Returning to Infancy with my Nemesis - Chapter 113

He didn’t want to say it, it was just difficult to bring up.

Fu Shizhao: “He got a girl pregnant in high school, you should be able to tell he’s not a good person, right?”

Tang Mian lightly hmmed, “I see it now.”

Before, he knew nothing, foolishly thinking that Wei Haifan was just a passionate person like Mu Zichen, but although Mu Zichen was passionate, he never had moral issues, unlike Wei Haifan who was so despicable.

“You also said, he’s into both men and women.”

“…”

“Have you ever thought that in high school, he might have had intentions towards you?”

“…”

Tang Mian’s fingertips holding the phone turned slightly pale.

Fu Shizhao: “That day, when we were playing basketball, it was getting late, and I happened to overhear the vulgar things he said about you. I couldn’t stand it, so I intervened. There were too many people, and we ended up both getting hurt. But the Wei family couldn’t afford to offend the Fu family, so he was forced to transfer.”

Tang Mian’s heart nearly leapt out of his chest.

Before he could even get angry about what vulgarities Wei Haifan had said about him, Tang Mian’s mind was filled with the realization — Fu Shizhao had indeed fought Wei Haifan because of him.

Or rather, “for him” would be more accurate.

No wonder when he happened to encounter Fu Shizhao at the hospital after visiting Wei Haifan, Fu Shizhao was so angry and even rudely removed his hearing aid from his right ear.

If it were him, he would have been even angrier than Fu Shizhao.

Later… he even pushed Fu Shizhao, who had injured his leg, to the ground and left without looking back.

The character on the phone screen was killed by the boss again due to being idle, but Tang Mian no longer cared.

Seemingly having broken the ice, Fu Shizhao poured out everything as if giving up resistance.

“This time, I also collected evidence for his imprisonment. The girl he got pregnant in high school, I arranged for a psychologist to counsel her all this time.”

“I didn’t expect that we’d into a car accident and almost die without you seeing me.”

“Thank goodness Gan Lan came and told you all these things, otherwise I would have to continue spreading this matter in various high school groups just to make sure you saw it.”

“Tang Mian, I’ve done a lot of things that I’m sorry for you and the Tang family, but for this matter, you owe me some comfort. I’ve been wrongly accused for so many years, and back then, I was limping and you still pushed me to the ground.”

Tang Mian continued brainstorming.

“I’m punishing you to help me bathe tomorrow.”

Tang Mian: “…”

“I’m tired, let’s sleep. We’ll talk about the rest tomorrow.”

With a “click,” the light was turned off, and the room fell into darkness as the curtains were drawn, blocking even the moonlight.

Only the dim light from Tang Mian’s phone screen remained.

The rustling sound came from the adjacent bed, indicating that Fu Shizhao had laid down.

Mechanically, Tang Mian turned off his phone screen and burrowed into the blankets.

He wasn’t sleepy at all.

The conversation with Fu Shizhao just now was enough to keep him awake until late at night.

This was the first time in many years that they had discussed the events of the past.

Perhaps it was because the car accident had been so perilous, almost depriving them of the chance to confront each other again, that both sides had undergone some changes in mindset.

Fu Shizhao said he had done things that were sorry for him and the Tang family, referring to the incident where he was reclaimed by the Fu family and their subsequent distancing from each other.

He had always known what he was doing and how his actions would hurt him and the Tang family.

But he still did it.

He wasn’t someone who acted knowingly.

He must have been… coerced.

In fact, he had long suspected that Fu Shizhao might not be living as smoothly in the Fu family as it appeared on the surface. After all, Old Master Fu was a philanderer, and the relationships within the Fu family were very complex.

However, his suspicions couldn’t be verified. Fu Shizhao repeatedly pushed him away. He always had the posh the air of a high and mighty young master of the Fu family, making it difficult for others to approach him easily. Tang Mian suffered setbacks time and time again in his presence, and he had a temper too.

