Returning to Infancy with my Nemesis - Chapter 66

Upon hearing Fu Shizhao’s crying, the two people in the car were both startled.

Tang Mian instinctively let go of the hand holding the puppy balloon and reached into his pocket for a tissue to wipe Fu Shizhao’s tears. The puppy balloon floated sadly to the roof of the car, rubbing against it, making a faint rustling sound as the plastic brushed against the surface.

The interior of the car was dimly lit, and Tang Mian could only vaguely see his slightly reddened eyes.

It had been a long time since he had seen Fu Shizhao shed tears.

He used to cry quite a lot when he was young, but as he grew up, even when he got into fights and got seriously injured, frowning in pain, he never shed a tear.

Tang Mian unconsciously slowed down his actions of wiping his tears, curiously stealing a few more glances at his red-rimmed eyes.

His eyelashes were wet with tears, sticking to his own body.

Quite delicate, indeed.

Sitting in the driver’s seat, Fu Yu slowed down the car while raising his voice, saying, “Hey, ge is here with you, isn’t he?”

Fu Shizhao sniffled, obediently letting Tang Mian wipe his tears, his voice sounding aggrieved, “You have to accompany me tonight too.”

Fu Yu didn’t immediately respond to him.

He was also fond of drinking alcohol. Before he started raising Fu Shizhao, he often went out drinking with a few buddies. He knew that people who got drunk were often difficult to take care of, and they didn’t smell good either.

Although tomorrow was Sunday, with no classes or early mornings to worry about, he was still afraid of causing trouble for Tang Mian.

Almost instinctively, Tang Mian continued his words, saying, “I’ll stay with you tonight.”

Then, Tang Mian turned to Fu Yu, who was driving and said, “Uncle, just drive straight back. I won’t be going home tonight.”

Fu Yu hurriedly replied, “Oh, okay.”

Since Tang Mian took the initiative to stay, Fu Yu didn’t insist any further. He also feared that he might not be able to comfort Fu Shizhao properly. After all, this child had always listened to his brother the most.

“I want to eat strawberry candied haws,” Fu Shizhao sniffled again, but he didn’t shed any more tears.

Tang Mian listened and immediately opened the wrapper of the strawberry candied haws, feeding one to Fu Shizhao. He couldn’t resist the temptation himself and took a bite of the second one.

Even though they had eaten a lot at the hotpot earlier in the evening, if it was strawberries… they could still manage to eat some more.

Fu Shizhao, satisfied after eating the strawberry candied haws, wiped the bag of the puppy balloon contentedly and said to Tang Mian, “Gege, help me tie it to my wrist.”

Tang Mian quickly tied the string of the balloon to his wrist, his cheeks bulging from the candied haws.

“Done,” Tang Mian mumbled.

Fu Shizhao’s eyes curved, looking like a delighted child who had just received a beloved toy.

Tang Mian lowered his head and took out his phone. He sent a message to the family group chat saying, “Zhao Zhao got drunk tonight, I’ll stay with him and won’t be going home.”

Then, suddenly remembering something, he raised his phone and aimed it at Fu Shizhao, who was playing with the puppy balloon, clicking a few times to take a few photos.

The flash also went off several times inside the car.

The photos were slightly overexposed but still relatively clear.

Fu Shizhao was drawn to the commotion and turned on the overhead light in the car. He took the phone from Tang Mian’s hand and switched it to selfie mode, then started applying various stickers of animals.

Tang Mian was forced to take selfies with him all the way.

Listening to the noise from the backseat, Fu Yu’s lips curled up slightly, a hint of helplessness flashing in his eyes.

It felt like they were back in time, to when the two children were still young…

Upon returning home, Grandma Fu had not yet rested. She was sitting in the living room watching TV, with Snowball nestled by her legs, dozing off with her eyes closed.

High school evening self-study usually lasted until 9:30 pm. Their school allowed students to voluntarily extend evening self-study until 10:30 pm. Tang Mian and Fu Shizhao usually stayed until 10:30 pm to finish their daily homework at school before returning.

Grandma Fu was old, and she went to bed early every day. By the time they returned from evening self-study, she had usually already fallen asleep.

But today was different. Although it was already dark outside, they had gone for hotpot earlier than usual, and it was only 8:30 pm. From autumn to winter, the days were getting cooler, and the daylight was becoming shorter, so it got dark earlier.

Grandma Fu smelled the alcohol on Fu Shizhao’s body. She stared at Fu Shizhao, who had a puppy balloon tied to his wrist, and asked with curiosity, “Shizhao, did you drink?”

Tang Mian definitely hadn’t been drinking. Once during Chinese New Year, he had tried a sip and his whole face turned red, so he never touched alcohol again. Today, he was perfectly fine. The smell of alcohol must have come from Fu Shizhao.

“Yeah, he got drunk and insisted on having Tang Mian stay over to accompany him,” Fu Yu said with a helpless smile.

Grandma Fu’s eyes also curved. “When you’re drunk, you just want someone to stick by you. Your grandfather was the same way.”

Perhaps as she grew older, halfway to the grave, Grandma Fu became more fond of reminiscing about Grandpa Fu. She often said she dreamed of him.

Seeing Fu Shizhao squatting down to show Snowball the puppy balloon he held, Grandma Fu added, “Shizhao is quite well-behaved even when drunk, doesn’t get wild. That’s good.”

“Yeah, he is,” Fu Yu said, not mentioning Fu Shizhao’s crying in the car just now. After all, the child was sixteen years old and cared about his reputation. The butler and the maid were also present.

