On the afternoon of the seventh day at Changbai Mountain, the sun became exceptionally generous, warming the wooden boardwalk of the observation base.
Yu Jiuyuan sat on a bench outside the observatory, flipping through an introductory astronomy manual in her hand. She had "borrowed" it from Xie Zhecheng's bookshelf that morning, and the edges of the pages still had a faint scent of ink, indicating that it had been carefully read many times.
The system panel lit up in my mind, and Xie Zhecheng's negative emotions, represented by a single red dot, stung my eyes like a grain of sand that hadn't been properly removed.
Rong Shenghan's 88 is as stable as a piece of warm jade, and even his favorability rating of 63 exudes a vibrant and eager energy.
Yu Jiuyuan's fingertips traced the illustrations of the "Zodiac" in the handbook, a playful smile curving her lips. It seemed that the jealousy of a perfectionist was even harder to dispel than that of Rong Shenghan.
"The president seems to have a lot of free time."
A familiar voice sounded from behind, with a slightly cold quality, like chilled mineral water.
Yu Jiuyuan turned her head. Xie Zhecheng was standing a few steps away, holding a black folder in his hand. His dark gray windbreaker was zipped up straight, and even the buttons on his collar were fastened tightly. He still looked as meticulous as ever.
But the eyes that looked at her were not as calm and still as usual; something was hidden deep within them, like stars obscured by clouds, sometimes bright and sometimes dim.
"President Xie is the one who truly 'makes the station his home'." Yu Jiuyuan closed the booklet, moved aside to make room for half of the bench, and asked, "Shall I sit?"
Xie Zhecheng hesitated for half a second, then walked over and sat down, deliberately keeping a fist's distance from her. He placed the folder on his lap, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing the metal clasp on the edge, making a soft "click" sound.
"What are you looking at?" he asked, his gaze fixed on the handbook in her hand, his tone devoid of emotion.
“Your book.” Yu Jiuyuan waved the handbook, her smile open and honest. “I passed by your dorm this morning and saw it on your desk, so I borrowed it to take a look. I didn’t expect that President Xie not only studies data but also reads this kind of ‘beginner’ stuff.”
She deliberately emphasized the words "beginner level," and sure enough, she saw a slight blush rise to Xie Zhecheng's ears.
"It was... bought a while ago." His voice was a little muffled. "I forgot to put it away."
“It’s quite nice.” Yu Jiuyuan turned to the page with the bookmark, which had a drawing of the Big Dipper’s handle pointing in different directions. Next to it were a few lines of neat handwriting, indicating the angle of the Big Dipper in different seasons. It was obviously written by Xie Zhecheng himself. “Look here, the markings are clearer than in the textbook.”
She handed him the book, her fingertips accidentally brushing against the back of his hand. Xie Zhe pulled his hand back abruptly as if he had been burned, and the folder fell to the ground with a "thud," scattering its pages all over the floor.
"Sorry." Yu Jiuyuan immediately bent down to pick them up, but she was a step slower than Xie Zhecheng. He almost pounced on them, his fingers frantically gathering the scattered papers, his ears turning so red they were almost bleeding.
Seeing his disheveled state, Yu Jiuyuan's mind raced with calculations. Once a perfectionist's sense of order is broken, it's like a crack appearing in a dam—it's difficult to mend it later.
"It was my fault." She picked it up as well, her fingertips brushing against a piece of draft paper with star trails drawn on it. Next to the curves, a small "鸢" (yuan, kite) was written in pencil, crossed out by heavy ink lines, but its outline was still discernible.
Yu Jiuyuan's heart skipped a beat, but she calmly stuffed the paper at the bottom and handed it back to Xie Zhecheng along with the other papers.
"Th-thank you." Xie Zhecheng took the folder, his fingers trembling so badly that he clutched it tightly, not even aligning the cover properly, as if protecting some secret.
On the system panel, his negative emotions suddenly disappeared, while his positive emotions, like a candle flame being blown by the wind, suddenly surged to 95, and even his neutral emotions, which were 12, decreased by 2 points.
Yu Jiuyuan raised an eyebrow. It seemed that the crossed-out character "鸢" was the key.
“Actually…” she suddenly began, her voice very soft, as if she were whispering something, “I saw the Orion Nebula when I watched the sunrise yesterday.”
Xie Zhecheng suddenly looked up, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes, followed by undisguised excitement: "You saw M42? The launch nebula there has a pale reddish tinge in the morning light, it's quite rare..."
When he started talking about astronomy, he forgot his earlier embarrassment, and his speech quickened. He even unconsciously gestured the shape of nebulae in the air with his fingertips. His profile looked particularly vivid in the sunlight, and even his cold, icy exterior cracked with a gentle crease.
Yu Jiuyuan listened quietly, nodding occasionally, or asking at the right time, "Can our spectrometer measure its chemical composition?", which always accurately elicited more from him.
Looking at the positive mood on the panel, which was stable at 95, she suddenly realized that Xie Zhecheng, this "stubborn rock," was actually easier to warm up than she had imagined, as long as she found the right "star path" for him.
“Oh, right,” Yu Jiuyuan suddenly remembered something, her tone light, “We’re going back tomorrow, isn’t the Astronomy Club having a bonfire party tonight? Can I go and join in the fun?”
Xie Zhecheng's words caught in his throat, and the excitement on his face froze instantly. He looked into Yu Jiuyuan's bright eyes, which seemed to hold the starlight of Changbai Mountain, and he couldn't bring himself to refuse.
"...Okay." He finally nodded, his voice so low it was barely audible.
"That's great!" Yu Jiuyuan smiled, like a child who had received candy. "I've never been to a bonfire party before."
Her excited expression made Xie Zhecheng's heart skip a beat.
Looking at her cheeks, slightly flushed from the sun, he suddenly realized that allowing her to attend the bonfire party might be the least "perfect" yet most anticipated decision of this trip to Changbai Mountain.
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