Yu Tu's family had just finished their reunion dinner as well. After seeing off the relatives, he returned to his room.
WeChat still showed the message he had sent, unanswered. He put down his phone, feeling somewhat restless.
Was he really going to use his driver's license as an excuse?
He opened the window, and the cold air rushed in. Leaning against the window frame, he lit a cigarette and gradually calmed down.
Compared to him, she had only ignored him for two days. What right did he have to feel so agitated?
His phone on the desk rang. He reached out to answer it—it was his high school classmate Li Ming.
"Yu Tu, we're having a high school reunion today. Everyone's singing at KTV. Are you coming?"
Yu Tu politely declined, "I won't be going."
"I knew you'd say that, but if you're free, why not come? Qiao Jingjing is here too..."
Yu Tu abruptly tightened his grip on the phone, cutting him off, "What did you say?"
Li Ming replied, "Qiao Jingjing, the big star. She said she's coming to the reunion."
Yu Tu's fingers were stung by the cigarette, but he paid no attention. "When did she say that? Where?"
"In the class group chat. Haven't you checked it? There were only about a dozen people at first, but now it's almost thirty. The class monitor had to upgrade to a bigger room."
Yu Tu hung up the phone and opened WeChat. The class group chat had hundreds of unread messages. He scrolled through them quickly, then grabbed a coat and rushed out.
His parents were watching TV in the living room and were startled by his abrupt departure. They stood up and asked, "What's going on?"
Yu Tu hurriedly put on his shoes. "I'm going out. Don't wait up for me. I'll be back late."
With that, he closed the door and left.
Yu's mother and father exchanged bewildered glances. "How old is he? Still so impulsive."
Yu Tu himself felt as impulsive as a high school student—no, even in high school, he had never been this rash.
During the Spring Festival, the streets were crowded with people. The taxi got stuck in traffic hundreds of meters away from the commercial center where the KTV was located. Yu Tu got out and walked briskly the rest of the way.
By then, Qiao Jingjing had already been the center of attention at the KTV for a while and had even sung a cheerful song.
Peipei sat nervously beside her, worried that someone might take inappropriate photos. In reality, she was overreacting. Celebrities were ordinary people too, and besides, these were their high school classmates. After the initial novelty wore off, everyone went back to singing and drinking.
Of course, it was inevitable that people kept coming over to chat, greet her, and ask for autographs. The seat next to her was particularly sought after. While Peipei remained fixed on her left, the seat on her right kept changing occupants as people took turns sitting there.
As everyone took turns singing, the class monitor was busy taking a headcount. "Who hasn't arrived yet? Ah, both of our class's top students aren't here, right?"
One female classmate said, "I asked Xia Qing. She said she's having a reunion dinner with relatives in the countryside and won't be coming."
Another female classmate asked, "What about Yu Tu?"
Li Ming replied, "I just called Yu Tu. It seems he hasn't checked the class group chat and didn't say whether he's coming or not."
Qiao Jingjing appeared to be chatting with the classmate beside her, but her attention was entirely focused on their conversation. She thought to herself, So he hasn't checked the class group chat. No wonder he hasn't shown up yet... If he just got the call, how long will it take him to get here?
As she was lost in thought, the class monitor suddenly asked her, "Qiao Jingjing, aren't you pretty close with Yu Tu? Why don't you call and ask him to come?"Another classmate chimed in, "Yeah, we all saw the video of you playing games together. He’d definitely do you a favor."
Qiao Jingjing: "..."
Asking him was out of the question. Qiao Jingjing was racking her brain for an excuse to decline when the private room door was abruptly pushed open with force.
A tall, upright figure appeared in the doorway.
Everyone turned to look. The class monitor stood up and called out loudly, "Yu Tu!"
Qiao Jingjing swiftly lowered her head, pretending to be engrossed in her phone, but kept her ears perked up, listening to the commotion in the room.
Yu Tu, after all, had been a prominent figure on campus back in the day. His arrival stirred up another wave of excitement in the private room. Many greeted him, and the atmosphere grew lively once more.
"Yu Tu, you finally made it."
"You’re way too late—you have to drink as punishment!"
"Long time no see, top student. What are you up to now?"
"Yu Tu, how are you still this handsome? I’m already going bald."
"Yu Tu, you..."
