As soon as the evening study bell rang at Saint Sakura Academy, a cacophony of noise rose and fell in the corridor.
As Yu Jiuyuan walked out of the teaching building carrying a stack of student council documents, the cold air mixed with snowflakes hit her in the face. She subconsciously pulled her beige cashmere scarf tighter and buried half of her face in the soft fibers.
"President, wait a minute."
Rong Shenghan's gentle voice came from behind. Yu Jiuyuan turned around and saw him walking quickly towards her, carrying a roll of design drawings. The hem of his black coat was lifted by the night wind, making his figure appear even more upright.
The glow of the streetlights fell on his hair, like it was coated with a layer of fine gold leaf.
“The stage design for the New Year’s Eve party,” he handed her the drawings, his fingertips brushing against the back of her hand, leaving a slightly cool touch. “I didn’t have time to go into details during the meeting earlier, but look here…”
He pointed to the lower left corner of the drawing, "The original starry sky background with an LED screen was too ordinary. I contacted the Light and Shadow Studio, and they said they could use holographic projection technology. At that time, the entire stage will be like being enveloped by the Milky Way."
Yu Jiuyuan unfolded the blueprints and examined them closely. When her gaze fell on the holographic projection area he had marked, her eyelashes trembled slightly.
She remembered that Yuan Xu had written in the biology club's log last week that the principle of holographic projection is similar to the bioluminescence of fireflies, both of which form three-dimensional images through light refraction.
Hsieh Che-cheng's astronomy club happens to have a spare high-precision spectrometer that might be of help.
“That’s a great idea,” she said, a genuine smile playing on her lips as she looked up. “But wouldn’t setting up holographic projection equipment require professionals? I remember the technical director of Light and Shadow Studio is your cousin?”
Rong Shenghan smiled, tacitly agreeing with her statement: "Indeed, we can have him bring his team to provide on-site guidance. However, there is a problem: holographic projection requires a dark environment, and the stadium has too many overhead lights, so we may need to temporarily install blackout curtains."
“We can leave this to logistics,” Yu Jiuyuan quickly decided, drawing a circle on the edge of the drawing with her fingertip. “But the budget might be overrun, so we’ll have to ask finance for another loan.”
She paused, then turned to look at him. "Does the vice president think it would be appropriate to schedule a meeting with the finance director tomorrow afternoon?"
"I'll listen to the president." Rong Shenghan smiled gently, his gaze lingering on her face, half-hidden by her scarf, for two seconds. "The snow is getting heavier, shall I take you back to your dorm?"
Just as Yu Jiuyuan was about to nod, she caught a glimpse of a familiar figure standing under a camphor tree not far away.
Yuan Xu was holding a black insulated box, a thin layer of snow on her glasses, looking at them with a somewhat helpless expression.
"No need," she said lightly, pushing away the drawing tube Rong Shenghan offered. "I'm going to the biology club to pick up some things later, so I'll just stop by."
Rong Shenghan followed her gaze, his smile unchanged: "Then I'll go to the Academic Affairs Office to submit the report first."
As he turned to leave, he paused, then turned back and added, "I'll talk to the finance director about the holographic projection tomorrow."
Yu Jiuyuan smiled and agreed, and only after he had walked away did she turn around and walk towards Yuan Xu under the camphor tree.
"Have you been waiting long?" She brushed the snow off his shoulders, and when her fingertips touched his cold earlobe, he shrank back like a startled rabbit.
“No, it just arrived,” Yuan Xu handed the insulated box forward, her cheeks flushed an unnatural red. “This is… ginger milk curd that my mom sent, it’s warm. Didn’t you say you had a bit of a cough after we came back from Changbai Mountain?”
The moment the insulated box was opened, a sweet and warm aroma of ginger mixed with milk wafted out, dispelling the surrounding chill.
Looking at his nose, which was red from the cold, Yu Jiuyuan felt a slight sway in her heart. Yuan Xu's positive emotional value had jumped to 99 in the last few seconds and was now steadily standing there.
"Thank you, Yuanxu," she said, taking the insulated box and deliberately rubbing the back of his hand with her fingertip. "How did you know I was coughing?"
“That day in the student council office, you cleared your throat three more times than usual,” he said, his head bowed and his voice growing softer.
“I did some research. The gingerol in ginger milk can relieve throat discomfort, and…” He looked up, his eyes sparkling behind his glasses, “and there’s some honey added to the milk, from my own bees, so it’s absolutely all-natural.”
Yu Jiuyuan's heart felt as if it had been gently bumped by something.
She knew that Yuan Xu kept a box of Italian bees on her dormitory balcony, and that the two had argued in the student council last week because the bees stung Lin Yanran's hand.
"Are your bees alright?" She took the spoon and scooped up a mouthful. The warm, sweet and spicy flavor melted on her tongue, and the warmth flowed down her throat into her stomach.
“It’s nothing,” Yuan Xu quickly waved his hand. “That day, Lin Yanran went to tease the bees herself and even said she was going to throw away the beehives…” Mentioning Lin Yanran, he frowned, his tone clearly aggrieved.
Yu Jiuyuan couldn't help but laugh when she saw his sullen face: "Don't be angry. I've already asked Secretary Lin to sort out the expense reimbursement forms. That should keep him busy for two days."
She paused, then casually mentioned, "By the way, we're planning to use holographic projection as the background for the New Year's Eve party. Do you understand the principles behind it?"
Yuan Xu's eyes lit up instantly: "I understand! The imaging basis of holographic projection is the interference and diffraction of light, just like the double-slit interference experiment I showed you last time..."
He started talking non-stop, from Fresnel lenses to laser light sources, gesturing wildly as he got excited, not even noticing his glasses slipping down to the tip of his nose.
Yu Jiuyuan listened patiently, nodding occasionally in agreement. When he finally realized he had talked too much and stopped abruptly, she smiled and said, "It sounds so complicated. Could you help me with the equipment setup?"
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