If Teacher Yu was responsible for building their nest, then she was responsible for decorating the nest with little flowers and grasses?
On this autumn morning filled with sunshine, Qiao Jing Jing was sitting in the living room and holding her mobile phone in seriousness, buying, buying, buying.
Rugs, throw pillows, tablecloths, vases, nice-looking cups… Speaking of which, she had long wanted to change Teacher Yu's minimalist, black and white and grey style.
After browsing through the list of things she had bought, she really could not think of anything else to buy. Qiao Jing Jing put down her mobile phone and walked around the wardrobe room again. After she came out, she was perfectly satisfied and picked up her phone again.
But this time it was not to shop, it was to WeChat!
She sent a message to Big Sister Ling first.
"Teacher Yu has remodeled the house for me. Do you want to come and look around?"
Then she copied and pasted it and sent it to Xiao Zhu.
"Teacher Yu has remodeled the house for me. Do you want to come and look around?"
Lastly, she changed the message a bit and sent it to her close girlfriend who was currently filming in Shanghai.
"My boyfriend has remodeled the house for me. Do you want to come and look around?"
The three replies came very quickly.
Big Sister Ling:
… Okay, it just so happens that I need to come find you for something.
Xiao Zhu:
Yes \\(^o^)/
Girlfriend:
Get lost! I still have eight hundred scenes to film.
Big Sister Ling and Xiao Zhu visited at noon, bringing lunch and the clothes and shoes that Qiao Jing Jing had asked Xiao Zhu to pack. Big Sister Ling walked in but did not see Yu Tu. "Where is your Teacher Yu? He's not coming back for lunch?"
"His working hours are from 8 am to 4:30 pm. He has no time to come back at noon."
After the driver brought up the last box, he left. Big Sister Ling closed the door: "You made Xiao Zhu pack so many clothes. Does Teacher Yu have room for them here?"
Qiao Jing Jing gave a mischievous laugh. "Didn't I already say that there's been remodelling?"
She immediately dragged the two to her new wardrobe room. "Look, Teacher Yu made this into my wardrobe room."
Xiao Zhu took a quick look and said straightaway: "Wow, it's so pretty. The ashy-black wardrobe paired with glass doors gives off such a nice feel."
Big Sister Ling:
"..."
It was really modern and pretty, but was it necessary to have such an over-the-top reaction? Could Xiao Zhu have a little integrity?
"The appearance is not important." Qiao Jing Jing wanted to brag but she first acted modest. "The main thing is how functional it is. The rooms in our home are small. Teacher Yu was worried there is not enough space to hang all my clothes, so the upper and lower parts of the wardrobe both are made up of clothes rails. The upper part can be lifted or lowered automatically."
She pressed the control panel on the wall beside the door. The glass doors of one of the wardrobes immediately slid apart, one to each side. She pressed again. The upper clothes rail agilely folded outwards and descended. Probably because of limited space, after descending halfway, the supporting rails on either side even folded and bent a little.
Only now did Big Sister Ling start to find this quite smart and different, but she still felt that Qiao Jing Jing was blowing up a little thing. "This is pretty good. It can hang a lot more clothes. But your wardrobe in Lujiazui also has this function, so why are you making a fuss about nothing?"
"It is not the same." Xiao Zhu, the one who often helped Qiao Jing Jing to take care of her wardrobe room, had the greatest right to state an opinion. "The one in Jing Jing's home is very cumbersome. It supposed to be automatic, but it is slow and also noisy. I later just ended up getting a stool and taking out the clothes myself because it is a little faster that way. This one seems very quick and also is not noisy at all."
"Exactly. Also, look at the corner wardrobe…"
Qiao Jing Jing showed the functions of the wardrobe room one by one. Big Sister Ling tried it herself and finally became interested. "Where did Teacher Yu order this. Give me the contact details later. I want to alter my wardrobe at home too. The top part should install something like this that can automatically be lifted or lowered. That way there will be enough space to hang clothes."
Qiao Jing Jing had been waiting for her to ask this. She immediately lifted her chin and replied proudly, "The wardrobe was ordered and custom-made, so I can give you the contact details for that. But I can't help you with these functions. They were altered by Teacher Yu himself."
Big Sister Ling was surprised. "Really? He can even do this?"
