Returning to Infancy with my Nemesis - Chapter 81

The next day, as soon as Tang Mian sat down in the classroom, Wei Haifan came over to him.

He had only managed to fall asleep in the early hours of the morning, and the dark circles under his eyes were quite pronounced. However, his naturally dark skin tone made them less noticeable.

Fu Jiacao hadn’t arrived yet, so Wei Haifan decided to sit in his seat and tentatively asked, “Why didn’t you add me last night?”

He had tossed and turned all night, unable to come up with a reasonable explanation, and rushed to school as soon as his alarm went off this morning.

It was the first time he had arrived at the classroom this early. Previously, he would always arrive just in time or even be late for early self-study.

Tang Mian paused in his homework and met his gaze, apologizing, “Yesterday, some classmates borrowed my sticky notes. When I got back home last night, I couldn’t find the one with your contact information. I don’t know if someone accidentally tore it.”

Tang Mian didn’t mention Fu Jiacao, but instead vaguely referred to “some classmates.” Borrowing stationery among classmates was a very normal thing.

The classroom was bustling before self-study, and Tang Mian spoke calmly and steadily, maintaining eye contact throughout, giving the impression that he was taking this matter very seriously, with a hint of apology in his voice.

Wei Haifan hadn’t expected it to be because of this reason at all. The frustration he had been feeling instantly dissipated, and he touched his nose, quickly responding, “It’s okay, just give me your contact information, and I’ll add you. Last night, the kittens kept me up until the early hours of the morning, meowing incessantly. I didn’t know what to do.”

The kittens were actually very well-behaved. After dinner last night, they curled up in their nest and didn’t make much noise. It was probably because they were suddenly in a new environment and not used to it, being a bit timid and not daring to come out and make a fuss.

He had been waiting for Tang Mian to add him as a friend, but he hadn’t really paid attention to them. The lie was just to cover up his dark circles.

But Tang Mian didn’t even notice his dark circles, or if he did, he didn’t seem to mind. After all, Wei Haifan often did this, staying up at night doing who knows what and then sleeping through class the next day to catch up on rest.

Tang Mian nodded and took out a pen, writing down his contact information on a piece of paper, adding, “It’s normal for the kittens to be scared since they’re still young. Spending more time with them will help a lot.”

Wei Haifan readily agreed, his gaze fixed on Tang Mian’s hand as he wrote.

His hand was beautiful, and his handwriting was also very neat.

He heard that he was an art student, and he really wanted to see what his drawings looked like.

He seems to be in the school’s art studio every Saturday painting. He could go there this Saturday to take a look. As the conversation came to an end, Tang Mian tore off a sticky note and handed it to Wei Haifan.

Taking the sticky note, Wei Haifan was about to chat with him about something else when he heard hurried footsteps, and the next moment a canvas bag was placed on the desk where he was sitting.

It was Fu Jiacao.

Fu Jiacao didn’t say a word, just looked faintly at Wei Haifan occupying his seat, his intention to evict him very clear.

“Well, I’ll leave first,” Wei Haifan stood up conscientiously, feeling good, and left with the sticky note in hand.

Fu Jiacao glanced casually at the sticky note in his hand, probably guessing what had happened. He took his seat and took out the books and assignments from the canvas bag.

After Wei Haifan had walked away, Fu Jiacao suddenly spoke up, “Did you still not find that sticky note from last night?”

“Yeah, it’s okay. I just gave him my contact information.” Tang Mian explained, packing up all the assignments to be handed in today and placing them neatly on the corner of the desk, waiting for the class representative to collect them.

“Okay,” Fu Jiacao didn’t say anything more.

Although they didn’t know exactly what happened the night before to make Fu Shizhao so wary of Wei Haifan, based on their years of understanding of Fu Shizhao… Wei Haifan definitely didn’t do anything good.

Combined with Wei Haifan’s deliberate approach to Tang Mian in the past few days, it’s easy to associate it with some bad things.

It’s not that the possibility of a prodigal son turning over a new leaf doesn’t exist, nor is it that they will judge Wei Haifan solely based on his past, but his credibility is just too low, and they have to be more vigilant.

