You Are My Glory

If Teacher Yu was in charge of nest building, then she would be responsible for decorating the nest with some flowers and plants?

On a sunny autumn morning, Qiao Jingjing sat in the living room, seriously shopping on her phone.

Fluffy carpet, throw pillows, tablecloth, vase, pretty teacups... Speaking of which, she had long wanted to renovate Teacher Yu's minimalist black, white, and gray style home.

After browsing through her shopping list, she really couldn't think of anything else to buy. Qiao Jingjing put down her phone and took another stroll around the walk-in closet. Coming out, she picked up her phone again, satisfied.

But this time it wasn't for shopping—it was for sending WeChat messages!

First to Ling Jie.

"Teacher Yu renovated his home for me, do you want to come see?"

Then copy and paste to Xiao Zhu.

"Teacher Yu renovated his home for me, do you want to come see?"

Finally, slightly modified, to her best friend who was filming in Shanghai.

"My boyfriend renovated his home for me, do you want to come see?"

Soon, three replies came.

Ling Jie: ...Alright, I happen to have something to discuss with you.

Xiao Zhu: Yes! \(^o^)/

Best friend: Get lost! I have eight hundred scenes to shoot.

At noon, Ling Jie and Xiao Zhu arrived with lunch and the clothes and shoes Qiao Jingjing had asked Xiao Zhu to pack. Ling Jie entered and didn't see Yu Tu. "Where's your Teacher Yu? Isn't he coming back at noon?"

"His work hours are from 8 AM to 4:30 PM. How would he have time to come back at noon?"

After the driver brought up the last box and left, Ling Jie closed the door. "You had Xiao Zhu pack so many clothes—will Teacher Yu's place have enough space?"

Qiao Jingjing grinned. "Didn't I say it was renovated?"

She immediately dragged both of them to her new walk-in closet. "Look, Teacher Yu turned this into my walk-in closet."

Xiao Zhu took one glance and immediately exclaimed, "Wow, so beautiful! The black and gray wardrobe with glass doors has such a nice vibe."

Ling Jie: "..."

It was indeed quite modern and beautiful, but was it necessary to be so exaggerated? Couldn't Xiao Zhu have a little more restraint?

"The appearance isn't important." Qiao Jingjing humbly downplayed it first to emphasize later. "The main thing is the functionality. Our home is small, and Teacher Yu was worried my clothes wouldn't have enough hanging space, so he made both the upper and lower layers of the wardrobe into clothes rails. The upper one can automatically lift."

She pressed the control panel on the wall next to the door, and immediately the glass door of one wardrobe slid open to both sides. With another press, the upper clothes rail smoothly descended outward. Perhaps due to limited space, when it descended halfway, the supporting rods on both sides folded and bent slightly.

Only then did Ling Jie find it somewhat interesting, but she still thought Qiao Jingjing was making a fuss over nothing. "This is good—it can hang a lot more clothes. But your wardrobe in the Lujiazui home also has this function. Why are you so amazed?"

"It's different." Xiao Zhu, who often helped Qiao Jingjing manage her walk-in closet, was the most qualified to speak. "The one in Jingjing's home is very heavy. It's supposed to be automatic, but it's slow and noisy. Later, I just used a stool to get things faster. This one seems much quicker and doesn't make any sound."

"Exactly, exactly! And look at the corner cabinet..."Qiao Jingjing demonstrated each function of the walk-in closet one by one. Ling Jie tried them out herself and finally became interested. "Where did Teacher Yu get this customized? Give me the contact info later. I want to renovate my walk-in closet at home too. The top should definitely have this automatic lifting feature—it's perfect for hanging clothes."

Qiao Jingjing had been waiting for her to ask. She immediately lifted her chin and answered proudly, "The cabinet was custom-made, I can give you that contact. But these internal functions? No can do—Teacher Yu modified them himself."

Ling Jie was stunned. "No way? He can do this too?"

"It's not that difficult, right? He designs spacecraft, after all," Qiao Jingjing said. "He told me he initially planned to buy one, but after checking the market, he found that models with these functions were too expensive and bulky. So he came back and drew the designs himself."

Designing it himself was impressive enough, but openly telling his girlfriend he did it because it was too expensive? Ling Jie felt doubly impressed by Yu Tu.

"That walk-in closet of yours did cost several hundred thousand."

Qiao Jingjing, who never bothered with such matters, was surprised to learn how much her closet had cost. "It was that expensive?"

She ran her hand over the wardrobe, suddenly feeling a new attachment to it—as if she had saved a fortune.

Xiao Zhu, who had been studying the closet for a while, voiced a concern. "Jingjing, this clothes rail is indeed much lighter than the one at home, but won't it bend if we hang too many clothes?"

"It won't. He said this material has poor resistance to high and low temperatures and radiation, but it's lightweight, high-strength, cheap, and easy to buy—more than enough for a clothes rail. They have to understand materials well in his field, so I'm sure it's fine."

Ling Jie was baffled. "He chose the material himself? What happens if it can't withstand high temperatures in summer?"

Qiao Jingjing: "..."

Qiao Jingjing: "He was referring to the extreme temperatures in space—like plus or minus hundreds of degrees."

Ling Jie: "...Oh."

She felt her intelligence had just been insulted and quickly coughed to change the subject. "Xiao Zhu brought you lunch. I haven't eaten either—let's eat together."

After lunch, the three of them organized the clothes. Ling Jie noticed Qiao Jingjing had packed some thick clothes, clearly planning to wear them when it got colder. "Are you planning to stay here for the next two months?"

"Of course. It's convenient for his commute. I'm just staying home anyway, so it doesn't matter where I live."

"Teacher Yu's place isn't big, but the layout is great. If he hadn't married you, it would've been enough for him."

Qiao Jingjing: "...It's enough even with me!"

