Peach-Orange! – Chapter 353 – A Feeling More Distant Than Love

“Xiaocheng, I like you!”

She had rehearsed this line in her mind countless times.

She had even been searching for opportunities to say it to Xiaocheng in real life.

Those vivid memories of life-and-death separations, and those words—”My eyes are full of you”—were things Su Tao would never forget.

That suicide note….

No, that love letter represented the girl’s entire heart.

After regret, after emotional turmoil, after being scolded and crying, wasn’t the reason Su Tao had been so desperate to awaken Chi Xiaocheng’s memories precisely for this moment?

To confess to her!

To say she liked her!

And then, to kiss her!!!

Su Tao wasn’t blushing. Even though she had long known the answer, her heart still raced uncontrollably.

Nervousness and excitement mixed together, making her feelings even clearer.

She looked at Chi Xiaocheng and added with even more determination, “Xiaocheng, I like you. I like you so, so much. I never want you to leave me. So… do you like me too?”

She shouldn’t wait for the other’s response.

She should take the initiative.

Now, who could say Su Tao hadn’t grown at all?

Just as Su Tao had imagined a thousand times in her mind, she also knew Chi Xiaocheng’s answer could only be one thing.

The petite girl in front of her took Su Tao’s hand, her tone both helpless and doting. “Yes, yes, I know, Tao-Tao. I like you too.”

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The words were spoken.

But there was none of the expected shyness or surprise. Chi Xiaocheng responded with such calmness.

Their mutual feelings had finally been fully expressed at this moment.

Even if it felt a little off, the overwhelming joy had already clouded Su Tao’s mind.

Her brain kept replaying Chi Xiaocheng’s response—”I like you.”

She didn’t even notice at first how indifferent Chi Xiaocheng’s expression was.

She pulled Chi Xiaocheng into a tight embrace, her voice trembling with sobs. “Finally… we’ve finally reached this day. It’s been so hard, Xiaocheng… Finally… Wuwu….”

Chi Xiaocheng gently patted Su Tao’s back. In the blind spot of the girl’s vision, her expression turned hesitant.

She could predict what the girl would say next.

That was why she hesitated.

She even wanted to nod in advance.

But….

Chi Xiaocheng said softly, “Alright, Tao-Tao, no more crying. My memories are back now. I’ll never forget the time we spent together again.”

“Mhm… mhm!”

At this moment, Su Tao became the aggrieved child.

The girl wiped away her tears of joy and casually added, “Then, Xiaocheng, we’re a couple now, right? Girlfriends, right? We’ve finally reached this day. You used to want this so much, but after going through so much….

“I see this as the answer to all our efforts during this time.”

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Su Tao clenched her fist, looking toward the future. “Xiaocheng, let’s work hard together from now on!”

The sunlight outside the window spilled onto Su Tao’s face, making her expression look incredibly resolute.

At this moment, Chi Xiaocheng once again saw the illusion of that perfect “white moonlight” image.

But….

She didn’t like that idealized image.

She was the white moonlight, shining on everyone, not just herself.

That was a setting forced upon her by the world’s will. All those steadfast qualities didn’t represent her true personality.

‘Too high up….’

Chi Xiaocheng sighed inwardly and gently pushed Su Tao away a little. “Tao-Tao, what did you just say?”

She had gotten the answer she wanted but pretended not to hear clearly.

Su Tao, unaware of anything amiss, happily repeated, “I said, from now on, we’re a couple!”

She began envisioning the future. “Xiaocheng, I’ve already thought it through. First, we’ll tell Dongfang Yang and Si Chen that we’re together, so they won’t try to take you away.

“You said you like writing novels, right? I’ll take on drawing commissions to earn some tuition money.

“After we graduate and start earning more, we can open a small shop together. We’ll live our lives while saving up for a car, a house, an engagement ring, and then….”

She didn’t finish, but a hint of shyness appeared on her face.

As the sunlight gradually faded, Su Tao noticed the puzzled look on Chi Xiaocheng’s face. “Xiaocheng, what’s wrong? Did I say something wrong?”

Chi Xiaocheng gripped a corner of the pillow behind her back tightly. “Something is wrong. Did I mishear? T-Tao-Tao, were you… confessing to me?”

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Perhaps confirming it to herself, Chi Xiaocheng’s expression shifted from confusion to shock.

A bad premonition rose in Su Tao’s heart, and her voice couldn’t help but carry urgency. “Yes, Xiaocheng. Isn’t this what you always wanted before? For us to stay together, become a couple, and share our lives….”

Before she could finish, Chi Xiaocheng interrupted.

A strand of tea-colored hair fell, framing the girl’s utterly bewildered face. “But… we’re both girls. Being together like that… isn’t that weird?”

The sunlight vanished.

No more light entered the hospital room.

Even the chirping birds outside the window fell silent at this moment.

The world seemed to have gone quiet.

Su Tao’s pupils dilated, all her earlier happiness gone. “Xiaocheng… what are you saying?”

“You’re the one saying weird things, Tao-Tao,” Chi Xiaocheng replied. “We’re both girls. How could we possibly be together?”

“But you just said you liked me too! I said I liked you, and you said you liked me back, right? I heard it clearly! And your memories are back, aren’t they?”

Su Tao’s voice grew louder and louder.

Chi Xiaocheng seemed startled by her, her own voice growing softer.

“Of course I like you too.

“You’re my Sister Su Tao. Isn’t it natural for me to like you?

“I’ve always seen you as my most beloved sister.”

The room plunged into silence.

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Su Tao finally understood the faint sense of dissonance she had felt from the beginning.

She finally realized why, even though Xiaocheng had regained her memories, something still felt off.

“So that’s it… So that’s it….

“Ahahaha… AHAHAHA!”

Su Tao took a step back, covering her face with one hand as she burst into laughter.

Her laughter sounded painful, even bordering on hysterical.

She understood. She understood everything now!

Xiaocheng had regained her memories.

But she hadn’t regained the emotions that should have come with them.

We’re sisters.

We’re both girls.

How can two people of the same gender be together?

What a familiar way of thinking. What a familiar answer.

“So this is the pain Xiaocheng felt when I rejected her back then.”

When it comes to love, the most distant separation isn’t unrequited feelings.

There’s an even more distant shore, cut off by another kind of emotion.

Familial love.