In some ways, Tang Mian was a bit naive and slow to understand. After all these years, he still hadn’t noticed Fu Shizhao’s feelings, so it was quite normal for him not to see through Wei Haifan’s deliberate approach. He probably just thought Wei Haifan wanted to be friends with him.

It seems that for now, Fu Shizhao doesn’t intend to tell Tang Mian about this matter, nor does he want to alert anyone unnecessarily.

After all, nothing has happened yet.

If Tang Mian doesn’t think there’s anything wrong, it will make Fu Shizhao seem overly sensitive. Besides, if Wei Haifan, relying on his “friend” status, resorts to some tricks or tries to sow discord, it would negatively affect the relationship between them.

Let’s observe a bit more…

Anyway, with them around, Tang Mian definitely won’t be bullied.

Monday seemed to pass by very slowly.

Wei Haifan hardly slept last night and spent almost the entire day catching up on sleep. He only fully woke up during the evening self-study session.

Fu Jiacao remained on guard all day, finally feeling relieved.

Tonight’s evening self-study session included an exam, with the first two periods dedicated to it. This significantly reduced the available time for other activities, making it imperative to focus on completing assignments.

During the third and fourth periods of the evening self-study session, Tang Mian was diligently catching up on his assignments.

Apart from necessary restroom and water breaks, he hardly left his seat. He preferred not to take assignments home to complete them, so being able to finish them at school was ideal for him.

During breaks between classes, Wei Haifan, pretended to casually pass by Tang Mian’s seat several times, but failed to find a suitable opportunity to strike up a conversation with him.

Being emotionally intelligent, Wei Haifan knew that to win someone over, he had to cater to their interests and avoid doing things that would cause aversion.

Interrupting Tang Mian while he was diligently working on his assignments would undoubtedly lower his favorability, so Wei Haifan refrained from doing so and returned to his seat with a dejected expression.

As the final period of the evening self-study session ended, Fu Shizhao and Mu Zichen appeared at the door of the fourth-floor classroom again.

Tang Mian couldn’t help but feel puzzled and asked, “Why did you come up again? You could have just waited for me and Xiao Cao downstairs.”

It was because Fu Shizhao and Mu Zichen had skipped class last night to buy sticky notes and strawberries. Tonight, they behaved and didn’t skip class again.

They didn’t bring anything with them except the books and assignments they needed to take home in the evening.

It would have been more efficient for him and Fu Jiacao to meet them downstairs after school and leave together. There was no need for them to come upstairs to find him.

Fu Shizhao thought to himself that it’s because they were worried about you, but he still maintained a gentle smile on his face and quietly lied, “Mu Zichen insisted on coming up.”

After hearing this, Tang Mian glanced at Mu Zichen, who was helping Fu Jiacao pack up his assignments.

Mu Zichen spread open Fu Jiacao’s canvas bag, and Fu Jiacao was stuffing the unfinished homework and relevant textbooks and notes into it. Indeed, cooperating with each other made the task much easier.

Tang Mian managed to finish all his homework tonight, rushing through it while Fu Jiacao, not as fast, still had some to take home.

Tang Mian didn’t suspect anything when he noticed this.

It’s quite normal between couples…

Mu Zichen, who overheard their interaction, rolled his eyes discreetly where they couldn’t see.

Unable to contain his laughter, Fu Jiacao packed the last book into his canvas bag and then took out a candy from his pocket, unwrapped it, and stuffed it into Mu Zichen’s mouth.

Mu Zichen’s eyes instantly lit up with delight.

During the last period of the evening self-study session, Wei Haifan suddenly skipped class and slipped away. Fortunately, Tang Mian didn’t bump into him after school. Tonight, it was Tang Minghuai who came to pick them up, with Shen Siwan sitting in the passenger seat.

As soon as they got into the car and closed the door, a white figure rushed from Shen Siwan’s arms to the back seat and climbed onto Tang Mian. It was Cotton Candy.

