Cannon Fodder – Chapter 52 – She’s a Real Yandere!

Just like what she drank on the rooftop….

And in the basement….

The taste was identical!

But this was just porridge, why would it have this flavor?

Unless….

Su Tao looked down in horror, finally noticing something off about this bowl of pork porridge.

Why would pork porridge be cooked with red beans?

The porridge was… red!

What else was red?

Images flashed through her mind rapidly—

The basement, where drops of “orange juice” trickled into her mouth.

The rooftop, where slender wrists split open with fine crimson lines under the soaking rain.

That infatuated face repeating endlessly: “I love you~”

Like a staticky black-and-white TV, the scenes in her mind played faster and faster with screeching white noise—

Until it froze on this bowl of red bean pork porridge.

Her heartbeat accelerated until all she could hear was the ringing aftermath of an explosion, echoing endlessly.

“What’s wrong, Tao-Tao?”

Su Tao jerked her head up, hair disheveled. “X-Xiaocheng, this porridge… there’s something wrong with it! Why… why does it taste like orange juice?”

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“Tao-Tao, what are you talking about?”

Chi Xiaocheng’s lips parted slightly, her gaze deepening as she stared at Su Tao with an unsettling, deliberate slowness.

“Porridge… has always tasted like orange juice, hasn’t it?”

“Wha… what did you say?”

That doll-like face, with its pair of inhuman crimson vertical pupils, stared at her obsessively with the same eerie smile as always.

Boom—

Thunder cracked outside the sealed window, just like that night on the rooftop.

The crimson rainstorm didn’t dispel the darkness. It only dyed it thicker.

‘Xiaocheng is a real yandere!’

Maybe she didn’t realize it herself. Maybe she contradicted herself. Maybe she even had split personalities.

But from this moment on, Su Tao could confirm:

‘Chi Xiaocheng is a yandere!’

Fear crawled up her spine, spreading through her entire body until even breathing felt difficult. Then, Chi Xiaocheng’s disappointed voice reached her ears:

“So… Tao-Tao doesn’t like pork porridge? Then….”

Like a marionette, she stood up mechanically.

Su Tao recalled a similar scene from the novel she’d just read—

“I’ll eat it!

“Xiaocheng, I’ll eat it….”

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Her smile was stiff and bitter as she grabbed the bowl, gulping down two large mouthfuls.

‘Yes, it’s just orange juice-flavored porridge. Just pretend it’s made from normal oranges… and not that special “orange juice” that flowed from Xiaocheng’s body. This is normal orange juice. Normal orange juice. Normal orange juice….’

Su Tao repeated the mantra in her head, suppressing her gag reflex as she chugged half the scalding-hot porridge.

“T-Thanks, Xiaocheng.”

The smile was painfully strained. It was less an expression of joy and more a desperate contortion of facial muscles to pacify the seemingly unhinged girl before her.

Her reaction worked.

After eating half the bowl, Chi Xiaocheng “snapped back” to normal—

Grinning cutely, she chirped, “Mm, as long as Tao-Tao likes it~”

Those strange vertical pupils reverted to ordinary round ones, the crimson hue fading.

Su Tao glanced at the remaining porridge and chuckled dryly. “I’m full… can we skip the rest?”

“So soon?”

“Y-Yeah, I wasn’t that hungry anyway. How long was I asleep for?”

She swiftly changed the subject. Despite still being hungry, she couldn’t stomach another bite.

Chi Xiaocheng picked up the bowl, shaking her head lightly. “Not sure~ If Tao-Tao’s full, I’ll come back in an hour.”

Without letting Su Tao ask more, she happily headed for the door.

The moment it closed—

Su Tao lunged for the bedside table, doubling over as she clutched her chest, gasping for air.

The nausea still hadn’t subsided.

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Was that really just porridge? Or did she add… something else?

Su Tao couldn’t figure it out.

‘And what does Xiaocheng want by keeping me here?’

Her mind blank, she hid the novel under her pillow before collapsing onto the bed, staring vacantly.

The six-hour nap had rejuvenated her body, but the psychological shock far outweighed any physical exhaustion.

“One hour…” Su Tao murmured. “If Xiaocheng seems stable later… I’ll ask properly.”

She mentally counted the minutes, yet barely 15 had passed when the door creaked open again.

Chi Xiaocheng wobbled in, struggling to carry a bucket of water.

“Tao-Tao, bath time~”

Towels, shampoo, body wash, fresh clothes—

Everything was prepared.

After setting the items down, Chi Xiaocheng smiled apologetically. “Sorry, the bathroom’s broken. You’ll have to make do here. Don’t worry about the wet floor, I’ll clean up after!”

Su Tao’s smile froze again.

She was now certain that Chi Xiaocheng intended to keep her here indefinitely.

Her strength still hadn’t returned.

Was an hour really up already?

Why was she still so weak after all this time?

Noticing Su Tao’s hesitation, Chi Xiaocheng tilted her head cutely, then blushed crimson, looking away shyly.

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“D-Does… Tao-Tao want me to bathe you? Isn’t that… too fast? So embarrassing….”

“N-No! I can do it myself!”

The sheer shame of being bathed in this sparse, exposed room overrode even her unease.

Chi Xiaocheng pressed a finger to her lips, grinning mysteriously. “Then I’ll be back in… half an hour.”

“Wait, Xiaocheng!” Su Tao called out. “After my bath… can we talk properly?”

“Sure!”

With that, Chi Xiaocheng left.

Gazing at the drizzling sky outside, she happily plopped onto the sofa.

[Host, you wasted a golden opportunity. Not very villainous of you.]

“System, you don’t get it. Right now, Su Tao’s in the ‘we’re both girls so it’s whatever’ mindset. Even if I bathed her, she’d just overanalyze it as part of my yandere act.

“Physical contact only becomes meaningful when she starts wondering—

‘Why is Xiaocheng so different from other girls?’

“That’s when she’ll blush. That’s your so-called ‘golden opportunity.’

“I can’t let Tao-Tao get used to it prematurely.

“After all… I need her to realize that even as a girl, I’m one of a kind!

“Today’s “drink” must have already shown her how soft ¹ lips soft I can be.”

Chi Xiaocheng pulled out an item from the System’s gacha.

Silky Skin Candy: Makes skin smoother and more delicate.