Night falls early in Changbai Mountain; just after seven o'clock, the sky was completely dark.
The dormitory area of the observation base was lit up with lights, like fireflies scattered in the forest, enveloped by the sound of the pine trees, spreading out a warm yellow halo.
When Yu Jiuyuan came out of the shower, her hair was still dripping wet.
She sat by the window, drying her wet hair, her gaze passing over the bustling crowd below and landing on the observation deck, where the searchlights were blindingly bright. It seemed Xie Zhecheng was still struggling with those data.
On the system panel, his positive mood remained steadily at 93, like a pre-programmed sequence, stubborn and regular.
"Knock knock knock—"
When the knock sounded at the door, Yu Jiuyuan raised an eyebrow. Who could be looking for her at this hour?
"who?"
"It's me." Rong Shenghan's voice came through the door, as gentle as the moonlight outside the window. "I just made some ginger soup, thinking that you might catch a cold after spending so much time in the woods this afternoon."
Yu Jiuyuan put down the towel and went to open the door. Rong Shenghan stood at the door, holding a white porcelain bowl in his hand. The rising steam blurred his eyebrows and eyes, but it couldn't hide his smiling eyes.
He changed into a light gray loungewear set, which lacked the crispness of his daytime attire but instead exuded a lazy warmth.
"The vice president is even more considerate than the dormitory auntie." Yu Jiuyuan stepped aside to let him in, her tone slightly teasing.
The dormitory was a two-person room, and the other bed was empty because the member who was originally assigned to the room had something come up and couldn't come, which gave her some space to be alone.
Rong Shenghan placed the ginger soup on the table, his gaze sweeping over the star map spread out on the bedside table, his fingertips pausing unconsciously for a moment.
"President Xie's star map?"
"Yeah, I borrowed it this afternoon." Yu Jiuyuan picked up a towel and continued drying her hair. "Let's see how the star trails at Changbai Mountain are different from those at Saint Sakura Academy."
She was only half telling the truth. She did want to borrow the star chart, but what she really wanted to see wasn't the star trails; she wanted to see what kind of magic this thing held that could make someone like Xie Zhecheng so obsessed.
Rong Shenghan didn't expose him, but simply picked up the spoon on the table and gently stirred the ginger soup in the bowl: "It won't taste good when it's cold, drink it while it's hot."
Yu Jiuyuan walked over and took the bowl. Her fingertips touched the back of his hand, and the warm touch sent a jolt through her like an electric current.
She looked up and met his gaze. His eyes, which were always smiling, seemed to hold something else hidden in them, like ink soaked in the night, unfathomable.
"Thank you." She lowered her head and took a sip of ginger soup. The spicy warmth slid down her throat, soothing her entire body and making her feel relaxed.
“After Yuan Xu returned to her dorm, she kept talking about your lab,” Rong Shenghan suddenly said, pulling up a chair next to him and sitting down as casually as if he were at home. “She said she wanted to make a list of equipment, but was afraid of bothering you later.”
“He’s being very polite,” Yu Jiuyuan smiled. “But his experiments are really interesting. He’s very impressive to be able to find patterns in symbiotic fungi in moss.”
“You seem to admire him quite a bit.” Rong Shenghan’s voice was very soft, as if he were talking about something trivial.
“Appreciation and liking are two different things.” Yu Jiuyuan put down her bowl, looked up at him, her eyes clear and bright. “Just like I appreciate President Xie’s meticulousness, and I appreciate your…unassuming nature, that doesn’t mean I have to treat you any differently, does it?”
She deliberately spoke bluntly, as if laying her cards on the table, or perhaps testing the waters. When dealing with someone as calculating as Rong Shenghan, a direct approach is far more effective than a roundabout one.
Rong Shenghan looked at her and suddenly smiled. It wasn't his usual gentle smile, but a smile tinged with helplessness and understanding: "Yu Jiuyuan, you're always like this, making things too clear, which makes people feel... even more unable to understand you."
"So what if I see through you? So what if I don't?" Yu Jiuyuan retorted, her tone somewhat nonchalant. "Anyway, to me, you are all... very important people."
She emphasized the word "important," lingered on his face for two seconds, and then looked away, focusing on the starry sky outside the window: "Look, there are so many stars. If any one of them were missing, the night sky would seem incomplete."
These words were both ambiguous and frank, like a confession, yet also like playing tai chi. Rong Shenghan looked at her profile; the starlight outside the window fell into her eyes, bright as shattered diamonds, yet cold as ice.
He suddenly realized that his earlier statement that he "couldn't see through her" was actually wrong. He could see through her calculations, her weighing of options, and even the deep-seated indifference in her eyes.
But ironically, it was precisely these things he could see through that fascinated him.
"Then which star do you think I am?" Rong Shenghan's voice was low, carrying a dangerous allure. "Am I Betelgeuse in Orion, or Sirius?"
Yu Jiuyuan turned her head, and the distance between the two instantly closed.
She could smell the faint woody scent emanating from him, mingled with the warmth of ginger soup, creating a reassuring aroma. Yet, his smiling eyes concealed an unmistakable sharpness.
“You…” she drawled, her fingertip lightly touching his chest, “are like the one hidden behind the nebula, unremarkable in appearance, but when you shine, you can outshine all the other stars.”
The touch of her fingertips came through the thin loungewear, carrying her warm body temperature. Rong Shenghan's breath hitched, and he grasped her wrist, the grip not strong, but with an air of unyielding control.
"And what about you?" His gaze lingered on her lips before quickly shifting to her damp hair. "And which star is Miss Yu?"
“Me?” Yu Jiuyuan laughed, took his fingers in her hand, and gently traced her fingertips across the back of his hand as if teasing him. “I am the brightest North Star. No matter how you revolve, you will eventually revolve around me.”
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