As soon as the evening self-study bell rang at Saint Sakura Academy, Yu Jiuyuan closed the student council meeting minutes notebook.
The snow started falling again outside the window at some point, and the fine snowflakes hit the glass like countless tiny grains of salt jumping around.
Her fingertips traced across the table, where four freshly prepared assignment sheets for the end-of-term party lay, each name marked with a different symbol.
Star trails, butterflies, fountain pens, silver patterns—like unique labels attached to each person.
"President, it's Ms. Tang Nianzhi on the phone."
The staff member handed over the internal phone, her tone somewhat cautious, "She said she wanted to ask about the specific schedule of the party, and also... wanted to check the music list with Vice President Rong."
Yu Jiuyuan answered the phone with ease, her fingertips pausing for half a second on the dial button: "Hello, Nianzhi?"
"Jiuyuan!" Tang Nianzhi's voice was filled with joy, and the sound of a piano could be heard in the background.
"Brother Shenghan said the background music for the party hasn't been decided yet. I brought some sheet music from the London Symphony Orchestra and wanted to choose some with him. You don't mind, do you?"
“Of course I don’t mind.” Yu Jiuyuan’s voice was as gentle as the winter sun. “Vice President Rong is currently in the technical department adjusting the lights. Shall I have him go find you?”
She paused, then added, "By the way, Yuanxu's fluorescent butterflies are sensitive to high-frequency sound waves, so please avoid high notes above A when selecting music. Thank you for your help."
After hanging up the phone, Yu Jiuyuan looked at the snow falling outside the window, a barely perceptible smile curving her lips.
She recognized the piano music on the other end of the phone; it was the Chopin Nocturne that Xie Zhecheng often played. Tang Nianzhi probably didn't know that the climax of this piece was in the high notes of A.
Rong Shenghan: Favorability rating 84→87, Emotional fluctuations—Negative 1/Neutral 8/Positive 92 (Positive +5)
The system panel's notification sound echoed softly in my mind.
Yu Jiuyuan picked up the assignment sheet and walked confidently toward the technical department.
An unpredictable hunter is never most concerned with the prey's disguise, but rather with whether the prey will fall into someone else's trap.
In the lighting control room of the technical department, Rong Shenghan was staring at the spectral analysis chart on the computer screen.
The red and blue curves intersect violently in the high-frequency band, like two snakes locked in combat.
Red represents the optimal light wave for celestial projection, while blue represents the sensitive wavelength for fluorescent butterflies. To achieve balance, someone must make concessions.
"Busy?" Yu Jiuyuan's voice came from the doorway, holding a cup of hot cocoa. "Tang Nianzhi said you were here."
When Rong Shenghan looked up, his gaze lingered on the half-scarf peeking out of her coat pocket. It was the same off-white cashmere scarf that Lin Yanran had brought that afternoon, exactly the same as the one she had worn last year in Changbai Mountain.
His action of turning off the spectrum graph was very natural: "I was looking at the lighting parameters. Xie Zhecheng insisted that the star trail projection must use 6500K cool white light, but Yuan Xu was worried that the butterflies would be stressed."
Yu Jiuyuan placed the hot cocoa beside him and traced the spectrum on the keyboard with her fingertips: "I had the technical department add a filter that can suppress the wavelength of cold white light to 5800K, which will not affect the clarity of the star trails, nor will it stimulate the butterflies."
As she turned her head, strands of her hair brushed against the back of his hand, carrying a faint scent of white tea. "It's like... always finding a distance that makes everyone feel comfortable."
Rong Shenghan's action of grasping her wrist was sudden, his fingertips landing precisely on the faint mark left from her last IV drip: "And you? What distance makes you most comfortable?"
His gaze was as deep as a frozen pool. "Was it in the snow of Changbai Mountain, or... by the fireplace last night?"
Rong Shenghan: Favorability rating 87→90, Emotional fluctuations: Negative 1/Neutral 8/Positive 92 (Positive +7)
Positive sentiment is rising with a strong sense of aggression.
Yu Jiuyuan didn't pull her hand away. Instead, she leaned forward, her warm breath brushing against his ear: "Guess?"
As she turned to leave, Rong Shenghan watched her retreating figure and suddenly chuckled softly.
The spectrum on the computer screen was still flashing, and the red and blue curves finally met at 5800K, as if they were forcibly twisted into a rope by an invisible hand.
He picked up the hot cocoa and took a sip; the temperature was just right.
65 degrees Celsius was her most comfortable temperature, and it was also a secret he had quietly kept for her.
In the astronomy club's observation deck, Xie Zhecheng was using a laser pointer to mark the position of Orion on a star chart.
The ginger tea on the corner of the table had gone cold, and water droplets condensed on the cup, as if someone had cried on it.
He traced his fingertip across a star on the star chart, marked "HDb," an exoplanet known as a "hot Jupiter" with an orbital period of only 3.5 days, much like someone's fickle and unpredictable affections.
"President Xie." Yu Jiuyuan pushed open the door, bringing with her a chill from the wind and snow. "The technical department said the focus of the astronomical projection needs fine-tuning. Would you like to go take a look?"
The moment Xie Zhecheng looked up, the red dot of the laser pointer landed precisely on her chest, where the coat pocket was, and the corner of her off-white scarf could be vaguely seen.
He quickly moved the laser pointer away, his voice somewhat stiff: "The parameters are all calculated according to the standard, there's no way there could be a mistake."
"Ke Yuanxu said that when the butterfly flies over the projection area, the star trails will appear as double images."
Yu Jiuyuan walked to the star map and pointed her finger at "HDb". "Just like this star, it is clearly in its own orbit, but it is always disturbed by the gravity of other stars."
Her fingertips were fair and slender, and the trajectory of her fingers on the star map was like drawing an invisible line.
As Xie Zhecheng watched the line stretch from "Hot Jupiter" to Earth, he suddenly remembered the second time she kissed him. She had also used her fingertips to trace his tie in the same way, with a touch as light as a feather, yet it had left a deep mark on his heart.
[Xie Zhecheng: Favorability rating 46→51, Emotional fluctuations—Negative 0/Neutral 5/Positive 105 (Positive +8)]
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