Qiao Jingjing's heart felt sour and swollen, but she knew she wasn't angry.
Yet she didn't want to admit it either.
Yu Tu stood up and spoke after a long pause, his voice slightly hoarse. "You never replied to my WeChat, so I came to ask—do you still need me to teach you?"
Qiao Jingjing bit her lip and turned her head away. "I used inappropriate words that day too. Please apologize to your teacher for me."
"I already did." Yu Tu said, "My teacher's wife messaged me a few days ago asking if your friend Jingjing is that celebrity Qiao Jingjing."
"...Oh."
Silence fell between them again.
"You've been playing really well when I'm not around."
"How would you know?" She sounded slightly petulant.
"I checked your match history last night." Yu Tu sighed and asked again, "So do you still need me?"
Qiao Jingjing felt he was practically forcing her, but she couldn't bring herself to say no. Annoyed, she retorted, "Those weird components you ordered from Taobao finally arrived. They were delivered to my address but with your phone number. Luckily the property management accepted them. Are you just going to leave them at my place?"
"I'll take care of them."
Hmph~
Qiao Jingjing put on a very reluctant expression. "...Then come up and eat first."
"Is there food for me?"
...Of course not.
Yu Tu chuckled. "I'll come back tomorrow. I took an overnight train and probably smell terrible now."
Overnight train?
Only then did Qiao Jingjing notice his disheveled appearance—wrinkled clothes, slightly messy hair, and red veins visible in his eyes.
Now she was genuinely angry. "You... took an overnight train and still came here to play games!"
"Yeah, luckily I brought a power bank, otherwise my phone would have died."
Qiao Jingjing didn't know what to say. She was clearly angry, yet a secret delight seemed to bubble up in her heart. She glared at him for a long moment before finally surrendering completely. Grumpily, she said, "I'll have my driver take you back."
"Don't refuse! Don't go stinking up the subway!"
Yu Tu didn't refuse.
Qiao Jingjing felt distracted all afternoon, her gameplay becoming erratic. After achieving a ten-win streak, she gloriously followed it with an eleven-loss streak. By bedtime, after alternating wins and losses, her rank had fallen back to Diamond 1.
...All the points she'd gained playing duo queue with Yu Tu were gone.
Qiao Jingjing fell into serious contemplation about fate—was she destined to only reach King Tier through solo queue?
Imagining the indescribable look Yu Tu might give when he saw her match history tomorrow, Qiao Jingjing sank into deep melancholy. So when Yu Tu arrived the next morning, she immediately shoved her phone in front of him, preemptively declaring, "Look, I dropped ten stars."
She said it with such a proud expression that Yu Tu almost thought he misheard—maybe she meant she'd gained ten stars through solo queue?
He took her phone to confirm—she had indeed lost ten stars.
"Something to be proud of?"
"It's the matchmaking system's fault. The probability of losing streaks increases after win streaks." Qiao Jingjing defended herself, "Besides, I got five losing side MVPs."
Yu Tu lowered his gaze, his slender fingers scrolling through the screen as he reviewed her solo queue data from yesterday, standing right at the doorway.
Qiao Jingjing pretended to look at the phone with him, but her peripheral vision kept stealing glances at his serious, downcast face.
Welcome back, Teacher Yu."What's going on this round? Shouyue only dealt 16% damage?"
...It would be more accurate to call him Coach Yu.
"It's the Support's fault!" Qiao Jingjing quickly shifted the blame. Then, avoiding looking at the coach himself, she kept her eyes glued to her phone, ready to offer excuses before he could speak whenever embarrassing stats appeared.
Yu Tu finished watching impassively and returned the phone to her.
Jingjing asked, "Should I continue solo queue later? Or will you duo with me?"
"I'll carry you," Yu Tu said decisively.
Huh, how come Teacher Yu's personality changed so much after a business trip?
"Did something good happen during your business trip?" Otherwise, why has he become so considerate and kind?
Yu Tu was taking off his overcoat to hang it up when her question made him pause momentarily.
Jingjing didn't notice and remembered to ask him, "By the way, where did you go on business? It was so sudden - was it something serious?"
"Xi'an. Can't say anything else - confidentiality requirements." Yu Tu hung up his coat and turned around, his expression already back to normal.
"So strict, not even family members can know?" Jingjing asked curiously, then realized her words were ambiguous and quickly added, "Hypothetically... I'm not talking about myself."
"No."
"How boring, that must make conversation difficult," Jingjing remarked casually.
"Probably." Yu Tu's eyelashes fluttered slightly as he walked further in. "Let's begin."
