Xie Zhecheng always sits by the window on the third floor of the library at Saint Sakura Academy.
When Yu Jiuyuan walked over carrying a stack of ancient manuscripts, he was using a silver bookmark to clip them into a 17th-century botanical atlas.
His fingertips hovered above the print of the red rose of Venice, and his gaze behind his gold-rimmed glasses was as focused as if he were conducting a precise experiment.
"President Xie is studying this again?" She gently placed the copy on the table, the wooden spine making a very soft sound as it hit the surface, just enough not to interrupt his concentration.
When Xie Zhecheng looked up, she was tilting her head to look at the print. Sunlight streamed through the blinds and fell on her hair, casting a pale golden halo around it.
She wore a pale white knitted cardigan today, with a pearl brooch pinned to the neckline.
It was the one he bought for her at the auction last time, and it's swaying gently with her breath right now.
“I’m checking the cultivation records from 1683.” He adjusted his glasses, his gaze falling on the copy in her arms. “Have you found the rare copy of the ‘Flora of the Sacred Cherry’ that you requested?”
“Yes, Yuan Xu borrowed it from the school history museum for me.” Yu Jiuyuan sat down next to him, deliberately moving her chair half an inch closer to him, their knees almost touching.
"However, a few pages are worm-eaten, and I can't quite understand the 18th-century Latin annotations."
She spread out the manuscript, her fingertips touching the blurry annotations, her nails neatly trimmed with a faint pink hue.
Xie Zhecheng's gaze lingered on that fair wrist for half a second before he picked up his pen: "It says here that the grafting temperature needs to be maintained at 18℃ and the humidity at 65%. The measuring tools at that time had a large error, so I'll convert it into modern data for you."
His penmanship, like the man himself, is so neat and precise that it resembles printed text, with even the angle of the numbers being perfectly uniform.
Yu Jiuyuan watched him write, resting her chin on her hand, and suddenly burst out laughing: President Xie, do you even need to measure the angle when writing 0?
Xie Zhecheng paused, a faint blush rising at the base of his ears: "It's just a habit."
“I like it.” Yu Jiuyuan’s voice was soft, like a feather brushing against the heart. “It’s even prettier than a printer.”
The system panel lit up in his mind, Xie Zhecheng's favorability rating jumped from 82 to 83, and his positive emotional fluctuation rose to 110.
Yu Jiuyuan subtly curled the corners of her lips, her fingertips lightly tracing the pages filled with his annotations: "Actually, the student council is organizing a spring flower show and wants to restore the rose varieties from when Saint Cherry was founded. Only President Xie can help me."
She tilted her head slightly to look at him, her eyelashes casting soft shadows under her eyelids, her eyes as innocent as a fawn seeking help.
This demeanor was completely different from how she had clung to Rong Shenghan and acted coquettishly in the villa last night, yet it still precisely struck at the man's weak spot.
Xie Zhecheng hesitated for a second before closing the bookmark: "Let me see the flower show plan."
"It's in my bag." Yu Jiuyuan "accidentally" knocked the pen off the table when she got up. As she bent down to pick it up, the tip of her hair brushed against the back of his hand.
She could feel his muscles tense up instantly, like a string being touched.
The brochure was covered with detailed hand-drawn sketches, with the number of petals for each rose clearly marked.
Xie Zhecheng suddenly stopped when he turned to the third page.
In the corner of that page was a small Venetian red rose, and next to it were written in pencil: "President Xie said this kind is the most difficult to cultivate."
His fingertips traced the line of words, leaving faint marks on the paper, clearly indicating that he had used force when writing.
"The soil pH here is calculated incorrectly." He pointed to the data in the plan, his voice softer than usual.
"I went to the lab this afternoon to test the soil samples from when the school was built. The pH value should be 6.2, not 7.0."
"Ah, I knew I'd make a mistake." Yu Jiuyuan looked annoyed, tapping her forehead with her fingertips.
"As expected, we still need to trouble President Xie."
She casually pushed the proposal booklet in front of him, her palm inadvertently covering the back of his hand.
His hands were cool, his knuckles were distinct, and he always held the pen with perfect posture.
She could feel the slight tremor in his fingertips, as if he was restraining something.
"I'll get you a soil sample from the club after school." As Xie Zhecheng withdrew his hand, his fingertips accidentally touched her palm, and he pulled back as if he had been electrocuted. "And... I'll help you revise the plan."
"That's great!" Yu Jiuyuan smiled, her eyes crinkling into crescent moons.
How about I treat President Xie to milk tea? The one from the handmade shop you mentioned last time.
She remembered all his preferences.
Milk tea should have 30% sugar and no ice, tapioca pearls should be cooked to 70% done, and even the straws should be biodegradable paper.
These details, like pebbles thrown into a lake, always create ripples in his seemingly calm heart.
Xie Zhecheng pushed up his glasses, concealing the emotions in his eyes: "Okay."
The afternoon sun slanted into the club activity room, and Xie Zhecheng's white coat was stained with some dirt.
As he handed the sealed soil sample to Yu Jiuyuan, she suddenly stood on tiptoe and brushed the grass clippings off his shoulder: "President Xie, how could you be so careless?"
The warmth of my fingertips seeped through the fabric, like sparks.
Xie Zhecheng paused, taking a half-step back, letting her hand rest on his shoulder. The scent of gardenias from her hair lingered in his nostrils, mingling strangely with the smell of disinfectant in the laboratory.
"The samples need to be placed in an incubator."
He looked away, his voice a little strained, "I've already labeled the storage temperature."
"Okay." Yu Jiuyuan took the sample box, then suddenly seemed to remember something and took out a small jar from her bag. "This is for you."
The jar contained handmade cookies, perfectly square in shape with neatly cut edges.
"I followed the recipe you gave me last time, and it took me three tries to bake it successfully." Her fingertips brushed against the metal rim of the jar, a hint of pride in her voice. "President Xie, would you like to try it?"
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
