A thin layer of ice had formed on the artificial lake at St. Sakura Academy. The December wind swept across the lake, carrying snowflakes that crashed against the observation tower of the Astronomy Club, making a whooshing sound.

Xie Zhecheng stood on the observation platform at the top of the tower, his fingertips tracing the cold telescope lens. The lens reflected the star map in his eyes, and also the familiar figure below.

Yu Jiuyuan was walking along the lake shore, her off-white coat making her look like a moving lily of the valley in the snow.

She was carrying an insulated bag when she stopped at the entrance of the biology lab building. Yuan Xu happened to push the door open and took the bag with a cautious yet joyful gesture, like a little animal being fed.

[Xie Zhecheng: Favorability 17 (unchanged), Emotional fluctuations - Negative 0/Neutral 5/Positive 105 (Positive +2)]

The system panel's notification sounds were exceptionally clear in the cold wind.

Xie Zhecheng withdrew his gaze. The sound of the focus knob being turned was as precise as a stopwatch, but the Orion Nebula in his field of vision inexplicably superimposed the image of her kissing him for the second time.

The way she tiptoed, the frequency with which her eyelashes brushed his cheek, even the 0.5-second pause when their lips touched—all of these seemed like forcibly implanted data, disrupting his sophisticated thought process.

"President, are the dresses for the welcome banquet ready?" A member's voice came from downstairs, carrying a hint of youthful gossip. "I heard the student council is discussing whether or not to have a uniform."

Xie Zhecheng remained silent and did not respond.

He opened his phone's photo album, the latest one being a long exposure of star trails over Changbai Mountain, but hidden deep within the album was a photo that had been mistakenly taken.

Yu Jiuyuan stood by the window of the observatory, her profile glowing in the moonlight, holding a piece of ice crystal in her hand as if examining some rare treasure.

This photo should have been deleted, just like those kisses that broke his rules. But he hovered his finger over the delete button three times before finally pulling it back.

The heating in the student council office was on full blast, and Yu Jiuyuan was checking the guest list for the welcome banquet on her computer.

She circled Lin Yanran's name in red pen. This guy got a complaint again this morning for leaving the invitation in the guard room, and he's probably hiding in some corner sulking right now.

[Lin Yanran: Favorability 3 (unchanged), Emotional fluctuations - Negative 25/Neutral 10/Positive 0 (Negative +1)]

As the system notification popped up, the office door was pushed open, and Lin Yanran, exuding a chill, barged in, her school uniform jacket still covered in snow.

He slammed an envelope on the table, the gold-embossed seal cracked, and his arrogant tone was laced with anger: "Xie Zhecheng asked me to pass this on, saying there's a mistake in some data regarding the banquet's proceedings."

Yu Jiuyuan picked up the envelope, pulled out the paper inside. Xie Zhecheng's handwriting was sharp as a knife. He marked a red line on the line "Champagne Tower load-bearing data" and wrote the correct value in small print next to it, accurate to two decimal places.

"Thank you, Officer Lin." She put the paper back in the envelope, her gaze calm as she looked up. "But next time you hand something over, you'd better be a little gentler. This envelope is made of Italian handmade paper, which is very easy to tear."

"Just a piece of paper." Lin Yanran scoffed, but subconsciously took half a step back. He had just seen Yu Jiuyuan draw a question mark next to his name when she checked the list. That look was even more frightening than his father's board resolution.

Yu Jiuyuan didn't reply. She opened her computer and modified the schedule. The sound of her typing was crisp and clear: "You'll be in charge of guiding the guests to their seats at the banquet next Wednesday. Remember to wear formal attire. Chairman Lin called specifically to say he wanted to see how 'sensible' you are."

Mentioning his father, Lin Yanran's face instantly darkened, but his clenched fist didn't slam down on the table. As he turned and slammed the door shut, his jacket zipper was zipped up perfectly—the first time he had voluntarily obeyed school rules.

Yu Jiuyuan stared at the closed door, her fingertips pausing on the keyboard.

The first step in taming is always making the prey aware of who sets the rules.

In the constant temperature incubation room of the biology laboratory building, Yuan Xu is using a microscope to observe a slice of the wing veins of an Aurora butterfly.

Yu Jiuyuan sat on the chair next to her, flipping through Tang Nianzhi's art collection. There was an oil painting in it, depicting the aurora borealis in London. The colors and the veins of the butterfly's wings were strikingly similar.

“Ah Yuan, look,” Yuan Xu suddenly turned the microscope toward her, “the forking angle of the wing veins is the golden ratio, just like the seed arrangement pattern of a sunflower!” His eyes shone with fascination, “The aesthetics of biology are truly amazing.”

Yu Jiuyuan leaned closer to the eyepiece; the pale purple veins of her wings looked like an abstract painting under the light. As she straightened up, Yuan Xu was taking pictures with his camera. Her profile was reflected in the lens, and he hurriedly pressed the shutter, his ear tips turning as red as if they had been scalded with hot water.

[Yuan Xu: Favorability 85 (unchanged), Emotional fluctuations - Negative 0/Neutral 12/Positive 101 (Positive +3)]

“Miss Tang will definitely like this.” Yu Jiuyuan picked up the photos he had taken. The wing veins on the screen were faintly visible next to her cheeks, like a gentle halo. “You can make these into an electronic photo album and play them on a loop at the banquet.”

Yuan Xu's eyes lit up, and she immediately picked up the computer and started operating it, her fingers flying across the keyboard.

Yu Jiuyuan watched his busy back as she picked up the hot cocoa on the table. It was made by Yuan Xu using biological fermentation technology, and the sweetness was just the right 70% for her. The temperature was always kept at the most palatable 65 degrees Celsius.

Pure intentions are the easiest to measure, and also the easiest to... become the most stable piece on the chessboard.

When Rong Shenghan pushed open the door to the student council office, he bumped into Yu Jiuyuan organizing the seating chart for the welcome banquet.

She wrote Xie Zhecheng's name diagonally opposite Tang Nianzhi, paused, crossed it out, rewrote it, and moved it two seats away from the head of the table.

"Arranging seats?" He walked over, picked up the list on the table, and his gaze lingered on Xie Zhecheng's name for half a second. "The president is very particular about seating arrangements."

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!