Every time his mom came to pick him up, she would bring the cat. Perhaps she thought he was tired after a day of classes and needed some brief healing time with the cat in the car.

Indeed, it was healing.

Tang Mian laughed as he hugged the cat.

The other cat quickly reached over, touched the cat’s head, and was attracted to the red string on Tang Mian’s hand. It lifted its paw to touch it but didn’t extend its claws.

Fu Shizhao grabbed the cat’s paw, leaned on Tang Mian’s shoulder, and played with the cat. Tonight, Fu Shizhao was going to sleep at Tang Mian’s house, and Shen Siwan specially made soup for them as a night snack.

During the weekend, Shen Siwan wanted Fu Shizhao to come over and try her new cooking skills, but Fu Shizhao suddenly had a stomachache, so they had to postpone it.

Unexpectedly, when she asked about his health again last night, Fu Shizhao said he was fine and eagerly wanted to taste her cooking.

This kid has always been sweet-talking since childhood, and she couldn’t resist him. So tonight, she made soup for them, which they could have some tonight and also use as part of breakfast tomorrow morning.

Back home, Shen Siwan opened the lid of the soup pot, scooped out a few bowls of soup, and then Fu Shizhao and Tang Mian each carried a bowl upstairs.

Fu Shizhao also had exams today. After the exam, the teacher took up another class to explain the big questions ahead.

The time for self-study was squeezed to just one period that could be freely managed. Tonight, he had to stay up late to finish his homework.

The soup was still a bit hot.

Fu Shizhao suggested, “Ge, why don’t you go take a shower first? After you’re done, I’ll go, and we can let the soup cool for a bit.”

Tang Mian nodded and went to the bathroom with his pajamas.

Just as Tang Mian was about to step out of the room, Fu Shizhao suddenly spoke up, “Ge, can I borrow your phone for a bit?”

“Sure, go ahead,” Tang Mian replied without any hesitation and closed the door.

With Tang Mian gone, the room was left with only Fu Shizhao. He lowered his eyes slightly and skillfully unlocked the phone using his fingerprint.

Yes, Tang Mian’s phone had his fingerprint registered, so he could access any app inside without Tang Mian minding.

Fu Shizhao’s good mood vanished instantly when he saw a friend request from Wei Haifan. However, his intentional urge for Tang Mian to take a shower and use his phone was also for this purpose.

After accepting the friend request, Fu Shizhao didn’t immediately open the conversation with him. Instead, he opened their four-person group chat and intentionally typed out a message, sending it to the group.

[Tang Mian] “At which page did you finish the physics exercises? @Mu Zichen”

He was bitter.

Bitter.

?Mu Zichen?r>

?Mu Zichen?Xiao Zhao?

?Tang Mian?I’m having night study sessions at my brother’s place, so my phone isn’t with me.

?Mu Zichen?jpg.

?Mu Zichen?Finish that question on this page and send me the answer to check. I don’t know how late I’ll have to stay up tonight to finish the homework. It’s tough.

?Tang Mian?: ok

He naturally knew which page he should be working on, but he still had to put on a little act, preparing a plausible excuse to access Tang Mian’s chat software in advance.

Finally, after waiting for Wei Haifan’s messages to almost fill the screen, Fu Shizhao opened his chat box with him, expressionless.

?Wei Haifan?Added you as a friend.

?Wei Haifan?I’m home. My parents dragged me back home to lecture me. They want me to go straight into the military, but I’m not too keen on it.

?Wei Haifan?I want to check if all three cats are still awake.

?Wei Haifan?[Puzzled.jpg]

Wei Haifan was indeed good at bringing up topics.

Joining the military… Is he even qualified for that?

Fu Shizhao pressed the recording button and, emotionlessly, spoke into his phone. After releasing his finger, he sent it with a “whoosh.”

?Tang Mian?[39s voice]

On the other side, Wei Haifan, who had been eagerly awaiting Tang Mian’s message for a long time, looked at the newly received voice message and instantly perked up, eagerly opening it.

But the voice that came from the phone wasn’t Tang Mian’s.