Returning to Infancy with my Nemesis - Chapter 80

During the last self-study session, Tang Mian saw Fu Shizhao coming upstairs with a basket full of strawberries.

At that moment, Tang Mian was busy packing his backpack, and Mu Zichen suddenly appeared from somewhere, placing several new sticky notes on Fu Jiacao’s desk.

The sticky notes were colorful, each with a different design.

“Now I won’t need sticky notes for the whole semester,” Fu Jiacao said helplessly, putting all the sticky notes into the drawer, next to the remaining half that he had previously tucked away.

“Just write me some more little notes,” Mu Zichen chimed in with a smile.

Tang Mian casually listened to the affectionate conversation between the two, glancing out the window subconsciously, only to see Fu Shizhao holding a basket of strawberries.

Their seats happened to be the closest to the corridor, and after their eyes met, Fu Shizhao opened the window. The classroom was illuminated by the light, revealing half of his body, including his bent eyes. He raised the basket of strawberries and said, “Ge, I bought strawberries for you.”

Tang Mian stopped cleaning his desk and turned his head, asking curiously, “Where did you get them?”

Buying strawberries must have been done outside of school; although the school sold freshly cut fruits, they didn’t sell baskets of strawberries. Did this guy skip evening self-study?

In this lifetime, Fu Shizhao had never skipped class; he had always been a good kid.

Or did someone bring them after school?

Fu Shizhao glanced at Mu Zichen and Fu Jiacao, who were talking, and lied without batting an eyelid, “We finished the self-study homework, and Mu Zichen insisted on going outside to buy the same sticky notes that Xiao Cai used to buy before. He happened to see strawberries and bought them.”

Tang Mian paused for a moment, catching the deliberate implication in his words, and asked, “How did you get out?”

“Mu Zichen said there’s a small door, and no one was watching,” Fu Shizhao answered obediently.

In fact, he was the one who had told Mu Zichen about the small door. In the previous life, they used to skip class together through that door; it was locked, but he knew how to unlock it.

Tang Mian bit his lip, intending to scold him, but held back.

Forget it, this guy skipped class but still bought strawberries for himself. It wouldn’t be right to criticize him. I’ll educate him the next time he skips class… but it’s not surprising that Mu Zichen took him out to skip class.

Tang Mian continued to lower his head and tidy up his desk.

Mu Zichen: “Well… he’s really a good brother, squeezing out every bit of value without letting go of any opportunity.”

Fu Jiacao then turned aside, trying hard to hold back his laughter.

It’s obvious that Fu Shizhao was the one who convinced Mu Zichen to skip class.

Finally, Tang Mian packed up the last book, grabbed the sticky notes, and took two books he planned to read at night as he walked briskly toward the door.

High school students often spend a lot of time in the classroom. They have to arrive early for morning classes every day, and evening self-study sessions can last until very late. By the time they finish washing up, it’s almost eleven or twelve o’clock. They only have a short day and a half of rest on weekends, so there’s no need to bring heavy bags home. Just bring two books for evening review before sleep.

Tang Mian casually took the strawberry basket from Fu Shizhao’s hand and glanced down.

The strawberries weren’t too big, but they all looked fresh. The basket was small, and there weren’t many strawberries inside, but it was just enough to eat on the way from the classroom to the school gate without being noticed by his mom.

Not bad, not bad at all. No wonder he’s his “trained” little brother; his ability to pick strawberries is excellent.

Much better than the basket of strawberries that Wei Haifan had today.

Fu Shizhao suddenly caught sight of a figure out of the corner of his eye and smiled, saying, “They’re already washed; you can eat them directly.”

Tang Mian didn’t hesitate and picked up a strawberry, stuffing it into his mouth. It was very fresh, sweeter than sour. Tang Mian couldn’t help but eat another one.

Anyway, Mu Zichen and Fu Jiacao were still dilly-dallying; he had to wait for them to walk to the school gate together, so there was no rush. Purposefully passing by, Wei Haifan, who was prepared to say a few words to Tang Mian, felt somewhat complicated.

Tang Mian said he didn’t eat strawberries, so why was he so happily eating the strawberries brought by his brother?

Wei Haifan couldn’t figure it out, but he still collected himself and followed the previously planned route to approach Tang Mian, saying to him, “Remember to add me; I’ll send you pictures of the cat tonight.”

Tang Mian chewed on the strawberry in his mouth, making it inconvenient to speak, so he just nodded.

He hadn’t forgotten about the matter; the sticky note with the contact information was tucked into his jacket pocket, and he genuinely cared about the follow-up of those three little cats, hoping that Wei Haifan would take good care of them.

Before Wei Haifan could say anything else, Fu Shizhao suddenly exclaimed.

Both of their gazes were drawn to his hand, where he had accidentally crushed a strawberry, staining his fingers with strawberry juice.

The strawberries this season were indeed a bit soft, and exerting too much force on an overly ripe one could result in the kind of mess Fu Shizhao had made.

Swallowing the strawberry, Tang Mian urged, “Quick, go to the bathroom.”

“Ge, do you have tissues?” Fu Shizhao asked as he turned towards the direction of the bathroom.

“Yes, I’ll give them to you after washing my hands,” Tang Mian replied. With one hand holding the strawberry basket and the other holding the book he planned to take home tonight, he couldn’t immediately hand Fu Shizhao the tissues from his pocket. Instead, he went to the bathroom and placed something on the nearby shelf.

“Okay,” Fu Shizhao said as he walked briskly towards the bathroom.

The structure of each floor was the same; the classroom where Tang Mian was located was near the right staircase, and the bathroom was located in the middle of each floor.