"This is not difficult to do, right? He can even design a spacecraft." Qiao Jing Jing said, "He said that he initially had planned to just buy it. However, when he looked around on the market, the ones with these functions are too expensive and also are heavy and cumbersome, so he came back and drew his own design."
Designing it himself was really amazing, but he would actually so frankly tell his girlfriend that the reason he made it himself was because it was too expensive? Big Sister Ling doubly bowed in awe at Yu Tu.
"That wardrobe room of yours did cost hundreds of thousands."
Qiao Jing Jing, who never concerned herself with anything, was a little startled to find out her wardrobe room had cost so much money. "It was actually so expensive?"
She touched the wardrobe, suddenly having a new feeling for it, a feeling that she had practically saved a hundred million.
Xiao Zhu had been off to the side studying the wardrobe for a while and was a little worried. "Jing Jing, this clothes rail is indeed much lighter than the one we have at home, but will it bend if too many clothes are hung on it?"
"No. He said that this material performs relatively poorly in very high and very low temperatures and its radiation-resistance function is a little lacking. However, it is light and very strong and also cheap. It is more than good enough for being a clothes rail. People in his line of work need to be very knowledgeable when it comes to materials, so there is definitely no problem."
Big Sister Ling was a little dazed. "He even selected the material? Then what'll happen in the summer if it is not resistant to high and low temperatures?"
Qiao Jing Jing:
"..."
Qiao Jing Jing:
"What he was referring to should be the high and low temperatures of outer space, like plus and minus several hundred degrees."
Big Sister Ling:
"… Oh."
She felt that her intelligence seemed to have been looked down upon. She quickly coughed and changed the topic. "Xiao Zhu brought you lunch. I also haven't eaten yet, so let's eat together."
After lunch, the three of them sorted out the clothes together. Big Sister Ling saw that she had also taken some thick clothes, obviously intending to wear them when the weather was a little cooler, so she asked her, "Do you intend to stay here the whole two months?"
"Of course. It's convenient for him to commute from here. Anyway, I will be staying at home, so it makes no difference where I stay."
"Although Teacher Yu's house is not big, the layout is very good. If he weren't marrying you, there should be enough space."
Qiao Jing Jing:
"… There is enough space even if he marries me!"
Big Sister Ling:
"Ha ha."
"How much did this house cost? Nowadays it should cost around 40,000 for something outside of the outer ring, right?"
Qiao Jing Jing thought for a moment. "He bought it earlier. I think it was about 20,000 at the time? He even borrowed some of the down payment from his parents, but he paid them back a few years ago."
"He bought it with a mortgage?"
"Of course. At the time, he had just started work, so how much money could he have had? There is still more than ten years left on the mortgage, and he has to pay back more than 10,000 yuan a month. But he has his meals at the work unit and does not need to commute, so other than buying books, he doesn't really spend much money." In fact, as long as he is healthy, the financial pressure is not great."
While she was listening, Big Sister Ling stopped sorting the clothes. Suddenly she had an indescribable feeling of lamentation.
This celebrity under her used to be a big star who didn't even bat an eyelid when buying jewelry and luxury goods, but now she was squatting on the floor and, while sorting out her clothes, telling her on and on about a monthly loan-repayment of a little more than 10,000.
However, such a scene also made her heart feel secure. She felt that she was probably being too sentimental and melancholy. At this moment, they were merely sorting out clothes together, but she actually had a feeling like things were settled and in place.
She deliberately criticized Qiao Jing Jing to cover up for herself. "Then why did you still make him buy a car? He still has a mortgage."
"I didn't make him buy it." Qiao Jing Jing defended herself. "He had to go and meet my parents during Lunar New Year last year. If he drove my car, it wouldn't have looked very good. His parents, Uncle and Auntie, would have also felt weird about it. It just so happened that last year his research institute's bonus system was reformed. His team and also he personally got quite a bit in bonus. He has been working very hard in the past two years and was also promoted, so there is no stress in buying a car."
After sorting out the clothes for a while, their backs were a bit sore and achy, so they went to the living room to rest and drink tea. Qiao Jing Jing took the initiative to serve tea and biscuits and pour water, behaving like the mistress of the house.
Xiao Zhu was immediately very moved and supported Qiao Jing Jing in staying here. "If you stay in Lujiazui, I will not be regarded as a guest. Where would I get this kind of treatment then?"
