The snow in Changbai Mountain always carries an undeniable chill.
As Yu Jiuyuan walked towards the observation station through knee-deep snow, a layer of fine white frost had already formed on her eyelashes.
She heard the soft crunch of snowflakes behind her, but without turning around, she heard Yuan Xu's voice, tinged with excitement: "President, look at the lichen samples I collected! They're still active at minus twenty degrees Celsius, their cell wall structure must be special..."
She stopped and turned around. Yuan Xu held a transparent specimen box in her hands, which were red from the cold, and inside was a layer of grayish-green flakes.
The boy's glasses were fogged up, and his breath almost completely obscured the lenses when he spoke. Yu Jiuyuan took a piece of velvet cloth out of her pocket and handed it to him: "Clean your glasses first, otherwise you'll squint when you look at the star chart later."
Yuan Xu nodded and obediently took the piece of cloth. He paused for a moment when his fingertips touched the velvet; the material was cashmere and still carried the warmth of being warmed from his pocket.
Yu Jiuyuan had already turned around and continued walking forward, her voice drifting over through the wind and snow: "After the observation is over, I'll have my family lab set up a low-temperature incubator for you so you can take the samples back for research?"
"Really?" Yuan Xu's voice suddenly rose, and as he quickly caught up, he held the specimen box even tighter.
"Thank you, President! I've checked Saint Sakura's lab equipment; the temperature range is only down to -5 degrees Celsius, while the lichens in Changbai Mountain require at least -18 degrees Celsius..."
Yu Jiuyuan turned her head to look at him. The boy's eyes shone brighter than the snow when he talked about biology, and the fine snowflakes falling on his hair looked like a handful of stars.
She smiled and said, "I'll take care of the equipment. But in exchange, when we observe Orion tonight, I'll have to trouble Yuanxu to tell me the details of the nebula's evolution."
Yuan Xu nodded immediately, her eyes behind her glasses curving into crescents: "No problem! I've compiled thirty pages of notes, I guarantee it will be more detailed than the astronomy club's materials."
On the system panel, Yuan Xu's favorability rating jumped slightly and stopped at 68.
The wooden cabin at the observatory was bathed in a warm yellow light.
When Yu Jiuyuan pushed open the door, the warmth mixed with the scent of pine wood wafted out.
Rong Shenghan was sitting by the fireplace flipping through an observation manual when he heard the noise. He looked up and smiled: "The president is back? President Xie was just asking you if you need any help with the equipment debugging."
She took off her snow-covered coat and hung it by the door. Her gaze swept across the room. Xie Zhecheng was standing by the window adjusting the binoculars. His profile looked even colder and harder in the reflection of the snow. The way his fingertips turned the knobs on the instrument was as precise as a programmed sequence.
Lin Yanran sat on the sofa in the corner with her legs crossed, holding a student council attendance sheet in her hand. Her brows were furrowed so deeply they could trap a mosquito, clearly still resentful about being forced to do chores in this freezing weather.
“President Xie’s equipment doesn’t need anyone else’s help.” As Yu Jiuyuan walked to Xie Zhecheng’s side, she deliberately let the ends of her hair brush against the metal bracket of the telescope.
Xie Zhecheng paused for half a second while adjusting the focus, then turned to look at her, his eyes devoid of emotion: "The wind speed exceeds eight meters per second, so tonight's observation may have to be postponed."
“But the clouds are moving very fast.” Yu Jiuyuan pointed out the window, where the distant clouds were rushing by like torn cotton wool. “I checked the weather satellite data, and there will be a window of opportunity between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m.”
She reached out and pressed a few buttons on the control panel, and the real-time wind speed curve on the screen began to slowly decrease. "And I asked the team at home to temporarily procure a wind-resistant support frame, which will be delivered later."
Xie Zhecheng's gaze fell on her fingertips that had pressed the button.
Those hands, always so soft and gentle, with neatly trimmed nails, now precisely anticipated his unspoken concerns. His Adam's apple bobbed, and his hard jawline seemed to soften slightly: "Thank you."
[A system notification sounded softly in my mind: Xie Zhecheng, favorability 8, positive emotions +2 (currently 50).]
Yu Jiuyuan didn't miss the fleeting moment when his fingertips brushed against the back of her hand as he turned around. That touch was like snow falling on charcoal, so quick it was almost cold, yet enough to throw a perfectionist's rhythm off track.
"President, this place is so crappy that the heating is intermittent. Why should I be responsible for compiling last month's student council minutes?"
Lin Yanran's voice suddenly burst from the corner. He slammed the attendance sheet on the coffee table, his silver-gray hair slightly disheveled by the radiator. "My dad made me come to the student council to be a member for you, not to go to jail in Changbai Mountain."
When Yu Jiuyuan looked at him, the smile on her face faded a little.
She walked to the sofa, picked up the crumpled piece of paper, and gently smoothed out the creases with her fingertips, but her tone was one of unwavering certainty.
“Officer Lin, the rules of the Saint Sakura Student Council don’t say ‘you can refuse to work at the observatory.’ If you’re feeling cold,” she looked up at Rong Shenghan by the fireplace, “Vice President, could you please get Officer Lin a spare blanket?”
Rong Shenghan smiled and responded, then got up to rummage through the cabinet for a blanket.
Lin Yanran watched Yu Jiuyuan tidying up the documents with her head down and suddenly felt irritated. The girl's profile looked very soft in the warm light, but the calmness in her eyes was more frightening than the snow outside the window.
His father said that Yu Jiuyuan was the most powerful heir of the Yu family. He used to think that the old man was just trying to scare people, but now he realized that this woman really had the ability to leave people speechless.
"The blanket is here." Rong Shenghan draped a camel-colored blanket over Lin Yanran's shoulders, his tone as gentle as if he were chatting about the weather.
"As a new member of the student union, Lin may not be used to it yet. Actually, the president is even stricter with herself. Last time, when we were preparing for the school anniversary gala, she stayed up for three nights in the office revising the program schedule."
Lin Yanran's shoulders stiffened slightly.
He glanced at Yu Jiuyuan; the girl was signing the attendance sheet with her head down, the scratching sound of the pen on the paper particularly clear in the quiet wooden house. He didn't speak, but he also didn't throw the blanket away again.
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