Watching the two of them leave against the flow of people, Wei Haifan sighed, “…”

Wei Haifan didn’t have any suspicions; he just felt a bit disappointed in tang Mian’s younger brother.

Last night and tonight—both times, unexpected circumstances had interrupted his time with Tang Mian.

“Ah Fan,” suddenly, a girl grabbed his arm.

The girl was petite and cute, with bright eyes when she looked at Wei Haifan.

She was a science student, her classroom was on the second floor, and her name was Zhan Wanqi. She had been dating Wei Haifan for almost a month.

Wei Haifan paused for a moment, subconsciously glanced in the direction of the bathroom again. The flow of people leaving school had already crowded the hallway tightly, and he didn’t see anything.

Wei Haifan didn’t hold her hand as usual but still maintained his posture and asked, “How come you’re here?”

Zhan Wanqi smiled and said, “To walk you to the school gate.”

Wei Haifan lived in the school dormitory, while Zhan Wanqi was a day student. The dormitories and the school gate were in opposite directions. Previously, Wei Haifan would drop her off at a junction close to the school gate and then return to the dormitory alone. She had never walked Wei Haifan home before.

She had once suggested walking Wei Haifan back to the dormitory, but was refused. He said it was dark near the dormitory, and there was a lake, which was a bit dangerous. He didn’t feel at ease letting her go back alone.

Tonight, Wei Haifan suddenly decided to go home for a while, so she specially declined her friend’s invitation and came upstairs to surprise Wei Haifan.

“Let’s go, don’t waste time here. I’ll take you to walk along the corridor downstairs,” Wei Haifan smoothly said some sweet words, and with her holding onto his arm, he led her towards the direction of the staircase, actually not wanting others to see anything.

The corridor was a characteristic feature of the school, with beautiful lights above. Students often studied there or went on dates.

“Okay.”

Near the back door of the classroom, Mu Zichen and Fu Jiacao exchanged a glance and whispered to each other.

“Being with him is really foolish,” Fu Jiacao was referring to Zhan Wanqi.

Mu Zichen sighed, “These scoundrels have too many tactics. Young girls are easily deceived or think they can change them… There’s nothing we can do.”

The two fell silent again, not knowing what else to say.

Some things couldn’t be changed just because one wished to change them. They couldn’t interfere too much in others’ lives. Many tragedies were perhaps destined to happen.

It’s just that I don’t know what happened between Wei Haifan and Tang Mian last night to make Fu Shizhao react so strongly. But whatever could make Fu Shizhao this alert, one can guess it’s not a good thing.

“Feels like Zhao-ge has quite a few tricks up his sleeve,” Fu Jiacao suddenly spoke out of the blue.

Mu Zichen chuckled upon hearing this.

Before he could say anything, Fu Shizhao and Tang Mian, who had finished washing their hands, happened to walk over together. Fu Shizhao was holding Tang Mian’s books.

After saying something, Tang Mian suddenly fed him a strawberry. Fu Shizhao smiled and ate it with a triumphant look.

Mu Zichen sighed softly, “Indeed… quite a few.”

After returning home in the evening, Tang Mian quickly took a shower, then lay in bed with the wall lamp on and read the two books he had brought back in the evening.

After receiving a message from Fu Shizhao asking if he had gone to bed, Tang Mian suddenly realized that he seemed to have forgotten something.

After replying to Fu Shizhao’s message asking if he had gone to bed, Tang Mian hurriedly took out the sticky note from the pocket of his coat he had changed out of today. He quickly flipped through the first few pages of his doodles and sketches to the middle.

But Tang Mian flipped through several pages and didn’t see the page with Wei Haifan’s contact information.

Suddenly, Tang Mian remembered something and sent a message to Fu Jiacao.

[Tang Mian] Did you accidentally tear off the page with Wei Haifan’s contact information when you tore off the sticky notes today? Tang Mian sent this message in their four-person group chat, so both Fu Shizhao and Mu Zichen could see it.

[Fu Jiacao] …I don’t really remember, can’t you find it?

[Fu Jiacao] It’s possible, sorry about that.

[Fu Jiacao] See if you can find it on your end, @Mu Zichen.

[Mu Zichen] I threw away the outer packaging directly. You stuck it too tightly, and when I used the utility knife to open it, I accidentally folded it. I brought back the page with your content written on it, but I didn’t pay much attention to whether there was any contact information.

[Fu Shizhao] [Dog peeking.jpg]

Tang Mian guessed that it was the one used by Fu Jiacao today.

At that moment, Tang Mian didn’t pay attention and accidentally tore off that sticky note as well. It wasn’t a big deal.

[Tang Mian] Just tell him about it tomorrow.

[Fu Jiacao] I’ll definitely be more careful next time.

[Tang Mian] Okay.

Fu Jiacao was a bit sensitive, and Tang Mian was really afraid he might overthink it, so he quickly reassured him a few more times. After all, it was just accidentally tearing off a sticky note, nothing serious.

Meanwhile, in another three-person group chat named “Wei Haifan, Get Lost”—

[Fu Jiacao] I did my part.

[Mu Zichen] Well done! [thumbs up]

[Mu Zichen] Remember that you owe me a meal!! @Fu Shizhao.

[Fu Shizhao] [dog_ok.jpg]

On the other hand, Wei Haifan, who made an exception to return home to take pictures of cats for Tang Mian, was lectured by his family all night long. He waited for a long time but didn’t receive any friend requests from Tang Mian.

Wei Haifan couldn’t sleep.

He tossed and turned, unable to figure out which part went wrong.