Returning to Infancy with my Nemesis - Chapter 70

As the end of the term approached and winter set in, the first snowfall had only just occurred a few days ago, and now it was mostly melted, with only remnants visible in the corners, swept aside by the security guards.

The temperature on the nighttime playground wasn’t high, so Tang Mian wrapped himself in his down jacket, burying his face in the collar. His ears turned slightly red from the cold as he silently finished the remaining quarter lap.

It was true that they had no blood relation, so there shouldn’t be any problem with them being together. Tang Mian suddenly remembered the post he saw on Fu Shizhao’s phone. Childhood sweethearts.

He and Fu Shizhao were childhood sweethearts. Mu Zichen and Fu Jiacao could be considered as such too.

They had known each other since they were six, and now they were sixteen, almost a decade. They had grown up together, and it was normal for feelings to develop over time.

Even though Fu Shizhao had given him an answer and convinced himself that it was normal for them to be together, Tang Mian still felt inexplicably bothered.

There was no denying that Mu Zichen and Fu Jiacao’s relationship pattern was indeed similar to his and Fu Shizhao’s. Or perhaps… it was more similar to the way he and Fu Shizhao were before they drifted apart in his previous life.

In this life, he was reborn, not as pure, not truly growing up with Fu Shizhao. In the previous life, he and Fu Shizhao were true childhood sweethearts. He and Fu Shizhao also had no blood relation.

Tang Mian was startled by the sudden thought that popped into his head.

It was like something had suddenly gone off course, and the subsequent chain reaction caught him off guard and frightened him.

What was he afraid of?

He was afraid that once he accepted a certain premise, he wouldn’t be able to be as calm and composed as before. His mind was in chaos.

Fu Shizhao quietly followed beside him, watching the elongated and shortened shadows under the streetlights, tactfully not saying anything further. Like casting bait and waiting for the fish to bite, making more noise would only scare the fish away.

Returning to the classroom with the cool breeze, Tang Mian found that there were candies on both his and Fu Shizhao’s desks, mostly strawberry-flavored.

Tang Mian brushed his hand over the candies, making them rustle in their wrappers. Fu Shizhao picked up the card that appeared with the candies and quietly read it aloud, “Wedding candies.”

Tang Mian: “…”

Tang Mian absentmindedly unwrapped one of the strawberry hard candies and popped it into his mouth, biting down on it.

Tang Mian couldn’t help but cast an inadvertent glance at Mu Zichen and Fu Jiacao, who were whispering to each other with their heads close together. They were really together now…

Their relationship was openly displayed, especially since Mu Zichen was a rather outgoing person, so almost the entire grade knew about it soon enough. The four of them still went to and from classes together every day, just like before, but Tang Mian noticed some differences from before.

They would hold hands when there were no teachers around, fingers intertwined. They would always stick close together, whispering secrets in each other’s ears. Sometimes, while walking, they would suddenly “get lost” and disappear, leaving others wondering where they had gone off to.

At such an impulsive age, it was natural to act on impulse. Though Tang Mian hadn’t witnessed it firsthand, he could guess at some of it. Many young couples in early romances behaved similarly.

It was nothing more than kisses, or even bolder… touches. Between members of the same sex, there wasn’t much need to worry, as long as they were mindful of boundaries. After all, they weren’t yet adults.

Coincidentally, Tang Mian remembered Fu Shizhao’s cheek kiss from the night he got drunk, and he recalled some things from his previous life. This wasn’t a good sign.

Lately, he had been thinking about some things from his previous life, about the Fu Shizhao from his previous life, about that true… childhood sweetheart.

Especially since Fu Shizhao entered high school in this life, Tang Mian could often see shades of his previous self in him. Sometimes, he even felt like he was that person, but then Fu Shizhao’s call of “ge” would snap him back to reality. He was starting to feel a bit abnormal.

Even though he despised Fu Shizhao from his previous life so much. Even though their relationship was so bad. Even though he pushed himself away with his own hands.

Even though their relationship had deteriorated to such an extent, he would still occasionally appear in his dreams.

Every time he dreamed of Fu Shizhao from his previous life, Tang Mian would be unsettled for a long time.

The memories from the previous life hadn’t gradually faded away with time in this life, but instead, they were amplified when he saw shades of his previous self in Fu Shizhao. Especially during this period, he kept having nightmares, dreaming of some things from his previous life, dreaming of being the only one left at home.

Perhaps it was because of the cold wind blowing on the playground that night, or perhaps it was because Tang Mian’s mind was too chaotic lately, but he suddenly fell ill. Every day, he looked listless, wearing a mask that covered most of his face and spoke less.

After each class, Fu Shizhao would refill Tang Mian’s cup with hot water.

Taking advantage of his illness, Tang Mian naturally avoided Fu Shizhao for a while, each going home separately in the evenings, under the pretext of not wanting to infect him, and Fu Shizhao cooperated.

Even though he was sixteen, he still felt reassured sleeping with his parents in their room sometimes, hugging his cat secretly.

Before going to bed, he always made a phone call to his older brother and sister-in-law, feeling relieved only after seeing that they were doing well.

He was fearful of everything from his previous life. Yet, he also… missed Fu Shizhao from the previous life a little.

He still remembered the moment of the accident, meeting those light brown eyes, seemingly filled with various emotions, but he couldn’t recall them anymore.

Even though it was his last sight before death, he ended up giving it to himself.

