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Jing Jing's pregnancy journey was as eventful as her career in the entertainment industry. With her fast-paced lifestyle, Yu Tu became her pillar of support, ensuring she underwent every necessary prenatal test and kept track of her appointments. Though she playfully mocked his overprotectiveness, she soon found comfort in his careful attention.
By Week 23, Yu Tu had taken on the role of her meticulous caretaker—watching over her rest, nutrition, and reminding her to take things slow. She teased him with the nickname ‘Dr. Yu Tu’ but ultimately enjoyed his unwavering care.
In June, their latest ultrasound appointment was filled with anticipation, as they eagerly hoped to learn their baby's gender. However, the hospital's strict policy forbade revealing this detail, leaving Jing Jing determined to find a way around the rule. Her unwavering determination and playful spirit shone through, proving that some surprises are worth chasing.
“So, purely hypothetically,” she mused, eyes fixed on the screen. “If I were to make an educated guess, would you say I’m close?”
The doctor chuckled but remained firm. “Nice try, Mrs. Yu.”
“I work in entertainment. Guessing games are my specialty.” She flashed a dazzling smile, hoping charm might loosen the rule—just a little. “A tiny hint? I promise I won’t tell anyone.”
Yu Tu sighed beside her, amused but resigned. “Jing Jing.”
“I’m only gathering data.” Jing Jing added.
But the doctor merely shook her head. “I can tell you that your baby is healthy and developing beautifully—that’s what matters most.”
Jing Jing let out an exaggerated sigh, throwing a glance at Yu Tu as they left the clinic.
“I tried,” she muttered.
“Mm,” he mused, adjusting her coat against the cool air. “It was a valiant effort.”
Later that evening, stretched out in their living room, Jing Jing stared at the ceiling in mock defeat, absentmindedly tracing small patterns on her baby bump. Yu Tu sat nearby, absorbed in his research paper, his brow slightly furrowed in concentration.
“I’m telling you, if I had just asked differently, maybe—”
Yu Tu flipped a page in his research paper. “No.”
She tossed a pillow at him. “You’re supposed to support me.”
“I do. Just not in plans doomed to fail.”
Despite the teasing earlier, she wasn’t ready to let this go. The hospital had their policies, sure—but that didn’t mean she couldn’t find her own way to uncover the truth. Suddenly, her phone screen lit up with an article, and her eyes sparkled with intrigue.
"Yu Tu, listen to this!"
"Mm?" He barely acknowledged her, still focused on his paper.
"There’s a traditional way to predict the baby’s gender!"
Yu Tu finally looked up, his expression calm but skeptical. "You mean an unscientific wives’ tale?"
She ignored him. "It says if you crave sweet things, it’s a girl. If you crave salty foods, it’s a boy."
Yu Tu didn’t even look up this time. "Your cravings have been inconsistent. You ate cake and pickles in the same meal."
His tone was completely dry causing Jing Jing to pause and consider.
"True. But what about the belly shape test? If it is round, it’s a girl. If it’s pointed, it’s a boy."
Yu Tu finally looked at her, deadpan. "Your belly looks … pregnant."
Jing Jing scoffed. "Wow. Amazing observation, Dr. Yu Tu."
With newfound determination, she kept scrolling.
"Ah! There’s a chart based on my lunar age and the month of conception!"
Yu Tu was still skeptical, but he asked anyway—partly out of curiosity, mostly to humor his wife.
"And what does it say?"
"It says girl!" Jing Jing blurted triumphantly.
Yu Tu raised an eyebrow. Convenient.
Jing Jing smirked. "You said you want a daughter. Looks like fate agrees with you!"
Yu Tu shook his head, amusement flickering in his eyes, but he remained unconvinced. Meanwhile, Jing Jing, undeterred, continued scrolling, determined to find more prediction methods—if only to prove her theory right.
