Chapter Text
FIYS
It was Ming however that brought their attention back to the message that had set off his realisation of who she was. It was, after all, the most important thing that they needed to attend to right at that moment.
[I know, an author’s thought after the very first sentence, anyone noticed just how remarkably calm and accepting they have all been of her being Smiling!!!! Crikey, missed that too and helped write it! Proof no AI wrote this!!! Heck yes!!!]
“So, what does the inestimable Rui have to say? I would be interested to know how he approaches this situation as Cheng and I pulled in everyone else at present on the team.” He asked, nodding to where he knew she normally kept her phone. At the looks that were shot him, he rolled his eyes, (not something that he would usually do but some reason felt was the only appropriate action right then), “For goodness’ sake, I heard the ringtone alright, I was the one who set it for her for calls from general ZGDX.”
“Oh, he’ll just love that, he’s just ‘general’ ZGDX!” Pang murmured to Lao Mao, leaving them both sniggering slightly, well, that was until they realised they were under the watchful look of their captain who was only just not glaring at them. They immediately straightened their faces and settle back into their chairs, but their eyes still danced with amusement.
(It was well known that Xiao Rui hated not actually being a player and being only the manager, that he did not have the same connections (or strategic understanding) that the rest of the team actually had.)
(Of course, you have to ignore the fact that (including Lu Yue), three of them were technically related, the Mid was the eldest Lu’s oldest friend from university, and he had been responsible for recruiting the other two as well!)
Si Cheng moved from where he had been kneeling in front of her, to where Ai Jia had been sitting – he had just risen to his feet, taking Jin-Yang’s hand as he did so, “I’m going to find the rest of my team, this is purely ZGDX business now. The cousins will fill me in later, I know.”
“But…” Jin-Yang objected as she turned to go back to her mei-mei’s side. “I want to…”
“Jin-er.” Her shortened name, but her brother’s voice had her obeying (reluctantly) therefore allowing Ai Jia to remove her from the room without any further ado. Chen Lee stayed though, knowing that his adopted sister would need an outside voice, regardless of the fact that it was her chosen family involved.
“Alright, little fairy, let’s hear the message.” Lu Si Cheng rested his hand on the back of her seat, and Tong Yao (after signing in), opened the message so that they both could read it. (Lu Yue shot across the room to look over their shoulders as K leant in from her other side.)
‘Hi, how would you like to play for a professional team in the Chinese OPL?’
Tong Yao read out the message exactly as it was on the screen, in English, and then looked around the boys in bewildered astonishment. “What the… he made contact using English! I play solely on the Chinese and South Korean servers, why on earth would he assume that I speak ENGLISH!”
“Apart from the fact you do!” Lu Yue grinned as he leant his head on hers for a moment (he always enjoyed teasing her slightly because she was the only person who gave it back just as much).
“Hush you and that’s not the point!” She wrinkled her nose back up at him, even as she started typing, speaking aloud as she did so. ‘I’m Chinese! And what kind of scam are you pulling?’
In English, of course! Da Bing poked his head up through her arms as she did so, and meowed as if he had read what she had written, in approval.
“Yao-Yao!” Lu Wang Lan exclaimed in genuine shock!
“Oh, come on, Aunt Lan, wouldn’t you think it was a scam if you suddenly received an email from out of nowhere, from an unidentified person, in ENGLISH, asking if you wanted to play in the Chinese OPL!” Tong Yao shot back, watching the three dots come and go on the screen. “We only know it’s Rui because Ming played with my phone to give it this message tone.”
“The little fairy is right, mother.” Lu Si Cheng said as he nodded in approval, tugging a lock of hair near his hand, earning himself an absent dig in the ribs by her elbow “This is exactly how someone outside of our world would react.”
The next message came in, interrupting what she had been going to say, leaving the two of them to look at her screen in disbelief, before she read it out loud for the others to hear.
‘Hah! Hah!’
That brought an abrupt moment of disbelief from everyone in the room before the person you would most expect to react, reacted.
“He actually wrote that rather than emoji it!” Lu Yue exclaimed, reading out the response, over dramatizing as normal. “Seriously! And I can’t say anything to him about the fact I know! This is tragedy, sincere tragedy!”
“Yue, behave.” His father ordered, “Even if it is true.”
‘Sorry, forgot to introduce myself, this is Xiao Rui, ZGDX’s manager. Congratulations on passing our test, and seriously, would you like to play professionally?’ (He had at least turned it to Chinese this time.)
“Think carefully how you respond to that, mei-mei.” K said softly as her fingers paused over her screen. Before she could reply though, Rui sent through a further message:
‘ZGDX are looking for a new Mid and feel you would fit the role, are you interested? Starting salary 800,000 plus match bonus’s.’
“If that’s the starting salary, he’s lowballing from the start, not the way to start a business relationship.” Once again she demonstrated just how much she had picked up from her OPL connected family, impressing her Lu connections.
Her eyes, however, lit up mischievously as she did exactly what K had suggested, considered her next reply – which may have been a mistake, because when she had time to think about things, the person on the other end was always made to regret it!