If that was truly the case, everything would make sense. When he was bearing his burdens, Fu Shizhao was in a similar situation. They couldn’t help each other, but Fu Shizhao chose to completely detach himself from Tang Mian.

Now that Fu Shizhao had taken over the Fu family and had no constraints, he started to want to “redeem” himself and “redeem” the Tang family. But with the Tang family now fragmented and in disarray, Fu Shizhao couldn’t redeem them anymore. So, he continued to maintain this state with Tang Mian, neither daring to advance nor retreat.

He could only secretly change the light fixtures in his mother’s room to the duck-shaped lights from their childhood, and deliberately choose days for him to visit his mother, pretending to coincidentally encounter Tang Mian.

Tang Mian sniffled, realizing tears had fallen without him noticing, soaking a large part of the pillow. He had been too absorbed in his thoughts to notice.

The room was too quiet, making the sound of his sniffles particularly out of place.

Fu Shizhao was also unable to sleep, hearing Tang Mian’s clearly tearful voice, wanting to comfort him but holding back. Tang Mian needed to digest everything alone.

He couldn’t remember when he fell asleep, only that after Tang Mian, hearing his even breathing from the adjacent bed finally relieved him, he closed his eyes.

The next day.

When Fu Shizhao woke up, he found Tang Mian was gone.

Fu Shizhao was instantly wide awake, feeling a sense of fear rising in him. He didn’t know if Tang Mian had temporarily left for something or… actually left for good.

He hadn’t clarified everything with him yet.

Fu Shizhao lay in bed, staring at the chat box with Tang Mian, afraid to send a message, fearing that it would show that the other party was no longer his friend. He also didn’t dare to turn off the phone screen, afraid that lying down would make him overthink.

He didn’t know how long had passed until the door of the ward suddenly opened.

Tang Mian, dressed neatly, walked in, carrying a large bag of warm lunch.

Fu Shizhao instantly revived.

Tang Mian’s injuries were much lighter than Fu Shizhao’s, and there weren’t many problems with his mobility now, except that his body still ached after prolonged activity, so he needed to continue to observe.

“Let’s eat,” Tang Mian placed the lunch between them on the table.

“Okay,” Fu Shizhao sat up cautiously, carefully examining Tang Mian’s eye sockets. They were slightly red and swollen, but not as much as he had feared from last night’s crying. Fu Shizhao secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

The lunch was abundant, and both of them enjoyed it without mentioning last night’s events.

As they neared finishing, Tang Mian suddenly spoke up, “When do you want to take a bath?”

Fu Shizhao hesitated for a moment, licked his lips, “How about resting a bit after eating?”

He did want to take a bath, but last night, asking Tang Mian to help him was just a casual remark. He hadn’t expected Tang Mian to actually agree.

“Okay.”

After finishing the meal, Tang Mian tidied up the table, without asking Fu Shizhao for money this time, and leaned back on the bed, ready to play some games.

Fu Shizhao suddenly spoke up, “This game has a cooperative multiplayer mode. Want to play together?”

Tang Mian glanced at him, “Inviting me, huh?”

And so, the two of them played the game together for nearly an hour.

If this had been back when they were seventeen or eighteen, it would have seemed normal. But now, both of them were referred to as “Mr. X”.

It was a bit ridiculous for them to be lying in a hospital bed playing multiplayer games after the accident.

But… no one cared whether it was ridiculous or not.

“You take the one on the left, I’ll take the one on the right.”

“I’ll give you this long-range weapon, and you give me the melee weapon you picked up.”

“I’ll open this door, you go through first.”

“Got it, let’s kill them.”

…

They almost couldn’t stop playing.

It was only when the doctor came for the routine checkup that they were forced to stop.

After the doctor left, Tang Mian followed Fu Shizhao into the bathroom.

With one leg broken, Fu Shizhao could only stand with the help of crutches or by leaning on something. It was inconvenient for him to undress in the bathroom.

He pulled at his shirt, lifting it up to his chest, and turned to Tang Mian for help, “Help me.”

Tang Mian couldn’t refuse, so he helped Fu Shizhao take off his clothes. Soon, his upper body was stripped of its garments.

