When Xie Zhecheng opened the jar, the aroma of butter wafted out.

The thickness of the cookies is accurate to the millimeter, as if they were measured with a ruler.

He picked up a piece and put it in his mouth. The sweetness was just right, about 3/4 of what he liked, and the crumbly texture was just right as well.

"It's delicious." As he said this, his gaze fell on her fingertips, which were dusted with chocolate powder—something she'd gotten on them when she was unscrewing the lid.

Yu Jiuyuan immediately withdrew her hand, like a child whose secret had been discovered: "I'm going to wash my hands!"

As she ran towards the restroom, Xie Zhecheng watched her retreating figure, slowly chewing on his cookie.

Cookie crumbs landed on his white coat, but he didn't wipe them off immediately as he usually did.

The system panel flashed in Yu Jiuyuan's mind. Xie Zhecheng's favorability was steadily at 85, and his positive emotional fluctuations had risen to 115.

These moves were perfectly timed, like casting bait into calm waters—they wouldn't disturb the fish, yet they would entice it to approach willingly.

In the milk tea shop at dusk, Xie Zhecheng watched as Yu Jiuyuan used a small spoon to scoop the tapioca pearls from her cup to him.

She was very serious, scooping out exactly five grains with each spoonful, as if she were conducting some kind of precision experiment.

"Don't you like eating pearls?" he asked.

“But President Xie likes it even more,” Yu Jiuyuan said with a sly smile. “I want you to eat more.”

The setting sun outside the window cast long shadows of the two people, which overlapped like a blurry painting.

Looking at the mountain of pearls in his cup, Xie Zhecheng suddenly realized that perhaps breaking the rules of perfectionism occasionally wasn't so difficult.

At least, he didn't dislike the milk tea in front of him that was excessively sweet.

Yu Jiuyuan lowered her head and took a sip of milk tea, catching a glimpse of his slightly upturned lips out of the corner of her eye.

She knew that this seemingly aloof and unapproachable flower had already left another clear mark on her taming manual.

Just like cultivating that most difficult Venetian red rose, it requires patience, precision, and a touch of just the right amount of sweetness.

That would make him willingly bloom for her.