“Well, let’s see how he responds to this then.” She murmured, as she started typing and K groaned as he read it. “What the… mei-mei, I said think carefully.”
“I did.” She replied as she pressed send. “I opened the can cautiously.”
‘I’m a girl, are you still interested.’
Having read what she had put as well, Lu Si Cheng shook his head in amused disbelief, “And you call that cautiously. Little fairy, we need to talk about what you consider cautious and what the rest of the world calls cautious!”
It earned him one of her sideways, tilted head smiles, her eyes dancing mischievously. Even Da Bing seemed to grin as well.
Lu Wang Lan smiled, interested at what the response would, because technically having that issue being thrown at him so unexpectedly should have led the ZGDX manager to contacting Headquarters. “Yes, very cautiously.”
The dots flashed on screen several times, appearing and disappearing as he was clearly writing a response then deleting it, so when what came through, it was not the ‘I will speak to the team and get back to you’ but instead:
‘Come to our next match, Spring Finals against CK Gaming.’
“That’s one way to deal with such a surprise, ignore it completely but invite you to our next game.” K murmured, frowning slightly. “How are you going to reply?”
“Watch and see,” Tong Yao responded as she started typing again. ‘Was going to be there anyway, you should know now that I have family involved in OPL. Send contact details.’
The response was swift. ‘Look forward to seeing you, will send you details and tickets!’
That answer brought a response from the room.
“What the…! He didn’t even question the fact that you have family involved.” Pang literally spluttered, Lao Mao holding him in his seat as he went to bounce up and down.
“And the fact that you said you were already going to be there.” The Top added, (once he was sure that Pang was going to stay in his seat.)
“And still not word to you or mom about Smiling being a girl!” Lu Yue said in sheer shock (because he was right, both their phones were extremely silent.) “Who is he speaking to?”
“Director Bao.” Ming and K said the name at the same time, sharing an understanding look. “That’s who he always speaks to.”
“The evidence against that man just keeps growing.” Lu Si Ming growled from where he was, his hand still resting on Tong Yao’s shoulder, stopping Lu Yue take up all the space. “Sister, you really need to do something about it.”
“And I would if he crossed a line I could use,” Lu Wang Lan shot back at him, before her eyes grew thoughtful as they rested on Tong Yao. “And as much as I hate to say it, I do believe that our fairy’s entrance into the world of OPL is going to be that line.”
Si Cheng’s head shot up at that, and he looked at his mother. “We are not using her as a weapon against him.”
“We won’t but they will try to use her.” His mother shot back firmly.
“Contract first, most probably.” Lao Mao said with a tone of understanding, leading everyone to turn to look at him, because, well, one, he was right and secondly, even they had fallen into the trap of underestimating the Top for once and thirdly, well, he was just right.
(No-one’s perfect after all!)
FIYS
As silence fell for a moment, (in the face of that sudden understanding and revelation), Lu Yue suddenly moved from where he had been leaning on Tong Yao’s chair (sometimes literally on its occupant), to lean against his mother’s chair and drawled out with a slight American accent (clearly picked up from his time in that country) “So, logistics of our girl there attending the Spring Finals?”
Pang and Lao Mao looked at each other, almost as if to say, ‘He picked that up!’ but to be honest this was the first time that they had actually been in the company of Lu Yue when Tong Yao was present, and the young man was nothing like the boy that they thought they knew.
(They were slowly beginning to realise that perhaps they had never really known him at all.)
This was the man that Tong Yao brought out in the younger Lu – because no matter how well she could look after herself (and truly, she was at times, the most dangerous of the four that had been in the jungle all those years ago!), the three young men and their elders were still more protective of her than anyone else.
Ming had easily fallen into that protective stance from the first moment he had met them through his friendship with Lu Si Cheng. There was just something about the girl that made it an almost automatic reaction – even though he had also been a witness on several occasions to just how dangerous she was in her own right.
As for Lu Si Cheng, well, he had always been in a class of his own where she was concerned, K and his uncle being the only people that he ever deferred to when it came to a question of her safety. (The bond that had grown between them had been so instant and unique, no-one questioned it at all.)
“Already arranged.” His uncle replied, as he rested his hands on Tong Yao’s and K’s shoulders. “Her room is on the same floor as ZGDX, your mother made sure of that when she had her people book you into the hotel.”
“Which, I should point out, is one of mine, so security is always heightened when a member of the family is present.” Chen Lee added as he stepped forward as well, reminding them that he was actually still present as well. “Considering the security aspects, they have the suite on that floor, which is the only floor that has a fully manned security suite.”
“And on this occasion, will be manned by Lu Security for this particular trip.” Lu Sheng finalised, catching a look in his youngest son’s eyes. “And yes, you also have a room. We weren’t sure if you were going to be back in time but prepared just in case.”
Tong Yao spoke up next, reaching out for K’s hand, proving that she also was fully aware of the timetable for the finals. “I am arriving the day you have your practice match with the South Korean team; Jin-Yang is flying in the day of the match; she has meeting with her design team that day she can’t miss.”
