Returning to Infancy with my Nemesis - Chapter 60

After sending Fu Shizhao to the examination room, Tang Mian casually found a bubble tea shop nearby. He sat in a corner close to the window with his tablet, drawing, and waiting for him.

It was already autumn, and the ground outside was covered with many yellowed leaves. Today was a weekend, and there were many children on the street, mostly accompanied by their parents.

Tang Mian saw a little girl holding hands with her parents, deliberately stepping on the fallen leaves on the ground with great enthusiasm. She had two braids swinging with each step, wearing a little dress and slightly thick leggings, looking extremely cute.

Unconsciously, a smile appeared on Tang Mian’s face, mirroring the same joy as the little girl.

Tang Mian still liked walking on the fallen leaves, enjoying the rustling sound they made under his feet, just like this little girl.

The only difference was that he had grown up now and couldn’t squeeze between his parents anymore. He could only hold one of their hands separately, just like this little girl, jumping and stomping on the fallen leaves.

But he could walk on the street with his friends, stomping happily from dawn till dusk, without having to rush home because it was getting dark.

Fifteen years old, it was a good age.

Although it wasn’t as significant as turning eighteen, there weren’t as many worries and choices as being eighteen. Tang Mian had already decided to walk from one end of the road to the other with Fu Shizhao along the roadside with fallen leaves after he finished the exam.

Lowering his head, Tang Mian took a sip of bubble tea and continued to pick up the pen to draw on the tablet. The bubble tea was a mango pomelo sago, sweet.

Fu Shizhao was allergic to mangoes, so Tang Mian only ordered mango flavoured drinks when he was alone.

It wasn’t that he particularly liked it, but whenever there was a new product, he would try it with Fu Shizhao and the others. He had tried all the bubble teas in these chain bubble tea shops, and it wasn’t strawberry season recently, so there weren’t any good strawberry drinks.

When he was alone, he was too lazy to choose, so he ended up mindlessly ordering the one with mango.

After all, he spent a lot of time with Fu Shizhao, and there were few opportunities to eat mango. This was his way of “sneaking” it.

Not long after, the bell of the school, which served as the math competition venue, suddenly rang in the distance, and a warm autumn scene appeared completely under his pen.

In the autumn scene, there was a pair of children, but it wasn’t the little girl in a skirt that Tang Mian had seen earlier, but a pair of little boys.

One of the little boys had cat ears on his head, while the other had dog ears.

The little boy with cat ears was holding a string of strawberry candied haws, while the little boy with dog ears was holding a guitar. Although it was only their backs, it had a great atmosphere and blended perfectly into the autumn scene.

This was him and Fu Shizhao at the age of six in country B during autumn.

He wanted to have the opportunity to draw another picture of him and Fu Shizhao at eighteen.

In this life, he and Fu Shizhao will always be very good friends.

Tang Mian quickly packed up his things, threw away the empty cup of mango pomelo sago, and picked up the warm taro milk tea he had just calculated the time for, and walked briskly towards Fu Shizhao’s exam school.

The autumn sun was not as scorching as summer, nor as cold as winter, but just right, making it comfortable on the skin.

As Tang Mian walked, he thought about what to eat for lunch. The temperature was dropping day by day, and it was almost hot pot season. Why not have hot pot for lunch today?

Fu Shizhao couldn’t eat spicy food, so every time they went out for hot pot, they could only order a half-and-half pot. Once, he tried to snatch a piece of meat from his bowl, and as a result, his whole mouth turned red from the spiciness.

Thinking of Fu Shizhao’s swollen mouth at that time, Tang Mian couldn’t help but walk faster.

The exam would only take the morning, and they could play the whole afternoon after eating. They could also go out in the evening, but the bodyguards would probably follow them everywhere.

He didn’t know how Fu Shizhao’s exam went in the morning, but it should have gone smoothly.

Tang Mian had no doubt about his abilities.

But… thinking of the scene this morning when Fu Shizhao secretly hid in the bathroom to wash his pants, the smile in Tang Mian’s eyes grew infinitely larger. Unconsciously, Tang Mian had already arrived at the school gate.