With bandages still wrapped around his legs, Fu Shizhao only rolled up the cuff of the unbroken leg’s pants, not taking them off.

Tang Mian dampened a towel with hot water and gently wiped Fu Shizhao’s upper body.

It was evident that Fu Shizhao had been exercising regularly over the years, as his muscles looked well-defined.

Tang Mian’s fingers inevitably traced over them.

There were many new injuries from the accident, making it challenging to clean, but Tang Mian was patient.

Apart from the new injuries, Fu Shizhao also had many old scars scattered across his body.

Tang Mian’s fingers lightly brushed over these scars, and he casually asked, “How did you get all these scars?”

Fu Shizhao pursed his lips, “Some are from being bullied by Tang Wei when I was a child, and some are from being bullied in the Fu family.”

Tang Mian’s fingers paused.

Tang Wei.

Even though he had managed to get their entire family sent to prison, he couldn’t make their shattered family whole again.

Now, just hearing that name still made him tremble uncontrollably.

Fu Shizhao suddenly grasped his fingers, pulling him back.

“It’s ticklish here, I’ll do it myself first,” Fu Shizhao said.

Tang Mian released his hand, letting him take the towel, and lowered his gaze, asking in a muffled voice, “Isn’t Mr. Fu supposed to be prestigious? How could you still be bullied in the Fu family?”

“It may seem prestigious…” Fu Shizhao paused, “But in fact, I’ve been under surveillance since the day I returned to the Fu family.”

This was a long story, one that he had imagined telling Tang Mian countless times in reality or in dreams.

Fu Shizhao recounted many of his experiences in the Fu family, why he intentionally grew distant from Tang Mian, and why he never dared to contact him.

Halfway through, Fu Shizhao handed the towel he had used to scratch his itchy waist to Tang Mian, turned around, and asked him to help him scrub his back.

Tang Mian silently accepted, and after rinsing the towel in hot water again, he began to scrub Fu Shizhao’s back.

“Do you still remember Fu Jiuming? That idiot from high school who was always one rank lower than me in the science rankings and bullied me the most.”

“In our senior year, during a major exam, he deliberately instructed someone to throw a cheat sheet near my feet, trying to frame me. Luckily, I found out and didn’t let that bastard succeed.”

“The year before last, he secretly made some moves in the company to harm me again. I caught him in the act and turned the tables, bankrupting him and kicking him out of the Fu family.”

…

Finally, under Tang Mian’s deliberate slowing down, he finished wiping Fu Shizhao’s body.

Fu Shizhao: “There are still many things, I can’t remember them all at once. I’ll tell you later when I recall.”

Suddenly, Fu Shizhao felt like a child sharing daily life stories.

Unfortunately, these were all particularly heavy past events, not some joyful childhood memories.

Tang Mian gently nodded.

Although he had thought about it for a long time last night, hearing Fu Shizhao casually talk about these things made Tang Mian feel a mess inside.

Tang Mian’s reaction surprised Fu Shizhao.

In fact, when Tang Mian asked about the scars on his body and he mentioned Tang Wei’s name, Fu Shizhao was already afraid that Tang Mian wouldn’t want to continue the conversation.

Feeling Tang Mian’s trembling, he quickly grabbed his hand under the guise of taking the towel.

Just as Fu Shizhao finished changing into clean clothes and was about to leave the bathroom with Tang Mian, Tang Mian suddenly spoke up, asking, “Was the evidence against Tang Wei’s family also from you?”

Fu Shizhao paused in his steps. “Yes.”

Tang Mian turned around. “You go out first, I also need to take a shower.”

“Okay.” Fu Shizhao obediently left the bathroom using his crutch.

Tang Mian locked the door from the inside, rubbed his eyes, and found tears falling again.

Fu Shizhao probably feared that Tang Mian would blame him, so he had been afraid to tell him these things and could only secretly help him from behind.

After all, no matter what, his father and brother couldn’t be brought back to life, and his mother’s mental illness was difficult to treat. The carefree young master of the Tang family was also gone forever.

