Returning to Infancy with my Nemesis - Chapter 58

“Tang Mian was stunned for a while before he finally registered Fu shizhao’s words.

Tang Mian lowered his eyelashes slightly. 

It seems… it might not be impossible. 

This little punk looked like someone who has watched too many gangster movies, and imitated the behavior of so-called “big brothers.” Immature to the core. Maybe he would do some “forceful” things to the person he likes, just like those gangster bosses in movies and TV shows. 

But at his age, he probably can’t do anything too bad. Tang Mian silently took out a mask from his pocket and put it on hiss face. 

The mask was thick, with a white Samoyed pattern on it, which Fu Shizhao gave him last winter. It was specially designed to resist the wind and keep warm. 

Fu Shizhao also has an identical mask. 

“It’s okay, I’ll wear a mask and go over.” Tang Mian’s voice sounded muffled behind the mask, thinking he had found a good solution. 

Fu Shizhao:

Fu Shizhao really wanted to sneak out of school now to buy him a helmet. What good is a soft mask going to do for protection?

And if that person gets physical and touches other parts of his body, what should he do? At the age of fourteen or fifteen, he has already started developing and his sexual awareness has begun to awaken.

Fu Shizhao’s mood was very complicated, but he didn’t say anything else. He just asked Tang Mian to stay safe. Tang Mian nodded, reassuring him.

Fu Shizhao stood up directly and threw the love letter he was holding into the trash can in the corner of the classroom.

The trash can was nearly full, and the assigned student had not emptied it yet. Fu Shizhao furrowed his brows, lifted his foot, and used his expensive sneakers to step on the letter, pressing it down along with the garbage into the trash can.

Then, he returned to his seat, picked up his and Tang Mian’s assignments, and handed them to the leader of the first row, taking a glance at today’s assigned student. He precisely approached him and reminded, “The trash can at the back is full; empty it.”

There were still a few minutes before the morning self-study session. The assigned student hastily pulled his desk mate, and they went to empty the trash together.

Watching the trash can with the love letter being carried out of the classroom and coming back empty, Fu Shizhao’s furrowed brows relaxed somewhat.

During lunch, while Tang Mian and Fu Jiacao were busy with the soup, Mu Zichen took advantage of the opportunity and asked quietly, “What’s wrong today?”

Mu Zichen raised an eyebrow, “Seriously, I’ve studied micro-expressions. You can’t fool me.”

Fu Shizhao glanced at him and calmly said, “If you know I’m lying, don’t ask.”

He naturally knew that he couldn’t hide anything from Mu Zichen, and it seemed like Mu Zichen had already figured something out. But Fu Shizhao never showed it.

In the previous life, their becoming good buddies was not without reason. As they grew older, Mu Zichen seemed to be more in tune with him. Some people naturally have similar magnetic fields for a reason.

“Forget it, forget it. Let’s eat.”­

Fu Shizhao felt like today was passing too slowly. In just one day, he estimated that he had checked the time on the clock almost a hundred times. Finally, the time came for school to end.

Fu Shizhao, seemingly obedient, took his and Tang Mian’s backpacks and left the classroom. In reality, he took a detour and quickly walked towards the agreed meeting place with Tang Mian and the  Yellow-haired boy.

There was a long stream winding through the school, and a stone bridge and a pavilion were built by the school on the river. Lanterns hung on it during the Chinese New Year, and the yellow tassels swayed in the wind, creating a beautiful scenery.

At the same time, it became a popular dating spot for couples in the school.

During the peak of puppy love a while ago, the school administrators often kept watch here, catching many lovebirds and “disciplining” them.

Now, things had calmed down, and not many couples dared to come here.

Fu Shizhao was fast, and by the time he rushed there, Tang Mian had just encountered the Yellow-haired boy.

The greenery by the riverside was lush, and Fu Shizhao secretly hid behind a short tree, quietly observing.

The yellow-haired boy was wearing a jacket covered in studs and had his coat unbuttoned, creating a stark contrast to Tang Mian, who was wearing a clean school uniform.

When Tang Mian arrived, the  Yellow-haired boy was absentmindedly throwing stones into the river.

Seeing Tang Mian, the  Yellow-haired boy rubbed his nose uncomfortably, his eyes wandering. Finally, he mustered up the courage to focus on Tang Mian’s face, who was wearing a mask, and spoke in a slightly awkward tone, “I thought you wouldn’t come.”

He had noticed Tang Mian during a school-organized art exhibition activity.

At that time, Tang Mian was wearing casual British-style clothes, staring at a painting with curved eyebrows, resembling the person in the painting. He couldn’t help but walk over and strike up a conversation using that painting as an opening.

