Returning to Infancy with my Nemesis - Chapter 57

In junior high school, which still fell within the scope of compulsory education, there was no division into key classes and regular classes. Students could directly move up from elementary school. A few people, including Fu Jiacao, who were taken care of at home, ended up in the same class without being separated.

Fu Jiacao’s parents were quite low-key and didn’t intend to gain anything through their children’s relationships. They only visited Fu’s grandmother when the children gathered to set off fireworks during the Chinese New Year.

Grandma Fu gave a red envelope to Fu Jiacao but it was not as thick as the ones that Fu Shizhao and Tang Mian had.

In junior high school, teachers allowed students to choose their seats based on their test scores.

Fu Shizhao always ranked first in the grade, so whenever he had the chance to choose a seat, he would continue to sit with Tang Mian. Everyone in the class knew that they had a good relationship.

Junior high school was different from elementary school, as there were more subjects introduced, making the curriculum more diversified and gradually moving towards the division of arts and sciences.

Tang Mian no longer “bullied” Fu Shizhao or asked him to do his homework like in elementary school. He was afraid of missing out on any key knowledge and facing difficulties in his studies.

After all, after so many years since graduation, he had forgotten most of the knowledge from textbooks.

He had already studied all this in his previous life, so self-study was not necessary, and following the teacher’s pace was the most comfortable way to learn.

He didn’t want to put too much pressure on himself. The pressure from his previous life was already enough. In this life, he wanted to lie low as much as possible while achieving the goals he wanted to accomplish.

However… what made Tang Mian a little helpless was that Fu Shizhao didn’t want to address him as his Gege anymore. Instead, he shortened the repeated words to just one character.

“Ge, we have to submit an assignment at noon. Wait for me while I finish eating.”

“Ge, let’s go to my place this weekend. Snowball has been messing with the clothes you left behind, probably missing you.”

He was completely different from the child who didn’t allow anyone other than himself to call Tang Mian ‘gege’ before.

Perhaps entering adolescence had something to do with it. The term “gege” became a bit awkward to say, it carried a hint of ambiguity.

After forcing him to call him ‘gege’ several times without success, Tang Mian finally accepted reality.

Oh well, he had already enjoyed the advantage of that title for over a decade. One should learn to be content.

Around the second year of junior high, a wave of puppy love suddenly swept through the class.

Along with that, the young couples in the school would secretly call their boyfriends ‘gege’ which was disgustingly cheesy.

Tang Mian secretly felt relieved that Fu Shizhao no longer called him ‘gege,’ otherwise it would be too strange to be mixed in among them.

Every time he encountered such lovey-dovey couples, Tang Mian would quickly hold Fu Shizhao’s hand and take a detour.

“Fu Shizhao probably found it amusing and occasionally would suddenly call him ‘gege’ just to see Tang Mian’s embarrassed expression before quickly laughing and running away.

He was tall, with long legs, and often played basketball and practiced martial arts. Unless he held back, Tang Mian couldn’t catch up to him.

But he often held back, allowing Tang Mian to catch up after creating some distance, then playfully retaliating by lightly kicking his own leg, leaving Tang Mian completely helpless.

Fu Shizhao felt like one of those naughty kids who intentionally pull someone’s pigtails even though they actually liked them. It was quite childish.

“Don’t call me ‘ge’ anymore from now on.” Tang Mian said, poking Fu Shizhao’s chest.

Fourteen or fifteen-year-old Fu Shizhao looked exactly as he remembered, but his personality, raised by his grandmother since childhood, was more outgoing than the previous life. He was no longer the son of the Tang family driver.

Tang Mian always felt like he was seeing the previous version of Fu Shizhao, the one he had fallen out with, but he was actually right there by his side, and most of the time, he listened to him.

“You didn’t used to say that before, you used to say…” Tang Mian’s restless hand was grabbed by Fu Shizhao, who imitating the tone from back then, repeated, “‘I’m only your Gege'”

Upon hearing this, Tang Mian became even more furious. His ears turned slightly red, and he quickly pulled his hand out of Fu Shizhao’s grasp and turned away.

He knew Fu Shizhao was intelligent, had a good memory, quickly grasped anything he learned, and consistently ranked first in the grade.

But why did he remember even the words Tang Mian said in the first grade of elementary school?

Just as the wave of ‘gege’ hadn’t completely subsided, Tang Mian encountered a rather frustrating incident.

“He got entangled with a blondie.”

Although Tang Mian had never experienced a romantic relationship in his previous life, he felt that middle school was too early for love.

At the age of fourteen or fifteen, even getting a part-time job was considered child labor, and legitimate shops wouldn’t hire them. Most people couldn’t even afford to buy gifts for each other with the money they earned.

Watching the ups and downs of the little couples in the class, some of whom were also affected in their academic performance, and the adjacent class even had a couple threatening to jump off a building after breaking up, Tang Mian felt that it wasn’t worth it.

A healthy relationship should involve mutual progress. If one’s life and primary responsibilities were affected, it wasn’t necessary.

However, it couldn’t be denied that the innocence and warmth at this age were pure and beautiful. It was just that due to immaturity in both physical and psychological aspects, it was easy to go astray.

So, when his own brother and sister-in-law were in junior high, Tang Mian merely played matchmaker for them, not daring to get too involved. Fortunately, they ended up happily.

As they neared graduation from college, the two of them rented a house outside to prepare for postgraduate exams and internships.

During the summer and winter breaks, Tang Mian and Fu Shizhao were kept busy, and they didn’t disturb the couple’s world.

Tang Mian received quite a few love letters, but he politely declined them. He had no interest in dating these fourteen or fifteen-year-olds. He’d rather spend his time drawing.

