As the morning sunlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains, Yu Jiuyuan was sitting at her dressing table, applying makeup.
Her clean profile was reflected in the bronze mirror. She gently tucked a stray hair behind her ear with her pinky finger, when she suddenly heard the soft clinking of porcelain from downstairs.
She put down her eyebrow pencil, stepped barefoot onto the soft carpet, and walked to the top of the stairs to look down.
Lin Yanran stood at the kitchen doorway, holding a shattered glass in his hand, shards scattered at his feet. He frowned, his ears turning red, clearly having been caught red-handed by Rong Shenghan, who had just entered the kitchen.
"Your hand isn't hurt?" Rong Shenghan's voice was emotionless as he bent down to pick up the broken pieces.
"No need." Lin Yan took a half step back, her tone still firm. "I'll do it myself."
Yu Jiuyuan leaned against the railing, watching him clumsily squat down. He didn't even notice that his finger had been cut by a sharp shard until a drop of blood dripped onto the beige floor tiles, at which point he abruptly pulled his hand back.
"So clumsy." She chuckled, turned around, went back to her room to get the first-aid kit, and stomped downstairs in her slippers.
Lin Yanran was still struggling with the wound when she was suddenly grabbed by the wrist, and she froze.
Yu Jiuyuan half-squatted in front of him, her head bowed as she gently wiped his wound with an iodine swab, her movements unusually meticulous. Sunlight fell on her long eyelashes, casting a small, gentle shadow.
"This is just a minor injury..." Lin Yanran wanted to say that it wasn't necessary to go to such trouble, but she was interrupted by Lin Yanran raising her eyes.
"Your wound is infected. Are you planning to skip the student council's tree-planting activity tomorrow?"
She raised an eyebrow, her tone serious and leaving no room for argument, "Or do you want everyone to see that the young master of the Lin family can't even hold a cup properly and has hurt himself?"
These words struck a nerve with Lin Yanran.
He hates it when people tell him he's no good, especially in front of her.
So he obediently shut his mouth and let her wrap the wound with gauze. His fingertips accidentally brushed against the back of her hand, and he recoiled as if he had been burned.
"Alright." Yu Jiuyuan straightened up and threw the used cotton swab into the trash can. "Have the servants clean up the fragments. Go and get ready. We'll leave for the suburban forest in half an hour."
Lin Yanran hummed in response, and as she turned around, her steps faltered, almost causing her to bump into the door frame.
Rong Shenghan stood not far away watching this scene, his fingers gently stroking the rim of his coffee cup, a faint smile flashing in his eyes, so fleeting as to be almost imperceptible.
The forest farm on the outskirts of the city is full of new seedlings, and the wind at the end of April carries the fragrance of grass and trees, making people's noses itch.
The student council members divided into several groups to plant trees. Yu Jiuyuan, as the president, was shoveling soil around the newly planted saplings when she suddenly heard a dispute coming from not far away.
Lin Yanran got into an argument with the head of the publicity department.
That minister was a troublemaker. Relying on his family's old grudge against the Lin family, he spoke with barbs: "Officer Lin can't even hold a sapling steady? He really is a pampered young master. Coming to a place like this is just causing trouble."
Lin Yanran's hand gripping the shovel was bulging with veins, and her face was so dark it could drip water: "Say that again?"
"Did I say something wrong?" the minister scoffed. "I heard your dad put you in the student council to temper your bad temper. I think..."
Before he could finish speaking, Yu Jiuyuan coldly interrupted him: "Minister Zhang, I still haven't received the activity summary I asked you to submit last week. Do you think the student council's rules don't apply to you?"
Minister Zhang's expression changed, and he awkwardly shut his mouth.
Yu Jiuyuan didn't look at him, but instead looked at Lin Yanran and found that the sapling he was supporting was indeed crooked, and the pit was also dug a little too shallow.
She didn't say anything, but walked over, picked up the shovel from his hand, and demonstrated how to dig the hole deeper and adjust the angle of the sapling. Her movements were swift and efficient.
“Watch closely.” She turned to look at him, sunlight filtering through the leaves and falling on her face, her smile bright. “Planting trees is like managing people; you have to make sure the roots are firmly planted before they can grow tall.”
As Lin Yanran watched her back as she bent over to pile soil, her anger inexplicably dissipated.
He suddenly realized that what she had just said seemed to be more than just teaching him how to plant trees.
During the lunch break, everyone sat on the grass and ate their lunchboxes.
Yu Jiuyuan opened the sandwich that Rong Shenghan had specially made for her that morning. She had just taken a bite when she noticed Lin Yanran holding a convenience store rice ball, frowning and struggling to eat it. He had never been used to eating these kinds of fast food.
She thought for a moment, then handed over her sandwich: "Want to change?"
Lin Yanran was stunned: "You're not eating?"
“Rong Shenghan made two for me.” She waved the other one in her hand, smiling frankly, “I don’t really like this tuna one.”
She actually really liked the tuna flavor, but she noticed Lin Yanran staring at someone else's sandwich for a couple of seconds.
Lin Yanran looked at the exquisitely packaged sandwich, then at the composure in her eyes, and almost unconsciously took it, stuffing her own rice ball into her hands: "This... is seaweed flavored, it's alright."
Yu Jiuyuan took the rice ball, broke it in half, and handed it back: "Let's share it, I can't finish it by myself."
The two sat side by side under the shade of a tree, neither of them speaking, yet there was a strange unspoken understanding between them.
Lin Yanran took a bite of the sandwich, the soft bread mixed with the fresh aroma of tuna spreading on his tongue. He suddenly remembered the way she sat on the edge of the bed reading a book last night, and his heart started racing again.
As I returned to the city in the evening, a light rain began to fall.
The car stopped in front of the villa, and Yu Jiuyuan was about to get out when Lin Yanran called her back.
"Um..." He clutched the hem of his shirt, seemingly a little nervous, "Thanks for today."
Yu Jiuyuan, holding an umbrella, turned to look at him. Raindrops dampened her hair, and her eyes shone like fallen stars: "Thank me for what? For teaching you how to plant trees, or for giving you a sandwich?"
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