Peach-Orange! – Chapter 284 – A Different Kind of “Normal”

Holding the suicide note, she returned to her room, carefully smoothed it out, and stored it away before finally letting go of the forced composure. Frustrated, she sat on the bed, scratching her head.

Originally, she had planned to drive Fang Ning away this afternoon.

But the other girl’s words were undeniably a declaration of war that she, too, would pursue Xiaocheng, trying to win her over before her memories returned!

And after that, even if Xiaocheng’s memories did come back, the merging of old and new recollections might still carve out a place for Fang Ning in her heart.

And then there were those final words.

Were they well-meant advice, or just disdain for a rival?

She absolutely refused to let Xiaocheng hold a place for Fang Ning in her heart!

If she was going to love someone, it had to be Su Tao only, just like before!

She still saw Fang Ning as an enemy, but she had to admit that some of the things Fang Ning had said made Su Tao realize why her relationship with Xiaocheng had been so unstable lately.

She had been too impatient.

She had assumed that once Xiaocheng’s memories returned, everything would be fine.

For the past few days, every action and intention had revolved around “awakening her memories” rather than simply treating her well and loving her properly.

Because of her impatience, Su Tao had become the one pressuring Xiaocheng.

And what about Fang Ning?

She had stayed by Xiaocheng’s side the whole time.

Accompanying her, making her happy, providing emotional support, showing her care through actions.

Su Tao felt like she had been straying further and further from the right path.

Pulling out her phone, she hesitated for a long time over Cheng Cheng and Dr. Cheng’s contact information, but in the end, she didn’t message either of them.

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She felt that, right now, she didn’t need their help.

Her goal was clear.

Steady her emotions, rebuild her relationship with Xiaocheng before Dongfang Yang and Dr. Chen returned, and, during that time, surpass Fang Ning in Xiaocheng’s affections!

…

And so, dinner took on a slightly strange atmosphere.

Originally, according to the plan, Fang Ning should have left and gone home, leaving the two of them alone, giving Su Tao a chance to win Xiaocheng over before the doctors arrived to restore her memories.

But… why had things turned out like this?

At dinner, Chi Xiaocheng sat in the middle, her bowl piled high with food, a small mountain of shrimp on either side.

She didn’t understand why Fang Ning wasn’t following the plan.

When she asked, the younger girl just smiled faintly and said, “Plans change.”

What had changed? Xiaocheng had no idea.

Things seemed to be spiraling out of control.

At first, she thought Fang Ning had also developed feelings for her, but then she realized that Fang Ning seemed to be deliberately provoking Su Tao.

She only acted unusually when Su Tao was around.

When it was just the two of them in the room, she was as sweet and docile as ever.

After sleeping with King and Sakura, Xiaocheng woke up to find Fang Ning, who had been sleeping on the floor, gone.

Su Tao had made breakfast and knocked on the door. “Xiaocheng, are you awake?”

“Where’s Ningning?”

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Xiaocheng deliberately asked about Fang Ning in front of Su Tao, watching for her reaction.

But Su Tao didn’t react strongly. She just calmly walked over. “I don’t know where she went. I didn’t see her when I woke up this morning. Let me help you with your hair.”

“Okay.”

Xiaocheng’s hair wasn’t really that messy. She could have just run her fingers through it and still looked cute. But it had been a few days since she’d been close with Su Tao.

With Fang Ning gone, getting close to Tao-Tao became perfectly justifiable.

After all, as a patient, Xiaocheng even needed help brushing her hair~

Running her hands through the smooth, tea-colored locks, Su Tao’s face showed a hint of affection and delight.

Then she said softly, “Xiaocheng, I’m really sorry about yesterday. I… I’ve been on my period lately, feeling inexplicably irritable. I couldn’t sleep at night, and my brain wasn’t working right… I ended up saying some weird things to you.”

She was explaining her attempt to restore Xiaocheng’s memories.