But it had little effect.

Tang Mian treated him as if he were invisible. But ironically, this feeling of not being able to catch up with him was the most frustrating. He had thought about giving up many times, even considered casually dating someone else, but he failed every time.

During the time he pursued Tang Mian, he had no interest in skipping class or getting into fights. He would just sit in the classroom daydreaming, thinking about how to casually pass by Tang Mian’s classroom after class. He had become much more well-behaved overall.

However, recently the principal received a call from his father and asked him to come to the office for a chat. He realized that he had been too well-behaved during this period of time. His father thought he was brewing some big move, so he called the principal in advance to discuss and prevent any potential issues.

He felt frustrated for a long time.

Tang Mian couldn’t be bothered to waste time exchanging pleasantries with him. He straightforwardly said, “Fu Shizhao is my little brother.”

 Yellow-haired boy:  Oh.

Fu Shizhao, hiding behind the short tree:   …

‘You can’t even compare to my little brother, and you still want to confess to me,’ Tang Mian coldly snorted.

Fu Shizhao:  …

He never expected that Tang Mian would actually use him as a shield.

Tang Mian:  Do you think I would be interested in someone who can’t even compare to my little brother?

He didn’t have many opportunities to actually talk to Tang Mian properly, so he listened attentively, when he was being spoken to. The  Yellow-haired boy pondered for a moment and surprisingly found Tang Mian’s words quite reasonable.

He had many lackeys, mostly following him for his money.

He was a second-generation rich kid, with parents who didn’t really care about him. They only gave him money and nothing else.

He often spent money limitlessly; after all, only when the money was spent could he have a chance to talk to his parents. He was generous to the people around him, and he didn’t care why they became friends with him. He didn’t lack money; he lacked companionship.

But he could never be interested in those lackeys, and naturally… he couldn’t be interested in someone even worse than him.

‘Come back and confess to me when you can surpass him.’ Tang Mian’s voice echoed once again.

The yellow-haired boy froze for a moment and subconsciously nodded.

But soon after, the realization hit him, and the  Yellow-haired boy was dumbfounded.

Who the hell could compare to Fu Shizhao?

No, no. He was led into a trap by Tang Mian.

But he didn’t know how he ended up in this trap.

“Study well. There are many ways to attract attention. Don’t choose the worst one.” Tang Mian raised his hand and patted his shoulder, deliberately avoiding the studs.

Although this yellow-haired boy annoyed him a bit, to be honest, he didn’t particularly dislike him as a person.

Tang Mian was already an adult in a teenage shell. Looking at this group of fourteen or fifteen-year-olds was like watching kids, more for amusement than anything else.

After saying this, Tang Mian turned and left. The yellow-haired boy stood there in a daze for a long time. He always felt that Tang Mian’s words had a deeper meaning.

But… it made sense.

He had been fooling around, hanging out with people in society, causing chaos, but he hadn’t been able to see his parents much.

He had been relentlessly pursuing Tang Mian, whistling, acting tough, but he hadn’t been able to get Tang Mian’s attention much either.

The  Yellow-haired boy lowered his head, took out a cigarette and a lighter from his pocket. After thinking for a moment, he didn’t light it up and impulsively threw it into the small river.

Tang Mian hated the smell of smoke. Every time he saw him squatting in a corner smoking, he would quicken his pace to leave.

Looking at the sinking lighter and the cigarette drifting away with the river, the yellow-haired boy squatted down in frustration and sat on the grass.

If he became a good student, would he be able to be on the same path as Tang Mian… and attract his parents’ attention?

On the other side, Fu Shizhao, who had been hiding behind the short tree, had already gotten up and disappeared.

He had seen through Tang Mian’s “good intentions.” Although he still felt a bit uncomfortable, he also hoped that Tang Mian’s words today would have some effect.

When Tang Mian reached the school gate, he found Fu Shizhao squatting near the greenery, feeding a stray cat. The cat food in his hand was still the one he had put in his pocket a few days ago.

It was a small orange cat, very thin but well-behaved. It let Fu Shizhao pat its head without hiding, and focused on eating.

Both of their backpacks were placed on a wooden bench nearby, close to each other.

Tang Mian approached with a smile and jokingly said, “Don’t touch it; cotton candy might get jealous.”

Upon hearing this, Fu Shizhao suddenly raised his gaze, a hint of complex emotions quickly flashing in his eyes. He said with double meaning, “Yeah, randomly touching a stray cat…might make someone jealous.”  

But Tang Mian didn’t catch on.