The December wind whipped up fine snowflakes that slapped against the windowpane, leaving fleeting white streaks.
Yu Jiuyuan held the thin application form in her hand, her fingertips still lingering on the cool touch of Xie Zhecheng's cheek, like touching a carefully chilled piece of jade, carrying his unique, cold pine scent.
She walked unhurriedly through the corridor, her shadow stretched long under the corridor lights, the end of which gently brushed against the gold-plated signboard of "Saint Sakura Academy Student Council" on the wall.
The application form was for the Astronomical Society to report the damage to the Changbai Mountain observation equipment. Xie Zhecheng's handwriting, like the man himself, was sharp yet so neat that not a single mistake could be found, and even the decimal point after the numbers was accurate to the millimeter.
"President."
Footsteps sounded behind her. When Yu Jiuyuan turned around, Lin Yanran was standing not far away with his hands in his pockets, his school uniform jacket open, revealing a black turtleneck sweater underneath.
He has high brow bones and slightly upturned eyes. His gaze always carries a hint of spoiled arrogance, like a cat whose claws have just been clipped but hasn't yet learned to conceal its sharpness.
"Officer Lin," Yu Jiuyuan raised her hand and waved the form in her hand, her smile faint but just right, "the equipment application form, just put it on my desk later."
Lin Yanran scoffed, took a few steps over, and shoved the folder in her arms: "The miscellaneous affairs of the student council are more troublesome than the family rules my dad gave me."
His gaze swept over the corner of her lips, paused, and his tone carried a hint of probing, "Just now at the entrance of the Astronomy Club, Xie Zhecheng's face looked like someone had stepped on his tail."
Yu Jiuyuan ran her fingertips along the edge of the folder, her voice gentle: "President Xie has high standards for work, perhaps he's dissatisfied with the wear and tear on the equipment."
When she looked up, her eyes were clear as if they were filled with the light of snow. "But you, there are three formatting errors in this event plan. If you continue to be so perfunctory, I'll have to read it aloud at next week's meeting."
Lin Yanran's face instantly darkened, and his negative emotions jumped on the system panel, rising from 15 to 17. He gritted his teeth, and as he turned around, a gust of wind swept through him: "Understood."
Yu Jiuyuan watched his figure disappear at the top of the stairs before turning her gaze away. The system panel flashed in her mind:
[Xie Zhecheng: Favorability 17, Emotional Fluctuation - Negative 0/Neutral 5/Positive 100]
That sudden kiss just now worked!
Hsieh Che-cheng, a perfectionist who is cold to the point of being rigid, can't stand losing control.
She was certain he would be stunned, and that he wouldn't react on the spot, because in his eyes, maintaining appearances was more important than anything else.
That bit of positive emotion probably stemmed from the shame and annoyance of being offended, yet he had to admit that she had precisely struck the most sensitive nerve in his otherwise undisturbed life.
When I opened the office door, a faint smell of disinfectant mixed with the warmth of the heater hit me.
Yuan Xu was lying on the lab table by the window, holding a dissecting needle in her hand, with a few transparent butterfly wings floating in the petri dish in front of her.
He wore gold-rimmed glasses, had long eyelashes, and when he was focused, the tip of his nose would twitch slightly, like a bee burying its head in a flower petal.
“Ah Yuan,” he said softly without looking up, “the butterfly pupa we brought back from Changbai Mountain has hatched. Look at these wing veins, don’t they look a lot like the Orion Nebula?”
Yu Jiuyuan walked over and followed his gaze.
The pale blue butterfly wings shimmered with a pearly luster under the light, their veins delicate yet resilient, indeed bearing a striking resemblance to the Orion Nebula image on the astronomy club poster.
She lightly tapped the edge of the petri dish with her fingertip: "It's prettier than the Nebula."
Yuan Xu's ears turned red, and the positive emotion on the system panel jumped to 98.
He put down the dissection needle, turned to look at her, his glasses slipped down to the tip of his nose, revealing his clear eyes focused on the biological world: "Xie Zhecheng just came to deliver the application form, and he had a really sour face."
"Yes, several pieces of equipment broke, and he was heartbroken."
Yu Jiuyuan pulled out her chair and sat down, opening Lin Yanran's flawed proposal and circling the errors with her pen.
"Does your biology club want to send someone to the Changbai Mountain debriefing meeting next week? I heard the astronomy club took a lot of star trail pictures, which might be helpful for your circadian rhythm research."
Yuan Xu nodded immediately, her eyes lighting up: "Can I bring a recorder? I want to test the stress response of butterflies under different lighting conditions."
“Of course.” Yu Jiuyuan smiled, her pen pausing on the paper. “By the way, where’s the vice president?”
"I saw him and Tang Nianzhi walking towards the coffee shop this afternoon," Yuan Xu said, then lowered her head to fiddle with his butterfly wings.
Yu Jiuyuan's hand holding the pen remained still. The snow outside the window had intensified, turning the distant pine trees into a blurry white.
On the system panel, Rong Shenghan's favorability rating remained at 64, but the positive value in the emotional fluctuations section had mysteriously dropped by 2 points.
She recalled the direction she had glimpsed out of the corner of her eye at the entrance of the astronomy club.
Rong Shenghan stood under a camphor tree not far away, Tang Nianzhi was smiling with her arm linked with his, and his gaze, through the falling snowflakes, fell on the moment when he and Xie Zhecheng touched.
What was hidden in those eyes that always held a gentle smile back then?
Is it the indulgence that comes with a 64-point favorability rating, or is it a subtle crack hidden beneath the 2-point reduction in positive emotions?
Yu Jiuyuan's lips curved into a smile as she signed her name on the last page of the proposal, her handwriting delicate yet carrying an undeniable strength.
As the pen left the paper, she whispered, "Yuanxu, please file this application form for me."
The snow outside the window fell heavier and heavier, enveloping the entire Saint Sakura Academy in a silent white blanket.
Inside the office, in the warm, cozy atmosphere, the application form held between her fingers seemed to retain three layers of temperature: Xie Zhecheng's coldness, Rong Shenghan's depth, and her own quiet, all-encompassing warmth.
Games are never just a fleeting experience.
The winds of Changbai Mountain have stopped, but some things are only just beginning to ferment.
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