The warm touch and the smiling words fell at the same time, and Xie Zhecheng's body instantly froze.

The skin around his ears flushed a light red at a visible speed, and even his breathing faltered. He instinctively took a half-step back, creating some distance, his eyes filled with bewilderment at being jolted off his rhythm.

This was the first time Yu Jiuyuan had seen him lose his composure.

She was calculating in her mind, but her face showed just the right amount of grievance, like a rejected child: "Isn't that too much? I'm sorry, I just thought... President Xie must have a very handsome smile."

She lowered her eyes, her long eyelashes obscuring the emotions within them, her shoulders slumped slightly, making her look exceptionally dejected.

Xie Zhecheng looked at her like this, and his Adam's apple bobbed. He wanted to say "no," but then felt it was inappropriate. He wanted to say "don't be silly," but then he saw the redness in the corners of her eyes, perhaps from the wind, or perhaps from something else.

The perfectionist's sense of order cracked at this moment, and he didn't know how to deal with this sudden, somewhat aggressive intimacy.

"No." He heard his own voice was a little dry. "It wasn't that bad."

Yu Jiuyuan suddenly looked up, her eyes instantly lighting up like the sun after a rainstorm: "Then..."

Before she could finish speaking, a commotion suddenly erupted from the other side of the observation platform. Several club members bumped into each other while playing around, and one of them lost his balance and fell straight towards Yu Jiuyuan.

"careful!"

Xie Zhecheng almost instinctively reached out and put his arm around Yu Jiuyuan's waist.

A soft body bumped into my arms, carrying a faint scent of gardenias, which seemed out of place in the chill of Changbai Mountain.

Yu Jiuyuan placed her hand on his chest and could clearly feel his heartbeat suddenly accelerating, like a drumbeat, making her fingertips go numb.

She looked up and met his unfathomable eyes. Those eyes no longer held his usual cold indifference, but instead churned with surprise, panic, and a hint of panic he himself didn't even realize…

The blue light from the silver ring began to pulsate wildly—positive emotion 80.

Yu Jiuyuan's heart skipped a beat, not from excitement, but from the anticipation of a successful hunt. She looked at his lips, so close to hers, which were tightly pressed together but now slightly parted, as if he wanted to say something.

Right now.

Without hesitation, she tiptoed and gently kissed him.

A very light kiss, like a feather falling on snow, fleeting in an instant.

Xie Zhecheng's pupils suddenly contracted, and he froze on the spot as if he had been frozen in place.

The sweet scent of her lip gloss lingered on his lips, carrying a hint of peach fragrance. It went against all the order, rules, and perfection he knew, yet it was like a spark thrown into a wasteland, instantly igniting some hidden emotion.

Yu Jiuyuan had already stepped back, her cheeks flushed, her eyes darting away, avoiding his gaze, like a child who had done something wrong: "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to, it was too sudden just now..."

Her voice was choked with sobs, and her fingers nervously twisted the zipper of her windbreaker, looking flustered and helpless.

The surrounding noise seemed to have stopped. Xie Zhecheng stared at her reddened eyes and trembling lips, his mind blank.

He wanted to say "It's okay," but then felt it wasn't right; he wanted to say "Don't do that again," but found that his throat felt blocked and he couldn't make a sound.

Only the silver ring was flashing a blue light wildly—positive sentiment was 90, and it was still rising.

Yu Jiuyuan lowered her head, but a faint smile appeared on her lips that no one could notice.

Very good, Xie Zhecheng.

You see, the only way to tame a perfectionist is to conform to their rules.

And then there's breaking it with your own hands.

The wind was still blowing from the observatory, carrying the scent of pine needles and dispelling the brief moment of stagnation. The club members in the distance were still discussing the star map, oblivious to the brief but thrilling interlude in the corner.

Xie Zhecheng finally regained his voice, only to find that the warmth of her waist still lingered on his fingertips.

Looking at the girl in front of him with her head down and her shoulders trembling slightly, he felt for the first time that this trip to Changbai Mountain might be even more difficult for him to control than observing star trails itself.

Yu Jiuyuan's hand, hanging at her side, gently grasped the silver ring.

The strategy has taken another big step forward. As for that shooting star that just streaked across the night sky, who remembers whose wish it carried away?

Anyway, she doesn't remember.

All she remembered was the warmth of Xie Zhecheng's lips and the rare, human touch in his eyes when he lost control.

This is the most interesting part of the "Taming Manual".