But Xiaocheng had seen this coming. “Sister Su Tao, you already apologized. I understand.”

After all, in the story’s setting, Tao-Tao already had some mental issues.

Of course Xiaocheng could understand her “eccentricities.”

Both of them were hiding things they couldn’t say aloud. After another apology, Su Tao could feel the distance between her and Xiaocheng fading again.

Her hands slowed as she brushed Xiaocheng’s hair, and she even moved to the side, deliberately avoiding the reflection in the mirror.

Seeing Xiaocheng playing with her phone, she quietly bent down.

Gathering a strand of hair, she stealthily brought it to her nose.

Sniff~

Her delight gradually turned into infatuation.

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‘It’s Xiaocheng’s scent. So nice.’

Su Tao thought this to herself but didn’t dare go too far.

Then she continued brushing Xiaocheng’s hair normally.

Of course, she didn’t know that the moment she bent down, a strand of hair had also fallen into Xiaocheng’s line of sight. Her little act hadn’t gone unnoticed.

But both of them tacitly chose not to mention it.

Smirks of satisfaction curled at the corners of their lips.

Once Xiaocheng’s hair was smooth, Su Tao picked up a hair tie. “Pigtails?”

“Just tie it with a ribbon.”

“Okay, but it feels like something’s missing.”

Standing behind Xiaocheng, Su Tao studied the cute girl in the mirror. After three seconds of thought, she suddenly realized. “Ah! A hair clip!”

Putting on what she thought was a flawless performance, she reached into her pocket and pulled out that old orange hair clip. “Xiaocheng, how about wearing this?”

Xiaocheng pretended to think. “This is….”

“A gift.” Su Tao cut off her reminiscing, a little scheming in her tone as she crouched in front of Xiaocheng. “This orange hair clip suits you so well. I made it myself. I think you’d look adorable wearing it.”

‘Just yesterday, you were using this hair clip to talk about memories.’

‘Now suddenly it’s something you made?’

‘Oh, Tao-Tao… your little schemes really aren’t very airtight.’

But the fact that she was now trying to make Xiaocheng happy and win her over… did that mean she was finally getting it?

Xiaocheng wasn’t sure. She had thought that after yesterday’s events, Su Tao would become even more unstable, but instead, she seemed more normal now.

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Accepting the hair clip as a gift, pretending she knew nothing, Xiaocheng sweetly called out, “Sister Su Tao,” and then pulled out a sachet.

“Then I’ll give this to Sister Su Tao as a New Year’s gift.”

“A sachet?”

It looked almost identical to the stress-relief sachet that had accompanied her for so long before.

Xiaocheng nodded lightly. “I had someone make it specially. I originally wanted to give it to you yesterday to thank you for taking care of me all this time, but I only just got the chance.”

Su Tao happily took the sachet and patted Xiaocheng’s head. “No need to thank me. Of course I’d take care of you. I love you.”

She said it lightly, almost like an older sister expressing affection for a younger one.

Su Tao watched Xiaocheng’s expression but saw no reaction, so she tactfully left some space. “Remember to come out for breakfast later, okay?”

“Okay~”

Xiaocheng touched the hair clip on her head, and the moment Su Tao turned away, her bright smile turned thoughtful.

‘Weird… Tao-Tao seems even more normal than before?’

She hadn’t used the status glasses to check Su Tao’s data, but based on her instincts, it felt like the other girl had stepped out of her previous gloom.

‘If Tao-Tao can really break through, improve herself, and still care for me just as much… maybe later, the doctors can cure my amnesia?’

This new, stable version of Su Tao gave Xiaocheng an indescribable sense of hope.

But what she didn’t know was that the moment Su Tao stepped out of the room—

She clutched the sachet tightly, pressing it against her nose and mouth, inhaling deeply like an addict. “It really does smell like Xiaocheng.…”

A flush flashed across her face before she forced a slightly unnatural smile and walked calmly into the kitchen.