A few night later, after Jing Jing had fallen asleep, Yu Tu sat on the edge of their bed, phone in hand, his screen casting a faint glow in the dimly lit room. He had scoffed at her theories earlier—pointed versus round belly, old wives’ tales about cravings—but now, curiosity tugged at him.
Opening his browser, he hesitated for half a second before typing: “Ways to secretly determine baby’s gender.”
A flood of articles appeared, ranging from mildly scientific to outright ridiculous. His rational side dismissed most of them immediately, but a few caught his attention.
- The heartbeat theory - Supposedly, a higher fetal heart rate meant a girl, while a lower rate suggested a boy. He mentally recalled the doctor’s reading from the last check-up—was it high? He hadn’t been paying attention.
- Cravings - Jing Jing had been eating more sweets lately, something the old theories linked to expecting a girl. But was that enough evidence? Surely diet wasn’t a definitive indicator.
- The Chinese gender chart - A method dating back centuries, allegedly predicting the baby’s sex based on the mother’s age and month of conception. He ran the numbers quickly, skeptical yet intrigued.
Yu Tu rubbed his temple. This was ridiculous. He was a scientist, an engineer — someone who relied on hard data and logic. Yet here he was, running late-night amateur predictions like some overly eager expectant father. Before he could second-guess himself, he typed in the information and hit search.
Result = Girl.
He exhaled slowly, leaning back. Of course. Just as he was about to close the page, a voice cut through the quiet.
"Well, well, well."
His hands froze. Slowly, he turned to see Jing Jing watching him, amusement flickering in her gaze.
She shifted her weight slightly, her movements slower than before, but as poised as ever—pregnant or not, she carried herself with the same effortless confidence.
Yu Tu held her stare, calculating his options. Denial? Distraction? Pretending he had simply been reading an article about aerospace advancements?
Jing Jing smirked, arms folded as she regarded him with amused suspicion. “What exactly are you doing, Scientist Yu?”
Yu Tu blinked, smoothly turning off his phone with practiced ease. “Nothing.”
She arched a brow, moving closer, eyes narrowing. “Nothing? Because I could’ve sworn you just entered my details into a gender prediction chart.”
He remained perfectly composed, his expression unreadable.
“It was an experiment.”
Jing Jing let out a loud laugh, the sound ringing through the quiet bedroom.
“An experiment?! Yu Tu, you spent the last three days telling me these methods are unscientific nonsense!”
He paused, considering. “They are.”
She gestured toward his phone, shifting slightly as she adjusted to the growing heaviness of her belly. “And yet, here you are, using them.”
Yu Tu sighed, rubbing his temple as though regretting everything that had led to this moment.
“I was… verifying their lack of credibility.”
Jing Jing grinned, victorious. “Ah. So now you care about results.”
His silence was answer enough. Yu Tu leaned back, cool and unfazed.
"Curiosity is the foundation of scientific discovery."
She scoffed, one hand resting instinctively on the curve of her stomach.
"Ah. So now you're saying my pregnancy is a research project?"
She gaped at him for a brief moment before bursting into laughter, the sound filling the quiet room. With a playful shake of her head, she flopped back down on the bed beside him, still grinning in amusement.
"You just wanted proof that we're having a daughter, didn't you?"
Yu Tu glanced away, feigning indifference—but the faintest hint of a smile tugged at his lips.
"You have no evidence."
Jing Jing grinned, giving his shoulder a light nudge. "Oh, I have all the evidence. And I’m never letting you forget this moment, Scientist Yu."
Yu Tu sighed, fully resigned to his fate. He had lost this battle before it even started. Meanwhile, Jing Jing, buzzing with excitement, wasted no time launching into her next round of teasing.
As the weeks passed, Jing Jing’s pregnancy became increasingly visible, and despite her slowing pace, her energy remained unchanged. JJ Studio had been cautious with her schedule, ensuring she wasn’t overwhelmed, but one opportunity was simply too good to pass up—a highly anticipated sit-down interview reflecting on her career, life, and, naturally, her journey to motherhood.
