Evil Love Appears chapter 6
Late on a Friday night, the office of the End of Love team was still brightly lit.
The sound of rapid typing filled the air, and everyone’s expressions were tense. On the whiteboard hanging on the wall, a message in bold red marker read:
Countdown: 24 hours!!!
The reminder board was managed by Hu Xia, the company’s employee with the most severe PTSD symptoms, and now, only half an hour remained until the deadline set by Fu Xiaoyu.
Xu Jiale’s face was close to the computer screen. Although the posture wasn’t particularly attractive, after wearing his glasses for so long and without a break, the bridge of his nose, naturally high, had left two red marks. He also had to push his glasses up onto his forehead because he didn’t have time to rest.
Out of 432 questions, and after several days of overtime, only a mere 36 remained.
Deleting questions from a psychological test wasn’t as simple as pressing the delete key with your eyes closed. The question bank was a complex system with interconnected questions. Removing questions was actually more challenging than adding them because while removing, you had to ensure that the remaining answers still had a high probability of accuracy.
Therefore, this task had to be entrusted to the professional, Xu Jiale, to review and finalize.
Now, he was doing the final confirmation.
Finally, at 11:51 PM, Xu Jiale decisively closed his computer with a snap. “We’re done!”
The office area erupted in cheers and shouts of excitement. After so many days of hard work, everyone was thrilled. Fortunately, their entire shared office space was occupied only by this group of people, so they didn’t disturb anyone else.
Xu Jiale put his glasses back on, then smiled as he walked through the corridor, shaking hands with everyone one by one. “Xiao Yun, upload the questionnaire and answers to the simulator. Hu Xia, there’s champagne chilled in the fridge at the back, bring it here, and also, the fried chicken and pizza you ordered for everyone have arrived.”
“Got it!” Hu Xia rushed over, taking a moment to erase the “Countdown: 24 hours” message on the whiteboard on his way.
Fu Xiaoyu didn’t come down until almost midnight. As he entered the office area, he saw Xu Jiale pouring champagne for everyone.
He wasn’t particularly pleased. He didn’t feel it was time to celebrate until he had reviewed the final version of the questionnaire—especially considering that they hadn’t received approval for the proposal from Blue Rain yet.
“Mr. Fu is here!” Hu Xia, with keen eyes, quickly pulled over a chair and handed a glass of champagne to Fu Xiaoyu. “Please have a seat.”
Hu Xia was the one with the most severe PTSD symptoms among them, yet every time Fu Xiaoyu appeared, he was the most enthusiastic. But this wasn’t just flattery.
Hu Xia was a young C-level alpha, so sometimes, when he saw Fu Xiaoyu, his brain hadn’t quite caught up, and he couldn’t help but be extra attentive.
Xu Jiale’s gaze also fell on Fu Xiaoyu for a moment. He nodded in greeting but didn’t say anything. Then, he turned to Xiao Yun and said casually, “Come on, project the questionnaire.”
On the large screen, the simplified questionnaire questions began to appear.
There were six pages in the PowerPoint presentation, each representing a module.
Xu Jiale had organized the questions into six clear modules: Emotions, Family Background, Career, Subconscious, Hobbies, and Sexual Psychology. Each module had five questions, presented in the PowerPoint in a clean and straightforward manner, without the previous sense of clutter.
Fu Xiaoyu watched attentively, not displaying any dissatisfaction. He continued to gaze at the screen until they reached the last page. When he saw the large title “Sexual Psychology,” he unconsciously crossed his arms and leaned back slightly.
Xu Jiale, standing at the back, was able to observe Fu Xiaoyu’s reaction. He took a sip of champagne without showing any sign but felt a sudden curiosity.
Fu Xiaoyu’s two actions were both typical defensive postures.
A 25-year-old adult omega shouldn’t react so uncomfortably to seeing the word “sex” in their work. From a sexual psychology standpoint, this was abnormal.
Fu Xiaoyu was unaware that Xu Jiale was observing him. After carefully reviewing the entire questionnaire, he turned to Xu Jiale and asked, “There are 36 questions, which is four fewer than I requested. But there’s one question in the last module—Is the content in this part appropriate?”
Xu Jiale smiled and asked deliberately, “Which module?”
“The Sexual Psychology module,” Fu Xiaoyu replied after a pause. He had considered deleting this entire section earlier.
“It’s precisely because many people underestimate the importance of this part that there are so many couples with failed intimate relationships,” Xu Jiale explained with meaning. “But I understand what you mean. The initial entry questions consist of only 30 questions, which are the first five modules. The sexual psychology module will only be unlocked for those aged 18 and above, so there won’t be any content issues.”
“Alright,” Fu Xiaoyu nodded. He was straightforward and stood up, saying, “It’s all good now. I’ve approved it.”
Once he said this, the atmosphere in the entire office became completely relaxed.
“You all worked hard this week,” Fu Xiaoyu said, his tone somewhat stiff. His gaze swept across everyone’s faces and lingered for a moment on Xu Jiale’s face.
He knew that Xu Jiale had the toughest time this week, but their relationship had been quite distant, so he didn’t want to single out Xu Jiale. Instead, he continued, “This weekend, you can stay off DingTalk and not respond to work messages.”