Grandma Fu then asked the maid to cook a bowl of hangover soup. After chatting with Tang Mian and teasing the drunk Fu Shizhao for a while, she finally let them go.

After getting tipsy, Fu Shizhao didn’t talk much, or rather, he didn’t talk much to anyone except Tang Mian. It was like going back to when he was a three or four-year-old toddler, always talking about his gege and sticking close to him.

Tang Mian led him upstairs to the second-floor room and closed the door. Fu Shizhao suddenly lifted his wrist, where the balloon string was tied, and complained, “It hurts.”

The bedroom light was turned on, illuminating the room brightly. Tang Mian lowered his head slightly along with his movement and clearly saw a faint red mark on Fu Shizhao’s wrist where the string had been tied.

He had tied it quite loosely, fearing that the string might constrict Fu Shizhao’s wrist, but he didn’t expect the tossing and turning while playing with the balloon would still cause the redness.

Tang Mian quickly untied the string for him and held it in his hand.

The bedroom ceiling was high, and if they let go of the balloon, it would float up. They might need to bring a stool to reach it.

Fu Shizhao understood and looked around the room, finally pointing to the chair he usually used for homework and said with a smile, “Tie it there.”

“Okay,” Tang Mian naturally complied, approaching and tying the balloon string to the armrest of the chair.

The chair instantly became the master seat.

Fu Shizhao happily sat on it.

Just then, there was a knock on the door, and Fu Yu came in carrying the hangover soup.

Tang Mian opened the door, and Fu Yu entered with the hangover soup, asking softly, “Is he okay?”

“He’s fine, very well-behaved,” Tang Mian nodded.

“That’s good. If anything happens tonight, just call me,” Fu Yu said, placing the hangover soup on the table in front of Fu Shizhao.

The hangover soup was just a small bowl, not much, probably to avoid straining the stomach too much after drinking too much.

“Okay,” Tang Mian nodded. He had a gut feeling that nothing bad would happen.

The door was closed again, leaving only the two of them in the room. Tang Mian moved his chair closer to Fu Shizhao and pointed to the bowl Fu Yu had brought, saying, “Drink the hangover soup.”

Fu Shizhao lowered his head to wipe his right wrist, which had been reddened by the balloon string, and said, “My hand hurts, gege, feed me.”

At this moment, the red mark on Fu Shizhao’s wrist had actually faded long ago, leaving only a faint trace, barely visible. It definitely didn’t hurt, but if Fu Shizhao felt like it hurt then it hurt, as painful as breaking an arm and hitting a stone.

Tang Mian had already gotten used to Fu Shizhao calling him ge or gege interchangeably tonight, as well as his childishness and stubbornness. He didn’t argue with him and simply picked up the bowl of hangover soup, scooping a spoonful to bring it near his lips.

Arguing with a drunk person about these things wasn’t really necessary; it was much more efficient to go along with them.

The hangover soup had been left to cool before being brought in, so its temperature was just right for drinking.

Fu Shizhao obediently opened his mouth and drank the spoonful of hangover soup, wrinkling his brow and pursing his lips, indicating he didn’t want to drink anymore. He shifted his gaze away and began to fiddle with the puppy balloon tethered to the armrest of the chair.

The hangover soup had a slightly sour taste, and although Fu Shizhao never showed signs of being a picky eater, Tang Mian could tell. He didn’t seem to like sour things very much.

When they used to eat strawberries, Tang Mian would often eat them one after another, as the sour-sweet taste was the authentic flavor of strawberries. Fu Shizhao, on the other hand, always bit off the sweet tip of the strawberry and fed the sour part to Snowball, who quickly disposed of it for him.

Their classroom had a fruit tree in the greenery area in front, but they didn’t know its exact variety. It was said to be planted by the principal and well-maintained. It was ornamental and edible, and while students were not prohibited from picking the fruit, it wasn’t encouraged either.

Mu Zichen was mischievous and once plucked some fruit from the tree, bringing it happily to class to share with them. The fruit was quite good, a bit sour, but Tang Mian thought it tasted alright.

However, after taking a bite, Fu Shizhao’s expression changed, and he refused to take another bite, obediently peeling the remaining fruit and handing it to Tang Mian.

The lemon water they had at the hotpot restaurant tonight was a bit sweet, and Fu Shizhao seemed to accept it well. Seeing that Fu Shizhao didn’t want to drink anymore, Tang Mian took a sip of the hangover soup.

Indeed, it was slightly sour but quite appetizing.

Tang Mian felt a bit conflicted, wondering whether to continue coaxing him to drink, as just this small bowl could alleviate many of the unpleasant effects of a hangover. When his dad came home drunk from business dinners, his mom always made hangover soup for him, and she would watch him until he finished drinking it.

In his past life, Tang Mian had indulged himself in getting drunk alone at home, the night he completely destroyed the Tang family. He knew how uncomfortable a hangover could be, especially for someone who hadn’t had much exposure to alcohol.

Tang Mian ultimately decided to finish feeding him, lest he woke up feeling unwell tomorrow and insisted on him taking care of him.

But he couldn’t think of any more coaxing words. It had been a long time since he had interacted with children – a drunk Fu Shizhao wasn’t much different from a three-year-old child.

Tang Mian decided to play tough and said, “If you don’t finish drinking it, gege will go back. I won’t stay with you anymore.”

He had used this tactic on Fu Shizhao before, and it had worked quite well.

However, what Tang Mian didn’t expect was that as soon as he said this, Fu Shizhao’s eyes instantly turned red, tears welling up and streaming down his cheeks. His hand, which had been gently playing with the puppy balloon, fell limply to his side.

Tang Mian: … Tang Mian really wanted to take back what he had just said.