Peach-Orange! – Chapter 152 – Why Is This… Not Orange Juice Flavored?

Orange juice slowly trickled from the corner of Chi Xiaocheng’s lips and down her body. She struggled to maintain her smile, determined to stay cute until the very end.

She motioned for Su Tao to lean closer so she could hear her faint voice.

Her consciousness seemed to be fading. Xiaocheng could no longer heed Su Tao’s pleas for her to stay quiet and hold on.

Her lips trembled slightly, her voice turning hoarse.

“Tao-Tao, I really wanted to tell you… I never, ever blamed you.

“Even when you brushed me off, even when you said you were pretending to like me… you still made time for me. I… I was happy.

“But I’m a greedy person, too.”

Cough, cough! Another mouthful of orange juice spilled out. She grew weaker. “I didn’t want fake affection. I wanted real love.

“When you started ignoring me, I panicked. I… I didn’t know any way to keep you by my side except with orange juice, except by hurting myself.

“All I could think of was how much you cared about me back on the rooftop. I wanted things to stay like that forever.

“But… I’m really sorry.”

Her smile dimmed like a withering flower.

Su Tao wept, pressing Xiaocheng’s hand against her forehead, her voice ragged with pain. “Xiaocheng, please… stop talking, okay?”

“Silly Tao-Tao… If I don’t speak now, I might fall asleep.”

Xiaocheng’s smile stiffened. The light in her pupils faded.

“Tao-Tao, if… if there’s a next life, I won’t make you drink orange juice. I won’t make you angry. I—”

“Stop, stop! I’ll drink it! I’ll drink orange juice every day, okay? Please, Xiaocheng… I hear the ambulance outside. Please, just hold on!”

Xiaocheng gazed weakly at Su Tao. “Don’t be sad for me. Right now… I’m really happy.

“Tao-Tao isn’t hurt….

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“You won’t suffer because of me anymore….

“No one will interfere in your life again….

“If… if you meet someone else you like in the future, don’t forget to—”

“Never mind.” Xiaocheng suddenly chuckled softly at the end.

Her loose bangs swayed in the breeze, as if she were shaking her head in resignation.

“At the very end… forget about me. Start a new life.”

‘I’m leaving. I shouldn’t make you keep thinking of me.’

‘I shouldn’t be so greedy.’

‘Right now, I’m undoubtedly the happiest I’ve ever been.’

“Because… right now, your eyes are full of me.”

‘The dream I always wished for, the love I always wanted, it’s all fulfilled in this moment.’

‘Your eyes are filled with me, with no room for anyone else.’

‘Even if it’s just for this instant, just for this second.’

“Tao-Tao, can you confess to me one last time?”

‘I’ve always wanted to hear you say you love me from the bottom of your heart.’

Su Tao’s tears dripped onto Xiaocheng’s face. She nodded fiercely, her voice choked but firm. “Xiaocheng, I like you… no, I love you!”

The words she had avoided for so long finally spilled out.

It was the confession Xiaocheng had longed for, the goal she had strived toward.

But….

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Whether those words were true or not no longer mattered.

Because she would never hear them.

The moment Su Tao spoke, Chi Xiaocheng closed her eyes.

Her delicate hand slipped limply from Su Tao’s grasp.

Thud.

It landed heavily, lifelessly, on the carpet.

Her lips still curled in a faint, expectant smile.

She had wanted to hear that confession at the very end.

And now, she was frozen in that moment.

The words, heavy with emotion, could no longer reach her.

At the same time, a small straw doll in Xiaocheng’s drawer shattered.

A heart-wrenching scream tore through the air.

“XIAOCHENG—!!!”

Su Tao’s tears gradually darkened, tinged with red, as if she were crying tears of blood.

The orange juice from Xiaocheng’s chest had long since run dry.

Those crimson yet clear eyes, brimming with love and contentment, had closed forever.

Her lips parted slightly, as if she had wanted to say something.

But she would never speak again.

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Su Tao clutched Xiaocheng tightly, unable to accept reality.

Tears streamed down her face, gathering at her chin before dripping onto Xiaocheng’s cheeks and then onto the carpet.

As if trying desperately to dilute the red staining the fabric.

“Xiaocheng… don’t leave me. Don’t leave me here alone.

“You like me, don’t you? You haven’t even heard my confession yet! I like you too, I really do!

“Don’t be so easily satisfied! Don’t look at me like that right before you go!

“What do you mean, ‘your eyes are full of me’? Aren’t you greedy? Don’t you want to possess me? How can you be satisfied with just this?!”

Su Tao sobbed uncontrollably, her grief moving even the security guards protecting her.

None of them spoke.

They simply clenched their fists silently.

They had worked here for years. Of course they knew Chi Xiaocheng and Su Tao.

Before, Xiaocheng would sweetly call them “uncle” or “big brother,” even handing them candy when they were busy.

And now, she was gone forever.

After a long silence, the security captain couldn’t hold back any longer. He stepped forward and patted Su Tao’s shoulder.

“Miss Su, the doctors are on their way up in the elevator. Please, just….”

‘I’m sorry for your loss.’

He couldn’t bring himself to say those last two words.

But his words only provoked Su Tao.

She turned her bloodshot eyes toward him, her emotions completely shattered.

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“What do you know?! Xiaocheng will be fine! She’s not dead! Don’t you dare say that about her! She still has so much to tell me. There’s no way she’d just leave like this!”

Then, as if struck by a sudden thought, Su Tao froze.

Her expression shifted to frantic realization.

“That’s right, orange juice!”

Gently cradling Xiaocheng, she tapped her cheek urgently.

“Xiaocheng… Xiaocheng, think about it! You like me, don’t you? You want to possess me, right? You want me to drink your orange juice, don’t you? I’ll never hate it again. Never!

“I’ll drink it right now. I’ll drink it, so please… wake up, okay?”

With a trembling hand, Su Tao wiped a drop of orange juice from Xiaocheng’s lips.

She lifted the tiny bead to her mouth and swallowed it without hesitation.

But the taste that filled her mouth made her freeze in shock.

At that moment, Dongfang Yang burst in with Professor Su and a team of doctors.

“Chi Xiaocheng! Su Tao! Are you two okay?!” she shouted as she entered.

The moment she stepped inside, she saw Su Tao holding Xiaocheng on the carpet; once white, now dyed crimson beneath them.

Dongfang Yang’s hand, hidden in her pocket, trembled at Su Tao’s hollow expression.

“Hey, Su Tao… what happened? What’s wrong with Xiaocheng?”

Su Tao lifted her empty, lifeless eyes. Her blood-stained fingertip still hovered near her lips.

Her mouth quivered as she stared blankly at Dongfang Yang.

“Hey, Dongfang Yang… why doesn’t Xiaocheng’s blood… taste like orange juice?”