfect makeup appeared at the window, blocking the sunlight.
"Sorry, Smiling. I ran into traffic on my way back from my office. Thank you for taking care of it for me."
The young lady who had asked Tong Yao to look after the kitten temporarily had come back. She bent over, apologizing while thanking Tong Yao at the same time. Then she carefully took the kitten and held it in her arms-- --She was careful handling the kitten and Tong Yao could tell from her eyes that she still cared for the kitten.
"It's alright."
Tong Yao sounded more gentle now. She repeated what she had told Lu Sicheng earlier about how to take care of a kitten with a cold. Then she opened the door, jumped out of the car, and walked back to the shop to pick up Dabing who had now been bathed and gotten its nails clipped.
-- --When she came back to the car, the young lady wasn't there anymore.
Tong Yao looked around until the man inside the luxury car impatiently lowered the window and called out to her. She hurriedly crouched down to get into the car with the cage holding Dabing.
She thought a bit after sitting down: "She can't be returning the kitten back to Qing Dynasty's base?"
Lu Sicheng lazily answered: "It seems that Xu Tailun's fans are quite fond of the cat, so it should be sent back to their base."
Tong Yao frowned.
"What?" Lu Sicheng asked: "Don't tell me you're thinking of stealing the cat from their base?"
"I really do."
"You can think about it, but aren't allowed to do it."
"......"
That night, Tong Yao saw the kitten, which was sickly at the vet during the day, on Xu Tailun's stream. The kitten seemed to have recovered a bit and was walking around in front of Xu's camera-- --
Xu's fans were all commented on how cute the kitten is or how the kitten is looking better.
[It's better now after getting a shot. I asked a staff member to take the kitten for me to get the shot.]
Tong Yao: "......"
What staff member.
[It's nothing, it's not feline distemper.] Xu Tailun continued in fluent Chinese. [It's just a cold, really. It's much better after returning from the vet. I wanted to take it there but I had a training match in the afternoon......The training match? We won. Against which team? Not saying.]
He laughed as he spoke.
His protruding canine teeth showed as he smiled, he seemed in a very good mood.
His fans showered him in praise, "You're cuter than the cat", "Your Chinese 66666"......Tong Yao rolled her eyes and as she was being disgusted with his behavior, a big hand reached over from behind to turn off Xu Tailun's stream-- --
"What's wrong with you, watching him while being disgusted with him?"
Her captain's tepid voice came from behind.
Tong Yao patted the hand that had covered her mouse and tried to grab the mouse back: "Get away, don't turn off the stream. I'm disgusted with him but that doesn't reduce the enjoyment I have from watching him act-- --Everything he says is a lie, it's rare to see someone who can fool everyone whenever he opens his mouth. This is a live textbook example of how all males in the esports world are undesirable!"
Lu Sicheng bent over and wouldn't let go of Tong Yao's mouse: "Tsk, what crazy things you're talking about."
Tong Yao pulled on his fingers: "All of them are scumbags, liars."
Lu Sicheng put more force on his hand: "It's only that you haven't met any good ones. Don't stereotype us."
Tong Yao now tried to pry open his fingers: "What do you mean 'I haven't met any good ones.' So, it's my fault? Why don't you point out some good men in this business-- --Someone with good temperament, plays good games, looks good, has patience, and won't fool around or cheat!"
"There certainly is someone like that." Lu Sicheng's hand relaxed a bit.
"Who?" Tong Yao took the chance to stuff her fingers in between the mouse and Lu Sicheng's palm, then she asked without looking up.
Lu Sicheng was silent for three seconds.
"Me."
"What?" Tong Yao was still focusing on prying his hand off the mouse.
"I said, me." Pushing down his wrist, Lu Sicheng's palm now pressed down on the fingers that were moving around under his palm. "Do you want to have a try?"
Tong Yao's fingers were stuck between the mouse and his palm.
Tong Yao: "......"
Lu Sicheng: "......"
Tong Yao confusedly raised her head to look at the man behind her who was now bending half way down.
Not far from them, all the other teammates who were concentrating on their ranked matches just a second ago were now all staring at Tong Yao and Lu Sicheng, baffled......Little Fatty even threw his mouse.
Tong Yao: "What did you say?"
She looked into that pair of dark brown pupils, trying to make clear of his emotions right now......Yet, she failed to see anything in them. The pair of pupils were darker than usual, as deep as the ocean. She couldn't make out anything.
Lu Sicheng let go of her hand.
The temperature which was on top of her fingers disappeared-- --
"It's nothing." Lu Sicheng casually said: "I'm just saying. Look how scared you got. Good for nothing."
Tong Yao: "........................................."
Tong Yao: "Gee! How can you make a joke about this? ? ? ? ?"
"Sure I can." Lu Sicheng walked over to the refrigerator, pulled the door open, and squatted down until his whole body disappeared behind the refrigerator door: "I can if I say so."
Tong Yao pulled off her slippers, raised them up and waved it at Lu Sicheng's direction-- --
But what she couldn't see at the moment......
The man squatting down behind the refrigerator door didn't reach for anything inside the fridge......He used one of his hands to hold his forehead, kept still for a while, then released his hand with a rather helpless look. Then he reached over to take out a bottle of water, twisted open the cap, and gulped down the entire bottle.