There were quite a few people standing at the gate, mostly parents picking up their children. Tang Mian, with his backpack on his back and milk tea in his hand, found a less crowded place to wait, but Fu Shizhao didn’t appear.

Fu Shizhao was already one of the taller ones among his peers, but as Tang Mian looked at the crowd, he didn’t see Fu Shizhao.

Tang Mian took out his phone and called him. The screen showed that the phone was turned off.

Tang Mian knew that during exams, phones should be turned off or put on airplane mode, as ringing phones during exams would disrupt discipline.

But now, it had been almost 20 minutes since the exam ended… why hadn’t Fu Shizhao turned on his phone yet? Tang Mian had a gut feeling that something had happened, so he didn’t continue to wait passively, but instead walked quickly towards the school.

He knew Fu Shizhao’s exam room number. Yesterday, when they came here, he accompanied Fu Shizhao around the school vicinity. Fu Shizhao even pointed out the approximate location of his exam room to him.

It was on the second floor, not too far to climb.

The classrooms in the school were arranged in an orderly manner, and Tang Mian quickly arrived at the classroom where Fu Shizhao was taking the exam.

Most of the people in the classroom had already left, leaving only three or four lingering.

The teacher had also finished organizing the papers and sealed them before leaving.

Fu Shizhao was not there.

Fu Shizhao’s backpack was also not there.

Tang Mian quickly dialed the phone of one of the bodyguards who accompanied them here and told him about the situation. The bodyguard quickly reassured him and rushed over.

Tang Mian stood still for a few seconds, pursed his lips, and aimlessly continued walking towards the school gate.

As he walked, Tang Mian comforted himself in his mind – maybe Fu Shizhao was already waiting for him at the school gate, they just happened to miss each other.

Fu Shizhao wasn’t someone who relied heavily on his phone. When they were together, he didn’t often look at his phone. Maybe after finishing the exam, his first priority was not to turn on his phone, but to go to the school gate to find him and meet up.

Thinking like this, Tang Mian quickened his pace and started jogging.

But when he arrived at the school gate, he was still disappointed.

There weren’t as many people at the school gate as before, and he could scan everyone’s faces at a glance. He didn’t see Fu Shizhao.

Not long after, Tang Mian, feeling lost, received a call from the bodyguard and finally found out what happened.

Fu Shizhao got into a fight with someone and was sent to the hospital by the school, but they didn’t go through the main gate.

They were afraid that there would be too many people picking up their children at the main gate, so they chose a side gate with relatively fewer people. That’s why Tang Mian didn’t see them.

The bodyguard drove to the school gate to pick up Tang Mian.

Sitting in the car, Tang Mian didn’t even have time to put down his backpack and quickly asked, “What happened?”

The bodyguard sitting in the passenger seat honestly confessed, “It seems like he had a dispute with a child from the Fu family of the same generation, and they ended up fighting.”

Tang Mian frowned.

With the care of Grandma FU, anyone shouldn’t dare to provoke him right? Just like in the previous life, he became the lofty young master of the Fu family.

In this life, Grandma Fu is even more powerful than her son, and she only had one grandson, Fu Shizhao. Everyone should be trying to please him.

Tang Mian couldn’t understand why someone would be so foolish as to conflict with him.

Tang Mian couldn’t figure it out, but he couldn’t ask the bodyguard about this kind of thing. He could only ask, “Is he injured?” If he wasn’t injured, he shouldn’t have ignored his calls for so long.

Another possibility was that his phone is damaged.

Tang Mian actually hoped it was the latter.

If his phone broke then he could either send it to get repaired or buy a new one. If he was injured, it definitely won’t be just a minor injury.

Fu Shizhao has been learning Sanda for so long, how could he lose a fight? But it’s fine to lose, it’s not worth it for him to get injured.

Tang Mian’s brows furrowed tightly, he wished he could fly to the hospital.

The bodyguard shook his head, “I’m not sure either. The old lady is on her way here… Don’t worry, young master Fu is quite skilled. In a few years, we might not even be able to beat him.”

Tang Mian took it as a consolation for himself.