Yu Tu, ever the meticulous planner, had initially been skeptical.
“You don’t need to do this,” he had said over breakfast, stirring his coffee with quiet precision.
She had grinned, propping her chin on her hand. “It’s just an interview, not a marathon.”
“You’ll be sitting under bright studio lights for hours,” he pointed out, scanning through her schedule on his tablet. “Uncomfortable chairs. Long discussions. Not ideal.”
“And yet, somehow, I’ve survived years of filming in worse conditions.”
He sighed, knowing resistance was futile. “If you must do it, then at least keep it short.”
Jing Jing beamed, sealing the victory with a sip of her orange juice.
With Yu Tu’s reluctant approval, JJ Studio coordinated every detail—comfortable seating arrangements, shorter filming duration, and scheduled breaks. When the day arrived, Jing Jing walked onto the set, glowing in an elegant maternity gown, excitement buzzing in her veins.
The cameras rolled, and as the conversation drifted from her latest projects to her personal life, it wasn’t long before the inevitable question surfaced.
“So, Jing Jing, your fans are wildly curious — boy or girl?”
She chuckled, leaning back with an amused glint in her eye. “That is the million-dollar question, isn’t it?”
Within hours of Jing Jing casually mentioning the baby’s gender mystery during the interview, social media exploded. The hashtags #JingJingsBaby and #BoyOrGirl began trending, fans enthusiastically sharing theories and casting votes in an unofficial poll.
JJ Studio quickly caught wind of the buzz and, never one to waste a golden PR opportunity, released an official statement on her Weibo.
Qiao Jing Jing and her husband are enjoying this special time, and we love the excitement from everyone! We won’t confirm anything yet—but if the fans want to vote, let’s have fun with it! Stay tuned for surprises.
“Clearly a girl,” one fan argued, posting side-by-side comparisons of Jing Jing’s glow with old pregnancy photos of other celebrities. “She has that ‘daughter energy’!”
“No way,” another countered, analyzing her cravings. “She’s been into more savory and salty foods lately—that’s scientifically linked to having a boy!”
That was all it took. Soon, polls across various platforms swelled with thousands of votes. Jing Jing, lounging in their living room, scrolled through the chaos, eyes sparkling with amusement.
“Yu Tu, look at this. JJ Studio’s getting involved now,” she mused, waving her phone.
Yu Tu barely glanced up from his laptop. “Mm.”
She smirked, tilting her head. “Would you like to cast your vote?”
“I already know the result,” he replied calmly.
Her eyebrows lifted in amusement. “Oh? Confident, are we? That’s quite a change from the man who spent three days debunking every pregnancy myth.”
Yu Tu kept his expression neutral, but she caught the flicker of amusement in his eyes. Outside their quiet evening, the world buzzed with anticipation, waiting for the moment when the truth would finally be revealed.
One late night, Jing Jing lay curled up against Yu Tu in bed. The city lights filtered through the curtains, casting a soft, golden glow over them. The quiet hum of the world outside made their conversation feel even more intimate—languid, easy, the kind that drifted without hesitation.
"Yu Tu, why do you want a daughter instead of a son?" she asked, her voice hushed, almost teasing.
He smirked, eyes glinting with mischief. "Because if we have a son, he’ll inherit my looks. Which means…" He trailed off deliberately, waiting for her to catch on.
She blinked at him, uncomprehending. "Which means…?"
His smirk deepened. "Which means I’ll spend the next twenty years fending off hordes of young girls chasing after him."
Jing Jing bolted upright, eyes wide in sheer disbelief. "Did you seriously just say that with a straight face?"
Yu Tu sighed, shaking his head as if it were an unfortunate burden.
"It’s exhausting, Jing Jing. He won’t stand a chance."
She grabbed a pillow and tossed it at him. Yu Tu caught the pillow effortlessly.
"You think being good-looking is a parenting challenge? You’re impossible."
