Peach-Orange! – Chapter 351 – Awakening and Choice

Meanwhile, in reality, Chi Xiaocheng had been lying in a hospital bed, asleep for two full days and nights.

Ever since being hypnotized, she had not woken up.

This drove Su Tao into a frantic state, like an ant on a hot pan.

If not for the fact that all the monitoring data from the devices attached to Chi Xiaocheng showed normal readings, Su Tao might not have been able to hold on.

Even Dongfang Wen began to doubt his own professional competence.

There was no doubt that his earlier deduction had been wrong. Chi Xiaocheng was not pretending to have amnesia; she truly had lost her memories. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have fallen asleep instantly under hypnosis.

But according to Su Tao and the others, Chi Xiaocheng’s amnesia only spanned a few months. At most, she should have slept for an hour or two, even accounting for any additional memory gaps they weren’t aware of.

Five or six hours should have been the limit before she woke up.

Yet now?

Two full days and nights!

Just what kind of memories was she reliving that took so long?

Su Tao stayed by Chi Xiaocheng’s side day and night, even sleeping while leaning against the bed, terrified that something might happen to the girl she cared for so deeply.

Moreover, she still remembered something Chi Xiaocheng had once said to her:

—”I hope that when I wake up, the Tao-Tao I love will be by my side.”

‘Now, I’m waiting for you to wake up.’

‘Waiting for you to recover your memories.’

‘Waiting for you to call me Tao-Tao, then hug me with tears in your eyes.’

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‘I’ll gently lick away your tears and kiss your lips.’

‘To show you how much I love you.’

Yet even after two days of waiting, the girl on the bed still hadn’t awakened.

During these two days, many things happened outside.

Chi Song led a large group of people to Chu Lingfeng’s hideout, burned the place to the ground, and then realized Chu Lingfeng himself was nowhere to be found.

Upon closer investigation, they discovered that Chu Lingfeng had already fled to the capital the day before to lay low.

That place was truly one where even dragons and tigers had to bow. Chi Song had no way of reaching him there.

All he could do was sigh in frustration.

Then, to cooperate with their plan, he teamed up with Si Chen and Dongfang Yang to stage an act: as a thug, he “accidentally” killed Si Zhenliu, the current head of the Si family managing affairs in Jiuzhou City, during a “robbery.”

This was a serious crime, and Dongfang Yang immediately arrested Chi Song.

Due to his personal hatred for such villains, and being a close friend of the Si family, he “accidentally” shot and killed the leader of this gang of thugs during the arrest.

Si Chen had no choice but to mourn the elder of his clan while tearfully taking over the Si family’s assets and authority in Jiuzhou City.

The speed was so swift that his elder brother didn’t even have time to send a replacement to Jiuzhou City.

It was precisely because Chu Lingfeng had harmed Chi Xiaocheng that the group became more vigilant.

At the very least, their own territory had to be absolutely secure!

At the same time, the new semester’s registration began.

Students of Jiuzhou University returned to campus one after another. Though Su Tao also wanted to go to the school first to sign on Chi Xiaocheng’s behalf, she couldn’t bring herself to leave the girl’s side. She had to stay with her.

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…

Another night passed, and dawn arrived on the third day.

Outside, the sky was tinged with the pale light of early morning, and a cool breeze slipped in through the gaps in the window.

Winter had passed, and spring was coming.

It was almost March, and new buds were sprouting everywhere.

People on the streets no longer needed to wear thick down jackets, and the girls’ outfits became lively and varied once again.

It was also at this time that Chi Xiaocheng, lying in bed, slowly woke up.

As she opened her eyes, she felt someone tightly holding her hand.

A strand of hair brushed against her wrist.

It tickled a little, but it felt nice.

Turning her head slightly, Chi Xiaocheng saw Su Tao sitting on a small stool, leaning against the side of her bed, fast asleep.

She smiled faintly, not wanting to wake Su Tao, so she simply lay still. At the same time, she called out in her mind, “System.”

[Host, I’m here.]

“Where’s Xiao Hei?”

She still didn’t open her mouth, but Xiao Hei seemed to read her thoughts. Soon, a voice only she could hear reached her ears:

“What do you want?”

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Xiao Hei was still wearing that familiar dress, standing at the corner of Chi Xiaocheng’s pillow, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, looking bored and yawning repeatedly.

Chi Xiaocheng asked softly, “Care to explain the memories I saw in my dream?”

These memories felt real, yet incomplete.

Chi Xiaocheng felt as though a very, very long time had passed. She should have been immersed in them, yet it was more like watching a movie.

She understood a lot.

But she also had many questions.

Xiao Hei explained, “As you’ve probably realized, the person you dreamed about was indeed yourself. All along, you have always been you. There was never any so-called ‘original Xiaocheng.’ How you interpret your identity is up to you.

“Second, your recollection of these memories is somewhat hazy. There were far too many painful things in those memories. You would dream of them and recover them, but some of the emotions would be blocked, just like when you took the Emotional Blunting Pill. Otherwise, the sheer weight of that suffering and despair would have broken you.

“To put it simply, most of those memories were painful. You only need to know they happened. You don’t need to dwell on them.

“What’s most important is to cherish the happiness you have now.”

‘As for those painful memories, I’ll keep them intact for you.’

Xiao Hei didn’t say the last part out loud, but her explanation made the current situation clear to Chi Xiaocheng.

She was herself. Even that person and those memories from the small world were hers.

That version of her was also real, and the memories existed… it was just that the world itself was virtual.

Now that she understood this, Chi Xiaocheng almost wanted to laugh.

So all this time, the internal struggle over whether Tao-Tao loved the “real” her had been unnecessary.

She loved Tao-Tao.

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And Tao-Tao had gradually fallen for the current her, too.

The memories, with some of their emotions dulled, left Chi Xiaocheng with complicated feelings. But what mattered more was the girl before her now.

Fragments of memory told her that she and Tao-Tao had once been together and confessed their feelings to each other.

But….

The will of the world would not let her succeed.

The more she understood, the clearer her thoughts became.

If she wanted to truly be with Su Tao, there were two options:

Either wait for the wealthy female side character to appear, drawing the world’s attention away from Tao-Tao and toward her instead.

Or… reduce Tao-Tao’s role significance in the world’s narrative!

As she pondered, Xiao Hei spoke up beside her:

“You’ve been asleep for three days. Su Tao has been waiting here the whole time, desperate to know whether you’ve recovered your memories.

“Of course, you know which memories I’m talking about.”

Xiao Hei looked at Chi Xiaocheng. “Now that you’re awake, it’s time to face Su Tao.

“So… what are you going to do?”

Would she stop pretending to have amnesia, confess her feelings to Su Tao, and embrace the equally troubled girl?

Or… would she try something more extreme?