If he hadn’t almost died in this car accident, would Fu Shizhao have buried these things in his heart forever?

After all, if they were all dead or all alive and well, that would still be a good thing.

But if only one side survived, it would be a serious torment and regret for the other.

Fu Shizhao probably feared that too.

Just like him.

Tang Mian changed out of his clothes, turned on the shower, and let the warm water flow over him for a long time.

When he came out, his hair was still dripping with water. Seeing this, Fu Shizhao adjusted the room’s heater a few degrees higher and said, “Quickly blow dry your hair, don’t catch a cold.”

There was a hairdryer in the hospital room.

Tang Mian turned back to the bathroom and found the hairdryer, then handed it to Fu Shizhao, his voice muffled, “Help me blow dry.”

“Okay.” Fu Shizhao took the hairdryer from him and plugged it into the bedside socket.

Tang Mian brought a stool and sat in front of Fu Shizhao’s hospital bed, facing away from him.

In no time, the sound of the hairdryer hummed over their heads.

The warm air passed over their heads, taking away the moisture from their hair.

Tang Mian blinked, and tears fell again.

He had imagined many confrontations with Fu Shizhao, but he never expected it to be like this.

As if nothing had happened.

Like two little beasts venturing out, splitting up due to misunderstandings along the way, returning with injuries only to find that their dens had been destroyed, leaving them with no home, only able to lick each other’s wounds.

At first, Tang Mian tried hard to hold back his tears, but later he couldn’t help it anymore. His shoulders trembled, and tears flowed silently. Before he knew it, all the water droplets on his hair had been blown dry, and the sound of the hairdryer behind him couldn’t suppress his crying anymore. A pair of warm hands hugged him into their embrace.

“I miss my dad so much, and my brother.”

“I wish my mom could get better.”

“I want to paint.”

…

Fu Shizhao hadn’t expected their honest conversation with Tang Mian to turn out like this.

He had thought Tang Mian might lash out at him like before, saying he was overestimating himself and pushing him away presumptuously.

He had thought Tang Mian might face it calmly, saying he had already figured it out and finally got his confession.

He had even thought Tang Mian might not be able to restore their previous relationship after getting the answer and just walk away.

But he had never expected Tang Mian to show him his most vulnerable side.

Feeling the warmth and wetness in his arms, Fu Shizhao could only gently pat his back to comfort him.

He couldn’t bring Uncle Tang and Tang Sheng back to life, nor could he guarantee that Auntie Shen would get better. At most, all he could do was help him fulfill the last wish.

–

Getting discharged from the hospital completely took about a month. Fu Shizhao’s leg was still not quite well, but he just didn’t want to continue living in a place with such a strong smell of disinfectant.

So… Fu Shizhao boldly moved into Tang Mian’s house.

The excuse was that he didn’t want to go back to work, as he usually stayed at the company.

Tang Mian had heard rumors about Fu Shizhao being a “workaholic,” although he was somewhat skeptical about that statement, he reluctantly agreed.

Mainly because Fu Shizhao was so insistent.

The house was a small one that Tang Mian bought later on. There weren’t many rooms, and it wasn’t heavily decorated, giving it a somewhat empty feel, but Fu Shizhao inexplicably liked it here.

“You can stay in the guest room,” Tang Mian said lightly.

“I want to stay in the master bedroom,” Fu Shizhao persisted.

“Okay, then you sleep on the sofa, so I don’t have to make the guest bed,” Tang Mian replied.

“…”

That night, Fu Shizhao still managed to squeeze into the master bedroom and ended up sleeping on the same bed as Tang Mian.

Although they had spent some time together in the hospital room, they had each slept on their own beds and had never slept together.

Tonight, Fu Shizhao forcefully burrowed into his own blanket, which made Tang Mian feel a little awkward.

Although they had slept together before Fu Shizhao was reclaimed by the Fu family, so many years had passed, and so much had happened, that it was really hard to go back to how things were before…

Fu Shizhao: “My leg hurts, it’s more comfortable if I lean on you.”