"I know it is, you can ask my mom," he said, still amused. "She used to complain about all the little girls buzzing around me like bees. I’m just thinking ahead. If he looks like me, it’s only logical he’ll carry on my legacy."
Jing Jing gaped at him. "You—a grown man—think you can single-handedly protect our daughter forever, but you cannot protect our son because he’s going to be good-looking?!"
Yu Tu nodded solemnly. "Exactly. With a son, I can’t fight off young girls on his behalf. He’s on his own."
Jing Jing groaned again. "You are impossible."
Yu Tu chuckled, entirely too pleased with himself. Jing Jing flopped back down with a dramatic sigh, muttering about how she ever ended up marrying this man. Yu Tu, of course, remained confident, already planning their hypothetical son’s future. Then something clicked. Jing Jing’s eyes narrowed as she sat up again.
"Wait. Are you saying our daughter won’t be pretty enough to have young boys chasing after her? Is that why you want a daughter instead?"
Yu Tu chuckled, clearly amused by her logic. He reached over, gently tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
"Of course not," he said smoothly. "She'll be beautiful. Absolutely stunning. Just like her mother."
For a fleeting moment, Jing Jing’s expression softened—before she caught herself. She jabbed an accusing finger in his direction.
"Then what was that nonsense about our son being too handsome for his own good?"
Yu Tu leaned back, looking far too pleased with himself.
"I’m just thinking ahead. If we have a daughter, even when I’m eighty, I’ll be able to fend off those love-struck boys. I’ll guard her for decades. But our son …” He sighed dramatically. “He’s on his own. There’s nothing I can do. I cannot fight off those girls for him.”
Jing Jing gaped at him. “You don’t think I can fight the battle for him?”
Yu Tu smirked, shaking his head. "You’ll be busy. Always on the road, filming, traveling—you won’t have time to keep an eye on him." He sighed. "That’s why I have to be the one to stand guard."
She scoffed, crossing her arms. "Oh, please. You think you’ll always be around? You're literally out of town for months at a time!"
He paused, the realization sinking in. "...That’s different."
She raised an eyebrow. "How?"
He opened his mouth, then closed it. "I have strategic absences."
Jing Jing scoffed. "Strategic absences? You just admitted you won’t be around!"
"Unlike you, my absences are temporary. I always come back. But you? You disappear for entire filming schedules."
She let out an exasperated laugh. "So now you're saying I will be the absentee parent?"
He nodded solemnly. "Exactly. So, for the safety of our future son, I need you to accept that I cannot protect him from the inevitable."
Jing Jing groaned, grabbing another pillow and smacking him again. "You are impossible!"
Yu Tu chuckled, utterly unfazed. "I know."
She flopped back onto the bed, muttering under her breath. “Absentee parent? Unbelievable. This man disappears for months at a time and somehow I’m the problem?”
Yu Tu, meanwhile, remained perfectly content with his ridiculous logic, unfazed by her grumbling. But Jing Jing wasn’t done. She sat up, eyes glinting with resolve.
"Fine, I’ll just have to teach our son how to fend off admirers myself."
Yu Tu smirked, amused by her sudden determination. "Oh?"
She nodded firmly. "I’ll teach him how to be sharp, how to handle attention with grace, and most importantly—how not to let it get to his head." She shot him a pointed look. "Unlike some people."
Yu Tu feigned innocence. "Are you implying I let it get to my head?"
Jing Jing scoffed. "You literally planned for our son’s future based on your own experience!"
Yu Tu sighed dramatically. "Fine, I’ll just have to make sure our son is going to be much smarter than I was."
Jing Jing smirked. “He will be, because he’s going to get my brains. Not yours.”
Yu Tu pretended to be offended, but the amusement in his eyes was unmistakable.
"I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that."
That night, they fell asleep in each other's arms, smiles lingering on their lips. As sleep embraced them, their dreams took separate paths—Jing Jing dreamt of their son with his bob haircut, while Yu Tu dreamt of their daughter, all pretty in pink.
