Returning to Infancy with my Nemesis - Chapter 91

Fu Shizhao, drunk as he was, was incredibly straightforward. He would say or do whatever he wanted without hesitation.

Like, squatting outside the bathroom door to sing for Tang Mian, or directly asking for a kiss as a reward.

Since he was young, Fu Shizhao had always liked asking for kisses.

When he completed tasks assigned by his kindergarten teacher, when he ate a whole bowl of food obediently, or when he groomed the cat, he would ask for a kiss as a reward…

Thinking about it carefully, Fu Puppy had indeed done quite a few “naughty” things secretly.

Yet, Fu Shizhao still maintained a slightly bent posture, his eyes carrying a drunken haziness, but he looked at Tang Mian with unusual seriousness, mixed with various other emotions.

Tang Mian could clearly see himself reflected in his eyes.

Wasn’t it just a kiss…

After the hot pot incident, Fu Shizhao had asked him for a kiss even when pretending to be drunk, and he had given it. Moreover, this time he was genuinely drunk.

Tang Mian made up his mind and quickly pecked him on the cheek, then awkwardly urged, “Okay, go to sleep now.”

Fu Shizhao blinked, satisfied, and obediently lay down on the bed, holding onto Tang Mian’s clothes.

Tang Mian finally breathed a sigh of relief. He adjusted the temperature of the air conditioner, placed his hearing aid in the drying box, and covered them both with a summer cool quilt before turning off the lights.

Tonight, they had skipped the remaining self-study session, which allowed for this much time for confession. Tomorrow was a workday, and they had to get up early for school.

They couldn’t delay any longer, or they really wouldn’t be able to wake up tomorrow.

It was almost finals week, and some things could wait until after the final exams were over. He also wanted to go to school tomorrow to check on Wei Haifan and Zhan Wanqi. With the lights off, the room instantly became dark, with only a faint moonlight.

Tang Mian closed his eyes but didn’t feel sleepy at all. Still, he said to Fu Shizhao, “Go to sleep.”

People who were drunk needed to rest as soon as possible. However, Fu Shizhao suddenly moved his legs under the blanket.

“What’s wrong?” Tang Mian was puzzled.

Fu Shizhao moved his legs again and whispered softly, “You haven’t placed your leg on mine yet.” Tang Mian almost instantly understood the meaning behind his words.

Indeed, every night when they slept, Tang Mian would place his leg on Fu Shizhao’s leg. After falling asleep, he would even lean on him, treating him like a full-body pillow.

It had become his sleeping habit, but he didn’t expect it to become Fu Shizhao’s sleeping habit as well. To ensure a good night’s sleep, Tang Mian obediently placed one of his legs on Fu Shizhao’s leg. After taking care of a drunk Fu Shizhao all night, he was physically and mentally exhausted. Unexpectedly, Fu Shizhao still didn’t want to rest and said again, “I’ll sing to lull you to sleep.”

Tang Mian sighed inwardly and said, “Sing then.”

Fu Shizhao hummed the melody from outside the bathroom door again, but this time, his pronunciation was not as clear as before. As he continued to sing, his voice became increasingly blurred, and soon there was no sound at all—he had sung himself to sleep.

In the darkness, Tang Mian looked at the patterns on the ceiling, lit faintly by the moonlight, and couldn’t help but smile wryly. He turned over gently, his eyes fixed on Fu Shizhao’s sleeping face for a while.

It was the Fu Shizhao from high school.

Still very immature.

He was the Fu Shizhao that Tang Mian almost missed.

After watching for a while, Tang Mian boldly leaned his face against Fu Shizhao’s shoulder and closed his eyes. The air conditioning was still a bit cold, but fortunately, Fu Shizhao, who had been drinking, was warm, and the blanket was also warm. Tang Mian thought he would have trouble falling asleep, but to his surprise, he fell asleep soon after closing his eyes.

A night of dreamless sleep.

The next morning, when Tang Mian woke up, he found Fu Shizhao smiling at him, while he himself was still clinging to Fu Shizhao like an octopus.