Xiao Yun, Hu Xia, and the others suddenly showed immense joy on their faces. As diligent corporate workers, the thought of having a completely work-free weekend felt like a rare treat. However, because Fu Xiaoyu was present, they refrained from celebrating too loudly as they had earlier.
“But we need to submit the proposal to Lan Yu next week,” Fu Xiaoyu added, changing the subject. “Take a good rest this weekend, and when you return next week, I still expect the highest level of dedication. Is that clear?”
“Yes, no problem…” Everyone responded somewhat weakly.
Friday was officially over, but it was already past midnight. They didn’t rush home and sat together, enjoying fried chicken and champagne.
“Let’s test our app together!”
Someone proposed this idea in the midst of the chaos, and it received unanimous agreement. Everyone took out their phones.
The app was still in its infancy, with only the psychological testing part added. The matching function hadn’t been implemented yet, so clicking “match” would randomly assign a personality.
Even so, everyone was enthusiastic. Psychological tests always seemed to hold a certain allure for humans.
Xu Jiale was the only one present who knew all the answers. Still, seeing everyone’s excitement, he also casually filled out a profile.
“Wow, I got the Knight personality. What’s that?” Hu Xia asked while reading the description after receiving his result.
The original questionnaire was in English, so “Knight” was Xu Jiale’s translation for the Loyal personality.
“Wow! I got matched with someone who has had more than ten past relationships as a Giver. Who’s this experienced one? Their ID looks like it belongs to an elderly person. Did someone randomly input this data?” Xiao Yun exclaimed in surprise.
Upon hearing this, Fu Xiaoyu immediately thought of that (-.-). He raised his head to look at Xu Jiale, but Hu Xia suddenly leaned in and asked, “Mr. Fu, don’t you want to try it?”
Fu Xiaoyu shook his head. He was the only one present who hadn’t taken the test.
“Why not? It’s fun!”
“…” Fu Xiaoyu responded calmly. “You all go ahead. I’m heading upstairs.”
His cold attitude made Hu Xia and the others feel a bit awkward. They nodded and said, “Alright, Mr. Fu, see you next week.”
It was already past midnight when Fu Xiaoyu went upstairs to collect his belongings and prepare to leave. He had been too tired to drive in the morning, so he planned to take a taxi from the building’s entrance. However, on his way, he happened to run into Xu Jiale, who was also leaving.
Since they knew each other, even though they hadn’t spoken privately all week, they exchanged nods and walked silently side by side.
Fu Xiaoyu felt an awkward atmosphere, but Xu Jiale clearly didn’t mind.
He was messaging someone on WeChat while casually smoking a cigarette. Since he was lighting up in front of Fu Xiaoyu this time, Fu Xiaoyu noticed that he was smoking women’s cigarettes—light green packaging, slim cigarette box, with a chic feminine style.
It was quite unusual for a male alpha to smoke women’s cigarettes, wasn’t it? Fu Xiaoyu always paid attention to other people’s opinions, so such thoughts came to him subconsciously.
When Xu Jiale smoked, and he rolled up the sleeves of his shirt to reveal his forearm muscles, the mint-flavored pheromones became particularly strong in the night.
Actually, when Fu Xiaoyu went to the basketball court that day, he had already noticed that although Xu Jiale wore golden-framed glasses and appeared somewhat refined and laid-back in his daily life, he didn’t match the tall and elegant scholarly type he initially assumed.
He had broad shoulders, and his muscles showed fierce veins when he exerted himself. His fingers looked strong rather than delicate.
Perhaps because of this, the overly delicate Cartier bracelet and women’s cigarettes on him seemed both contradictory and harmonious.
“Fu Xiaoyu,” Xu Jiale suddenly spoke, “Why don’t you want to take the questionnaire?”
He asked casually, but Fu Xiaoyu’s nerves immediately tensed. He fell silent for a moment before saying, “I don’t like doing these tests.”
“Why? Don’t like them, or don’t believe in them?”
“…” Fu Xiaoyu felt somewhat unhappy about being pressed like this. He didn’t intend to be polite or deceive, so he replied straightforwardly, “I believe in pheromone matching, not psychological tests.”
Xu Jiale blew a smoke ring, and behind the smoke, his narrow eyes seemed somewhat mocking. “You believe in pheromone matching. Among the people you’ve dated, what’s the highest percentage match you’ve had?”
Fu Xiaoyu took a step back, and Xu Jiale knew that he was getting defensive again. His cat-like eyes appeared even deeper in the night. “How I match with alphas has nothing to do with work. Besides, I don’t have the habit of discussing private matters with colleagues.”
Xu Jiale didn’t press further. At that moment, he simply thought about the pile of academic materials in the office, which, when stacked, reached shoulder height. He joined the End-of-Love Team with valuable academic resources from a prestigious university.
When he joined the End-of-Love Team, he brought along a wealth of academic resources from his time at the university. His mentor had been supportive, believing that studying contemporary human relationships and mate selection in this way was meaningful. However, he never expected that the initial proposal, with 432 questions, would be reduced to just a few.
“In fact, I know,” Xu Jiale said casually. He had a slight smile at the corner of his mouth, but his long, narrow eyes lacked humor. “Fu Xiaoyu, you don’t believe in the core value of this product at all.”
Cunning Fox’s Skill: Infinite Insight.