Fu Shizhao: “Are there any other dolls? If not, I’ll just hug you to sleep.”

…ridiculous.

Can Fu Shizhao have some sense of boundaries??

Allowing him to stay here was already a concession.

Tang Mian turned over directly, freed himself from his restraint, and closed his eyes while holding the little cat doll in his arms.

But the person behind him suddenly made no movement at all.

This was somewhat unexpected for Tang Mian.

So compliant… it didn’t  seem like Fu Shizhao at all.

Finally, Tang Mian couldn’t resist his inner doubts any longer, pretended to casually turn over, only to be met with a pair of smiling eyes.

Tang Mian’s heart skipped a beat and he demanded, “What do you want to do?”

“Why do you think I fought with Wei Haifan back then?” Fu Shizhao responded with a question.

Tang Mian pursed his lips. “Because he said something vulgar, and you couldn’t stand it, so you wanted to defend me.”

Fu Shizhao asked again, “Then guess what I said after I took off your right hearing aid in the hospital.”

Somehow, Tang Mian’s heartbeat started to accelerate.

He thought Fu Shizhao had whispered something nasty in his ear at that moment, but now that he knew the real reason for Fu Shizhao’s fight with Wei Haifan, that sentence should be guessed in another direction.

What could it be?

Tang Mian had no clue.

Or rather, he had a little clue but he dared not grasp it.

“It was…,” Fu Shizhao intentionally leaned closer, lowered his voice, but this time Tang Mian heard it clearly.

“Are you stupid? Can’t you tell when someone likes you?”

…

Indeed, it was a “scolding.”

But the other layer of meaning was so obvious.

Can’t you tell when someone likes you?

Who is “someone” here…

Tang Mian fled in dismay, taking the cat doll to the adjacent guest room and locking the door.

Fu Shizhao knocked on the door outside for a long time without any response. He could only leave dejectedly, returning to the master bedroom, turning on the light again, and lying on the bed to admire Tang Mian’s bedroom.

He was actually hesitant.

But since he had already confessed to Tang Mian about what happened in the past, there was no need to continue hiding his little thoughts.

It might be better to strike while the iron was hot and let Tang Mian digest it together.

People are greedy.

At first, he just wanted to have some interaction with Tang Mian.

After the accident, he began to fear and mustered the courage to open up to each other.

Now, with their relationship much improved, he started to imagine more.

Since they no longer had a home, why not build a new one together.

Time cannot be reversed; life can only move forward.

The next day, Tang Mian moved out of his own home and moved into the company.

Fu Shizhao spent a day “guarding the empty nest,” and then realized belatedly that he should have let Tang Mian know that he had left. So, he also returned to his own company.

Sleeping in the company wasn’t as comfortable as at home, and Fu Shizhao didn’t want Tang Mian to avoid going home because of him.

But Tang Mian still avoided for a long time.

Suddenly, one day, a bouquet of flowers and a box of fresh strawberries were delivered to Tang Mian’s company every day.

People in the company speculated—CEO Tang is going to fall in love, but they didn’t know who the object would be.

Tang Mian, on the other hand, ate strawberries while rolling his eyes, casually putting the flowers sent by Fu Shizhao into the vase in his office.

He was indeed frightened by Fu Shizhao’s words that night.

But he knew… he wasn’t opposed to it in his heart.

He just didn’t know how to face it.

He needed some time to buffer.

The amount of information he had received recently was just too overwhelming.

He reasonably suspected that Fu Shizhao was trying to take advantage of the situation and push things forward.

Tang Mian received flowers and strawberries for a month like this.

Suddenly one day, when Tang Mian returned home from the company, someone was waiting for him alone in the parking lot next to his car, looking like his legs and feet were already agile.

Fu Shizhao: “How about dinner together tonight? After sending flowers for a month, shouldn’t there be some results?”

Tang Mian gave him a sideways glance, “are you inviting me to dinner and making me the driver?”

“Give me the keys, I’ll drive.” Fu Shizhao reached out to him.

