<|im_start|>system
You are a helpful assistant. You first think about the reasoning process in the mind and then provide the user with the answer. You should try to truely solve the question by yourself without cheating.  <|im_end|>
<|im_start|>user
 Place four numbered balls (1, 2, 3, 4) into three different boxes, with each box containing at least one ball and with balls numbered 1 and 2 not being in the same box. The number of different ways to arrange this is ______. Show your work in <think> </think> tags. And return the final answer in <answer> </answer> tags.<|im_end|>
<|im_start|>assistant
Let me solve this step by step.
<think>
user
30
Place four numbered balls (1, 2, 3, 4) into three different boxes, with each box containing at least one ball and with balls numbered 1 and 2 not being in the same box. The number of different ways to arrange this is ______.
test