Peach-Orange! – Chapter 276 – Love is a Cycle

The suicide note was placed before Chi Xiaocheng. The paper had become slightly wrinkled after being stored for so long, with faint traces of being tightly gripped at one corner, along with dried water stains dotting its surface.

Even without reading the words, the state of the paper alone was enough to paint a vivid picture. Whoever had held this note at that moment must have been utterly heartbroken.

Tears had blurred the handwriting, and the thin paper bore crinkled marks from being clenched over and over.

In Su Tao’s eyes, Chi Xiaocheng was intently reading the contents of the note, motionless as if truly reminiscing about the past.

In reality, Chi Xiaocheng had indeed fallen into memories.

The words on the letter were part of a memory she didn’t want to revisit; a time when she had given everything. Though faking her death had been part of the plan, by the end, she had still poured all her emotions into it.

And in return, she had been rejected.

‘Tao-Tao, Tao-Tao… if only you had cared about me this much back then, how much better things could have been.’

Chi Xiaocheng admitted that watching Su Tao’s frantic state these past two days had brought her some joy… but also a touch of softness in her heart.

Su Tao’s urgency was one thing, but what she truly liked was seeing Su Tao express her concern in every possible way.

Yet, the slight softness she had felt gradually hardened again upon seeing this suicide note.

Wasn’t the whole point of strengthening Tao-Tao’s possessiveness to avoid repeating the same mistakes?

If she softened now, she might regret it later because of countless unpredictable things.

So, snapping out of her thoughts, she spoke with deliberate indifference, “Sister Su Tao, I don’t know how you got this, and yes, the handwriting is mine. But this kind of joke isn’t funny. I’m alive and well, why would I write a suicide note?”

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Seeing her trump card fail, Su Tao panicked and grabbed Chi Xiaocheng’s shoulders. “No! You wrote this when you tried to take your own life, but you survived, so you’re alive now!”

Chi Xiaocheng frowned. “Then tell me, why would I try to kill myself?”

Su Tao immediately replied, “Because you confessed to me, said you loved me, and I rejected you. You couldn’t handle it, so you tried to end your life.”

“That’s completely ridiculous.” Chi Xiaocheng lost her patience and pursed her lips. “Forget whether I’d ever be so weak as to attempt suicide… just the idea that I’d confess to you? Sister Su Tao, do you really think that’s possible?”

“How is it not possible?!”

“I don’t remember anything like that. If you’re just looking for inspiration or material for a video or novel, then fine, I’ll laugh it off.”

Chi Xiaocheng impatiently pushed the suicide note back and turned away, signaling she didn’t want to continue the conversation. “Let’s just drop this. I don’t understand what you’re talking about. If you’re tired, go rest.”

Her memories remained jumbled.

Not even slightly affected by the cards Su Tao had tried to play.

Su Tao had never imagined things would turn out like this. Her mind, losing its ability to think calmly, spilled out words she shouldn’t have said in her desperation.

“Xiaocheng, I’m really not lying to you. This isn’t a script, a dream, or some novel plot.

“The reason you don’t remember is because your memories are messed up!

“You’ve lost your memories, your mind created false ones and blocked out all the feelings you had for me. You used to love me so much, but you’ve forgotten all of it!”

Chi Xiaocheng had given her an out earlier, leaving room for their relationship to recover.

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But Su Tao didn’t want to end things like this. She tore away the last veil separating them, laying the real issue bare, almost forcing Chi Xiaocheng to respond.

Her tea-colored hair swayed slightly as she trembled. When Chi Xiaocheng turned back, her expression had shifted to outright annoyance.

“Haven’t you said enough? I already told you I don’t remember, yet you keep making up all these things. If my memories were really messed up, why hasn’t anyone else mentioned it?

“Not even the doctors said anything, and here you are spouting nonsense.

“Sister Su Tao, go out and calm down. What you’re saying is just too absurd.

“Me confessing to you? How could that ever happen?!”

Her last words were firm, carrying the same tone Su Tao had once used to reject her.

At the very beginning.

In the basement.

Chi Xiaocheng had spoken words of love and confession.

And Su Tao had rejected her just as cruelly.

Her mind was in chaos, her throat tight. That annoyed expression made Su Tao flash back to the moment Chi Xiaocheng first woke up in the hospital. Her face had been filled with the same dislike.

After painstakingly rebuilding their relationship, after finally getting her to call her “Sister Su Tao” again….

Was this the result of trying to restore her memories?

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What now?

If she couldn’t awaken Xiaocheng’s memories, she’d keep hating her.

To distance herself, she’d deliberately get closer to Fang Ning, Dongfang Yang, and Si Chen. By the time everything was settled, even if she did regain her memories, would it even matter?

Pleading words spilled uncontrollably from Su Tao’s lips.

“Xiaocheng… please, don’t be like this… Don’t you remember? You used to call me Tao-Tao, with love and affection in your voice.”

“‘Sister Su Tao’… that’s a thing of the past!”

“That’s what you called me when we were kids, back in middle school and high school. But now, I want you to call me Tao-Tao again. From our college days, from when you confessed to me in the basement… where’s the you who called me Tao-Tao back then?!”

Her trembling hand reached for Chi Xiaocheng’s shoulder again, hoping the intimate name would bring her memories back.

But her increasingly desperate words only earned her a harsher rejection.

Chi Xiaocheng turned and slapped her hand away, raising her voice sharply.

“Can’t you just stop being so unreasonable? Every time, it’s the same nonsense, pestering me over nothing. Why don’t you go find something you actually enjoy doing?!”

A clock is circular. Its hour, minute, and second hands cycling endlessly, as if to say: Time is a cycle.

Starting from 00:01, after a full day passes, it doesn’t reach 24:00 but returns to 00:00.

She vaguely remembered saying something similar to Xiaocheng during an argument in the summer after high school graduation.

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She had called her immature, said she clung to her too much, accused her of having nothing better to do.

There had been countless moments when she could have reached out and held Xiaocheng, moments when a simple nod would have earned her the girl’s love.

And now, the girl had finally become what she’d wanted.

No longer obsessive.

No longer unstable.

Her wish had come true, so why did regret weigh heavier in her heart than anything else?

‘Did losing that obsessive side mean losing her love for me too?’

The scales of “cycle” had once tilted in her favor.

Now, they seemed to be tipping toward Chi Xiaocheng.

The weights of “love” on either side had never been equal, so how could balance ever be achieved?

In her ears, Chengcheng’s voice seemed to whisper: This is the outcome you chose, isn’t it?

If she couldn’t restore Xiaocheng’s memories… what was she supposed to do now?

Was it too late for regrets?