Before Tong Yao ran out, she grabbed the writing tablet from Lu Sicheng.
On the way out of the base, she began to doubt herself-- --In reality, she didnt know Dubhe that well; they had only exchanged a few words occasionally...Usually, all the kids from the B team would stay in the training area on the second floor. The training area was in the open area across Tong Yao and her teammates rooms. Aside from the regular biweekly training matches against A team, B team wouldnt normally have much of a chance to interact with the players from the A team.
Occasionally when the power went out or the internet went down, Little Fatty would shout out: Kids upstairs, is your internet down? !
Other than that, once in a while when a player from A team walked out of his own room, he would meet the eyes of the B team player who happened to sit facing his room
Tong Yao and Dubhe met under this situation.
They would greet each other with a smile across the space once in a while and get to know each other a little better that way. Dubhes rank was between Diamond one and Master on the Korean server. Sometimes when Tong Yao was playing ranked, she would see him in her match...Tong Yao knew he actually played a decent Kalista, but seldom chose it.
Tong Yao didnt go far out of the base to see Dubhe squatting outside the yard of the base. It was a hot day and it had just rained. Outside the base, it was muggy, hot, and swarming with mosquitos. Dubhe was squatting with a cigarette in hand.
Tong Yao had a younger brother herself. Though her brother was only a few years younger than her, she knew very well how a rebellious adolescent looked like when he was acting up-- --
She walked up and pulled the cigarette out of Dubhes hand and threw it into the trash: Youngsters shouldnt learn this nonsense.
Dubhe was stunned and turned to take a look at her. Tong Yao couldnt clearly see the expression in his eyes in the darkness. She could only hear his voice which had just started hitting puberty: Oh, its you.
The voice sounded quite listless. It was quite a difference from earlier when he blushed and spilled water-- --
He was in a bad mood.
Tong Yao put the writing tablet under her arm and squatted down next to him. She thought for a bit before speaking: Its normal to win or lose in a training match. Obsidian, in any case, beat the second place junior league team in the Spring season relegation game and kept its standing in the major league...Its normal to lose to them, dont feel bad.
Dubhe: Oh. Before todays match...At that time you and Cheng Ge hadnt come back yet. Ming god said that since Ah Lus our mid, our team should be at par with an average major league team.
Tong Yao: ......
Dubhe: Its my fault that we lost the game-- --I know that. You dont need to comfort me. I know very well that if I took Kalista, we wouldve won the match.
Tong Yao took the writing tablet from under her arm.
Dubhe frowned and his voice became somewhat defiant: But I just dont want to take it.
Tong Yao stuffed the writing tablet, which she was about to hand over to Dubhe, between her chest and her lap.
She circled her knees: ......I know youre not happy being called Little Chessman.
Dubhe didnt say anything.
Tong Yao said after giving it some thought: It was like back when Cheng Ge just started to play professionally and was a trainee in Korea. He was a substitute and was called Popes shadow-- --He wasnt happy about it then, besides he was surrounded by Koreans. Its very possible that in the beginning when people referred to him as Popes shadow, the intention wasnt the same as here when people call you Little Chessman. At least, the latter nickname in most peoples perception is meant to be a compliment.
Dubhe gave out a light mirthless laugh.
Later it was through Cheng Ges own efforts that changed the nickname from Popes shadow into look, thats the man whos on equal footing with Pope, or thats the shadow that can block the light.-- --Kalista is the signature champion for both of them, yet Cheng Ge never avoids using Kalista because of it.