Qiao Jing Jing stuffed a biscuit into Xiao Zhu's mouth. "You must be very tired, following me everywhere. You need not take care of me in these two months. Take your mother on a vacation and come find me to get it reimbursed."
"Hold on," Big Sister Ling interrupted them. "Don't tell me you're really not doing anything in these two months? Have you finished considering the variety show that I told you about last time? It'll only take about ten days."
Qiao Jing Jing gave a shake of her head. "I'm not doing it. I promised Teacher Yu. Two months mean two months, not a day less!"
Big Sister Ling:
"… Is this what you call a brain filled with love only?"
Only then did Qiao Jing Jing become serious. "Just kidding. It's not because of Teacher Yu. Have you seen me reject a good script in the past two years? I will not sacrifice my career for love, but from now on I really want to reduce my workload outside of acting."
"You're still saying it's not for Teacher Yu?"
"Really it's not." After thinking about it, she changed her tune again. "There is probably some influence from him.
"I am an actress after all. No matter how explosive the variety show is or how popular the advertisement is, it can only bring short-term interest and fan traffic. After a period of time, all these will come to pass. In the end, when people sum me up, they will only look at what roles and works that I brought to the table. Actually, I understood this principle a long time ago, too. But I was young so I could afford being busy and running around … Actually I also have regrets."
Qiao Jing Jing paused for a while. "There are two roles I acted in that, now that I think about it, if I had, had more time to analyse, I could have portrayed much better. Now that my age is increasing, I don't want to choose to catch the tail of youth and anxiously monetize on it. For people in my profession, once we have an anxious state of mind, it will immediately be reflected in our works. If that happens, what the public says about me will only gradually get worse. Of course, I will definitely still have acting jobs, but they'll be stereotyped and repetitive leading actress roles, like they came off an assembly line. What is the point? I'll have no value. I don't want things to become like that. Teacher Yu has his dream, and I also have mine. Teacher Yu will be more and more valuable, and I don't want to go downhill either. Therefore, in the future I will do away with unnecessary stuff that burns my energy, maintain myself well, and put more energy into my work."
Qiao Jing Jing said these words very slowly, and they were also somewhat piecemeal, like she was thinking while talking.
Big Sister Ling fell silent.
Qiao Jing Jing glanced at Big Sister Ling and sharp-wittedly added a sentence: "Only by doing this can I be popular longer!"
Big Sister Ling's train of thought was interrupted by her. "… You just want to swindle a vacation in an honorable manner, don't you?"
Qiao Jing Jing:
"= = I'm finding peace and purification for my soul!"
Afterwards Big Sister Ling didn't say anything anymore. She gossiped for a while and then left together with Xiao Zhu. While on the road, she sent Qiao Jing Jing two WeChat messages.
Big Sister Ling:
I agree with your thoughts. I will think about how to adjust the future direction of your career.
Big Sister Ling: Although Teacher Yu and you have been dating for two years, you two have spent less time together than apart. As the saying goes, love is easy but getting along is difficult. Both of you must interact. Only then will you know if you can get along well. Actually, I was very worried at the beginning, but now I am not worried anymore.
Qiao Jing Jing:
...
Hold on!
Since you are no longer worried, why did you still tell me that? With you saying it, I've suddenly become aware of this problem. Now I am starting to worry!
When Yu Tu returned home, Qiao Jing Jing was deep in thought. He looked around. "Big Sister Ling and Xiao Zhu have left?"
"They said that they'll not be the light bulb." Qiao Jing Jing answered him. Then she said anxiously: "Yu Tu, this time, we'll be staying together for such a long time. Will we suddenly find that we're incompatible?"
Yu Tu raised his eyebrows. "During that period when I taught you how to play game, were we not together every day? From nine in the morning to nine at night. I got up at six o'clock and arrived home at eleven o'clock every day. Have you forgotten how you exploited my time?"
Qiao Jing Jing was a little embarrassed. At that time, she had not known that he needed nearly two hours to get to her house. She argued, "It was different at the time."
They were not dating then!
"It is truly different." Yu Tu thought about it and actually agreed with her. "At that time, we spent time together during the day. But I have to go to work now, so we spend more time together at night. But Jing Jing…"
He asked with a serious look, "At night, where do we have the time to be incompatible?"
Qiao Jing Jing:
"..."
Rogue!