Yu Tu exchanged pleasantries with each of them one by one. It took a while for the excitement to settle down. The class monitor urged him, "Yu Tu, sit here by me. Come, have a Work Pass beer."
Yu Tu politely declined, "In a moment, I still have something to attend to."
Qiao Jingjing cautiously lifted her gaze. In her line of sight, a pair of straight, long legs strode calmly in her direction, finally stopping right in front of her.
The private room suddenly fell silent. The person who had been singing stopped, and even the background music seemed to grow quieter.
Qiao Jingjing had no choice but to look up. Yu Tu bent down, his gaze fixed on her as he asked, "Is it because of me?"
His question was abrupt, but Qiao Jingjing understood he was asking if she had come because of him.
Well, yeah, why else?
Qiao Jingjing whispered, "I’m not holding it against you anymore."
Yu Tu fell silent, but his eyes instantly lit up like stars. Qiao Jingjing felt uncomfortable under his and their classmates’ stares. She was about to tell him to find a seat when, before she could speak, a gentle kiss landed on her lips.
Yu Tu leaned in and kissed her.
Qiao Jingjing froze, momentarily unable to process what was happening. Several seconds later, she remembered to push him away, but as soon as she raised her hand, he anticipated her move and caught it.
The kiss didn’t last long.
Yu Tu soon pulled back but didn’t move away, remaining close enough for his warm breath to envelop her.
"Shall we go?"
He asked her.
Qiao Jingjing was so furious she wanted to kick him. After all that, weren’t they leaving? Were they waiting to become a spectacle for their classmates?
Yu Tu read the answer in her eyes. He took her hand and addressed their stunned classmates, "Sorry, we’re heading out first. Enjoy yourselves."
Just like that, he led Qiao Jingjing out of the private room, leaving behind a crowd of dumbfounded classmates.
A long while later, someone in the room cautiously asked, "Guys, did I see that right?"
Another classmate murmured in response, "Probably not."
Qiao Jingjing and Yu Tu didn’t go far. He pulled her into the KTV’s emergency stairwell.
Qiao Jingjing gasped for breath, "You... you’re absolutely..."
But Yu Tu only looked at her and pressed, "Why?"
Why was she suddenly acknowledging him again?
Qiao Jingjing caught her breath and asked him, "On the day of the competition, when I went to present awards to the players, you used my phone and helped me get two five consecutive legendary kills, didn’t you? Didn’t you say you weren’t giving me a birthday gift? Why did you give me one after all?"Yu Tu recalled the matter. "Because I wasn’t playing with you, I didn’t think it counted."
He frowned. "Because of that?"
Of course not because of that.
It was because, when she thought of him alone in the lounge, helping her earn her birthday gift with a heart full of farewell, and how he had desperately tried to gift her a five consecutive legendary before the match, she suddenly understood a little of his restraint and struggle—and beneath that restraint and struggle, the unique way Yu Tu expressed his feelings.
"How did you know my phone password?" Qiao Jingjing countered instead of answering. Her phone password wasn’t the same as the door code, 1316.
"I remembered it unintentionally." She had entered it too many times in front of him.
"You only played two rounds, how did you get two five consecutive legendarys? My rank isn’t low either."
"As soon as we started, I told my teammates, ‘Give me the economy, I’ll carry.’"
Huh? Qiao Jingjing was a bit surprised.
"In the second round, someone said, ‘Why should we?’ I said, ‘My girlfriend’s watching, bro, help me out.’"
Qiao Jingjing couldn’t help but laugh. "Talking like that doesn’t sound like you at all."
Yu Tu stared at her. "Right now, I’m not like myself either."
It really wasn’t like him...
Qiao Jingjing thought of the kiss in the private room earlier, and her face grew warm.
Yu Tu’s hand brushed through her hair. "Can we stop talking about the game?"
The atmosphere suddenly felt dangerous again.
"Then what should we talk about?" Qiao Jingjing asked softly.
Yu Tu’s voice was low and husky. "Does this mean you’ve agreed to be with me?"
Qiao Jingjing lowered her head and began fiddling with the fuzzy sleeve covers on her outfit. "I remember, back then, I asked you other questions too."
"Mm, and about Mars colonization."
"Keep writing about it."
Yu Tu was taken aback, then a smile flickered in his eyes. "Okay."
