Leisurely days always flew by in the blink of an eye. Before she knew it, Qiao Jingjing's vacation was already half over. Yu Tu had originally promised to come back for dinner that day, but just as Jingjing finished marinating the steak, he called before getting off work to say he wouldn't be coming home for dinner because he had a basketball game.
"Your institute has a basketball game? Why didn't you tell me earlier? I've already marinated the steak."
"It's the academy's semifinals. I wasn't originally playing, but one of the team members can't make it, so I'm filling in last minute."
"Are you that bad at basketball? You're just a substitute?" Qiao Jingjing was shocked. He had been the star player on the school team back in high school.
There was a brief silence on the other end before he sighed and said, "Miss Qiao, I'm old."
Qiao Jingjing: "..."
Oh, right. Although Teacher Yu was still handsome and dashing, he was already in his thirties. High-intensity sports like basketball probably weren't as easy for him as they were for fresh graduates.
But his tone was clearly deliberately playing the pity card. Jingjing couldn't help but laugh over the phone. Was she the kind of gentle, considerate girlfriend? No. So she happily added fuel to the fire: "That's right, Teacher Yu, you're already 32"
Yu Tu: "..."
"And you? Aren't we the same age?" Yu Tu cruelly reminded her.
"No, I'm not, I don't." Teacher Yu was too harsh—how could he say something so terrible? Qiao Jingjing immediately denied it three times and even pulled out an article from a marketing account to prove her point. "Not long ago, a marketing account said I have a youthful vibe. It definitely wasn't paid for!"
"Oh, I actually withdrew from the team voluntarily before. Don't you think the fact that they called me to substitute as soon as someone dropped out proves my stamina and skills are better than the other young people at the institute?"
"Alright, alright." Qiao Jingjing felt like laughing again. Were the two of them proving just how terrifying adults could be when they acted childish?
"What are you laughing at?" Yu Tu asked, before he himself couldn't hold back a laugh. "If you don't believe me, come see for yourself and cheer me on while you're at it."
"Ah?" Qiao Jingjing was taken aback.
"Haven't you always said you wanted to try the cafeteria at my workplace? Bring your Work Pass. I'll meet you at the gate."
The basketball game was starting in just an hour. This time, Jingjing didn't have time for her effortless makeup and hurriedly applied a light base before heading out.
When she arrived at the gate of Yu Tu's workplace, it wasn't Yu Tu who came to pick her up, but Xiao Yin, Yu Tu's female colleague whom she had met at the last group dinner—a very cheerful girl.
Xiao Yin called out "Jingjing!" loudly and ran over, saying, "Yu Tu was promoted to starter and needs to warm up now, so he asked me to pick you up."
Qiao Jingjing quickly thanked her.
"Did you bring your Work Pass?"
"Yes, I did."
Jingjing pulled the Work Pass out of her pocket, and the two of them went to register with the security guard at the gate. Of course, she had to remove her mask during registration. The guard took the Work Pass and, with a subtle expression, glanced back and forth between her face and the pass several times.
Just as Xiao Yin was about to speak, the guard suddenly said, "Visitor for Building 80x, right?"
Xiao Yin: "...Yes."
"Heh, I know." The guard grinned widely. "Register your name. You need to register too."
The last sentence was directed at Xiao Yin.After leaving her work pass with the security guard, Xiao Yin led Qiao Jingjing inside while exclaiming in amazement, "I thought only our institute knew about it, but it's already reached the security guards. The power of gossip is truly formidable. With your visit today, I expect even more people will know by tomorrow. You should be mentally prepared."
"I don't need preparation, I don't work here anyway," Qiao Jingjing said playfully.
Xiao Yin laughed heartily. "Yu Tu's meal card has been suffering lately from all the treating he's been doing. I heard he's already had to recharge it twice."
"He's already come back complaining to me about it," Qiao Jingjing replied.
Xiao Yin burst into another fit of laughter.
This being Qiao Jingjing's first time at Yu Tu's workplace, she couldn't help looking around curiously. Xiao Yin acted as her tour guide, explaining everything along the way and specifically reminding her that photography wasn't allowed.
They passed what was reputedly Shanghai's most expensive photovoltaic parking lot and walked quite a distance before reaching the outdoor basketball court. The court was already brightly lit and buzzing with activity, surrounded by multiple layers of spectators.
Jingjing felt like she had returned to her campus days. "This feels just like university."
Xiao Yin said, "Well, many of our staff are recent graduates. We even have sports meets that get quite lively."
