Chapter 1464: A Bit Unable to Understand Myself

"You envy me?"

"Yeah, without anyone to like, the heart is free; that's a good thing."

Jiang Chenghao was truly envious.

But to prevent Xu Xiaoxiao from misinterpreting his intentions again, Jiang Chenghao stared unblinkingly into Xu Xiaoxiao's eyes.

He wanted to use his gaze to convey sincerity.

Only, from Xu Xiaoxiao's perspective...

This had nothing to do with sincerity; it was just a straight-up, intense stare!

It made Xu Xiaoxiao feel completely uncomfortable!

Xu Xiaoxiao did not meet his gaze either, just lowered her eyes and said casually, "Whether one is free or not depends on one's own choices, and you, right now, are simply imprisoning yourself."

Don't look at this as just something Xu Xiaoxiao said off the cuff.

Jiang Chenghao felt... deeply enlightened!

At this moment, Jiang Chenghao truly felt that he had completely underestimated Xu Xiaoxiao before.

In his impression, Xu Xiaoxiao was straightforward, honest, and loyal.

But these were all very superficial things, ones that could be felt upon a first meeting.

Only after interacting with her attentively would one discover that she was quick-witted, sharp-eyed, possessed solid professional knowledge, and spoke with substance.

Jiang Chenghao felt he should meet with Xu Xiaoxiao more often.

Perhaps, he could return to a normal life sooner!

Thinking this, Jiang Chenghao smiled and extended an invitation to Xu Xiaoxiao: "Let me treat you to a meal."

This request... left Xu Xiaoxiao's mind blank.

Her lips moved, and by instinct, she replied: "Sorry, I ate too much popcorn just now, I'm not hungry."

"I see... then whenever you feel like it, I'll ask you again."

"Alright then."

"Then, do you need me to take you back?"

"No, it's not far from where I live, I'll walk back."

Several rejections made

Jiang Chenghao's enthusiasm wane by half.

He nodded slightly and said: "Then... take care on the way, goodbye."

"Okay."

Jiang Chenghao smiled, then turned and left.

As for Xu Xiaoxiao, she stared at Jiang Chenghao's back and suddenly let out a breath.

Then, her whole person seemed like a deflated balloon, instantly wilting.

At this very moment, Xu Xiaoxiao regretted it!

What was she thinking just now? In her heart, she clearly wanted to have a meal with Jiang Chenghao!

Even if they didn't eat together, going home together would have been fine!

By constantly rejecting him, Jiang Chenghao might think she was just acting aloof!

Sigh, what a blunder, what a blunder!!

Xu Xiaoxiao was incredibly depressed.

She couldn't even understand herself anymore.

But Xu Xiaoxiao's sense of loss did not last long.

Upon returning home, she received a work email.

After clicking it open, Xu Xiaoxiao had her full attention captured.

Once she finished reading, she called the director in charge of this project: "What's the situation with the form you sent me?"

"Oh, it's a survey questionnaire. The school is preparing to launch a course on love and mental health. Before the course starts, we need to produce a survey report, and as for the data needed for the report, it must be collected through questionnaires."

"So, you sent this questionnaire to me—don't tell me you want me to fill it out?"

"Not just that; every one of us teachers has a task, we need to complete one thousand questionnaires."

One thousand?

That quantity was not small.

However...

Xu Xiaoxiao thought of something and hurriedly said: "Just let the students do the survey; I remember our school has five thousand students."

"Hmm, that's a good idea, but someone has already gotten there first; you'll have to think of another way."

This result

made Xu Xiaoxiao sigh.

Afterward, she said quite regretfully: "Why didn't you notify me sooner, so I could have been the one to get there first!"

"You were finally having a day off, so I didn't want to disturb you. Besides, telling you earlier wouldn't have helped; Teacher Zhang and Teacher Sun knew about it before I did, and the resources were already carved up."

The director felt helpless, and Xu Xiaoxiao felt even more helpless than him.

She had been working on a project with a team recently and spent little time at school.

Otherwise, based on her connections and sharpness at school, she definitely would have secured a prime share of the resources!

And now...

Xu Xiaoxiao had a bad premonition: "Director, this questionnaire... surely we aren't expected to go to the street and stop passersby to fill it out, right?"

"Well... that is also an option. There are many people in the park on weekends; going there is both relaxing and allows you to finish your work—killing two birds with one stone, haha!"

The director's laughter was especially fake; he probably knew himself just how unreliable this idea was.

Besides, how much data could one even get from squatting there for a whole day?

Filling out two hundred forms would be considered a lot.

And one's precious weekend time would be thrown away too!

No, this won't do!

Xu Xiaoxiao hung up the phone and began to brainstorm.

Hmm, don't say it doesn't work; brainstorming was actually useful, and Xu Xiaoxiao had already thought of a way!

Xu Xiaoxiao suddenly sat up straight on the sofa, her eyes shining as she took out her phone and began editing a message.

Once the message was sent, Xu Xiaoxiao let out a long sigh of relief.

Whether or not she could keep her weekend would depend on whether her good friend came through!

The next day—

As soon as Qin Yiyan returned home, he heard laughter coming from the room.

With every breath, he could also smell the rich aroma of chicken soup.

This

kind of warm feeling made the corners of Qin Yiyan's mouth soften involuntarily.

When he walked into the living room, he discovered that Xu Xiaoxiao was there too.

And at this moment, Xu Xiaoxiao was vividly recounting something, making Liu Xin'ai and Chi Rong laugh until their eyes curved.

Qin Yiyan curled his lips and smiled, saying, "Xiao Xiao is here."

Xu Xiaoxiao stopped her eloquent flow of speech and replied, "Yes, I came to visit Auntie and chat with Xin'ai."

"Then what are you all chatting about? Why are you all laughing so happily?"

This time, it was Chi Rong who explained with a smile: "Just now, Xiao Xiao was telling us funny stories from her school; it was really hilarious. Oh, I've laughed until I've got wrinkles."

As Chi Rong spoke, she raised her hand to touch the faint lines on her forehead.

Xu Xiaoxiao watched for a moment, then suddenly clapped her hands and said with annoyance, "Look at me, I actually forgot about a good thing!"

Her words drew everyone's attention.

Then, Xu Xiaoxiao said mysteriously, "Our school's research institute collaborated with a biotech company to develop a brand-new Beauty Device. The results are super amazing; I'll bring one over for Auntie later!"

"Those kinds of devices are very expensive. Just tell me the brand, and I'll buy it myself."

"You can't buy it outside because it hasn't hit the market yet, and it doesn't cost me anything to get one. It currently needs internal testing; you just need to connect the machine to the internet and upload the data."

Chi Rong nodded gently and then smiled, "Then thank you in advance."

"You don't need to thank me. Actually, whether it's scientific research products or research projects, they all rely on data support. Mr. Qin must have deep feelings about this aspect."

As she spoke, Xu Xiaoxiao looked at Qin Yiyan with a sincere expression.

Qin Yiyan did not expect the topic to circle back to

himself. He raised his eyebrows slightly, then nodded and said, "That's correct."