Peach-Orange! – Chapter 275 – Failure

Su Tao grabbed Chi Xiaocheng’s arm and pressed the orange hair clip into her palm.

“Xiaocheng, you might not remember this, but this hair clip is proof of our feelings. It holds my love for you.

“That night, we went shopping together and stopped by a boutique in the mall. I saw this hair clip and thought it suited you, so I bought it for you.

“When I put it on you, you smiled so happily, so content. Do you remember any of this?”

Su Tao watched Chi Xiaocheng’s face closely, searching for any change in expression.

To minimize the emotional toll, she deliberately omitted the later crisis at Binjiang Bridge and the rejection of the confession, hoping to awaken Chi Xiaocheng’s memories with the gentlest trigger possible.

Such careful calculation often betrayed selfish motives.

Yet, Chi Xiaocheng’s reaction disappointed Su Tao.

The girl shook her head in confusion, showing no recollection of what Su Tao had described.

Prepared for this, Su Tao didn’t lose heart. She knew the real challenge lay ahead.

The thrilling chase, the narrow escape, the sudden turn of fortune.

“Happy birthday,” white roses, fireworks, the evening breeze brushing past… under that unprecedented atmosphere, Chi Xiaocheng had loudly spoken her heart, confessing to Su Tao.

She had hoped to become her girlfriend.

To solidify their relationship, moving from holding wrists to intertwining fingers.

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But in that perfect moment, Su Tao had rejected her.

Despair, regret, deteriorating relations, suicidal thoughts, a failed attempt….

It was from that point onward that things spiraled into darkness.

This heavy memory was precisely why Su Tao believed it could easily awaken Chi Xiaocheng’s recollection.

Seeing that Chi Xiaocheng showed no reaction to her earlier words, Su Tao’s expression grew more serious. She gave a warning first. “Xiaocheng, what I’m about to say might be terrifying for you. It could even give you a terrible headache. You… you need to brace yourself.”

Chi Xiaocheng still looked baffled. “Sister Su Tao, if you have something to say, just say it. You’re acting strange again, just like back at the hospital.”

Su Tao paid no mind to Chi Xiaocheng’s comment about her being “strange.”

Her voice lowered solemnly. “Actually, the story behind this hair clip is much more complicated than what I just told you.”

Su Tao steeled herself and held nothing back. Having experienced the despair of Chi Xiaocheng’s suicide attempt, she painted the “story” vividly.

Finally, suppressing the pain in her heart, she recounted the part where she had rejected the confession.

But after finishing, she didn’t immediately apologize to Chi Xiaocheng.

Instead, she stared intently at Chi Xiaocheng’s expression.

After hearing her words, the girl’s face momentarily froze in blankness.

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It was as if some painful memory had surged into her mind, making her grimace and let out a hoarse, pained sound. She raised a hand to clutch her forehead.

Seeing this, Su Tao grew incredibly tense. She desperately wanted to comfort Chi Xiaocheng but feared interrupting whatever was happening.

Surely, Xiaocheng was in agony right now?

Memories flooding her mind. First the pain, then the beautiful recollections.

“Xiaocheng, just hold on a little longer. Once you get through this, we can be together.

“The confession you once wanted, the affection, the love, even being girlfriends… I can give you all of it. We can cuddle under the blankets all day. No matter what happens in the future, I’ll stay by your side.

“Even your yandere tendencies… I won’t run from them anymore.

“So just endure a little longer. Once you get through these painful memories, it’ll be okay.”

Though it was only a short while, Su Tao’s palms had unknowingly grown damp with sweat. After about twenty seconds, Chi Xiaocheng’s tightly furrowed brows finally relaxed.

When she lifted her gaze, she was slightly out of breath. “Sister Su Tao, what you just said….”

Before she could finish, Su Tao excitedly grabbed Chi Xiaocheng’s shoulders. “Xiaocheng! You remember everything now, right?!”

A smile spread across the girl’s face.

But the scene Su Tao had imagined didn’t happen. Instead, Chi Xiaocheng wore an expression of helpless resignation. “Sister Su Tao, even though your story was very dramatic, something like that happening would be way too weird, don’t you think?”

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Chi Xiaocheng reached up and gently removed Su Tao’s hands from her shoulders. “It’s true you bought me the hair clip, but none of the stuff after that actually happened. A car chase? Jumping off a bridge? Then confessing? Sister Su Tao, that plot would make a great movie.”

As if oblivious to Su Tao’s gradually stiffening expression, Chi Xiaocheng continued critiquing the “story.”

Until Su Tao let out a disbelieving whisper. “X-Xiaocheng… what are you saying?”

Chi Xiaocheng tilted her head slightly. “I’m talking about the story you just told. Was it a dream you had?”

“A… dream?”

The girl in front of her hadn’t regained her memories. She’d even misinterpreted the entire story. Hadn’t that headache just now been a sign of her memories returning? What was going on?!

Her confident move had failed. Su Tao could no longer maintain her earlier composure. Raising her voice, she pressed urgently, “Xiaocheng, this wasn’t a story! It really happened!”

“It really happened?”

The playfulness in Chi Xiaocheng’s eyes faded. “Sister Su Tao, I’ve been humoring you, but please stop saying things like this. I don’t remember any of it.”

“How could you not remember?!”

Su Tao panicked. Her emotions spiraled out of control, her voice growing more frantic as she repeated:

“It was December 25th, your birthday! We escaped danger together, both got slightly hurt, then I gave you white roses, and you confessed, saying you wanted to be my girlfriend!

“And after I rejected you… you… you couldn’t accept it. You wrote a suicide note and tried to—

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“Right! The note! The note!”

Su Tao whirled around and rushed to the wardrobe. “Xiaocheng, wait! I’ll show you the suicide note you wrote! Once you see it, you’ll definitely remember!”

The failure to awaken Chi Xiaocheng’s memories made Su Tao instinctively assume it would be far more difficult than she’d thought.

That Chi Xiaocheng would grow closer to Fang Ning, Dongfang Yang, and the others while drifting further and further away from her.

The panic she had suppressed last night now surged back in full force, stripping the usually strong-willed girl of her composure.

Soon, Su Tao retrieved the carefully preserved suicide note and hurriedly placed it in front of Chi Xiaocheng. “Xiaocheng… look at this!”

The weight of this note, its impact on memory, far surpassed that of the hair clip.

It was Su Tao’s trump card.

Yet even as she played it, her heart pounded with tension and even fear.

Fear that Chi Xiaocheng would have no reaction to the note.

Fear that the girl who had once loved her so dearly would—

Grow further and further away.