The mornings come exceptionally early in Changbai Mountain. Before the sky is fully light, the sound of suitcase wheels scraping against the floor can be heard in the corridor of the observation station.

Yu Jiuyuan tidied her hair in front of the mirror. The girl in the mirror had curved eyebrows and a light pink lip balm on her lips, which Yuan Xu had given her last night, saying that it contained natural beeswax and could ward off the cold wind.

"President, President Xie said we'll be leaving in five minutes." Rong Shenghan's voice rang out from outside the door, carrying the crispness unique to the early morning. "Officer Lin's suitcase lock is broken, and I'm fixing it for him."

When Yu Jiuyuan opened the door, she saw Rong Shenghan kneeling on the ground, holding a Swiss Army knife in his hand, his slender fingers deftly fiddling with the lock of his suitcase.

Lin Yanran stood to the side, arms crossed, her face showing undisguised impatience, her snow boots still covered in unmelted ice.

"If it can't be fixed, just throw it away. It's cheap anyway." Lin Yanran's tone was as arrogant as ever, but her eyes couldn't help but glance at Rong Shenghan's hand.

His hands had distinct knuckles, and even when fiddling with cold metal clasps, they exuded a nonchalant elegance, quite different from his usual approachable demeanor.

With a soft click, Rong Shenghan straightened up and showed the repaired lock to the two of them: "Alright, Lin, don't use your Swiss Army knife as a bottle opener next time."

He chuckled and dusted off his hands, his gaze inadvertently sweeping over Yu Jiuyuan's lips, a faint smile flashing in his eyes.

Yu Jiuyuan pretended not to see them and turned to look at the parking lot: "Where are Xie Zhecheng and Yuan Xu?"

"President Xie is inspecting the vehicles, and Yuan..." Rong Shenghan glanced into the observation station, "...it seems he's saying goodbye to his bacterial culture dish."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Yuan Xu ran out carrying a thermostat, her glasses slipping down to the tip of her nose without her bothering to push them up: "Here it comes! My bacterial strain can't be jostled around, it has to be placed in the passenger seat."

He ran to Yu Jiuyuan's side, panting, and hugged the incubator even tighter. "President, can I ride in the same car as you?"

The system panel popped up in my mind: Yuan Xu's favorability is 70, and the "positive" value in the emotional fluctuation is jumping slightly, obviously she is looking forward to riding together.

“Of course.” Before Yu Jiuyuan could finish speaking, Lin Yanran interrupted her.

"No way!" Lin Yanran stepped forward, blocking the two of them. "It's only reasonable for the president to ride in the same car as the vice president. How can the president squeeze in with a member?"

After he finished speaking, he gave Yuan Xu a provocative look, as if declaring some kind of sovereignty.

Yu Jiuyuan raised an eyebrow. On the system panel, Lin Yanran's favorability rating remained at 3, but his "negative" emotion value dropped from 30 to 25. It seemed that last night's reprimand had not been entirely ineffective; at least he had learned to use "reason" to disguise his arrogance.

“Officer Lin makes a good point.” Rong Shenghan spoke up at the right time, moving his suitcase aside to make room for Yu Jiuyuan. “However, Yuan’s strain is more important. President Xie and I can just squeeze into one car.”

He looked at Yu Jiuyuan, his peach blossom eyes curving into a beautiful arc, "What does the president think?"

This was a perfectly worded statement that gave Lin Yanran a way out, accommodated Yuan Xu's needs, and returned the final decision-making power to her.

Looking at the perfectly timed smile in his eyes, Yu Jiuyuan suddenly realized that the vice president's "unpredictability" was perhaps the most interesting thing about him.

“Do as the vice president says.” Yu Jiuyuan turned to Yuan Xu, her tone gentle. “Give me the incubator, I’ll hold it.”

Yuan Xu immediately handed over the incubator. Her fingers accidentally touched the back of her hand, and she pulled back as if burned, her ears turning slightly red: "Thank you, President."

Rong Shenghan watched the interaction between the two, his smile unchanged, and reached out to open the car door for Yu Jiuyuan: "Be careful on the road, President Xie and I will follow behind."

As the off-road vehicle drove away from the observation station, Yu Jiuyuan glanced at it in the rearview mirror.

Xie Zhecheng was standing next to the driver's seat of the second car, holding a route map in his hand, his brows slightly furrowed, obviously checking the navigation information.

Rong Shenghan stood beside him and said something. Xie Zhecheng's brows relaxed a little, and he turned his head to look at him. It was the first time Yu Jiuyuan had seen this aloof perfectionist show an expression of approval towards someone other than Xie Zhecheng.

“They seem to be having a good chat.” Yuan Xu suddenly spoke up, her gaze falling on the rearview mirror, her tone carrying a hint of barely perceptible confusion. “President Xie never used to chat with people casually.”

Yu Jiuyuan withdrew her gaze and looked at the winding snow road ahead: "Perhaps it's because of the aurora borealis in Changbai Mountain that everyone has become different."

She reached out and turned up the air conditioning temperature, the warm air dispersing the thin fog on the car windows. "How's your strain? Has it shown any stress reaction?"

When the topic of her professional field came up, Yuan Xu's eyes lit up immediately, and she began to explain the preservation technology of low-temperature strains in great detail, from cell membrane fluidity to the ratio of cryoprotectants, speaking as fast as if she were reciting a dictionary of biological terms.

Yu Jiuyuan listened quietly, occasionally responding with a word or two, but her gaze remained fixed on the snowy road ahead.

On the system panel, Yuanxu's favorability rating is slowly rising, and has already reached 71.

This young man, who is fascinated by the world of biology, is always easily drawn to professional topics and is always pleased by her patient listening.

Winning him over is like cultivating a rare plant; as long as you give him enough attention and a suitable environment, he can grow steadily.

As the car approached a bend, it suddenly encountered a section of thin ice. The driver jerked the steering wheel, and the car instantly skidded, hurtling towards a snowdrift on the side of the road.

Yuan Xu gasped in surprise, instinctively clutching the incubator to her chest and leaning towards Yu Jiuyuan.

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