You Are My Glory

Early on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, Qiao Jingjing was woken by Yu Tu's phone call.

"It's snowing outside."

Qiao Jingjing was annoyed. "Why did you have to wake me up?"

Even if his voice sounded as beautiful as poetry recitation, it was unforgivable!

"Hmm?" His tone lifted slightly. "I thought you'd be awake. I used to come to your place at nine, and it's eight-thirty now. Isn't that your usual biological clock?"

Disciplined science majors are truly terrifying...

"My biological clock adapts to circumstances! We were on the phone until two yesterday!"

"My apologies, I'll remember that for the future." He chuckled lightly, not sounding particularly remorseful. "Go back to sleep. I'm going downstairs to shovel snow. What time should I pick you up this afternoon?"

"Two o'clock."

"As your classmate?"

"Yes!" Just come as a classmate. She absolutely didn't want to tell her parents she was dating yet—it would be too much trouble.

He let out a long sigh on the other end.

"Why are you sighing?" Classmate Qiao, who refused to give him proper status, showed no guilt whatsoever.

"I'm wondering when I'll get to shovel snow at your place."

"..."

That was totally playing dirty!

After hanging up, Qiao Jingjing wanted to go back to sleep, but Yu Tu's words had stirred her emotions so much that she couldn't fall asleep again. She got up, brushed her teeth, washed her face, and stood by the window watching the snowy scene in the yard for a while. Thinking about Yu Tu dutifully shoveling snow downstairs, she happily went down for breakfast.

Qiao's Father and Qiao's Mother were quite surprised to see her. "You stayed out so late with classmates yesterday, and you're up this early?"

Qiao's Father criticized, "You came back too late last night."

Qiao Jingjing remained perfectly calm. "I haven't seen my classmates in a long time."

As he served her a bowl of congee, Qiao's Father asked, "You're returning to Shanghai today, right? What time are you leaving?"

"Two o'clock." Hearing her parents mention this, Qiao Jingjing's eyes shifted thoughtfully before she said seriously, "Oh, right—I'm driving back to Shanghai myself."

"What?" Qiao's Father and Qiao's Mother were horrified. "Absolutely not!"

Qiao Jingjing: "..."

Although she had made the suggestion as a reverse psychology tactic to scare them, their reaction was way too exaggerated, wasn't it?

She had a legitimate driver's license, after all. She'd even driven during a travel variety show and was highly praised for her parking skills.

"What about your driver? Why isn't he coming to get you?" Qiao's Mother asked.

Qiao Jingjing casually made up an excuse. "His flight was canceled and he couldn't get another ticket last minute."

"Then have your cousin drive you, or I'll drive you myself. There's no way you're driving alone." Qiao's Father's attitude was firm.

"No, that's too much trouble. I can drive back by myself." Qiao Jingjing deliberately argued.

"How much driving experience do you even have? And it's still snowing outside. The answer is no." Qiao's Father's temper began to flare.

After several rounds of back-and-forth, Qiao Jingjing "reluctantly" lowered her head to drink her congee, pretending to play with her phone while maintaining an unyielding expression. After a few minutes, sensing the timing was right, she looked up and announced cheerfully to her parents, "No need to trouble Cousin! I just saw in the class group chat that one of my classmates is also returning to Shanghai. Let him drive! He's an experienced driver!"

Thus, when that "classmate who happened to be returning to Shanghai" appeared at Qiao Jingjing's doorstep, he was greeted with exceptionally warm smiles from Qiao's Father and Qiao's Mother.

If they hadn't already agreed to keep it from their parents for now, Yu Tu might have suspected he had passed the test with flying colors.Qiao's mother was exceptionally enthusiastic. After complaining that Qiao Jingjing hadn't invited her guest inside for tea, she began firing questions nonstop. "You're Jingjing's high school classmate?"

"Yes, Auntie."

"Working in Shanghai?"

"That's right."

"What do you do?"

"At an aerospace research institute."

"Building rockets and satellites! Wonderful, wonderful."

The more Qiao's mother asked, the more energized she became, showing no signs of stopping. Qiao Jingjing felt grateful she had come to the door with her luggage in hand—otherwise, her mother could have kept questioning for at least half an hour.

She quickly shoved the luggage and car keys into Yu Tu's hands, pulled open the car door, and urged, "Get in the car. Dad, Mom, we're leaving now. My classmate has things to attend to back in Shanghai."

"Alright, alright. Drive safely."

The car drove off under the warm gazes of Qiao's parents. Yu Tu asked Qiao Jingjing, "What did you tell your parents?"

Why did they seem completely unsuspicious and even looked grateful?

"Playing hard to get~" Of course, combined with her particularly subtle and effortlessly natural acting skills!

Qiao Jingjing, who wasn't even in the class group chat, proudly recounted her battle of wits with her parents. After finishing, she waited for Yu Tu to praise her, but instead, she saw him lost in thought.