Since entering middle school, he started to “express himself” and no longer hid his talents. Whenever he had free time, he would help his mom by drawing illustrations of flowers and plants.

One day, while Tang Mian was casually organizing his photo album, he realized that he had unknowingly drawn nearly a hundred pictures.

In his previous life, he learned traditional Chinese painting, which was strict, formal and grand. But this time, he tried playing with watercolors, which were transparent, healing, and surprisingly more suitable for him.

Tang Mian took the opportunity to create a Weibo account and occasionally shared his artwork there. Some were fanart of movies he recently watched, while others were small stories he drew in his spare time. Surprisingly, he accumulated quite a number of fans, and people often messaged him to collaborate on projects.

One must walk many paths to discover the one that suits them best, but not all paths can be retraced. Luckily, he had the chance to take a second journey.

His mom now used his hand-drawn Q version picture as her profile picture for her social media accounts.

His mom particularly loved that hand-drawn picture and almost changed her profile picture on all her social media platforms to it. She even added a line in her bio: “Avatar drawn by my little treasure.”

Tang Mian also drew a couple picture for his older brother and sister-in-law. His sister-in-law smiled and said they would use it as a standing sign during their wedding.

His sister-in-law had always liked him, even when he was just a little kid with a round face. Every time he came back, both his brother and sister-in-law would bring him and Fu Shizhao many gifts.

These gifts definitely weren’t chosen by his big, straight-laced brother. The fact that his brother didn’t gift him endless sets of practice papers was already considered good.

Sometimes, his sister-in-law would gossip about him and Fu Shizhao, asking if they were in an early relationship. She promised to keep their secret and assured them she wouldn’t tell their parents.

Tang Mian quickly shook his head and held Fu Shizhao’s hand to escape.

Among Tang Mian’s pursuers, most gave up after being rejected, especially since kids of this age usually had thin skin.

However, there was one person who persistently sent snacks to Tang Mian every day, and he was the one Tang Mian found most troublesome.

This person was the leader of the troublemakers in the neighboring class, named Ye Yun. He dyed his hair in the popular yellow color, often skipped classes, and consistently had poor grades.

During the craze of early relationships, he would change his partner almost every other week, regardless of gender.

Simply because his face was decent-looking, and he came from a wealthy family, he was generous with spending money on his partners. Also, he had never been involved in morally questionable behavior like two-timing. His reputation wasn’t too bad, making him quite a popular figure in their grade.

In their Hua Country, relationships were very free and open, and same-sex marriage was allowed.

[T/N : I shouldn’t be saying this but damnnnn the Irony. (???)]

Tang Mian’s impression of him could be summed up in one word – oily.

He couldn’t appreciate the sight of this guy with a head of tacky blonde hair. Every time he saw Tang Mian, he would whistle off-key, thinking he was cool, or show off some basketball moves to his lackeys around him.

Not only that, he often wore a jacket and smoked, thinking he was some kind of gangster from a movie. But the reality was often getting scolded by teachers when caught.

It was said that he often hung out with those idle people in society and even got involved in fights. He was even called to the police station, but luckily nothing serious happened.

Every time Tang Mian saw him, he treated him as if he were air, directly avoiding him. The snacks he sent were returned by Fu Shizhao every time, and Fu Shizhao always completed the task perfectly.

Maybe it’s because what you can’t have always stirs up your desire. This person really got on Tang Mian’s nerves.

At the age of fourteen or fifteen, Tang Mian’s facial features had already developed. Thin lips, peach blossom eyes, eyelashes like small brushes, a gentle temperament, and when he smiled, he had a pair of faint dimples. Due to always staying at home to draw, his skin was fair, like a delicate flower that was meant to be admired but not touched, yet it still ignited desires.

No wonder people liked him so much.

Tang Mian couldn’t remember how many love letters he had received from this person. The words on the envelope were still the same, with intricate and illegible handwriting, a kind of beauty that made your brain malfunction.

Tang Mian quickly glanced at Fu Shizhao’s notebook on the desk, using the neat and beautiful handwriting on it to cleanse his eyes. Fu Shizhao’s gaze also fell on the envelope in Tang Mian’s hand, and he read out the words written on it, “Must open, urgent.”

Tang Mian: “……”

So these were the words. Someone might mistake it for some kind of confidential report.

Tang Mian opened the letter with a speechless expression.

In the past, he would just throw the letter directly into the trash can, after all, he had already clearly rejected him, but he continued to harass him. There was no need to give him any face.

Tang Mian was truly annoyed. It was time to put an end to it completely.

Next year, he would be entering the third year of junior high. Although getting into a prestigious high school was not an issue, he still didn’t want to be bothered. After opening the letter, he found the same headache-inducing symbols. Tang Mian simply threw the letter to Fu Shizhao and asked him to translate it.

Fu Shizhao lowered his eyes slightly and translated word by word.

The general idea was to meet Tang Mian by the small river on the school grounds after school. He was requested to come alone and not bring anyone else.

Tang Mian pressed his lips together, pondered for a moment, and said to Fu Shizhao, “Wait for me at the school gate after school tonight. It won’t take long.”

Fu Shizhao raised an eyebrow slightly, “You’re going to the appointment?”

Tang Mian nodded.

“I’ll go with you, and we can also bring Mu Zichen and Fu Jiacao,” Fu Shizhao suggested.

However, Tang Mian shook his head, looking confident, “No need, I’ll go alone.”

During the recent period when he was most bothered, Tang Mian had investigated the blondie. Lately, the blondie had been invited by the principal for a chat and had kept quiet for a while. He was just a rebellious teenager; Tang Mian was confident he could handle it.

Fu Shizhao’s frown deepened, “What if he gets aggressive?”

Tang Mian, who was contemplating his wording, froze: “…Ah.”