Tang Mian’s sleepiness vanished instantly.

The alarm hadn’t gone off yet, it wasn’t time to get up yet, so he could stay in bed a little longer.

“Sober now?” Tang Mian asked knowingly.

Fu Shizhao responded with a soft “mm-hmm” and explained, “I was really drunk last night.”

Tang Mian couldn’t help but chuckle.

After doing so many “naughty” things, Fu Puppy also knew that his credibility with Tang Mian was very low now.

Fu Shizhao cautiously asked, “I didn’t do anything bad last night, did I? I don’t remember much.” His tone was sincere, not like he was lying.

Tang Mian intentionally said, “No, you just told me a lot of the bad things you did before, and it made me so angry that I couldn’t sleep last night.”

Indeed, Fu Shizhao had taken advantage of his rebirth to do many “bad” things, but none of them had really offended Tang Mian.

They were like little tricks used by children to vie for attention, childish yet cute.

“How can I make amends?” Fu Shizhao’s eyes sparkled with mischief.

Tang Mian snorted softly, snuggled back under the covers, closed his eyes, and planned to go back to sleep for a while. “Let’s see how you behave next.”

In the following days, Wei Haifan’s scandal spread throughout the school, and news of his detention and sentencing was circulating among the students.

The versions of the story cleverly avoided associating it with Zhan Wanqi, assuming that Wei Haifan had committed some crime in society, which wasn’t surprising given his character.

Zhan Wanqi also returned to class smoothly.

It was already finals week, and she planned to have an abortion at a secure and reputable hospital her parents had booked for her after the exams. It would be perfect to rest for the entire summer vacation and avoid arousing suspicion with long-term leave.

Her parents also planned to take her to see a psychologist and recuperate in a quiet environment for two months. After all, both physical and psychological health were important.

Many students in the class knew about her previous relationship with Wei Haifan and were relieved that she had broken up with him in time.

Whatever Wei Haifan had done to get sentenced at his age must have been unforgivable.

Some people asked her if she knew anything, but Zhan Wanqi just shook her head silently, her fingers still clenching tightly under the desk.

She knew her classmates didn’t mean any harm; they were just curious.

Fortunately, her best friend came to her desk with snacks in time, “chasing away” those gossiping classmates. They were probably afraid that she hadn’t recovered from the breakup and felt sad, so they didn’t associate Wei Haifan’s imprisonment with her.

Her best friend didn’t say much either, just reminded her to keep her eyes open in the future. Zhan Wanqi nodded earnestly.

After this incident, her love brain had been completely removed.

The phone number of the sister who had been texting her before was deactivated, and the person disappeared completely before she could properly thank her.

But the sister must have done this to avoid exposing her identity; otherwise, she wouldn’t have been so cautious. Zhan Wanqi kept it in her heart. She would continue to pass on this kindness.

When she went to college, she planned to become a volunteer to help more people who had similar experiences to hers. It was a way to absolve herself of the wrong choices she had made.

After the exam week, the weather became increasingly hot, and Tang Mian stayed indoors with the air conditioning on, unwilling to go out. Fu Shizhao managed to drag him out a few times only after the sun had completely set and the temperature had dropped.

It wasn’t entirely Tang Mian’s fault for being spoiled; the hot weather made him sweat easily, and wearing hearing aids made his ears uncomfortable. Hearing aids preferred a dry and fresh environment.

After the confession, Fu Shizhao stopped calling Tang Mian “ge” and suddenly came up with many strange nicknames, completely letting go of any pretense in front of Tang Mian.

Like “gege.”

Much more ambiguous than just a single word.

Or for example, “Young Master” After all, he had been the son of the Tang family’s driver for so many years in his past life; he had to call Tang Mian Young Master.

For example, “Meow Meow.”

The two words “Tang Mian” were said so quickly that they became “Meow Meow,” and since Tang Mian liked cats, this nickname was quite appropriate.

Hearing this, Tang Mian directly picked up a pen and drew a turtle on his face.