“And Ai Jia?” It was Ming that asked, as always interested in the logistics when it came to these things. (It was a holdover from when he had been responsible for such things when he and Si Cheng had been doing their military training.)
“Will be at YQCB with the rest of his team.” Ai Jia himself replied as he returned with the rest of YQCB and Jin-Yang to hear the question and answer for himself. “We have a meeting that day to discuss replacing our ADC, so will watch the match from there.”
Liang Sheng nodded in regretful agreement. “We had planned to be there, knowing that Miss Yao was going to be there, and the situation with the CK captain, but it is now impossible. The board wants to meet to discuss replacing the AD.”
Lu Si Cheng nodded his head in acceptance, understanding that such things happened. “In that case, as Rui doesn’t need to be with us for the practice match, I’ll have him meet you, little fairy, in the lobby with the key to your room.”
“I’ll be in the lobby too then, unless you want me to travel with you, mei-mei.” Lu Yue said calmly, knowing that was for the best if she made the decision.
“The fans know you, Yue, even though you haven’t been around lately.” Tong Yao replied, shaking her head slightly. “I can slip in much more quietly by myself.”
Lu Si Cheng however shook his head slightly, that wary instinct now driving him where the ZGDX manager was concerned. “No, that’s not going to happen. For one thing, I don’t want Rui to know that Yue is back in the country and that information getting back to Director Bao, so I don’t want you travelling with us.”
Yue looked at him slightly puzzled for a moment, well, that was until his mother said softly so that only he could hear. “Why look for a new mid, if you are here already, Yue-er.” His eyes widened as he took that in and then he nodded in agreement, knowledge he realised that his brother had already taken into consideration.
Chen Lee immediately spoke up. “Then we have them travel together, but Yue can enter the hotel through a side entrance to make sure that neither the fans nor your manager will see him. There are plenty of places in the lobby of this particular hotel where he can remain out of sight, to watch for Yao’s arrival.”
K looked up at that, nodding in approval. “Good, that will make another pair of eyes to see how he reacts to her appearance.”
Tong Yao turned to look at him, puzzled by what he had just said for a moment before her eyes opened wide in understanding. “You’re expecting something will happen when he sees me in person.”
“You haven’t changed that much since that period, just grown slightly taller and that’s the problem, mei-mei, I don’t know what he will do when he sees you in person for the first time.” Lao K grabbed her hand, squeezing it. “And more importantly, I need you to remember not to do anything…”
Feeling the rising tension in the room, Da Bing growled slightly and nodded furiously.
“You mean, if your working theory is right…” Ai Jia began, suddenly tuning in to what was not being said..
“Meow!” Da Bing echoed, emphasising the point.
“And he does have a connection to back then.” Lu Yue continued, his own eyes widening, body tensing as he also pitched in.
Da Bing growled, the sound rolling around the room like a low rumble of thunder in the distance; a sound that only grew deeper when Ah Mao joined in, sensing the importance of the conversation as well.
“And I’m the one with the memory that will confirm it.” Tong Yao also added, her hand actually curling into Da Bing’s coat, as if using the sensation to keep her balance.
This time though, Da Bing turned and actually patted his human, meowing softly, almost saying ‘I’m here, I’ll help you.’
“And it will confirm that there is more going on than anyone realises, and that things need to be investigated as a matter of priority.” K finished what he had begun. “Especially if it concerns safety and security.”
Feeling the seriousness in his human’s favourite litter mate, Da Bing reached out to pat him as well, clearly saying that he was behind him also.
(Which had the whole room hiding amused smiles, even with the seriousness of the conversation that the four were having.)
The four of them were stared at by the rest of YQCB, Pang and Lao Mao who had not known the four of them for as long as everyone else, stunned by how each of the four had just continued the conversation without any break at all, knowing what each one was going to say.
(Let alone how Da Bing had acted throughout the entire conversation!)
“Wow!” Pang finally exclaimed, “I had heard about it but that is the first time I have even seen a hive mind in action.”
Five pillows shot across the room, hitting the Support and knocking him out of his chair. More importantly, not one of the elders reprimanded them, even as both Da Bing and Ah Mao purred loudly in approval.
“Well, I think we can take that as the final word in the conversation then.” Jin-Yang said in wry amusement as her lips twitched, and eyes sparkled with restrained laughter. “But to sum things up, ZGDX will fly out first, Yao and Yue will fly out together the day of their practice match, the imp entering through a side entrance at the hotel,”
Lu Yue’s eyes narrowed at being called an imp by her, but his mother stopped him retaliating.
“I will follow the next day, unless I can change things to arrive earlier, then join her and Yue at the hotel before leaving for the match.” She continued, getting nods from everyone. “But what about the stadium and Jiang Yang?”
“We will decide that the evening of the practice match.” Lu Si Cheng responded firmly, “I’ll make any final decision based on what happens the day the twins arrive.”
No-one missed the fact that his eyes had darkened at the mention of the CK captain.
And because they could, someone (but no-one could tell who actually said it) quoted an old song, “There may be trouble ahead!”
FIYS