Fortunately, the hospital was not far from the school where the exam took place, and they arrived at their destination in no time.

Tang Mian finally saw Fu Shizhao.

The doctor was treating the wounds on his hands, which were quite serious. They were put in a cast for stabilization, and there were also several bruises on his body. His face, however, was unharmed, except for the furrowed brows due to the pain.

On the other side, the boy of the same age as them, named Fu Jiuming, looked even more miserable. His face was in a terrible state, constantly complaining about the pain. He had even taken off his shirt, but there were no visible bruises or wounds.

Tang Mian recognized him. He was Fu Jiuming, from the same school as them in the previous life, studying science. He was a top student, but always ranked one place behind Fu Shizhao.

However, Tang Mian and him were not familiar, as they were in different classes.

When Fu Shizhao saw Tang Mian’s figure, his eyes instantly lit up, and he called out to him in a slightly aggrieved tone, “Ge.” The last syllable was slightly drawn out, like a spoiled child.

Tang Mian walked briskly to his side, carefully examining his whole person before asking, “What happened?”

Fu Shizhao lowered his eyelashes slightly, pursed his lips, showing a resistant look.

Tang Mian immediately reached out and rubbed his head, “is there anything that you can’t tell me?”

“No,” Fu Shizhao raised his gaze again, his eyes showing a full display of struggling acting, “It’s just… Dad seems to not be my real dad. He said I’m an orphan.”

Tang Mian was shocked.

In this life, Grandma Fu protected Fu Shizhao very well. Since the incident of being forced to eat mangoes and being hospitalized when he was brought back, Grandma Fu had always prevented him from interacting with other members of the Fu family.

Fu Shizhao didn’t know about his true identity and always thought that Fu Yu was his biological father.

After all, with the complicated situation of the Fu family, it wouldn’t be surprising if Grandpa Fu had scattered seeds randomly. Fu Shizhao never doubted anything and had never mentioned anything about it to him.

Tang Mian quickly pretended to be unaware and replied, “Don’t listen to his nonsense.” After saying that, he gave a fierce glance at the boy who fought with Fu Shizhao.

The guy continued to scream in pain, completely oblivious to the situation here. His voice had even changed due to the pain, and his injuries didn’t seem as severe as Fu Shizhao’s. It was unclear whether he was intentionally pretending.

If possible, Tang Mian really wanted to go over and kick him a few more times to make him scream even more miserably.

“Ge, what he said should be true,” Fu Shizhao stared seriously into Tang Mian’s eyes. Tang Mian opened his mouth, but didn’t say anything. He silently held his other hand, which was not severely injured.

It seemed that Fu Shizhao couldn’t be kept in the dark any longer, and no matter how much was said now might not change anything.

In the previous life, after Fu Yu passed away, Fu Shizhao was taken away as soon as he learned about his true identity. He didn’t even have the chance to comfort him or help him digest the situation.

This time, Tang Mian had to accompany Fu Shizhao through this period properly.

Seeing this, Fu Shizhao tightened his grip on Tang Mian’s hand, and he lowered his eyelashes to hide his sneaky plan.

The one who clashed with him was called Fu Jiuming, the  child of an illegitimate daughter of  the Fu familys.

She was very ambitious for an illegitimate daughter. Her child wasn’t given his father’s surname but the Fu family’s surname. She also planned to participate in the competition for the family’s inheritance.

In the previous life, Fu Shizhao had dealings with Fu Jiuming, and he could be considered the strongest among the illegitimate children who were not on good terms with him.

Despite his strength, he had a rather sinister heart and was not an honest person.

In the last life, during the final high school exams, he deliberately had someone throw a piece of paper with vague answers near his feet. He even intentionally attracted the teacher’s attention, trying to “capture him on the spot.” Fortunately, he discovered the trick ahead of time and replaced the paper with a blank one when he wasn’t paying attention.

It’s worth noting that cheating in exams like this would lead to disciplinary actions, and even if he managed to use family connections to avoid consequences, it would still have a significant impact on his reputation.

Unfortunately, the grudge from the paper-throwing incident last time wasn’t settled on the spot, and he only managed to protect himself, feeling quite aggrieved.

