The camera followed her gaze, precisely locking onto the general area before unexpectedly zooming in directly on Yu Tu. A tall, straight figure immediately appeared on the large screen.
A stir rippled through the audience, with faint murmurs of "So handsome" and "Is he a celebrity too?"
A flicker of surprise passed through Yu Tu's eyes, but he quickly regained his usual composure. His gaze met that of the most dazzling person on stage, who gave him a radiant smile, full of familiar liveliness and playfulness.
The host on stage kept talking without pause: "Wait a moment, camera operator, how did you know it was this handsome guy? Are you also judging by looks?"
"Handsome guy, answer me—is it really you?"
Yu Tu responded with a smile of his own, answering with action. He rose calmly, placed the overcoat that had been on his lap onto his seat, and stepped out into the aisle.
The commotion grew louder.
For a moment, everyone was looking at him. Some even picked up their phones to take pictures, while the camera followed him relentlessly. Yet he seemed completely unfazed by it all, maintaining a composed posture with clear, steady eyes as he walked confidently toward the stage, showing no trace of unease.
Watching him approach step by step from afar, Qiao Jingjing suddenly felt a surge of pride.
Of course, Teacher Yu had been exceptional since childhood—what kind of occasion hadn't he experienced? He would never be stage-frightened.
But back then, she had mostly watched him from the audience.
Now they could finally stand on the same stage together, and he was walking toward her.
Welcome, Mr. Yu, Qiao Jingjing thought with a smile. Welcome to my territory.
As Yu Tu stepped onto the stage, Qiao Jingjing noticed that he seemed to have dressed up specially today. He was unusually wearing a black suit, though without a tie to keep it too formal. The collar of his white shirt underneath was slightly open, making him look exceptionally handsome and distinguished.
Qiao Jingjing blinked at him from a distance. When he reached her side, she turned off her microphone and whispered, "You look quite handsome today."
Yu Tu paused his steps and slightly lowered his head. "Quite?"
Qiao Jingjing couldn't help but giggle.
The host nearby felt like he was going blind.
Hey, you two, we're on stage here, okay? Even if the audience can't hear you, is it really appropriate to be so blatantly flirting? Trying to get me trending along with you?
He quickly stepped forward to make his presence known.
"Come, come, handsome, stand on my other side." He pulled Yu Tu to his other side, unable to contain his excitement as he asked, "Let me guess—are you in the entertainment industry too?"
"No," Yu Tu replied. "I'm Jingjing's high school classmate."
"High school classmate?" The host sounded surprised.
Qiao Jingjing chimed in, "Actually, we were schoolmates since junior high."
"That's quite a deep connection! Junior high schoolmates, high school classmates, then university..."
Qiao Jingjing laughed. "Not university. After all, I didn't get into Tsinghua."
"Wow, Tsinghua," the host exclaimed exaggeratedly. "A top student! Now I believe you must be really good at gaming too. So you and our goddess have been friends for many years?"
Yu Tu hesitated slightly, but Qiao Jingjing answered first, "Not really. We lost contact for many years before this. We only got close again recently when we started playing Glory together.""There are many such examples," the host said. "Honor of Kings has truly brought many people closer together. Acquaintances who were merely casual friends have come to understand each other through gaming, and some have even ended up married... Oh! I'm not talking about you two, I'm not trying to start any rumors!"
The audience burst into laughter, and Qiao Jingjing couldn't help but chuckle too. "If this ends up trending on Weibo, I'm coming after you."Mention of Weibo trends suddenly reminded Qiao Jingjing of something—that high school classmate's exposure post."
This time, she had invited Yu Tu on stage and revealed some key information. Without a doubt, netizens would dig up that post and cross-reference everything. This was something she hadn't considered earlier. That post also mentioned Yu Tu and Xia Qing's past relationship. If people misunderstood and thought she had intervened in someone else's relationship, it would be troublesome. Although it would be easy to clarify later, preemptive action was always better than post-event explanations.
Qiao Jingjing's mind raced through all these considerations, yet her expression remained completely unchanged. With a cheerful smile, she smoothly continued, "Actually, you're right. Honor of Kings really is a game that can help people bridge time gaps and rekindle friendships. I've encountered many former classmates and friends in the game. We hadn't been in touch for years, but after teaming up for a few matches, it felt like we were familiar again. However, most of my old classmates are busy with family and careers now, so we don't get to play together much. Only Yu here has been single for years and recently had some time off, so we've played together the most. That's why I thought of inviting him to join the match just now."
Her words flowed naturally and perfectly suited her role as the brand ambassador, so no one detected anything unusual. However, Yu Tu knew perfectly well that among Miss Qiao's gaming friends, besides him, there wasn't a single other former classmate. So why had she said all that? Was the key point to emphasize that he'd been single for many years?
Why?
His eyes flickered slightly as he instantly recalled the exposure post from over a month ago.
The host was making a fuss: "No way! Someone this handsome and academically gifted has been single for years?"
Qiao Jingjing mentally gave him a thousand thumbs-up but verbally chastised him with mock seriousness: "You're focusing on the wrong thing." Then she lightheartedly teased, "But it really is strange—and he's so good at gaming too."
Having achieved her goal, she didn't want to dwell on it and was about to change the subject when Yu Tu suddenly smiled and interjected, "Not strange at all. You are too."
Qiao Jingjing: "..."
The live chat instantly exploded.
"23333, that's a brilliant counter from the academic genius! Qiao Jingjing's stunned face is killing me."
"Seriously, she looks completely bewildered.jpg. But now that I think about it, you're so beautiful and still single too—what gives you the right to mock others, LOL."
"Earlier I thought they were a couple, but now they're exposing each other as single?"
"I closed the chat earlier when he came on stage because everyone was spamming about how handsome he is, but now I hurriedly reopened it to read the roasts."
"Hahaha, same here! Don't leave, fellow viewer."
Qiao Jingjing was genuinely stunned for a moment—no acting required—but she quickly collected herself, putting on a pretend-angry expression while smiling inwardly.
I don't know if you did it on purpose or not, but that was some smooth teamwork, Teacher Yu.
The host timely wrapped up: "Thank you both for sharing your personal experiences. Now we know that good looks are useless for getting into a relationship. In a way, that's actually quite inspiring, isn't it?"
The audience's laughter never ceased.The director reminded them about the time through the earpiece, and the host quickly moved to the main topic. "This classmate Yu, you probably saw from backstage just now—please introduce yourself following the previous format, alright? Then we’ll get the competition started promptly."
Yu Tu nodded, his gaze turning toward the audience. "Hello everyone, my ID is Yutu Daoyao, my rank is King 50 Stars, and my profession is—"
Everyone before him had stated their profession. Yu Tu paused briefly, then said, "Aerospace designer."
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