Chapter 1540: Must Be a Substitute

"I threw it in the trash can."

Hearing this, Xu Xiaoxiao, who had just been talking about maintaining a calm state of mind, widened her eyes.

She asked in a hurried tone, "Why did you throw it away? It could bloom again next year!"

"There's already a new one, so why keep the old one?"

Wang Sinian did not understand Xu Xiaoxiao's train of thought.

He felt that this thing was just like fresh flowers; only the beautiful, vibrant ones had any reason to exist.

As for withered branches, they had to be thrown away.

But in Xu Xiaoxiao's view, the significance of that flower branch was different.

Replacing the peach tree with the plum tree was only temporary; what had truly accompanied the old professor for many years was the original flower branch.

Deceiving the old man was already enough to make her feel guilty.

How could Xu Xiaoxiao just watch as the original flower branch was thrown into the trash can?

So, without another word, Xu Xiaoxiao went straight to the large trash can at the end of the hallway to rummage through it.

Fortunately, the flower branch was still there.

There was no new trash covering it.

Xu Xiaoxiao carefully picked up the flower branch, preparing to find another pot to plant it properly.

Sigh, to think this flower branch was once a treasure carefully tended by someone.

Yet, once it reached Xu Xiaoxiao, it suffered all sorts of misfortunes.

If this flower branch could talk, it would surely jump up and point at Xu Xiaoxiao's nose to scold her.

Xu Xiaoxiao shook her head, mocking herself.

Immediately after, she remembered there were empty flower pots in the storage room, so she went to look for one by herself.

Xu Xiaoxiao was quite lucky and found one quickly.

As for the soil...

She would just have to go to the flower garden and dig some up.

Xu Xiaoxiao took advantage of the time when there were few people around and snuck to the flower garden.

She looked left and right, and seeing no one was paying attention, she quickly dug a few times with a small iron shovel.

However, just as Xu Xiaoxiao was feeling guilty like a thief, her phone rang.

This gave Xu Xiaoxiao a fright!

Xu Xiaoxiao hurriedly answered the phone and lowered her voice: "Hello?"

"Uh, are you in a meeting?"

The person calling was Cai Xiaotang.

Hearing this low voice, she thought Xu Xiaotang was currently in an inconvenient situation to talk.

It was indeed inconvenient for Xu Xiaoxiao, but... it was certainly not the kind Cai Xiaotang was thinking of.

Clearing her throat, Xu Xiaoxiao returned to her normal tone and asked, "Do you need something?"

"Yeah, just asking you how things are going with the flower."

Xu Xiaoxiao looked down at the flower pot and said, "I've managed to deal with it for now; next, it depends on whether the original flower branch can bloom again."

Cai Xiaotang did not know exactly what had happened.

She only thought that Xu Xiaoxiao had found a substitute from Liu Xin'ai.

She breathed a sigh of relief for Xu Xiaoxiao and then said, "Doesn't Jiang Chenghao like tinkering with flowers and plants? Let him take a look for you."

Xu Xiaoxiao had actually thought about asking Jiang Chenghao as well.

But the incident happened so suddenly that she hadn't had the chance to consult him yet.

Now, Xu Xiaoxiao sighed deeply and muttered, "When I have some free time, I will ask him."

Xu Xiaoxiao's voice was very low, which made Cai Xiaotang a bit confused, so she asked, "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing, just a bit tired."

"Have you had a lot of work lately?"

"It's alright, I can handle it; it's just that sometimes I suddenly feel tired," Xu Xiaoxiao thought for a moment and added, "mentally tired."

Mentally tired?

Cai Xiaotang thought of something and asked, "Is it easy for psychology experts to be affected by taking in too many negative emotions?"

"Yes, but we have ways to resolve it ourselves."

"Well, you still can't be careless; negative emotions are very good at finding loopholes, and if you're not careful, it's easy to fall for them."

Cai Xiaotang said this very seriously.