Fu Jiuming was also a participant in the math competition this time, but he didn’t provoke Fu Shizhao. Instead, it was Fu Shizhao who deliberately provoked Fu Jiuming this time.

Unable to resist, as soon as he walked out of the exam room, he saw Fu Jiuming coming towards him with a smile on his face, discussing the answers with someone. Fu Shizhao didn’t want to miss this opportunity, so he pretended to be enthusiastic and approached them, discussing the answers together and deliberately provoking him.

Fu Jiuming’s mother was a dominant woman, while his father appeared “weak and incompetent,” with a low presence in the family.

His mother often instilled in him the idea of not becoming like his father, and from a young age, she told Fu Jiuming many things, including the family situation, the identities of the various children in the family. Fu Jiuming definitely knew about his background.

Fu Jiuming never mentioned his father in front of his friends. He was a child of the Fu family, with the surname Fu, not a child from his weak father’s side.

Fu Shizhao deliberately revealed to his fellow students that he and Fu Jiuming were cousins. One of the students asked, “So, are your fathers brothers? Who is older?”

Fu Shizhao shook his head honestly and explained, “His mother’s surname is Fu, his father’s surname is not Fu.” This statement made Fu Jiuming very unhappy, and he hated it when others mentioned this matter.

Unfortunately, Fu Shizhao smiled and glanced at Fu Jiuming, then continued, “My father’s surname is Fu.”

Fu Jiuming was completely blown away.

Following Fu Shizhao’s well-planned taunts towards himself, he continued to be provoked by him. However, Fu Jiuming, being just a fifteen-year-old, couldn’t match Fu Shizhao’s playful tactics.

Fu Shizhao naturally “learned” about his own background from Fu Jiuming’s mouth.

And then a series of events followed.

After hearing the words “orphan” from Fu Jiuming’s mouth, Fu Shizhao couldn’t bear it anymore and directly attacked him, not wanting to hear anything else from his mouth.

Upon hearing the words “orphan” from Fu Jiuming, Fu Shizhao couldn’t take it anymore and directly resorted to violence, not wanting to hear anything else from his mouth.

He knew where it hurt the most, and he wouldn’t leave any visible marks.

But to avoid suspicion, he intentionally left more obvious marks on the guy’s face. After all, he had been learning sanda for so many years; it wouldn’t make sense not to defeat this weakling, Fu Jiuming.

After thinking for a moment, he also left some superficial wounds on himself, and intentionally broke one arm. This was his last time using self-inflicted injuries as a weapon.

Never again.

Not long after, a strange woman walked in with Grandma Fu.

The unfamiliar woman looked about forty years old and was Fu Jiuming’s mother. She obediently lowered her head, knowing that her son had made a big mistake and didn’t dare to make a fuss.

Tang Mian and Fu Shizhao obediently called out “Grandma.”

They were fifteen now.

Grandma’s body was no longer as strong as before.

Now Grandma’s back was more hunched, she walked with a cane, and her body inevitably had many problems. But she still took care of herself every day, looking neat and tidy.

Grandma Fu approached and expressed her concern for Fu Shizhao.

Fu Shizhao stubbornly said he was fine, but when Grandma Fu gently touched his casted arm, he couldn’t help but wince in pain.

Grandma Fu looked at him with a hint of blame.

Fu Shizhao obediently lowered his head.

This was also the last time he used Grandma’s help to clean up the mess. In half a year, he would be sixteen. He would soon be a high school student. He was no longer young and not so weak anymore.

The conversation between Grandma Fu and the Fu Jiuming’s family did not involve Tang Mian and Fu Shizhao. They were sent home in a car

Their little plan of walking on crunchy leaves, eating hotpot and then going for shopping at night, everything was ruined.

But Tang Mian didn’t feel down about these things. His mind was racing, thinking about how to comfort Fu Shizhao.

Suddenly, Tang Mian learned that Fu Yu was not his biological father, and his own biological parents had passed away long ago. Fu Shizhao’s current mood must be complicated.