Qiao Jingjing hesitated, then said somewhat awkwardly, "But you don’t have to stay up late for it. I’m not in a hurry."
This time, it took a while before Yu Tu replied in a low voice, "Okay."
Suddenly, a clamor of footsteps echoed from outside the stairwell, accompanied by voices. "The elevator’s packed; might as well take the stairs."
Then, with a creak, the stairwell door was pushed open. Reacting swiftly, Yu Tu pulled Qiao Jingjing into his arms, tucking her head against his chest.
The young people who entered probably hadn’t expected anyone to be inside—and in such a position, no less. They paused their chatter momentarily, glancing back repeatedly as they descended the stairs.
Even Yu Tu, usually calm and composed, felt somewhat awkward under their unabashed stares and could only lower his gaze to study Qiao Jingjing’s hair.
Fortunately, they passed by quickly.
Fragments of their conversation drifted into the stairwell.
"Wow, dating in the stairwell? Feels like there’s a story there."
"That guy’s really handsome."
"He has a girlfriend already. Look how slim his girlfriend is—she must be pretty too."
"Sigh, time to lose weight after the New Year."
Their voices finally faded completely. Buried in Yu Tu’s embrace, Qiao Jingjing let out a soft chuckle.
"Very handsome, Teacher Yu."
Yu Tu sighed helplessly. "With you around, even the stairwell isn’t safe."
Qiao Jingjing hummed. "Get used to it early."
"I’ve long been accustomed to it." And he’d even mastered the art of keeping an eye on all directions.
Yu Tu asked, "Should we go somewhere else?"
"Where? It’s crowded everywhere." During the New Year, places like movie theaters were packed. Unlike Shanghai, there was no option to go to her place here.Yu Tu pondered for a moment and said, "There's one place that's definitely empty."
Qiao Jingjing hadn't expected Yu Tu to bring her here.
Whale City No. 1 High School.
While Yu Tu went to negotiate with the security guard, Qiao Jingjing stood before the school sign, gazing at the large characters, her emotions inevitably surging. After a while, Yu Tu waved to her from the guard's post. Qiao Jingjing ran over, and the guard opened the gate for them from inside.
As expected, there wasn't a single soul in the school at this hour. It was dim and quiet, with only a few landscape lights illuminating the general outlines.
Once they had walked further in, Qiao Jingjing asked curiously, "The guard let us in so late?"
"I told him I used to be a student here and wanted to bring my girlfriend to see the school."
"...That's all it took?"
"He said he still remembers me."
"Oh Genius Student Yu, of course he'd remember you."
Yu Tu glanced at her. "Too bad my girlfriend can't show her face, or it might have been even easier to get in."
"Of course." Qiao Jingjing proudly lifted her chin.
Yu Tu couldn't help but laugh.
"Actually, I already came here yesterday afternoon, but he didn't notice me then."
He had already been here? While she was ignoring him? What did he come here for?
Qiao Jingjing suddenly felt a bit happier, her steps lightening as she decided not to dwell on how smoothly he had said "girlfriend."
"Hey, where did the sports field go?"
Qiao Jingjing pointed ahead. In the past, right after entering the school gate, there had been a large sports field on the right side. But now, a more than ten-story teaching building stood where the field used to be.
"Probably because of enrollment expansion?"
Qiao Jingjing looked at the newly erected building, feeling a sense of melancholy. That old sports field held too many youthful memories. Like the exhausting 800-meter runs, or the impressive athletic prowess of the person beside her.
"Do you still play soccer?"
Yu Tu modestly assessed himself: "The backbone of my institute."
Qiao Jingjing couldn't hold back her laughter. When Teacher Yu got narcissistic, no one else stood a chance.
She looked up at the new building, somewhat concerned. "With the sports field gone, where do the students run and do morning exercises now?"
"They built a sports center nearby, probably there."
"When we were studying, there were still wild fields all around here."
"Mm." Yu Tu remembered something. "Didn't you once take some female classmates out to pick wild flowers and get scolded by the homeroom teacher?"
"...= ="
Yu Tu smiled faintly. He remembered it was during their first year of high school. He had been called to the homeroom teacher's office to discuss a competition and happened to run into a group of female students being reprimanded, with her being the main target of criticism. At the time, it felt awkward, but now looking back, it was rather nostalgic.
Who would have thought that the girl being scolded over a decade ago would become so deeply connected to him?