Ling Jie: "Heh."

"How much did this place cost? Even outside the outer ring, it's about forty thousand per square meter now, right?"

Qiao Jingjing thought for a moment. "He bought it early—I think it was around twenty thousand back then? He borrowed some from his parents for the down payment and paid them back a few years ago."

"He bought it with a loan?"

"Definitely. He had just started working—how much could he have saved? There's still over a decade left on the mortgage, with monthly payments over ten thousand. But he eats at work, doesn't commute, and aside from buying books, he hardly spends anything. As long as he stays healthy, the pressure isn't too bad."

As she listened, Ling Jie paused what she was doing, feeling a vague, indescribable emotion stirring within her.The superstar who used to buy jewelry and luxury goods without batting an eye was now squatting on the floor sorting clothes while chattering to her about paying over ten thousand in monthly mortgage installments.

Yet this scene inexplicably made her feel grounded. She thought she might be too sentimental—just folding clothes together somehow gave her a sense of everything falling into place.

Trying to cover her emotions, she deliberately criticized Qiao Jingjing, "Then why did you let him buy a car? He still has a mortgage to pay."

"It wasn’t my idea," Qiao Jingjing protested. "Last New Year when we were going to visit his parents, wouldn’t it seem odd if he drove my car? His parents would find it strange too. Coincidentally, their research institute reformed the bonus system last year, and both his team and he personally received substantial bonuses. He’s been working extremely hard these past two years, got a promotion too, so buying a car isn’t really a financial strain."

After spending half a day organizing clothes, all three of them felt rather sore and tired. They moved to the living room to rest and have some tea. Qiao Jingjing proactively served tea and brought out biscuits, carrying herself quite like a homemaker.

Xiao Zhu was deeply moved and immediately supported Qiao Jingjing’s decision to live here. "If we were in Lujiazui, I wouldn’t be treated as a guest—I’d never get this kind of hospitality!"

Qiao Jingjing stuffed a biscuit into her mouth. "You’ve been running around with me and it’s been exhausting. For the next two months, don’t worry about me. Take your mom on vacation—I’ll cover the expenses."

"Wait," Ling Jie interrupted them. "Are you really not going to do any work these two months? Have you decided about that variety show we discussed? It would only take about ten days."

Qiao Jingjing shook her head firmly. "No. I promised Teacher Yu—two months means two months, not a day less!"

Ling Jie sighed, "...Is this what they call being lovesick?"

Qiao Jingjing finally turned serious. "I was joking with you. It’s not because of Teacher Yu. Look, have I ever turned down a good script these past two years? I won’t sacrifice my career for a relationship. But I do need to reduce non-acting work from now on."

"You still claim it’s not because of Teacher Yu?"

"Really, it’s not." She paused, then corrected herself. "Well, maybe he influenced me somewhat."

"After all, I’m an actress. No matter how popular variety shows get or how successful commercials are, they only bring short-term attention and fame. In the long run, these things fade. When people look back, they’ll only care about what notable roles and works I’ve delivered. I understood this logic before, but when I was younger, I could handle being constantly busy... though I do have some regrets."

Qiao Jingjing hesitated briefly. "There are two roles that, looking back, I think I could have performed much better if I’d had more time to prepare. Now that I’m getting older, I don’t want to desperately monetize my fading youth. In our industry, once you become impatient, it shows in your work, and your reputation gradually deteriorates. Of course, I’d still get roles, but they’d just be repetitive, assembly-line female leads. What’s the point in that? I’d lose my value. I don’t want that. Teacher Yu has ideals, and so do I. He’s becoming more valuable with time, and I don’t want to decline. So from now on, I’ll cut out unnecessary distractions, maintain my condition, and focus more energy on my craft."Qiao Jingjing spoke these words slowly and somewhat disjointedly, as if thinking aloud as she went.

Ling Jie fell silent.

Glancing at Ling Jie, Qiao Jingjing shrewdly added, "That's how you stay popular longer!"

Ling Jie's train of thought was interrupted: "...You just want to openly scam some time off, don't you?"

Qiao Jingjing: "==It's called self-reflection!"

Ling Jie didn't press further after that. After chatting idly about some gossip for a while, she left with Xiao Zhu. On the way, however, she sent Qiao Jingjing two WeChat messages.

Ling Jie: I agree with your idea. I'll think about how to adjust our future plans.

Ling Jie: Although you and Teacher Yu have been dating for two years, you've rarely spent much time together. As the saying goes, love is easy but living together is hard. You won't know if you're truly compatible until you've actually lived together. To be honest, I was quite worried before, but now I'm not.

Qiao Jingjing: ...

Wait a minute!

You might not be worried, but why did you have to tell me? Now that you've mentioned it, I've suddenly realized this problem, and I'm starting to worry!

When Yu Tu returned home, Qiao Jingjing was deep in thought. He glanced at her and asked, "Did Ling Jie and Xiao Zhu leave?"

"They said they didn't want to be third wheels," Qiao Jingjing replied casually, then added anxiously, "Yu Tu, what if we suddenly realize we're incompatible after living together for so long this time?"

Yu Tu raised an eyebrow. "Didn't we spend every day together when I was teaching you how to play games? From nine in the morning to nine at night, I woke up at six and didn't get home until eleven. Have you forgotten how you exploited my time?"

Qiao Jingjing felt a little embarrassed. Back then, she hadn't known it took him nearly two hours to get to her place. She argued, "That was different."

They weren't dating back then!

"True, it was different," Yu Tu agreed unexpectedly after a moment's thought. "Back then, we spent time together during the day. Now that I have to work, we'll mostly be together in the evenings. But Jingjing..."

He asked with a serious expression, "When would we even have time to be incompatible at night?"

Qiao Jingjing: "..."

You rogue!