Returning to Infancy with my Nemesis - Chapter 64

Because of that post, Fu Shizhao keenly noticed some small changes in Tang Mian. During the morning break, he didn’t let him bring snacks anymore, saying that he wanted to lose weight. Recently, he didn’t eat anything except for three meals a day.

Fu Shizhao directly reached out his left hand and circled his slender and fair wrist, saying nothing, but the intention was clear – how can you still lose weight when you’re already so thin?

Tang Mian, like an irritated kitten, pulled his hand back, buried his face in his arms on the table, and muttered in a muffled voice: “I’m going to sleep now.”

Apart from the lunch break, the longest rest time of the day was during the morning break, and there were quite a few students taking a nap.

Fu Shizhao chuckled silently at the sight, draped his school uniform jacket over Tang Mian, and left with Mu Zichen, who was waiting for him at the door. Tang Mian didn’t take off the school uniform jacket on him and continued to bury his head, like an ostrich.

Unlike summer, sleeping in the classroom during autumn was easy to catch a cold. He was… doing this for the sake of… his health.

The fact that he cared so much about the discussions on the forum about him and Fu Shizhao was also related to the previous life.

In the previous life, there were many posts discussing what happened between him and Fu Shizhao, and Tang Mian felt quite uncomfortable. He didn’t like his private affairs being discussed by others as gossip, but there was nothing he could do. After all, other people have mouths, and he couldn’t control them all.

At least the discussions on the forum were visible to him. There were some rumors and whispers behind his back that he couldn’t hear. As he thought about it, drowsiness crept up on him during the Chinese class, and Tang Mian fell asleep in a daze.

Fu Shizhao’s arm was injured and he couldn’t ride a bike, so Mu Zichen replaced him today.
“What’s wrong with him?” Mu Zichen suddenly asked, referring to ‘him’ without any need for explanation.

 ‘Dieting,’ Fu Shizhao replied with the answer Tang Mian gave him without any changes.

Mu Zichen: …

Indeed, no matter who heard Tang Mian’s reason, they would find it quite explosive.

Among them, Tang Mian was the skinniest, he was taller than Fu Jiacao by a bit, but his weight was almost the same. His arms and legs were thin, especially when wearing jeans, the lines were particularly attractive.

It was not surprising for anyone to want to lose weight, except for Tang Mian.

For a while, Shen Siwan had been worried, cooking various nutritious meals for Tang Mian every day, but unfortunately, he didn’t gain much weight.

Fortunately, they had regular health check-ups every year, and despite Tang Mian being lean, his health was excellent.

Fu Shizhao’s adoptive father did have some minor health issues discovered during their junior high school years’ check-up, but he actively sought treatment in the early stages, and it didn’t have much impact.

It was Tang Mian who took the initiative to persuade them to have regular check-ups every year, and the purpose was self-evident – Tang Mian didn’t want the tragic fate of Fu Yu in the previous life to happen again.

It also made things convenient for Fu Shizhao; he didn’t need to exert effort to prevent their adoptive father from facing the end of dying from cancer.

Compared to himself, his father actually listened more to Tang Mian.

Sometimes, when he told him not to work so hard, he happily said it was okay and that he wasn’t tired. But when Tang Mian said it, he obediently rested.

People tend to show strength in front of their close relationships and compliance in front of those who care, even if the relationship is not as close.

The student cafeteria and small supermarket were crowded, and Fu Shizhao, with his right hand bandaged, stood out in the crowd. In his other hand, he held a clear plastic bag, while Mu Zichen was throwing snacks into it.

Mu Zichen spoke while grabbing snacks: We’ll take one bottle of cola each, Xiaocao wants some jelly, Lao Li wants these spicy strips….

Mu Zichen turned to look at Fu Shizhao and asked, ” Are you really not getting anything for Tang Mian? “

Fu Shizhao nodded lightly, ” He’s on a diet. “

Mu Zichen: …

Mu Zichen continued to pick up other items and went to pay with Fu Shizhao. The break was only twenty minutes, not too long but not too short either, and the round trip took up most of it.

Back in the classroom, Fu Shizhao took out his bottle of cola and went straight to his seat, while Mu Zichen held the bag and started distributing the contents.

Tang Mian was still in the same position as when he left, his soft hair forming a small clump against his arm. He was still wearing Fu Shizhao’s school uniform jacket, indicating that he was really sleeping.

Fu Shizhao sat quietly next to him, being careful not to wake him up, and didn’t open the bottle of cola.

Even though one of his arms was injured, he could easily open the bottle with one hand. However, he chose to wait patiently for Tang Mian to wake up.

Fu Shizhao, with one hand flipping through materials and seemingly casually observing the people around him.

Tang Mian was sleeping soundly, the school uniform jacket on his body gently rising and falling with his shallow breaths. Other than that, there was no other movement. It seemed like he wouldn’t wake up unless the class bell rang.

As Fu Shizhao expected, when the bell for the next class rang, Tang Mian stirred slightly, raising his head in a daze. The place where his wrist met his forehead was slightly reddened from the pressure.

As Tang Mian straightened up, the school uniform draped over him slipped down, but Fu Shizhao quickly caught it. Tang Mian subconsciously turned his head to glance at Fu Shizhao, who had returned at some point.

Fu Shizhao casually draped the school uniform jacket over the back of his seat, reached up to smooth down Tang Mian’s hair that was sticking up, and then handed him the unopened bottle of cola, saying, “Ge, help me open it.”