Their relationship became more ambiguous compared to before, but they still didn’t break through that barrier and officially become a couple. Tang Mian’s awkward response was that he couldn’t do anything to a minor like Fu Shizhao, and they would talk about it when he came of age. They still needed a transition, an opportunity, a formal opportunity to be together. Especially for Tang Mian.

It would take some time to integrate the two lifetimes of growing up together with Fu Shizhao. After all, they had been chasing each other for two lifetimes, and now that the person had been caught, there was no need to rush.

Moreover, after they opened up, although Tang Mian was still a bit shy, he didn’t mind Fu Shizhao occasionally teasing or taking advantage of him.

At least kisses and hugs were completely fine. Occasionally taking a bath together would also bring them more benefits. Compared to before, Fu Shizhao was already quite satisfied.

[T/N: My virgin brain cannot comprehend how you can take a bath together and be like we’re just friends.]

The two months of summer vacation passed quickly.

At the beginning of the second year of high school, Tang Mian saw Fu Shizhao off on his flight to Country B.

During the summer vacation, they had discussed it for a long time, and finally decided to let Fu Shizhao go to Country B as an exchange student for a year. Since they had already discussed everything between them, a brief separation would actually bring them closer together. It wouldn’t be good to stick together like before every day.

Moreover, Tang Mian was going to undergo closed training in the second year of high school, and even if Fu Shizhao stayed, they wouldn’t be able to meet often. It was better for him to go to Country B for a year, which was a perfect fit for the timing.

The training didn’t allow them to bring their phones, so Tang Mian only brought a non-internet-enabled phone watch that could make calls. Whenever he had the chance, he would call Fu Shizhao. The time difference between them was quite large, so their actual “face-to-face” time wasn’t long, making every second precious.

Fu Shizhao went to Country B to stay with relatives on his biological mother’s side.

“I met Snowball’s brother and sister today. They’re not as chubby as Snowball. You’ve spoiled it. I’ll call Grandma later and ask her to help Snowball lose weight.”

“I really don’t know what to do about Xu Qingying’s grades. She keeps coming to me for advice all the time. I remember she had a lot of skirts in her closet when she was a child, but I haven’t seen her wear a single skirt now… What? Why am I interested in a little girl’s closet and skirts? Of course, it’s because I had the idea of wanting you to wear them. Hey, hey, don’t hang up.”

“Today I saw a beautiful sunset and took a picture for you. I’ll send it to your phone over the weekend. Hmm, you draw it and send it to me. It will definitely look better.”

Tang Mian also met the good friend who chased dreams together with him in theie previous life, and struggled together in the studio with him.

“I saw Gan Lan, who is in the same dormitory as me. Yes, the one nicknamed Purple Cabbage. He was a good friend of mine who studied art in the previous life. Later, he became a very talented designer. After I slipped away at the alumni gathering, he was the one who accompanied me to drink… My relationship with him is like yours with Mu Zichen.”

“Speaking of this, who was the guy who had breakfast with you at the hotel restaurant the day after the alumni gathering? You don’t remember? Coincidentally met? Is it true… that you followed me into the same hotel to avoid me finding out? Alright… I’m not jealous.”

“There’s a toy shop nearby, and there’s a cute little dog superhero model. I bought it for you. Remember to put it on the table.”

The training venue allowed for receiving packages, so Fu Shizhao sent back many postcards and letters from Country B to Tang Mian. Tang Mian also replied promptly and sent them back to him whenever he had time, which seemed to carry more affection in this slightly “backward” way.

In just one year, the letters exchanged between the two could fill up a whole big box.

Gan Lan always suspected that Tang Mian had an online boyfriend, but Tang Mian would just laugh and say it’s just his little brother.

On May Day, the training ended early, and Tang Mian left the training studio with his suitcase, arriving at the bustling street with better signal. He couldn’t wait to call Fu Shizhao.

But Fu Shizhao never picked up.

…He must be busy with something.

Just as Tang Mian was slightly disappointed and was about to put down his phone, a figure rushed through the crowd and hugged him tightly.