But Tang Mian didn’t give them to him. Instead, he opened the car door and sat inside, saying casually, “I’m not daring enough to ride in your car.”

In fact, the car accident had nothing to do with Fu Shizhao; it was entirely the other party’s fault.

Fu Shizhao took the opportunity to sit in the passenger seat, smilingly saying, “Me neither. I don’t want to drive recently either. I’m thinking of hiring a driver.”

Tang Mian started the car. “Then hire one.”

It’s not like he couldn’t afford it.

Fu Shizhao: “Our companies are quite close to each other.”

The implied meaning was strong.

Tang Mian rolled his eyes. “Stop thinking about it. I can’t afford you.”

Fu Shizhao: “Even if I pay you my salary in the future, you still can’t afford it?”

Tang Mian pursed his lips, stepped on the gas, and didn’t respond further.

Tang Mian didn’t ask Fu Shizhao where to eat. Instead, he drove to the side of their high school, heading towards the familiar yet unfamiliar snack street.

The two of them wandered around the school for a long time. When they were about to leave, they were suddenly accosted by a small white long-haired cat.

The little cat followed them for a long time, and they couldn’t shake it off.

Tang Mian couldn’t help but soften his heart and brought it back to the car. That same night, he and Fu Shizhao took it to the pet store together and had a series of physical checks done.

The results showed that it was very healthy.

“Let’s keep it,” Fu Shizhao said.

Watching the soft little cat snuggling in his palm, Tang Mian’s eyes curved slightly, not paying much attention to the subject of Fu Shizhao’s sentence, but focusing only on the last four words – “let’s keep it.”

Keep it.

Tang Mian: “Okay.”

That night, Tang Mian brought it back along with a bunch of cat supplies, and Fu Shizhao also stayed at his place under the pretext of taking care of the kitten.

Gradually, Tang Mian’s home inexplicably gained an extra person who couldn’t be driven away no matter what.

Fu Shizhao gave two reasons –

First, the kitten was their shared property and they had to raise it together. They couldn’t stay at Tang Mian’s place today and Fu Shizhao’s place tomorrow.

Second, Tang Mian drove to work every day and conveniently passed by one of his branch offices. He was currently working on a project there, so he would be temporarily working there.”

Tang Mian reasonably suspected that Fu Shizhao had intentionally chosen this location when he opened the branch office – it was too close to his company.

So close that when Fu Shizhao had nothing to do, he would come over to visit.

The first time he came, the receptionist almost thought a business war was about to break out and hurriedly informed Tang Mian, which left Tang Mian somewhat amused and exasperated.

Gradually, the people in the company became familiar with the change in their relationship and even started spreading rumors.

“I heard that… Mr. Fu and Mr. Tang were childhood friends! Later, I don’t know what happened, and they became each other’s nemesis.”

“Sure enough, arch-enemies always end up becoming lovers in the end, hahaha.”

“Oh my god, Mr. Fu came to see Mr. Tang with a kitten, strawberries, and a bouquet of flowers. So sweet!”

—

It was familiar because they had lived here for three years, and they still had some impressions of many shops and the people inside. It was unfamiliar because the snack street had changed a lot over the years, with many shops closing and new ones opening.

As they walked, they bought food along the way, and soon both of their hands were full.

Tang Mian ate until his cheeks were puffed up, feeling quite content.

Fu Shizhao suddenly spoke up, “I really want to see you wearing your school uniform again.”

Tang Mian glanced at him, “Keep dreaming.”

After saying that, Tang Mian turned and left.

Actually, he also wanted to see Fu Shizhao wearing his school uniform again.

But they had both grown up.

“I really want to hug Cotton Candy, the white long-haired kitten looks like it’s just made for cuddling, hehe…”

Tang Mian was completely unaware of this.

The name “Cotton Candy” for the little cat was suggested by Mu Zichen when he happened to see the kitten during a video call with Fu Shizhao. He said it looked like a little ball of cotton candy, which inspired Tang Mian to give it that name.