He hated Fu Shizhao from his previous life and hated how he pushed him away without a word of explanation, leaving him to guess on his own. And he tended to imagine the worst-case scenario.

So, in this life, he had been trying to avoid such an ending.

But he knew deep down that if Fu Shizhao from the previous life had been willing to humble himself and offer even a few light explanations for his decisions and plans, even though it was years late, Tang Mian would have forgiven him.

But it was too late now, and he would never have that chance again.

He couldn’t tell anyone about these things, so he could only quietly digest them on his own.

For young lovers, sweet days always pass quickly.

Fu Jiacao chose liberal arts, while Mu Zichen chose science. With the end of the semester approaching, there was little time left, and they would soon be separated into different classes next semester, starting their “long-distance relationship” within the same school.

Tang Mian also chose liberal arts, and the division list had already come out. He and Fu Jiacao were in the same class, and they were going to be classmates with Cheng Ruancheng. Fate was always like this, igniting flames when you thought it was already over.

The people who were meant to reunite would always do so, no matter how long it had been or in what way.

After the last exam of the final exam, snowflakes began to fall from the sky again. A layer of soft edges adorned the accumulated layer of white from last night.

Tang Mian had already recovered from his illness, and his mind wasn’t as chaotic anymore. Dressed in thick clothes with a beige scarf around his neck, he walked aimlessly in the snow with an umbrella for quite some time.

The feeling of stepping on snow was different from stepping on fallen leaves, but both were very comforting. Fu Shizhao also followed behind him with an umbrella, casually stepping on the footprints he left behind.

Fu Shizhao didn’t particularly like winter in his previous life. Winter meant the Lunar New Year, which was not a good holiday for him, as he had to deal with various annoying things related to the Fu family.

But this life was different. He began to like winter because Tang Mian was afraid of the cold and would always tuck his hands into his pockets.

Lately, Tang Mian seemed a little off, and Fu Shizhao noticed it but didn’t ask anything, pretending not to have noticed.

The other two had gone off somewhere for a date, so they weren’t together. After hurriedly saying hello, they disappeared without a trace.

Seeing Tang Mian walking towards him after enjoying himself, Fu Shizhao asked casually, “Are we going back?”

Tang Mian held a small snowball in his hand and shook his head, “I want to play some more.”

The winter vacation was about to begin. Although it wasn’t long and there were many assignments, it was finally a chance to relax. After finally finishing the exams, it was natural to want to unwind a bit.

“Where do you want to go?” Fu Shizhao’s eyes narrowed, dodging the small snowball thrown at him by Tang Mian, and he bent down to form an even larger snowball in his hand.

Tang Mian quickly used the umbrella as a shield to protect himself, thinking that Fu Shizhao was really petty, making such a big snowball. And he had great strength; if it hit him, it would definitely hurt. There was one time before when he and Mu Zichen had a snowball fight, and he hit Mu Zichen so hard that he kept yelling.

Tang Mian quietly held up the umbrella for a long time, but he didn’t hear the sound of the snowball hitting him. He cautiously peeked in Fu Shizhao’s direction, fearing an ambush, only to see Fu Shizhao lowering his head and shaping the snowball in his hand, unaware of the potential “danger.”

Feeling relieved that the “danger” had passed, Tang Mian put away the umbrella and walked quickly over, seeking refuge under Fu Shizhao’s umbrella.

Fu Shizhao’s umbrella was quite large, and sometimes Tang Mian would step under it instead of using his own umbrella. He knew this umbrella could shelter both of them.

A few thin snowflakes landed on Tang Mian’s hair as he got closer, and he could see clearly the shape of the snowball in Fu Shizhao’s hand—it was molded into a cute cat’s head.

Tang Mian smiled and took out his phone from his pocket, taking a picture of the cat’s head snowball in Fu Shizhao’s hand and posting it on his social media.

?Snowball Cotton Candy [Photo]?

“Where do you want to go?” Fu Shizhao saw Tang Mian’s series of actions and asked again.

Tang Mian pondered for a moment, “I heard there’s an art exhibition at the Convention Center today. I want to go see it, but I’m not sure if we’ll make it in time.”

“Let’s go. If we’re late, we can wander around there,” Fu Shizhao replied, putting the cat-shaped snowball in his hand into a corner of the greenery. Tang Mian nodded.

There were plenty of places to have fun over there.

As they arrived at the art exhibition, it was almost closing time, and the place was nearly empty. Luckily, they made it in time and still had about an hour to explore.

The theme of this exhibition was “Dreams.”

Fu Shizhao knew he didn’t have much of an artistic sense, so after wandering around for a while, he couldn’t really appreciate the artwork. He just thought they weren’t as cute as the dog-eared cartoon characters Tang Mian drew for him.

As they wandered around, Tang Mian suddenly stopped in his tracks, his gaze fixed on a painting. Seeing Tang Mian suddenly stop, Fu Shizhao didn’t continue forward but followed his gaze to the painting that caught his attention.

The colors of the painting were starkly divided, half in a combination of red and black, blended with various other fragmented colors resembling flames, and the other half in a dreamy pinkish-blue, like a beautiful dream.

The name of the painting was “Reborn.” No wonder Tang Mian paused for it.

“Do you think reincarnation really exists, or is it all just a dream?” Tang Mian suddenly spoke up,

“If it’s a dream, then which one is the dream?”

Is it the past life?

Or is it this life?