The winter break at St. Sakura Academy was quieter than usual.
The morning mist had not yet dissipated, and a thin layer of ice had already formed on the fountain pool in front of the teaching building. The tiny ice crystals reflected a cold light in the early morning sun.
Yu Jiuyuan walked on the stone path in her ankle-high snow boots, the soles of her boots crunching through the snow, the sound particularly clear in the empty campus.
Today she wore a long, off-white down jacket, the fur on the hood making her already innocent face even more gentle. She carried several documents she had just retrieved from the student council office, and her steps were as light as if she were walking on musical notes.
"President."
A familiar voice came from behind, carrying a deliberately soft and gentle tone.
Yu Jiuyuan turned around and saw Rong Shenghan standing under a ginkgo tree not far away. His dark gray coat was open, revealing a turtleneck sweater of the same color underneath. The elusive aura around him was somewhat neutralized by the winter chill, and instead showed a touch of genuine warmth.
He held two freshly printed report cards in his hand, tapping the edges lightly with his fingertips.
“I just got these from the registrar’s office,” he said, taking a few steps closer and handing her one of the sheets, his gaze falling on her nose, which was slightly red from the cold. “These are yours.”
Yu Jiuyuan took it, her fingertips inadvertently brushing against his fingertips. His temperature was higher than hers, like a heater brushing against ice.
She glanced down at her report card; the red stamps for perfect scores in all subjects stood out starkly against the white paper. A perfectly timed smile curved her lips: "Looks like I didn't slack off this semester."
“You never slack off.” Rong Shenghan’s tone was ambiguous, neither a statement nor a praise. His gaze went over her shoulder and toward the direction of the teaching building. “Xie Zhecheng is on the rooftop. He just went up.”
Yu Jiuyuan looked up and followed his gaze.
The door to the rooftop was half-open, and a tall figure could be vaguely seen leaning against the railing, his school uniform jacket fluttering in the wind. It was Xie Zhecheng.
He's always like this; he prefers to be alone on important days, as if he needs to confirm his perfection in absolute silence.
"Okay." She folded the report card and stuffed it into her down jacket pocket, her eyes already smiling as she looked up. "Vice President, aren't you going to come and take a look? After all, it's the last time the results will be released before winter break."
Rong Shenghan smiled, didn't reply, just waved to her, and turned to walk down another road.
His figure quickly disappeared into the morning mist, like ink stains on rice paper, blurring his traces. Yu Jiuyuan watched the direction he vanished, the smile in her eyes fading slightly, then replaced by a gentler expression, before she turned and walked towards the teaching building.
The wind on the rooftop was much stronger than downstairs, stinging one's cheeks. Xie Zhecheng stood with his back to the stairwell, clutching his report card in his hand, his knuckles turning white from the force.
He also achieved perfect scores in all subjects, but the perfection that should have brought him satisfaction now felt like a cold stone pressing on his heart.
Footsteps came from behind him, very light, yet precisely landing between his heartbeats.
"What are you looking at?" Yu Jiuyuan walked to his side and followed his gaze to the outside of the school. The distant city was covered with a thin layer of snow, and the buildings were like sleeping giants, quiet and without a ripple.
Xie Zhecheng turned his head and his gaze fell on her face.
A few snowflakes clung to her eyelashes, like a layer of broken diamonds, and her eyes, which always seemed clear and innocent, now reflected the gray of the entire sky.
He suddenly remembered the last debate of the semester. As the fourth debater for the opposing side, she used the softest tone to deliver the sharpest arguments. When she won the applause of the audience, she had the same expression, as innocent as a harmless dove, yet hiding claws that could accurately strike the heart of her prey.
"It's nothing." He looked away, stuffed the report card into his school uniform pocket, and his tone returned to its usual indifference. "Your grades?"
“Same as you.” Yu Jiuyuan smiled, took out her report card from her pocket and handed it to him. “Looks like we’re tied again.”
Xie Zhecheng took it, and his fingertips touched the warmth of her still lingering on the paper. Suddenly, the inexplicable irritation in his heart subsided.
He carefully examined every word on the report card, as if trying to find something different in those neat handwritings, but in the end, all he saw was perfection just like his own.
Looking at her profile at this moment, with stray hairs blowing in the wind and clinging to her cheeks, and a depth he couldn't fathom hidden in her seemingly innocent eyes, he suddenly felt that this wasn't so bad.
At least he could still stand by her side and watch her climb higher and higher, even if only as an opponent.
The two stood in silence for a while, as the wind gradually subsided. Yu Jiuyuan glanced at her watch: "It's time to go to the biology lab; Yuan Xu is probably getting impatient."
Xie Zhecheng nodded, watching her turn and walk towards the stairwell. Her white down jacket looked like a moving cloud on the gray rooftop.
As she reached the top of the stairs, she suddenly stopped, turned around, and smiled at him: "Happy winter break, Xie Zhecheng."
He paused for a moment, then tugged at the corner of his lips in response.
The biology lab was warm and cozy.
Wearing a white lab coat, Yuan Xu was squatting in front of the incubator, intently observing the culture medium inside.
His hair was a little messy, and his glasses had slipped down to the tip of his nose, but it didn't affect his concentration at all. Hearing the door open, he looked up, and his eyes behind the lenses instantly lit up.
“Jiuyuan.” He stood up, still holding a notebook with data in his hand. “Look, the batch of mimicry bacteria I cultivated has been successful. They can change color according to the ambient temperature.”
Yu Jiuyuan walked over and took a closer look at the incubator.
In the transparent culture medium, the tiny colonies indeed displayed different colors, like a handful of color-changing stars sprinkled on top.
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