Qiao Jingjing attracted numerous glances as she walked, and even more attention when they reached the court side. However, she was long accustomed to such attention and followed Xiao Yin with a slight smile, her eyes searching for Yu Tu.
Xiao Yin guided her through the crowd until they stood with a group of young women. Jingjing wondered if there was a cheerleading squad. Xiao Yin introduced them, "These are all our institute colleagues."
Then she introduced Qiao Jingjing, "This is Yu Tu's girlfriend."
The girls who had been looking at her somewhat stiffly immediately burst into laughter, all saying they knew. They didn't seem surprised by her arrival, unlike the men in the distance who were making teasing noises.
Following the sounds, Jingjing saw Yu Tu being teased by several players. He turned his head to look at her, his smile unrestrained and carefree.
After a moment, he ran over and handed her a cup of corn juice. "No time to take you for dinner, have this to tide you over."
"Okay." Jingjing took the corn juice and cheered him on: "Try to play the whole game! Believe in yourself - age before beauty!"
Yu Tu ruffled her hair in mock annoyance and ran back onto the court dribbling the ball.
The surrounding girls laughed heartily. One took out her phone to take a selfie with Jingjing, who had no objection but expressed concern, "I thought we weren't allowed to take photos?"
"Selfies are fine."
Most of the engineering men were rather shy, with only a few coming over to get autographs for relatives. The female engineers, however, were lively and outgoing, even discussing the TV dramas she had starred in with her. Jingjing expressed surprise: "You're so busy but you've still watched my dramas?"
"We're busy during model development tasks, but we watch during less busy periods. Your dramas are very popular."
"Now that you'll be a colleague's partner, we'll have to support you even more."
Jingjing smiled brightly. "Thank you, thank you."
Amid the chatter, a whistle blew and the game began.
True to expectations, Yu Tu was in the starting lineup. Once the intense game started, the attention on Qiao Jingjing diminished significantly. People stopped focusing on her and instead watched the court closely, cheering for every basket.
Jingjing maintained some restraint at first, but eventually couldn't help jumping and cheering along.
"Go Yu Tu!"
"Wow! Three-pointer!""Ahh, we made it!"
Jumping with excitement, Qiao Jingjing's cheeks flushed pink.
She felt so incredibly happy.
It was like starring in the most beautiful youth drama.
And those deepest regrets of youth buried in her heart seemed to have been completely filled without her noticing.
In the end, Yu Tu's research institute won against their opponents by a narrow margin. After the game ended, Yu Tu didn't go back to change clothes. He simply put on his jacket courtside and, after bidding farewell to everyone amidst good-natured laughter, left the basketball court with Qiao Jingjing.
Walking along the road, Qiao Jingjing seemed somewhat reluctant for the moment to end.
Yu Tu asked, "Did I lose to the younger players?"
Teacher Yu being so hung up on this was really amusing, Qiao Jingjing secretly laughed. Holding his arm, she said, "Well, compared to your past self, you're not quite the same. Back in high school when you played basketball, you used to drive aggressively to the basket a lot. Now you've switched to shooting three-pointers. This clearly shows your physical strength... well, you've shifted to winning with skill instead."
Yu Tu sighed, "Can't you say something nicer?"
"Oh, you were super handsome." Qiao Jingjing stopped walking, stood on her toes and whispered in his ear, "I really liked it."
The streetlights illuminated the road as Yu Tu pulled her along, his steps suddenly becoming hurried. Meanwhile, the girl who had just teased him wore an expression of complete innocence, as if she had done nothing at all. When retrieving her Work Pass from the security guard at the entrance, she even waved it triumphantly before his eyes.
"Is my ID photo absolutely heavenly?"
Without waiting for his answer, she took his work badge from his jacket and placed it next to her Work Pass for comparison. "Let me see if your ID photo is as handsome as you claim. Whose photo looks better?"
This was probably the kind of silly behavior that only happens when you're in love.
But under the perfect lighting, everything about her - head bowed as she seriously compared their photos - seemed so wonderful. Looking at her, the flames of desire in Yu Tu's heart somehow suddenly transformed into a warm, gentle affection that flowed through his veins, coursing through his heart and spreading to every part of his body.
He unconsciously broke into a smile and reasoned with her, "How can we compare them like this? Shouldn't comparisons be made under identical conditions? Same lighting, same photographer, same location - only then can we draw a proper conclusion."
"Uh, do we need to be that rigorous?" Qiao Jingjing was taken aback by his reasoning.
"Yes, we do," he firmly replied, then asked, "So, when should we go take our ID photos together?"
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