Suddenly, Fu Shizhao’s voice broke through his thoughts. “I want to drink bubble tea.” Tang Mian was slightly stunned while lost in thought.

Fu Shizhao’s gaze fell on the bubble tea Tang Mian was holding. He continued, “Help me insert the straw and give me a sip. I’m so thirsty; I didn’t dare to drink water during the exam.”

Tang Mian quickly lowered his head, opened the bubble tea, inserted the straw, and brought it close to Fu Shizhao’s lips. He took a big sip.

Fu Shizhao swallowed all the milk tea, a faint smile hanging on the corner of his mouth, and said, “It’s delicious.” Tang Mian pursed his lips, unable to figure out his current situation.

Fu Shizhao was not someone who wore his emotions on his face. He had been like this since he was very young, and he was well aware of it. “I wanna take another sip,” Fu Shizhao said again.

Tang Mian fed him another sip of milk tea.

The car was driven by one bodyguard, while the other stayed behind with Grandma Fu. The driver’s attention was highly focused, and the car was silent, with only Fu Shizhao’s voice and the sound of the bubble tea cup rubbing against Tang Mian’s hand.

In fact, Fu Shizhao’s other hand could hold the milk tea. There were only a few scratches on it, not serious, but Tang Mian didn’t realize it, and Fu Shizhao didn’t remind him.

It was not often that Tang Mian had the opportunity to feed himself.

He still remembered about when they were young, he deliberately ate slowly to delay Tang Mian’s time to watch cartoons. Tang Mian had fed him by hand,

The treatment he received when he was younger was gone now that he was older. He was actually quite dissatisfied with it.

Breaking his arm was partly because he wanted to make a big deal out of this matter, using Grandma Fu’s hand and some behind-the-scenes actions to deal with the Fu Jiuming family in advance. Another reason was that he quickly thought about it in his mind at that time, thinking about which part of the body would “maximize the benefits” when injured, and he almost instantly thought of his arm.

If his arm was injured, Tang Mian could feed him again.

He could also ask Tang Mian to do many things for him.

It was worth it.

“Stop forcing it,” Tang Mian finally spoke when feeding Fu Shizhao bubble tea for the fourth time.

 “Hmm,” due to the motion of feeding him tea, Fu Shizhao was sitting very close to him.

Tang Mian pursed his lips and reminded him, “About Uncle Fu Yu’s matter.”

“It’s nothing.”

He didn’t force himself.

Tang Mian’s stared at him, attempting to see a hint of lying or guilt in Fu Shizhao’s eyes, but he failed. His light brown eyes were very pretty, they only held him who was sitting beside him, without any other emotions.

In the previous life, when he found out about his identity, Fu Shizhao didn’t have much emotional fluctuation. After all, at that time, Fu Yu had already passed away due to cancer. Knowing that he wasn’t his biological father couldn’t bring him back to life to question him.

At that time, his heart was filled with longing and complaints about Fu Yu. Apart from that, there was nothing else.

Later, as he gradually learned about his origins and knew about his biological parents, he didn’t have any negative emotions towards them. On the contrary, he felt that their choices were absolutely right.

Moreover, in the Fu family… blood ties were the most ridiculous.

Staring at Tang Mian’s beautifully rounded eyes, Fu Shizhao lifted his hand, gently poking his forehead, saying, “Your Uncle Fu Yu is my only dad.”

Tang Mian was momentarily stunned, lowered his eyelashes, and softly acknowledged with an “Mmm.”

It was best if Fu Shizhao could think so clearly.

Actually, if he were in Fu Shizhao’s shoes, he would continue to consider Fu Yu as his biological father. After all, everyone could clearly see how good Fu Yu had been to him all these years.

Fu Yu was indeed Fu Shizhao’s father.

It’s just that the matters regarding biological parents…

“I will go back and ask Grandma Fu about my biological parents,” Fu Shizhao continued, “If I can’t figure it out, I’ll come to you for guidance, Ge…”

Tang Mian raised his head and said, “Okay.”

“Take another sip of bubble tea.”

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I tried making the image Tang Mian might have made on his tablet using ai. Here’s the link – Image