Xu Xiaoxiao found it novel and asked, "Why are you so insightful?"

"I wasn't in a good mood before, so I bought some psychology books to study, but it doesn't count as an insight; that's a direct quote from the book."

Well, that quote... was certainly blunt enough.

Xu Xiaoxiao took a long breath and then said, "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine after a rest, really."

Hearing this, Cai Xiaotang didn't say anything more.

After hanging up the phone, Xu Xiaoxiao took a photo of the withered branch, planning to send it to Jiang Chenghao after getting off work.

However, this flower could not be left in the office.

Xu Xiaoxiao thought for a moment and decided to temporarily put the flower in the storage room and take it home after work.

But when she walked out of the school, Wang Sinian followed her.

He stared at the thing in Xu Xiaoxiao's hand and said in surprise, "You actually went and found it."

Xu Xiaoxiao couldn't be bothered to speak, so she didn't make a sound.

But Wang Sinian had something to say.

He tilted his head to look at the woman beside him and asked, "I did you a huge favor today; shouldn't you treat me to something?"

"Treat you to what, drinking? Sorry, I don't go to bars."

Wang Sinian clicked his tongue and then said, "I don't go lately either; I go straight home after work!"

"Oh, then your grandfather must be very gratified."

Xu Xiaoxiao said it very insincerely, and Wang Sinian almost lost his temper.

But he held it back and even huffed, "Don't change the subject, treat me to a meal!"

"But didn't you say that flower was meant to compensate me in the first place? Since that's the case, why treat you to a meal?"

Xu Xiaoxiao's flat tone actually left Wang Sinian speechless.

But Wang Sinian didn't want to give up, so he continued to pester her: "Why are you so stingy? Just tell me, are you treating me or not!"

"Not treating you, I'm going home to rest."

Xu Xiaoxiao knew Wang Sinian all too well.

Could he just be after a simple meal?

He would definitely take the opportunity to annoy Xu Xiaoxiao.

Xu Xiaoxiao was truly tired today, and she didn't want to bring trouble upon herself!

Wang Sinian had clearly sensed Xu Xiaoxiao's refusal.

Yet he didn't give up; instead, he deliberately misinterpreted her meaning: "You mean, eat at your place? That works too!"

Xu Xiaoxiao stopped abruptly and said in a pleading tone, "But I can't! Wang Sinian, please let me go!"

The other party's attitude made Wang Sinian's brows knit deeply.

He asked, "Why are you making an expression like you've run into a flood or a wild beast?"

Because... Wang Sinian was exactly that flood and wild beast!

However, Xu Xiaoxiao didn't want to say more.

At this moment, she really wanted to go home and rest, rather than spend her energy playing mind games with Wang Sinian.

Thinking this, Xu Xiaoxiao stepped forward and walked away.

And Wang Sinian continued to follow behind Xu Xiaoxiao like a tagalong.

But after only a few steps, Xu Xiaoxiao in front suddenly paused.

Because she stopped so suddenly, Wang Sinian bumped into her.

Wang Sinian frowned in dissatisfaction and questioned, "What's wrong with you, why did you slam on the brakes for no reason?"

Xu Xiaoxiao ignored him, instead quickening her pace for two steps to stand in front of a man.

Seeing Jiang Chenghao, Xu Xiaoxiao immediately perked up, and when she spoke, she was full of confidence: "Why are you here?!"

Jiang Chenghao glanced behind Xu Xiaoxiao before saying, "I heard from Xiao Tang that you needed my help here."

Cai Xiaotang said that?

This woman was actually more anxious than she was.

But it did save her some trouble.

Xu Xiaoxiao took a deep breath and then lifted a pot of flowers.

She then humbly asked for advice: "I just wanted to ask you, how should one care for withered branches like these so they can bloom next year?"

Jiang Baobao stared at the screen, her heart sinking as she realized the evidence had been wiped clean.