Qiao Jingjing: "...What's that expression for?"

Yu Tu said, "Nothing, just remembered how you tricked me into fixing the purifier."

Qiao Jingjing: "..."

"And it occurred to me that I'll be spending most of my time with you from now on. I think I should mentally prepare myself."

Miss Qiao's endless clever ideas and excellent acting skills made Yu Tu feel that his life would likely be full of... surprises?

"Are you reluctant?"

"Not at all," Yu Tu immediately denied.

But your expression looks pretty forced, Teacher Yu~

However, as Qiao Jingjing imagined it, she felt a bit excited too. The sense of accomplishment from tricking Yu Tu was far greater than fooling her parents—just thinking about it made her eager to try.

She declared enthusiastically, "I'll do my best."

Yu Tu: "...No need to try too hard."

"Hmph~ Scared, aren't you?"

Yu Tu raised an eyebrow: "Not really. Give it a try."

So confident~

Qiao Jingjing quieted down, propping her chin with one hand, her eyes sparkling as if she were genuinely contemplating how to trick him. Yu Tu couldn't help but chuckle.

Just then, his phone chimed twice. Since Yu Tu was driving and couldn't check it, he said to Qiao Jingjing, "Check it for me."

"Okay." Qiao Jingjing picked up the phone. "Someone named Zhai Liang sent you a WeChat voice message."

"That's Hao Huang. See what he said?"

"Oh, Hao Huang." No wonder the name sounded so familiar—she must have heard it while gaming.

Qiao Jingjing tapped the voice message, and a familiar male voice immediately rang out, cheerful and buoyant: "Hey, Lao Yu, got some great news for you. I met a girl here, super pretty and virtuous—totally my type. One month! I'm going to win her over. Heh, I'll be off the market before you."

Qiao Jingjing couldn't help laughing. "His speaking style is pretty similar to how he is in the game. Should I reply for you?"

"Sure, wish him success." Yu Tu added, "Don't scare him."

"How would I scare him?" Qiao Jingjing protested, then pressed the voice message button: "He says he wishes you success, and he also says he got off the market before you."

She released her finger and sent it.

Yu Tu sighed in resignation. Indeed, given the chance, there was no way Qiao Jingjing would pass up an opportunity to tease someone. And besides, when had he ever said that second part?After sending the voice message, Qiao Jingjing stared at WeChat, waiting for Hao Huang's response. One minute, two minutes... five minutes passed, but there was still no reaction from the other end.

She turned to Yu Tu: "Why isn't he saying anything?"

Yu Tu silently sympathized with his friend for a few seconds before tactfully replying, "Probably his core processor burned out."

Qiao Jingjing lamented, "That's a bit too fragile..."

Before she finished speaking, a video call request from Zhai Liang suddenly popped up on her phone screen. After a moment's thought, Qiao Jingjing accepted the call, and Zhai Liang's large head with messy hair immediately appeared in the video.

His voice sounded excited, "Mian Hua?!!!!"

Qiao Jingjing gave him a small wave: "Hello, Hao Huang."

"Holy shit, you really are Qiao Jingjing."

"..."

Instantly finding the same feeling as when chatting with Hao Huang while gaming, Qiao Jingjing smiled cheerfully, "Surprised? Shocked?"

Zhai Liang sounded confused: "Wait, are you with Yu Tu right now?"

"Yes, he's driving and can't talk to you."

"Hold on, I need to calm down a bit more," Zhai Liang said, "Oh, and if I suddenly disconnect, don't be surprised. My phone might burn out - it just fell into my late-night snack. I wiped it off and video called you right away, so there's always the risk of it short-circuiting."

"...Maybe you should turn it off and let it dry?"

"No!" Zhai Liang was stubborn.

He decided to make the most of his time before potential shutdown, "Turn the camera, let me see Yu Tu's face. Does he look all lovesick and dreamy?"

Qiao Jingjing rotated the phone to show the driver, "He doesn't seem any different."

Zhai Liang carefully studied Yu Tu through the camera and declared confidently: "He is. You haven't lived with him - this expression of his already counts as typhoon-level elation."

Typhoon level?

Qiao Jingjing couldn't help but regard Yu Tu with newfound respect, so she observed him carefully too before concluding: "Then he must be a bit expressionless."

Yu Tu: "..."

These two... Good thing Zhai Liang had already gone to America, otherwise having them together would give him a headache.

Zhai Liang lost interest in the expressionless Yu Tu, "Enough of him, enough. Turn back."

Qiao Jingjing turned the camera back.

This time, Zhai Liang examined Qiao Jingjing thoroughly and sighed: "I never thought you and Yu Tu really were high school classmates. Don't mind me being so surprised, it's just Yu Tu's usual behavior, sigh"

He shook his head, looking like he had more to say but was holding back.

