After the holiday, the cherry blossoms were bathed in the warm sunshine of early spring, and the herbarium on the third floor of the library was filled with the scent of camphor and old paper.
When Yu Jiuyuan pushed open the wooden door, Xie Zhecheng was standing in front of the tall specimen cabinet, holding a silver pair of tweezers between his fingers, carefully placing a dried cherry blossom specimen into an acrylic box.
He wore a crisp white shirt with the cuffs rolled up to his forearms, revealing his well-defined wrists.
Sunlight streamed through the blinds and fell on his profile, gilding the edges of his gold-rimmed glasses with a light gold ring, and even the shadows cast by his eyelashes were so neatly arranged as if measured with a ruler.
"Is President Xie busy again?"
Yu Jiuyuan's voice was as light as a feather, and the glass jar she held made a soft rustling sound.
It contained cherry blossom honey that she had specially brought from home. A few whole petals floated in the amber syrup, which was made according to Xie Zhecheng's preferred sweetness ratio.
When Xie Zhecheng turned around, the tweezers were still hanging above the specimen box.
His gaze lingered on her for half a second, landing on her slightly open neckline, where there was a faint red mark, as if something had gently pecked her, creating a subtle contrast with her plain school uniform.
"The specimens for the spring flower show need to be reorganized."
He looked away, placed the tweezers back into the white porcelain plate with the precision of a miniature surgery, and said, "The soil pH report you requested last time is on the table by the window."
Yu Jiuyuan walked over, picked up the report, and traced his elegant handwriting with her fingertips.
Each set of data is marked with the measurement time and error range, and even the third decimal place is clearly visible, just like him, who cannot tolerate the slightest flaw.
"President Xie is still as meticulous as ever in his work."
As she turned around, she deliberately handed the glass jar to him, saying, "Here, this is for you. My mom made cherry blossom honey by hand, and she said it goes perfectly with your pour-over coffee."
She lied without blinking, but the blue thread on her pinky ring glowed slightly. Xie Zhecheng's positive emotions subtly shifted, like a small pebble being thrown into a calm lake.
Looking at the cherry blossoms in the glass jar, Xie Zhecheng suddenly remembered how she had been sketching a flower exhibition on the club table before the holiday.
The sunlight was just as bright then as it is today. Her hair brushed against the blueprints, leaving a faint shadow that overlapped with the petals in the jar, creating a dazzling effect.
"Thanks."
As he took the jar, his fingertips accidentally touched her palm, causing him to recoil as if electrocuted, a faint blush rising to his ears. "I'll try it," he said.
Yu Jiuyuan smiled so hard her eyes curved into crescents, and the blue light from her pinky ring shone even brighter. Xie Zhecheng's favorability rating jumped from 85 to 86, like a precise caliper recording this subtle change.
She knew this "perfectionist" prey all too well; his attraction was never a raging torrent, but rather a stream that accumulated little by little, requiring the most patient guidance.
“Oh, right,” she suddenly pointed to the empty space on the top shelf of the specimen cabinet, “isn’t there a missing specimen of the Venetian red rose?”
Xie Zhecheng looked up and, sure enough, saw that familiar spot was empty. He frowned almost imperceptibly: "It was here last week."
“I know where to find it.”
Yu Jiuyuan's voice carried a hint of smugness, "Yuan Xu's laboratory has a 19th-century replica, and he said he could lend it to us for exhibition."
She deliberately brought up Yuan Xu to observe Xie Zhecheng's reaction.
The blue line on the pinky ring turned a very faint gray, and the negative emotions faded away after only two seconds, like ripples that he had forcibly suppressed.
"I'll go talk to him." Xie Zhecheng's voice remained calm, but he turned and picked up his coat. "Are you free now?"
“Of course.” Yu Jiuyuan deliberately lagged half a step behind him as she caught up with him, watching his tall and straight back.
The sunlight cast long shadows of the two people, which occasionally overlapped, like an unfinished sketch.
Yuan Xu's laboratory was filled with the smell of disinfectant and nutrient solution.
When Xie Zhecheng explained his purpose, Yuan Xu was focused on observing the mycelium in the petri dish and didn't even look up: "It's in the third cabinet on the left. Take it yourself."
Yu Jiuyuan opened the cabinet first and tiptoed to reach the specimen box on the top shelf.
The hem of her white shirt was pulled up, revealing her slender waistline, which happened to fall into Xie Zhecheng's line of sight.
His Adam's apple bobbed, and he subconsciously turned his face away, but just as she was about to reach it, he reached out and took the box from her.
"Be careful." His voice was a little strained, and the coolness of the specimen box's edge still lingered on his fingertips.
"Thank you, President Xie."
When Yu Jiuyuan took the box, she deliberately let her fingertips linger on the back of his hand for half a second longer. The blue light of the pinky ring instantly became dazzling, and Xie Zhecheng's positive emotional fluctuations surged to 110, like a star that had been ignited.
On the way back, the two walked side by side on a path lined with cherry blossom trees.
The petals were blown down by the wind and stuck to Xie Zhecheng's shoulder. When Yu Jiuyuan reached out to brush them away for him, she smelled the faint scent of cedar on him, mixed with the sweet fragrance of cherry blossom honey, which was surprisingly harmonious.
“Actually,” she suddenly stopped and looked up at him, her eyes filled with a pure innocence like a thin veil, “I think President Xie is more difficult to ‘cultivate’ than the Venetian red rose.”
Xie Zhecheng stopped in his tracks, his gaze behind his gold-rimmed glasses falling on her face, filled with inquiry and a hint of barely perceptible tension: "What do you mean?"
“Because roses have a fixed growth cycle,” Yu Jiuyuan’s fingertips lightly traced the buttons on his shirt, her voice sweet and cloying, “and I can never figure out President Xie’s thoughts.”
Her pinky ring was pressed against his chest, and she could clearly feel his accelerating heartbeat.
Looking into her eyes, which were so close to his own, Xie Zhecheng suddenly felt that the carefully maintained "perfect" barrier was crumbling under her gaze.
"My thoughts..." His voice was terribly hoarse, but it was interrupted by a sudden ringing of a cell phone.
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