Perfectionists even calculate the safety details of equestrian races, as if they were protecting the most precious experimental samples.

When she arrived at the entrance of the astronomy club, the lights in the observation room were already on.

Hsieh Che-cheng was hunched over the table drawing, his cheek pressed against the paper, his eyelashes casting a faint shadow under the light, like a tired cat.

There was a thermos on the corner of the table, and the angelica and mutton soup inside had been drunk clean, with even the ginger slices at the bottom of the bowl picked out, clearly indicating that the person remembered her words.

"What are you drawing?" Yu Jiuyuan walked over quietly and suddenly covered his eyes. She felt his eyelashes tremble slightly in her palm, like a startled butterfly.

Xie Zhecheng's body stiffened instantly, but he didn't push her away. After his breathing hit a beat off, he whispered, "The distribution map of observation points in Changbai Mountain... has reserved the best location for you."

When Yu Jiuyuan let go, she saw a corner circled in fluorescent pen on the drawing, marked "Open view, sheltered from the wind, suitable for resting," which was far from the telescope but very close to him.

[Xie Zhecheng: Favorability +4 (currently 12) (triggers "Exclusive Reserved" bonus)]

"Are you going to the Su family's equestrian competition?" Yu Jiuyuan's fingertip lightly touched the fluorescent circle on the drawing. "Lin Yanran sent an invitation, saying that a business tycoon wants to meet you."

Xie Zhecheng paused, the ink spreading into a tiny dot on the paper. He seemed quite dissatisfied with the mistake, carefully covering it with correction tape before speaking: "If you want to go, I can go with you."

There were no superfluous words, yet they were more resolute than any promise. Yu Jiuyuan watched the blush creeping up his ears and suddenly felt that this iceberg had finally learned the language of "compromise," even if it was still tinged with a clumsy earnestness.

The dome of the observation room slowly opened, revealing an exceptionally clear starry sky after the snowfall.

The Orion Nebula swirled on the screen like an overturned palette. Xie Zhecheng pulled up a star trail prediction chart and suddenly said, "The aurora forecast for Changbai Mountain is out. The days we went there were right during the peak period."

Yu Jiuyuan leaned against the control panel, looking at the starlight in his eyes, and suddenly felt that this "taming" game was deviating from its intended course.

Xie Zhecheng's rules are loosening, Yuan Xu's purity is spreading, Rong Shenghan's pretense is peeling away, and Lin Yanran's arrogance is softening.

They were no longer chess pieces on the board, but like snowflakes from Changbai Mountain, falling into her palm and gradually melting into a unique shape.

“Oh, right,” Yu Jiuyuan suddenly remembered something and took out a small box from her handbag. “Yuan Xu gave this to you. She said it’s a bookmark cultivated with luminescent genes, and you can see the star map of Orion in the dark.”

Xie Zhecheng's fingertips trembled slightly as he took the box. The bookmark inside glowed with a faint green light, and the star trail pattern perfectly overlapped with the embroidery on his shirt, like a carefully designed coincidence, or a tacit understanding.

[Xie Zhecheng: Favorability +3, currently 15 (Triggering the "Tacit Understanding Resonance" milestone)]

The night wind after the snow swept through the observation room, carrying the chill of ice crystals.

As Yu Jiuyuan watched Xie Zhecheng carefully tuck the bookmark into "The History of Celestial Evolution," she suddenly realized that perhaps "strategies" are never one-way. Just like the snow and stars of Changbai Mountain, they reflect each other to create the most moving scenery.

As for the Su family's equestrian competition, the land in the east of the city, and the Yuan family's patent... they all became footnotes in this scene.

Yu Jiuyuan looked up at the starry sky outside the window, a faint smile playing on her lips.

The snow on Changbai Mountain is about to fall. And her "travel plan" has only just begun to write its most interesting chapter.