Yu Tu suddenly had a bad premonition.

Qiao Jingjing asked: "How is he usually?"

Zhai Liang chuckled slyly and said, "Usually? When we pass your billboards on the street, he doesn't even glance at them."

Qiao Jingjing glanced at Yu Tu and drawled, "Oh really?"

"Really, really," Zhai Liang nodded frantically on the other end of the video. "Also, remember when the game had that event where you, as the spokesperson, gave players Runes? That advertisement window was so beautiful, even I would take extra looks. But him? He'd just collect the Runes and close the page immediately, without any change in expression. His hands were so fast, and I was sitting right next to him!"

Yu Tu couldn't take it anymore and warned him: "Zhai Liang."Zhai Liang paid him no mind, growing more excited as he spoke. "And last time when he went to your place to fix the purifier, I asked him what you looked like when he came back, and he actually said you look 'commonplace on the streets.' I remember that particularly well!"

Qiao Jingjing silently turned her head to look at the driver.

She could let the earlier comments slide, but... commonplace on the streets?

"Don't listen to his nonsense." Yu Tu kept his eyes on the road while driving, speaking seriously. "What I meant was your advertisements are everywhere on the streets, so you're commonplace. That precisely proves I look at your ads every time I pass by them, otherwise how would I know they're all over the streets?"

Qiao Jingjing blinked.

Zhai Liang nearly choked. The guy's logic was flawless—even with his high intelligence, he couldn't find a loophole. He could only angrily accuse him, "Have you no shame?"

Yu Tu said, "Staying alive is more important."

Qiao Jingjing couldn't help but laugh, feeling almost tempted to hit him.

"Look at him, so slick, so slick." Zhai Liang wore an expression of accusation.

Extremely slick indeed

But this was exactly the Teacher Yu she remembered

Teacher Yu had never been the serious, straight-laced type.

"With your quick reflexes and survival instincts, it's such a waste that you've been single for so many years... Hey hey, Mian Hua, stop looking at him, look at me. I'm risking my phone burning out to chat with you."

"Oh, right." Qiao Jingjing quickly shifted her gaze back.

A faint smile appeared at the corners of Yu Tu's lips.

Having gotten over his initial surprise, Zhai Liang relaxed, chatting with Qiao Jingjing while eating his late-night snack. "Why did you two wait until I came to America to start dating? I wanted to watch the drama live."

Qiao Jingjing said, "Ask him."

Wait, no That made it sound like she had no say in the matter. She quickly tried to save face, saying with utmost seriousness, "Am I that easy to chase?"

Zhai Liang deeply agreed. "True. Before I left, Yu Tu was pretty depressed for a while. Looks like you gave him quite the hard time."

...Who was giving whom a hard time...

Qiao Jingjing seriously pondered whether she should take the blame for this. But what she was more curious about was: "How exactly was he depressed?"

Yu Tu coughed. "Zhai Liang, why aren't you asleep yet? It's the middle of the night in America, right?"

Zhai Liang waved his hand. "I've been staying up late working on projects recently, so my sleep schedule is messed up again. I can stay awake until dawn. Don't change the subject."

Yu Tu was precisely trying to change the subject. "What brand is your phone?"

Zhai Liang named a brand. "Why, you thinking of switching phones?"

Yu Tu said, "If it doesn't short circuit after a few more minutes of chatting, I'll consider it."

Zhai Liang finally cooled down a bit from his excitement and started worrying about his phone. "Alright, alright, I'll save you some face. Mian Hua—I'll still call you that. Add me on WeChat, and I'll give you all the details later once I confirm my phone is definitely okay."

"Okay, hold on a moment. I'll use his WeChat to send you my contact card."

"Using WeChat so casually now, Yu Tu, have you no bottom line?" Zhai Liang mocked Yu Tu before ending the video call.

After sending her WeChat ID to Zhai Liang, Qiao Jingjing switched to her own phone. She added Zhai Liang and chatted with him for a while longer, and his phone still hadn't burned out.

Zhai Liang excitedly suggested, "Come on, let's try playing a game together."

He seemed determined not to stop until his phone short-circuited.

Qiao Jingjing went along with it good-naturedly.The familiar background noise drifted through the car, and Yu Tu distractedly asked, "Playing games with Zhai Liang? There might be lag on the U.S. side. With his already mediocre skills, he’d be left with at most two-tenths of his usual ability."

Qiao Jingjing chuckled, "Are you holding a grudge?"

Such slander.

"What grudge? Did he ever manage to trip me up?"

Seeing the smugness written all over his face, Qiao Jingjing snorted, "Not necessarily. I’ve remembered everything he said. 'Mr. Yu, aloof and indifferent; Qiao Jingjing, everywhere you look.'"

Yu Tu: "..."

Yu Tu: "Just focus on your game."