Peach-Orange! – Chapter 271 – Then Why Don’t You Just Back Out?

The call had already connected.

The first thing that reached Su Tao’s ears was Si Chen’s irritated click of his tongue, followed by a long, exasperated sigh.

Then came his question: “Let me call you ‘big sis,’ alright? Just what exactly are you trying to do?

“It’s New Year’s Eve right now. It’s Lunar New Year’s Eve!

“Just yesterday, I gave Dr. Lin his break, and you just finished saying your decision was not to awaken Chi Xiaocheng’s memories, to let things proceed step by step so she could fall in love with you all over again.

“And it’s only been a day, right? Just one day has passed, and now you’re telling me you want to awaken her memories again?

“Are you flipping faces without even spending beans?”

After listening to Si Chen’s complaints, Su Tao’s expression also turned guilty.

But her brief guilt couldn’t suppress her own urgency. She hurriedly explained, “I originally… I originally thought that way. Xiaocheng and I are getting closer. If you just give me a little more time, I believe she’ll like me again, just like before.

“But….”

Su Tao fell silent for a moment. “I think Dongfang Yang likes Xiaocheng. And then there’s Fang Ning. I don’t know if you know her, but she’s another girl who gets along really well with Xiaocheng. I feel like… she also wants to take Xiaocheng away from me.”

Si Chen: “So what? You’re panicking now, afraid Chi Xiaocheng might like them, so you come to me saying you want to restore her memories?”

Su Tao immediately replied, “This… this can’t be helped, right? Xiaocheng’s memories are all messed up! In her mind, her memories of Dongfang Yang and Fang Ning might even be better than her memories of me!

Rеaԁ оn КаtRеаdіոɡCаfе

“And besides, Xiaocheng might still subconsciously resist me a little.

“So… I want to awaken her memories again.”

After hearing this, Si Chen was practically laughing in frustration. He finally understood why people said women were emotional and fickle, always stirring up drama when it came to love. Even someone as strong as Su Tao couldn’t escape this rule.

Did he, Si Chen, need to go get a certification as a relationship expert now?

Taking a deep breath, Si Chen tried his best to calm himself down before speaking word by word: “Su Tao, can you tell me what exactly is going on in your head? First, you say you don’t want Chi Xiaocheng to recover her memories because you’re afraid she’ll remember the pain. Now you’re going back on that just because you feel threatened?

“You feel threatened, so you want Chi Xiaocheng to suffer and recover her memories?

“Can I assume this is your line of thinking?

“Are you doing this for Chi Xiaocheng, or for yourself?”

The questions stabbed straight into Su Tao’s heart like knives. She immediately retorted, “Of course it’s for Xiaocheng!”

“Honestly?”

“Honestly!”

Even through the phone, Si Chen seemed to see right through her. He scoffed. “You say that, and it’s like you’re constantly hypnotizing yourself into believing it. But your actions… which part of them is for Chi Xiaocheng?

“If you’re doing this for her, isn’t the best outcome for her to live happily without those painful memories?”

Rеαԁ οո ΚаtRеadіnɡСαfe

Su Tao: “But Xiaocheng likes me! She’s always liked me! How is that the best outcome?

“What if… what if one day, she starts liking someone else, and then suddenly something triggers her memories and she remembers me… wouldn’t that make her even more miserable?”

Si Chen chuckled. “See, there you go again. Every time you use that hesitant tone, I know you’re trying to run away. That’s your own thinking. How can you guarantee Chi Xiaocheng would feel the same way?”

“If she sees me often enough, she’ll eventually be triggered by something, right? Just like the doctors said!”

Listening to her increasingly frantic tone, Si Chen calmly uttered a few words: “Then why don’t you just back out?”

Su Tao, holding her phone, froze on the spot. “Back out?”

“Yeah.” Si Chen’s tone was flippant. “If it’s really for Chi Xiaocheng’s sake, if she’s happy now without those painful memories, then why don’t you just withdraw from the competition? Stay out of her sight.

“That way, she won’t be triggered by anything, right?

“She’ll be happy every day, free from pain, free from being a yandere, just normal like any other person.

“And you won’t have to worry about the future. Didn’t you say Dongfang Yang likes her? With his personality, he’d just end up getting bullied by Chi Xiaocheng. She’d live as a carefree rich wife.

“See? Doesn’t that sound like a perfect ending where she never gets hurt?”

Si Chen’s words were calm, not even carrying a hint of deliberate provocation.

Rеаd οո ΚatRеаdіոgСafе

But to the girl on the other end of the line, they rang like thunder, making her mind go blank.

‘If I back out… Xiaocheng can have a happy life?’

Her grip on the phone tightened violently as she snarled at Si Chen, “How could I possibly back out?! I was the one who came first! Why should I be the one to back out? They’re the thieves!”

“See? See? See? You keep saying it’s for her sake, but the moment I suggest you back out, you refuse. Are you doing this for Chi Xiaocheng, or for yourself?”

Si Chen’s voice was full of disappointment.

“I’m starting to doubt whether you even like Chi Xiaocheng.”

Hearing this accusation, Su Tao’s eyes reddened with urgency as she shouted, “Of course I like Xiaocheng!”

But Si Chen shouted even louder: “Then where’s the proof in your actions right now?!

“You’re afraid she’ll remember the pain? No, you just want to take advantage of Chi Xiaocheng’s amnesia to force her to forget the past, make her stop being a yandere, so that when she falls for you again, you’ll get the cute, obedient Chi Xiaocheng you’ve always wanted!

“If you really like her, why didn’t you choose to awaken her memories from the start?!

“You want her to be cute, you want her to like you, but you don’t want to deal with her yandere side. Isn’t all this talk about ‘pain’ just an excuse?!

“And who caused all that pain in the first place?!

“Wasn’t it you, running away from her and rejecting her over and over again? Now that you’ve hit a dead end, you want to go back to square one, and you still have the nerve to say you like her?”

Reαd οո ΚαtRеаⅾіոɡCαfе

As he spoke, Si Chen couldn’t help but laugh. “Give it up, Su Tao. You’re not the same Su Tao I knew at the beginning anymore. All this back-and-forth hesitation, how many times have I scolded you for it? Have you ever changed?”

Realizing the girl on the other end of the line had fallen into silent self-loathing again, Si Chen really wanted to curse.

Su Tao was messed up, no doubt.

But Chi Xiaocheng was just as bad.

‘If you like someone, just like them. If you love someone, just love them. Why all this talk about “increasing Su Tao’s possessiveness” and “making plans”?’

‘Couldn’t you two just be straightforward since you both like each other?’

Did it have to be so extreme?

Here he was, Si Chen, a rational, high-IQ, cold male lead… now reduced to being an emotional babysitter for these two.

Would he have to be a bridesmaid at their wedding too?

The more he thought about it, the more he found women troublesome.

His irritation mounting, Si Chen bluntly told Su Tao what was on his mind: “One after another… one after another, it’s always like this. So damn annoying.

“Right now, I kinda want to tie both of you up, throw you into a room, force-feed you a few pounds of aphrodisiacs, lock the door, and see how you’ll keep dancing around each other afterward!”