The room was quite warm. Jingjing disliked wearing bulky clothing, so when the temperature dropped a few days ago, she immediately turned on the whole-house floor heating, making the indoor temperature even higher than before. Halfway through the first game, while Jingjing abandoned him in the river, Yu Tu took off his sweater too, leaving only a white dress shirt.
His game character hadn't revived yet, and his gaze quietly settled on Jingjing. Probably because the floor was warm, she refused to sit properly on the sofa, instead sitting barefoot on the carpet with her phone. Against the white shag carpet, her delicate toes were painted vermilion, and her dark hair cascaded down. In vague memories, she had always been this vain and pampered, but suddenly she appeared captivating.
And when she looked up at him with slightly confused eyes, everything became even more vivid.
"Why are you staying still in the fountain..." She remembered something and immediately looked somewhat guilty. "I didn't mean to abandon you on purpose..."
"Trust, I know." He calmly withdrew his gaze and refocused on the game. "Follow me to take the red buff in the enemy jungle area."
"Okay." Jingjing happily followed his Li Yuanfang to cause trouble together.
Yu Tu played differently today than usual - particularly aggressive, constantly invading and suppressing the enemy jungle area, using heroes he didn't often play like Li Yuanfang, Han Xin, Bai Li Xuan Ce, and others. He set a blazing pace, ending each match quickly, actually bringing her back to King Tier 10 stars faster than yesterday.
Then he put down his phone, checked the time and said, "Play casually by yourself for a while, I'm going to fix the projector."
...Why did she get the feeling of—"Behold, these are the stars I've conquered for you. Play by yourself, feel free to lose them"?
Jingjing quickly shook off this unreliable thought and followed him to the home theater with her phone, squatting nearby to supervise his projector repairs.
"How long until it's fixed?"
"Soon."
"The finals are the day after tomorrow. If it's not fixed by then, should we secretly go watch live?"Yu Tu lowered his head, dismantling the parts. "Do you actually want to go or not?"
"Depends on your skill level?"
"...Don’t interfere with my performance."
"Oh." Qiao Jingjing fell silent, watching him work for a while longer before sitting on the nearby carpet to start a solo Ranked Match.
She chose Luna because Yu Tu had played her in the previous match, pulling off a one-versus-five at the enemy’s base with jaw-dropping skill, which made her eager to try it herself.
However, after two Team fights, she regretted it so much she felt like crying. Luna was really, really, really hard to play. While others pulled off "endless combo under the moon," she was probably doing "endless misses under the moon"?
She had intended to tough it out, but while her own teammates didn’t say anything harsh, the enemy Su Lie started trash-talking, taunting them to surrender quickly. Furious, Qiao Jingjing shoved her phone into Yu Tu’s hands.
Yu Tu had been rolling up his sleeves to dismantle the parts and didn’t even have time to wipe his hands before being handed a 0-4 Luna.
The person who handed it to him demanded angrily, "Beat that Su Lie on the other side. He kept mocking me."
Yu Tu glanced at her in-game economy. "Can’t beat him right now."
But when he encountered Su Lie, he still teased him with some fancy footwork before slipping away through a wall.
This wasn’t actually Yu Tu’s style. In his own words, it was a pointless effort.
The usual Teacher Yu wouldn’t waste time doing something like that.
Qiao Jingjing’s gaze shifted from the phone screen to silently rest on his face.
For some reason, she felt that Yu Tu, having just returned from his business trip, seemed to have become a bit gentler, and even a little... indulgent toward her?
It wasn’t anything specific, just subtle nuances—maybe even Yu Tu himself hadn’t noticed.
But she could feel it.
And it made her restless.
She wanted to test the waters.
"Yu Tu, can I use your phone to play games these few days?" Qiao Jingjing suddenly asked him.
Yu Tu looked up from the game at her. Qiao Jingjing’s eyes sparkled as she effortlessly came up with a reason: "We have to use tournament-specific phones for the competition, and it’s the same brand as yours, with a similar model. I want to practice getting a feel for it."
Yu Tu nodded. "Password is xxxx. Go get it from the living room yourself."
She wanted to push her luck.
"Did you join the high school class group chat?" After retrieving the phone, Qiao Jingjing asked a question she already knew the answer to.
"Yes."
"I didn’t join... I’m a bit curious about how they’re doing now. Can I use your WeChat to check their Moments?"
Yu Tu said indifferently, "Moments are for friends to see. You’re their classmate too."
Ah~ The key point isn’t whether they’d let me see, but using your WeChat!
Qiao Jingjing’s eyes darted slyly. "Everyone?"