Tang Mian subconsciously took the cola from his hand, applied a little force, and opened it before taking a sip and handing it back to him.

— He helped Fu Shizhao open the cola, and as a reward, he sang a line from a cola jingle. Perfectly normal.

Fu Shizhao took it with a smile and sang a line as well.

The bubbles of the cola burst continuously in their throats, and Tang Mian was finally completely awake. He remembered what he said before Fu Shizhao left: “Dieting, not eating anything except three meals a day.”

Cola has a high sugar content and can easily lead to weight gain.

Tang Mian lowered his eyelashes guiltily, pretending as if nothing had happened, and took out the textbook for the next class from the drawer.

Fu Shizhao noticed all of his little actions and smiled as he single-handedly closed the cap of the cola bottle.

At lunchtime, Tang Mian specifically bought a bowl of congee for Fu Shizhao but did not feed him this time.

To keep him company, Tang Mian also made a bowl of congee for himself.

“You’re really on a diet huh,” Mu Zichen said in surprise. Tang Mian smiled and glanced at him, saying nothing.

“Ge, I’ll be hungry in the afternoon if I only have porridge for lunch,” Fu Shizhao complained as he scooped a spoonful of porridge with his left hand.

Tang Mian pondered for a moment and said, ” I’ll get you a cup of instant noodles later.”

The school cafeteria did sell instant noodles, but they didn’t provide forks, and he would have to feed Fu Shizhao. With so many people in the cafeteria, if someone saw him feeding Fu Shizhao again, who knows what they would say on the forum. “I don’t want instant noodles.” Fu Shizhao said.

[t/n : probably because forks/spoons are easier to use than chopsticks.]

Tang Mian: “Then I’ll buy you some snacks later.”

Fu Shizhao: …

Fu Shizhao didn’t expect the aftermath of that post to be so intense, directly depriving Tang Mian of the privilege of feeding him. Fu Shizhao felt somewhat frustrated.

He knew that in many situations, gaining something meant losing something else, but he was a shrewd businessman; he always preferred deals with only gains.

Back home in the evening, Fu Shizhao specifically asked the housekeeper to prepare a late-night snack and told her to make more. Fu Yu, puzzled, asked, “Didn’t you eat enough for dinner?”

Fu Shizhao rarely had late-night snacks on weekdays because it might affect his sleep, and he had classes the next day. “Congee for lunch, canned eight-treasure congee for the afternoon, and congee for dinner,” Fu Shizhao explained methodically.

Fu Yu asked, “Why not eat something more filling?”

Congee wasn’t very filling; it was mostly for nourishing the stomach and body. Although Fu Shizhao had injured his arm, he didn’t need congee for recovery. On the contrary, he should supplement his nutrition, especially by drinking more bone broth.

Fu Shizhao said, “Ge said he wants to lose weight.”

Fu Yu’s gaze landed on Tang Mian: “Really now?”

Tang Mian felt extremely guilty. One hand unconsciously pinched the strap of his school bag, while the other gently tugged at Fu Shizhao’s sleeve, urging him to go upstairs quickly.

In the evening, Tang Mian still fed Fu Shizhao the late-night snack, and he also ate quite a bit himself.

Eating congee all day… indeed made them hungry.

The thought of Fu Shizhao being injured and hungry made Tang Mian feel even more guilty. Anyway, they were at home, where no one would see them or gossip about them. Tang Mian didn’t mind feeding Fu Shizhao.

After all, he had been feeding him since he was a three or four-year-old little one, like raising a small animal with his own hands. Fu Shizhao naturally noticed this and cooperated with a smile, slightly lowering his head to make Tang Mian’s wrist less tired.

Except for mangoes, he had no dietary restrictions, and Tang Mian fed him almost anything. As they were finishing the late-night snack, Fu Shizhao suddenly spoke up: Ge, are you planning to major in liberal arts or science in high school?

Tang Mian paused in his actions.

Their school started separating students into arts and science classes in the second semester of the first year of high school. Today, their homeroom teacher talked to them again about the division of majors.

The reason was that a student who wanted to study science was caught whispering and asking others for questions during an arts class while doing other homework. The teacher was somewhat angry, not because he was doing science homework during an arts class, but because the whispering disrupted the class order.

 The teacher then reported this incident to the homeroom teacher.

The homeroom teacher tactfully reminded them to be quieter during other classes if they had already decided whether to major in arts or science. They could do their own things but should not disturb others. The teacher also advised those who hadn’t made up their minds to listen attentively in both arts and science classes and choose what they were good at.

Fu Shizhao suddenly asking about this matter was quite normal.

In the previous life, Tang Mian majored in arts – fine arts. In this life, he never had the idea of majoring in science – fine arts. After all, he had a foundation in arts, and he was naturally better at it.

However, he didn’t tell others about this matter, especially since they had just started their first year of high school for a little over a month; it was still early.

But when Fu Shizhao asked this question, Tang Mian automatically imagined another layer of meaning – if he chose arts, they would be separated into different classes next semester, and they wouldn’t be desk mates anymore. They could only see each other after school every day.

Somehow, Tang Mian felt a little reluctant.

From kindergarten to now, unconsciously, they had been desk mates for thirteen years. If he had to change to a new desk mate, Tang Mian would feel a bit uncomfortable.

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Next update will be after February 5, 2024 because I got exams. 🙂