Who would have thought that one day, they would return here together, searching for traces of the past.
They continued walking forward, passing the cafeteria, the basketball gym, the student dormitories, and then circled around to the Thousand-Step Embankment by the river.
Located in the Jiangnan region, Whale City was rich in waterways, and their school was built along the river. Following the riverbank was a long scenic pathway. Back then, after eating in the cafeteria, many students would deliberately take a detour and walk back to the classrooms along this route.
After walking along the embankment for a while, Qiao Jingjing stopped and pointed into the distance toward a large tree.
"Do you remember that spot?" Her expression turned mischievous.
Yu Tu looked at the tree. It was right under that very tree that Classmate Qiao Jingjing had once suddenly stopped him.He turned to look at Qiao Jingjing. "I've been thinking about a question the whole way here."
"What?"
"What if you bring up old grievances?"
Qiao Jingjing glared at him, then couldn't help laughing. "Not today, but I will eventually."
Yu Tu lowered his head. "I'm looking forward to it."
Hopefully for a lifetime.
He reached out his hand to her.
Qiao Jingjing looked at it, thought for a moment, and placed her own hands behind her back.
Yu Tu raised an eyebrow, patiently waiting.
After a long while, Qiao Jingjing finally placed her hand in his palm with affected reserve.
Yu Tu immediately grasped it firmly.
Holding her hand, he led her into the old teaching building. After wandering around inside, they finally sat down on the steps outside the building.
Behind them was the school's bulletin board.
"They used to always post your photos here—winning various competitions and awards," Qiao Jingjing looked at him. "Do you remember when I told you at Ling Jie's place that I thought you'd become an amazing aerospace scientist, and I'd feel proud as your classmate?"
"I remember."
"Actually, that's not quite right."
"Oh?"
"Not as your classmate." Qiao Jingjing blinked at him.
Yu Tu felt as if a feather had brushed against his heart. Pretending not to understand, he asked, "Then what?"
Qiao Jingjing ignored him.
But after thinking about it, she decided to answer anyway.
Resting her chin in her hand, she said, "I used to have some strange fantasies back then. Don't you dare laugh. For example, I'd imagine that at a school anniversary celebration far in the future, you'd be this amazing aerospace scientist invited by the school, and I'd be accompanying you."
Yu Tu had never known that the soft emotions in one's heart could overflow like this.
"So, Teacher Yu, you need to work hard. I have expectations of you."
So at least don't hesitate to accept me because of income or other struggles. You have more important, grander goals. Do you understand what I mean?
How could Yu Tu not understand?
Sometimes he marveled at how, despite not having known each other long, they could understand each other so deeply—sometimes with just a glance or a few words, they grasped what the other meant.
So now, sitting on the steps of his high school teaching building, he understood even more clearly what his past arrogant and careless self had missed.
"Jingjing, sometimes I think you might be somewhat blind when it comes to me."
"Back in this high school, I was also conceited about my intelligence. Only after going out into the world did I realize how vast the universe is and how small I am. I'm not as genius as I thought, and my IQ is far from the first tier..."
"Wait," Qiao Jingjing said. "What do you mean by first tier?"
Yu Tu was interrupted. "...Wernher von Braun, Sergei Korolev, Theodore von Kármán."
Having just been educated by him on the brief history of world aerospace, Qiao Jingjing said, "...Oh, continue..."
Yu Tu couldn't continue. He smiled. "But I'll work hard."
He said, "I think I can."
Qiao Jingjing looked at him with shining eyes. "Mm."
The two sat quietly in the cold wind for a while.
Yu Tu suddenly said, "Jingjing, I've noticed you're showing tendencies of becoming a BDS."
Qiao Jingjing was stunned. "What's BDS?"
Yu Tu said, "Baidu it yourself."
"Wow, you dare say that to me?"In the deep winter night, a woman's crisp protest echoed through the quiet, deserted campus, accompanied by a man's low chuckle.
The security guard shouted from a distance, "Closing soon."
They walked out of the school together.
Outside the school gate stretched a wide, straight road.
Qiao Jingjing was humming a song he hadn't heard before. Holding her hand, Yu Tu suddenly felt a sense of finality settling in.
The path beneath their feet seemed clearer, and his life appeared destined to become simpler.
It was nothing more than—
Being with her.
And then, becoming her glory.
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