The afternoons at St. Sakura Academy are always warm and languid.
The blinds in the student union office were adjusted to the most suitable angle, which could block the glaring sunlight while allowing soft light to filter in and fall on the open documents.
Yu Jiuyuan sat behind her desk, her fingertips tracing the budget report for club activities. Suddenly, she looked up at Lin Yanran across from her and said, "This venue application is too messy. Rewrite it."
Lin Yanran frowned, picked up the report and glanced at it: "Where is it sloppy? I think it's quite clear."
His handwriting was indeed not neat, even bordering on ostentatious sloppiness, just like his personality.
Yu Jiuyuan didn't speak, but instead took a pen from the pen holder and circled several correction marks on the report: "Student council documents of Saint Sakura are not allowed to have any corrections. Rewrite it, in regular script."
Her tone was calm, yet carried an undeniable air of authority.
Lin Yanran looked at her serious profile, and swallowed the rebuttal that was on the tip of her tongue. She took the report in a sullen voice and said, "I understand."
As he turned to leave, Yu Jiuyuan suddenly said, "There's an etiquette class this afternoon, come with me."
Lin Yanran turned around abruptly: "I'm not going! Those classes are so boring!"
"Your dad sent you to the student council just to toughen you up?" Yu Jiuyuan raised an eyebrow. "How can you be a member if you can't even learn basic etiquette?"
These words struck a nerve with Lin Yanran.
He clenched his fists, but ultimately said nothing more, only letting out a heavy "humph" before turning and walking out of the office.
Looking at his awkward back, a smile flashed in Yu Jiuyuan's eyes.
This is the way to deal with someone like Lin Yanran who only responds to force and not persuasion.
It's a way of both disciplining him and making him feel like it's for his own good.
Not long after, Xie Zhecheng pushed the door open and came in. He was wearing a neatly pressed white shirt and was holding a final plan for a joint club activity. He placed it on Yu Jiuyuan's desk: "It's been revised according to what you said yesterday. Take a look."
The layout of the proposal was so neat it looked like a printed product, and every word looked like it had been measured with a ruler, revealing his unique perfectionism.
Yu Jiuyuan flipped through a few pages, her fingertip pausing at a certain spot: "Isn't the time arrangement here too tight?"
“I’ve calculated it, and it’s entirely feasible.” Xie Zhecheng’s voice remained calm. “I’ve included a five-minute buffer time for each step.”
“But participants are not machines; they need rest.”
Yu Jiuyuan looked up at him, her eyes serious. "You reduced the tea break from fifteen minutes to ten minutes. It may seem like you've improved efficiency, but it will actually affect the quality of the activities that follow."
Her analysis was incisive, accurately pointing out the humanistic details he overlooked due to his pursuit of perfection.
Xie Zhecheng was silent for a moment, then nodded: "You're right, I'll change it."
Seeing him pick up a pen to make changes, Yu Jiuyuan suddenly said, "Don't be late for the Japanese food tonight."
Xie Zhecheng paused for a moment, but without turning around, he softly hummed in agreement.
The response was soft, but it was enough for Yu Jiuyuan to understand that he remembered.
As Rong Shenghan walked in, she saw Xie Zhecheng's departing figure.
He held two cups of coffee in his hand, placed one in front of Yu Jiuyuan, and asked with a gentle smile, "What are you talking about?"
“Let’s discuss the event plan.” Yu Jiuyuan picked up her coffee and took a sip; it was her favorite slightly sweet flavor. “President Xie’s plan is very detailed, but he’s too meticulous.”
“He’s always like this.” Rong Shenghan sat down next to her, his gaze falling on her fingertips, which were slightly red from being burned by the coffee cup. He subtly pushed his iced Americano towards her. “Change to this one, it’s cold.”
Yu Jiuyuan didn't refuse. She picked up her iced Americano and took a sip. The coolness slid down her throat, suppressing the inexplicable heat in her heart.
"I have an etiquette class this afternoon, could you help me organize this document?" She pushed a stack of club application forms to him, speaking as naturally as if she were instructing her assistant.
Rong Shenghan raised an eyebrow: "The student council president also enslaves the vice president?"
"Otherwise, what's the point of hiring you as vice president?" Yu Jiuyuan looked up at him, a sly smile in her eyes. "Or are you trying to slack off?"
"I wouldn't dare." Rong Shenghan chuckled softly, picked up the documents and began to organize them, his fingertips moving swiftly and elegantly across the paper.
The two stayed quietly for a while, the only sounds in the office being the rustling of papers turning and the occasional chirping of birds outside the window.
Yu Jiuyuan looked at Rong Shenghan's serious profile and suddenly remembered the message Yuan Xu had sent that morning, saying that the fluorescent bacteria he cultivated would glow at night and that she must go and see it.
"Tonight..." She was about to say something when the office door was pushed open and Ji Nianqin walked in.
He was wearing a beige casual suit, holding a hardcover book in his hand, and had a warm smile: "Jiuyuan, I've come to return the book I borrowed from you last time."
Yu Jiuyuan stared at the book "Stray Birds" in his hand, and only then did she remember that he had borrowed it under the pretext of the opening ceremony.
Before she could speak, Rong Shenghan had already put down the documents, stood up, and smiled gently but with a hint of aloofness: "Student Ji, this is student council office hours. Please discuss personal matters after class."
“It’s just returning a book, it’s not a personal matter, is it?” Ji Nianqin looked at Yu Jiuyuan and handed her the book. “I’ve made some annotations in there, Jiuyuan can take a look, maybe you’ll have some new ideas.”
His tone was natural, but his actions carried a deliberate intimacy, as if there was a tacit understanding between them that others could not comprehend.
Yu Jiuyuan took the book, her fingertips touching his, and she withdrew her hand as if burned, a standard smile appearing on her face: "Thank you, I'll read it. If there's nothing else, you can go back now, we still have work to do."
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