The library of St. Sakura Academy is always filled with the scent of old books and cedar in the afternoon.
As Yu Jiuyuan's fingertips traced the gold-embossed spine of the book and stopped on the hardcover copy of "A History of Urban Land Planning," she heard the soft sound of pages turning behind her.
Xie Zhecheng sat by the window, with a thick set of architectural blueprints spread out on his lap.
He pushed a black folder towards us, its metal clasp gleaming coldly in the sunlight: "The risk assessment for the East City plot has been supplemented according to the dimensions you mentioned last time."
The reports in the folder were bound with sharp edges, the borders of the data tables were drawn straight with a ruler, and even the page numbers in the footer were aligned with the margins.
Yu Jiuyuan turned to the last page. Xie Zhecheng's signature was as neat as printed text, with the completion time marked to the minute: 2:17 AM.
"Did you stay up all night to do this?" She looked up, her eyelashes casting a soft shadow beneath her eyes, her tone carrying just the right amount of concern. "Isn't the astronomy club's observation report also due for a deadline?"
Xie Zhecheng paused on the drawing paper, the ink spreading into a tiny dot.
He seemed quite unhappy with the mistake, carefully covering it with correction tape before speaking: "The two things don't conflict." His gaze behind his glasses fell on the report between her fingers, "The data model has three variables that need adjustment, which I've marked in red."
Yu Jiuyuan flipped to the marked area and, sure enough, saw several red marks, so forceful they almost tore the page. She suddenly chuckled, "Xie Zhecheng, do you think helping me with these things goes against your principles?"
“This is a transaction.” Xie Zhecheng closed the blueprints, his voice calm and even. “You helped me interpret the observation data, and I provided the evaluation report. It’s an equal exchange, in accordance with the rules.”
“Is that so?” Yu Jiuyuan marked the corner of the report, her fingertips inadvertently tracing the words he had written in his annotations. “But I remember you never accept any additional conditions beyond ‘equivalent exchange’.”
When she looked up, her eyes were clear and bright. "For example... I could ask you to accompany me to a charity gala?"
Xie Zhecheng's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.
Last week, Yu Jiuyuan casually mentioned Su Jingshu's dinner invitation. At the time, he only said "I'm not available," but in today's report, he included an aerial view of the Chengdong plot. On the back of the view, the architectural structure of the dinner venue was written in pencil, and even the location of the fire escape was clearly marked.
[Xie Zhecheng: Negative emotions -2 (currently 26), Positive emotions +2 (currently 17)]
As the system notification sounded in her mind, Yu Jiuyuan had already closed the folder: "I will read the report carefully. The banquet starts at seven o'clock. Just wear a formal dress. I've had someone send your measurements to the tailor."
Xie Zhecheng watched her get up and walk away, then suddenly spoke: "The Su family has a hidden stake in the western part of the city." His voice remained calm. "It wasn't mentioned in the assessment report because there's no concrete evidence, but..."
“But your intuition tells you something’s wrong, right?” Yu Jiuyuan turned around, her smile as innocent as a harmless cat. “A perfectionist’s sixth sense is often more accurate than data.”
As she walked to the bookshelf to return the book, her phone vibrated twice in her pocket. It was a message from Rong Shenghan, containing only a photo: at the entrance of the construction site in the west of the city, a truck bearing the Su family logo was unloading goods.
The blinds in the student council office were drawn low. Rong Shenghan placed a cup of hand-drip coffee in front of Yu Jiuyuan, the brown liquid with a layer of fine foam floating on the surface.
“The Su family is moving faster than expected.” He leaned against the edge of the table, the cuffs of his white shirt rolled up to his elbows, revealing a faint scar on his wrist. “Lin Yanran went to see Su Jingshu’s brother, Su Mingyu, yesterday.”
Yu Jiuyuan gently stirred her coffee with a small spoon: "The Su family wants to use the Lin family's shell to enter the East City Market, but they don't want to expose themselves." When she looked up, her gaze fell on Rong Shenghan's scar. "The vice president can even find out Su Mingyu's schedule. His connections are wider than I imagined."
"I just happen to know a few friends who work in logistics." Rong Shenghan casually picked up the student roster on the table, his fingertip tracing a name. "But the president doesn't seem surprised at all?"
“Xie Zhecheng just gave me an ‘incomplete’ evaluation report.” Yu Jiuyuan pushed her coffee cup in front of him. “Isn’t it more interesting when perfectionists deliberately leave loopholes than when they say them directly?”
Rong Shenghan's gaze lingered on the report for a moment, then he suddenly chuckled: "So, the president asked Xie Zhecheng to accompany you to the banquet because he wanted him to be your shield?"
“No shield is as effective as Xie Zhecheng.” Yu Jiuyuan stood up and walked to the French windows. The clock tower of Saint Sakura Academy was ringing the afternoon tea bell.
“The Su family wants to test the Yu family’s bottom line, so I have to show them some ‘sincerity,’ for example, by bringing Xie Zhecheng, who has no interest in a business marriage.”
Hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor as Yuan Xu burst in, carrying a glass jar filled with fireflies that emitted a faint green glow. "President!" he cried, his cheeks flushed, "I've deciphered the glowing gene sequence you requested!"
The gene fragments on the drawing were highlighted in bright colors with fluorescent markers, and a simple firefly was drawn along the edge. When Yu Jiuyuan took the drawing, her fingertips brushed against the back of his hand, and she could clearly feel his muscles tense up instantly.
[Yuan Xu: Affection +2, currently 45]
"You even marked the regulatory sequences?" she exclaimed in amazement, her gaze falling on a small drawing in the corner of the drawing. "This firefly looks a lot like the specimen you gave me last time."
Yuan Xu's ears immediately turned red, and her fingers gripping the glass jar tightened: "Actually... the antennae were drawn based on your profile."
As soon as he said it, he lowered his head in annoyance, "I'll go to the lab and refine the data."
As he turned to leave, Rong Shenghan suddenly spoke up: "Yuan Xu's brother is the R&D director of a biopharmaceutical company, right?"
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