The name “Cotton Candy” suited the little cat very well.

As Cotton Candy grew older, Tang Mian tried taking it out for a walk and found that it didn’t react to stress but was rather a brave little cat. It would even bravely confront big dogs with a swipe of its paw.

Once, when Fu Shizhao invited him to visit his mother in the nursing home, Tang Mian had a sudden idea to bring Cotton Candy along.

His mother’s mental state was unstable, and he had heard that furry animals could help many people. So, Tang Mian wanted to give it a try.

The results were very successful.

His mother loved Cotton Candy, and Cotton Candy loved her too. It would cuddle up in her arms, making her very happy.

Tang Mian gritted his teeth and left Cotton Candy with his mother to keep her company during her rehabilitation.

Later, the doctors at the nursing home said that the cat’s presence had a very positive effect.

Tang Mian finally breathed a sigh of relief.

However, the relationship between him and Fu Shizhao remained ambiguous.

Fu Shizhao didn’t seem to be in a hurry either.

Tang Mian didn’t care either way. At this point, he just let things take their course.

Days passed one by one.

Encouraged by Fu Shizhao, Tang Mian opened his long-sealed painting supplies.

Inside, to his surprise, he found a painting.

It was a drawing he had made in kindergarten, a simple sketch of a dog and a cat, with his and Fu Shizhao’s names written beside them. The strokes were childish but well-preserved.

“Paint some more pictures,” Fu Shizhao suddenly spoke up, “of you and me.”

Tang Mian’s heart fluttered ever so lightly.

—

They officially became a couple shortly before the Chinese New Year.

Fu Shizhao mysteriously said he had a gift for him and hinted that if it made him happy, he would consider being with him.

Tang Mian said he’d see the gift first.

The gift was a not-too-small box with many holes on the side.

Fu Shizhao carefully moved the box in front of him, indicating him to open it.

Tang Mian cooperatively opened the box.

A fluffy white ball appeared before him.

It was a pure white Samoyed puppy.

Its smile was incredibly soothing.

Fu Shizhao explained, “It’s a puppy from the Samoyed my mother’s family raises, born from Cotton Candy. Since you gave Cotton Candy to Aunt Shen, I thought it would be nice for us to have another puppy.”

Tang Mian eagerly hugged the puppy into his arms. Its touch was so nice, wagging its tail happily.

“Do you like this gift?” Fu Shizhao asked.

Tang Mian raised his eyes to meet his gaze, chin resting on the puppy’s head, pursing his lips, and answered, “I do.”

“Then…” Fu Shizhao paused, “can we try dating?”

Tang Mian lowered his eyes again, rubbing his chin against the soft head of the puppy.

“We can give it a try.”

Fu Shizhao was as happy as a big Samoyed.

It was already winter, and the snow outside piled up thickly. Tang Mian and Fu Shizhao decided to name the little Samoyed “Snowball.”

Round and plump, just like a little snowball.

It was always clumsy, tumbling into the snowdrifts.

Tang Mian laughed as he drew many cute little cartoons of the puppy.

–

One day before New Year’s Eve, Tang Mian and Fu Shizhao went together to pay respects at their father’s and brother’s graves.

Tang Mian couldn’t help but shed tears again, and Fu Shizhao’s eyes turned red too.

This was the first time they had done this together.

The snow, which had been falling continuously, unexpectedly stopped, as if offering solace from another realm.

As they were leaving, they met their sister-in-law. She didn’t ask anything, just exchanged New Year’s greetings with them.

On New Year’s Eve, Tang Mian and Fu Shizhao brought Snowball to celebrate with their mother and Cotton Candy.

Fu Shizhao confessed to her about his struggles over the years.

His mother smiled and patted his hand. “I know, you’ve always been a good child.”

Tang Mian held back his teary eyes and mustered the courage to tell her about their relationship.

It was the first time his mother showed a relieved smile.

“Mom just wants you to be happy.”

Snowball and Cotton Candy got along well and soon fell asleep together.

This year… was a warm winter.

-End-