The smiling k

Encounters of Annoying people

After the hot pot, Tang Yao climbed into the team van with a full stomach, burping. When they were about to leave she heard an exasperated voice say , " I have to go home". Since this was the off season and the summer tournament hadn't started yet, they were basically free to come and go as they pleased.

Still Xiao Rui asked, " Did they ask you to come home? Is everything okay?"

With a frustrated voice, Lao K responded, " Yeah. My dad's saying that my mom is not speaking to him again. She is planning to go to the US without telling him. This is the 3rd time this year. He needs me to sweet talk her into staying. That woman is overly pampered"

Everyone seemed to accept this a regular occurrence and didn't pay much attention except Xiao Rui who asked, " Let's arrange the skirmish before you leave. Shall we do this tomorrow morning?, so you can leave by evening?"

" Sure"

Old Cat - " It's not pampering. It's the traditional Chinese virtue of being a henpecked husband"

The rest of them agreed with that and nodded.

Tang Yao laughed- " Brothers, you say this now. I have a good memory, I will remind you of this when you get married. "

K responded- " It's called pampering the wife and kids according to my dad. Shortie, I highly doubt you'll have a henpecked husband"

Tang Yao - " What???"

As they began to head back, Tang Yao remembered she needed a day off too, " Umm, on a separate note,I to take need next Thursday off. I just need the day , will be back on the same evening."

Xiao Yui " That's the day before our uniform trials. Can't you go earlier ?"

Tang Yao - " Unfortunately, I can't move that. I promise I'll be back in time"

Chessman- " Oooo...are you getting married that day? Won't your husband be upset if you return to us on the day of your wedding?"

Old cat- " That makes sense, she knows a lot about henpecked husbands" They all laughed.

Tang Yao's cheeks flushed as K looked on with curiosity , " I'm 19! I'm not freaking getting married. Its umm ...my graduation that day"

Lao K was impressed. He knew she was probably speaking of her undergraduate degree, but he teased her anyway, " Let her graduate high school on time. I'm sure it's a big deal for a kinder gardener"

Her eyes flared in irritation.K loved to see her in this state. It made her look adorable but also ensured that the normally reserved girl would share something.

" Lao K, if you must know, I'm graduating Summa Cum Laude from University of Maryland and Beijing with a Btech in Computer Science."

' Knew you were a smart one' thought Lao K privately.

Little Fatty - " Woah! Little sister you are a braniac! BTech at 19? From a US university ! How?"

She completely ignored the braniac comment and simply said, " I was an exchange student. It's part of an arrangement the university has with the university in the US, so its like a degree from both universities"

Old Cat laughed - " This team has too many overachievers. Ming God is an engineer. Our captain is an Oxford trained lawyer and now little sister has them all beat. Fatty, Lu SiCheng and I keep the balance on this team by being normal internet addicted dummies"

Lao K said " Make sure you book your trip today" and promptly closed his eyes till they reached home. The skirmish next day wasn't as one sided as it had been the other day but ZGDX still managed to win. Lu Sicheng left for home soon after.

A couple days after Lu Sicheng left, on Tuesday Smiling was looking for duo matches. She got paired with her ex, Jian Yang. Just as she was lamenting her misfortune, the situation got worse when they were to play against Lu Sicheng and another Korean gamer.

Jian Yang - " Yao Yao, I will protect you like old times"

She was already annoyed when the game started. " Don't call me Yao Yao. I can play the game just fine on my own. Just play" The captain didn't go easy on her at all. Jian Yang kept trying to protect her, the captain took advantage of that and tried to gank him as a result of which she was forced to defend both of them instead of farming. As Smiling got progressively more annoyed she typed on the public chat to distract Lao K .

[ My captain, please lay off a little. We miss you here]

[When are you coming back? Even Da Bing is bored on your chair now]

When she didn't get any response back, she still kept typing [ I am already having a bad day with my folks not being able to come to G-day. :( I need a win ]

Jian Yang was annoyed with her [ Yao Yao are you so shameless to keep typing when he is not responding? If you want a win, I'll get you one. Why would your parents come on Game day? ]

He had misinterpreted G-day as game day instead of graduation . Lao K didn't make the same mistake. Smiling's phone rang next to her, it was the captain.

" Why did you stop typing?"

Tang Yao - " Umm..."

K - " Is your friend, the mid next-door's girlfriend attending your graduation?"

Tang Yao - " No. They wanted to spend a little time together before the tournament starts. They had already made plans, so I didn't ask."

K - " I'm going to go easy on you"

Tang Yao - " When are you returning?"

K - " It's all set. I changed my tickets, I will be back tomorrow. see you!"

The line went dead. K was killed by both Smiling and Jian Yang . Needless to say they won. Tang Yao quickly logged off , not wanting to linger and chat with her ex.

It was late evening on Wednesday when Tang Yao 's room door opened. She was editing her speech for the ceremony the next day.

" Don't you ever knock?" , she rebuked lightly when she saw K.

He asked " Like I said, you should lock the door if you don't want it to open from the other side. Do you still have the tickets you got for your parents to attend your graduation?"

Tang Yao - " Yes , why?"

K - " Can I come?"

This shocked her. Why would he want to come to her graduation? Too surprised to say anything else, she just nodded.

He smiled slightly and said, " I'll be ready at 6 am downstairs. Your flight's at 7:30 right? Plenty of time" She nodded again and he left the way he came in. She decided not to tell Jiyang, knowing her friend would simply make a big fuss over this. She finished her speech and went to bed