Yu Tu’s heart ached slightly at her cautious probing. He wanted to say, "I haven’t even looked at them myself, what are you looking at?" But in the end, he just kept his head down, focused on the game, and replied as if completely unaware.
Qiao Jingjing sighed. This guy totally didn’t get her point Oh well, maybe it’s not so bad that he doesn’t get it. Watching Yu Tu use Luna to get revenge for her, she decided to return the favor by winning a match for his account.
As for Moments and such—she was just saying it. She couldn’t be bothered to actually look.
Truthfully, Qiao Jingjing had already used Yu Tu’s phone to play Ranked Matches on the first day, and of course, she had used it afterward too, but that was just for playing games directly. This was the first time she had unlocked it herself, as if she had been granted some kind of permission—his world was now completely open to her.Suppressing the urge to rummage through his phone, she accurately located the Honor of Kings icon and started a Ranked Match.
After playing for a few minutes, Xiao Zhu called. Amid her busy gaming, Qiao Jingjing tapped the speakerphone button on her own phone.
Xiao Zhu’s voice came through.
“Jingjing, the brand sent you a birthday gift, and there are three large boxes. Should I ask the driver to bring them up?”
Just as Qiao Jingjing was about to agree, she suddenly remembered Teacher Yu beside her.
Hmm…
She felt like putting Teacher Yu to work.
“Wait a moment,” she told Xiao Zhu, then turned a beaming smile toward Yu Tu. “It might be inconvenient for the driver to come in. Teacher Yu, could you help bring them up from the elevator?”
Teacher Yu went straight downstairs to carry the boxes, while Qiao Jingjing waited by the elevator, gaming on her phone.
Just as her team pushed into the enemy’s high ground in the game, the elevator doors opened. Xiao Zhu stepped out holding a small box, followed by Yu Tu carrying a large one. Qiao Jingjing took a quick glance into the elevator and spotted two more enormous boxes inside.
She was puzzled. “Which brand sent gifts so early? And so many?”
“It’s Brand B. They always send them over ten days in advance,” Xiao Zhu explained. “Oh, but these three big boxes aren’t from them. They’re the clothes, bags, and shoes you ordered from your last shopping spree. They arrived together. And just in time—you can mix and match them for your upcoming competition.”
Qiao Jingjing’s hand trembled, costing her a kill in the game.
“…Didn’t you say it was a brand gift?”
Xiao Zhu lifted the small box in her hand. “This one is.”
Qiao Jingjing: “…”
Her teammates successfully destroyed the enemy Crystal, and the word “VICTORY” flashed across the screen. Yet, Qiao Jingjing’s heart felt desolate…
Numbly, she put away her phone and walked over to Yu Tu, intending to help with the boxes. He shifted slightly away from her. “I’ve got it. They’re a bit heavy.”
Oh…
No wonder they were heavy—who knew how many clothes were stuffed inside…
Why had she gone through all this trouble? Why hadn’t she just let the driver discreetly bring them in…
Yu Tu carried all three large boxes into the house. After closing the door, Xiao Zhu continued chattering, “Jingjing, your autumn and winter walk-in closet is too crowded. Should I sort out the clothes from your last few hauls that didn’t fit? Many still have the tags on. Should we share them like before, and send some to Sister Pei Pei too?”
Qiao Jingjing: “…”
Perfect. Now even more details of her extravagant spending were exposed!
All she wanted to know was—why was her assistant’s emotional intelligence so abysmally low?
With her back to Yu Tu, she silently mouthed “Shut up” at Xiao Zhu. Xiao Zhu, quick on the uptake, immediately stopped talking—but what was with her overly tight-pressed lips and wide-eyed stare?
…Who taught you such exaggerated acting?
Qiao Jingjing felt a strong urge to dock her pay.
“It’s fine.”
A low voice suddenly came from behind her.
Qiao Jingjing turned to look at him, wondering if she had misheard. Was this the same Teacher Yu who had once criticized her for enjoying society’s privileges?
Noticing her doubtful expression, Yu Tu smiled.
He thought to himself, It really is fine.
Like this—happy every day, dressing up beautifully, carefree and untroubled—nothing could be better.
That day, Yu Tu left relatively early, around six o’clock.
After stepping out of Qiao Jingjing’s home, he made a long phone call, then bought a cup of hot coffee from a street vendor.
He stood by the roadside, slowly sipping it for a long time.The coffee quickly turned cold.
But perhaps this was the normal temperature—no warmth filling the room, no sly smiles.
He tossed the coffee cup into the trash bin and raised his hand to hail a taxi.
OpenNovel