After Helping the Protagonist Escape From a Madman, I Became His Target [Transmigration Novel] - Chapter 29

The night before the monthly exams, the proctoring list was finally released.

Shen Luyang scrolled down while brushing his teeth. Near the very bottom, he found his name. He glanced at the column next to it and saw another name: Xie Weihan.

Shen Luyang let out a whistle, spat out his toothpaste, and immediately sent a screenshot to Teacher Xie. Talk about luck!

The exams began at 8:00 AM the next day. As agreed, Shen Luyang went to the office to collect the papers first and arrived at the classroom right on time. Xie Weihan was already there, writing the subject and time on the blackboard.

Today, he wore a dark navy suit. The fabric was heavier than usual, but it sat impeccably on his frame, the broad shoulders and narrow waist cutting a perfect silhouette. Holding the seating chart in one hand, he relaxed his other hand to write the proctors’ names. His handwriting was sharp and elegant, undeniably beautiful.

As he raised his arm, a sliver of his right wrist was exposed. Shen Luyang noticed a band-aid wrapped around his left index finger—the same one he’d asked Jiang Nuanyu for and given to Xie Weihan.

“Teacher Xie,” Shen Luyang called out, snapping out of his daze. “I’ve got the papers.”

Xie Weihan finished the last stroke, turned around, and looked at him with warm eyes, a hint of a smile appearing. “Thanks for your hard work.”

Shen Luyang stepped into the classroom. With less than three minutes to go, he stood on the podium with Xie Weihan, chatting while checking his watch. There was a slight stir in the room. Shen Luyang’s sharp ears caught a girl in the front row whispering to her friend, “Holy crap, which class is that teacher from? He’s so handsome!”

“You don’t know Teacher Xie? He’s the face of the school!”

“I’m talking about the other one!”

“Oh, the new physics teacher. I heard his lectures are actually interesting. He’s Peng Jun’s teacher.”

“Peng Jun?”

Shen Luyang followed the girl’s gaze to the back row by the window. A tall boy was slumped over his desk, not wearing his school jacket, just a black T-shirt with a large lion’s head printed on the back. Even though only the spiky back of a head was visible, Shen Luyang recognized Peng Jun instantly.

Without hesitating, he raised his voice. “Exam’s about to start! Everyone wake up! Thank you for the cooperation! Thank you!”

Peng Jun visibly jolted, then sat up with a scowl, his face a mask of confusion. Translated, it meant: How is it that I can hear Teacher Shen everywhere? Oh, it actually is him.

Shen Luyang gave Peng Jun a bright smile and leaned in toward Xie Weihan, giving the routine instructions as the Director had outlined in the meeting.

“This exam is the same as before. Two teachers in the room, God knows how many roaming the halls, and at least four watching the monitors. You’ve heard it all,” Shen Luyang said with tragic indignation. “But the school has a nasty new policy: if the monitors or roaming teachers catch a student cheating, thirty yuan is docked from the proctors’ pay per head.”

At this, Shen Luyang put on a look of genuine sorrow. “Your teacher only makes two thousand a month. Please, just let me have a hot meal.”

The classroom went silent for a few seconds before a wave of laughter broke out.

“As a warning,” Shen Luyang continued, “if I cough, it means I’ve spotted something suspicious. Use that chance to turn back before it’s too late. Don’t wait for me or Teacher Xie to walk over and gently tell you to ‘get out.’ Your exam will be toast, my dear.”

The bell rang. Xie Weihan picked up the papers and skillfully sliced them open with a knife. His slender fingers made even the simplest task look like art. Shen Luyang counted the stacks and distributed them. The first period, Chinese, officially began.

By regulation, the two proctors were supposed to sit at the front and back, occasionally walking around. But Shen Luyang had heard from Jiang Nuanyu: as long as you didn’t talk and disturb the students, you could do whatever you wanted. The leadership’s words were often just hot air.

Shen Luyang stood at the front, basking in the sun while observing the room. Halfway through, he spotted a student pulling out a phone. The student’s movements were practiced, sure, but “discreet”? Not at all.

Shen Luyang coughed twice, but the boy didn’t even flinch. He was a walking billboard of “lawlessness.” Shen Luyang wasn’t sure if he should storm over or cough again, so he nudged Xie Weihan and whispered, “Teacher Xie, over there—”

Xie Weihan looked over and gave a quiet “mm.” He walked to the third row from the back by the wall and calmly tapped the boy’s desk. Xie Weihan walked very lightly, making almost no sound. The student jumped, and the phone fell to the floor with a loud thud.

Thirty heads snapped toward the noise like they’d been electrified, their eyes filled with “Gotcha!” energy. Peng Jun was the only one who looked different. He was coldly indifferent. He spared the boy a glance, his mouth forming the word “dumbass,” then went back to racing against the clock on his essay.

He’s growing up, Shen Luyang thought proudly.

The caught boy seemed like a habitual offender; he wasn’t panicking much, just pleading with a miserable face. One moment it was “I know I was wrong,” the next “I’ll never do it again,” and finally, “You can have the phone, Teacher, just don’t report me.”

Throughout it all, Xie Weihan kept that gentle smile. He lowered his gaze and said softly, “Out.”

The boy turned pale, swallowed hard, and quickly stood up with his paper. As he reached the podium, he gritted his teeth and ran to Shen Luyang, grabbing his sleeve. “Teacher, I really won’t do it again. Don’t make me leave. Chinese is 150 points, and there’s a parent meeting after this.”

Fearing he would disturb the others, Shen Luyang quickly led him out. He lowered his voice. “What’s your name?”

The boy’s eyes lit up. “Pi Yi.”

“Good name,” Shen Luyang patted his shoulder and pointed to the discipline teacher heading their way. “Go on, Pi Yi. Go home. Back to the ‘original beauty’ of your living room.”

Pi Yi’s budding smile collapsed. “Teacher, you’re too cruel. I’ll remember you—handsome but cruel.”

“Indeed,” Shen Luyang grinned. “Hello Pi Yi, I’m Shen Luyang.”

The socially fearless Pi Yi gave Shen Luyang a fist-bump before dejectedly heading toward his “original beauty.”

When Shen Luyang returned, the class was silent. After that “killing the chicken to warn the monkey” display, the atmosphere in Room 29 was much more tense.

“Ten minutes left,” Shen Luyang said, checking his watch and finding it novel to say the lines he’d only heard as a student. “If you’re not finished, hurry up.”

The final bell rang. Everyone put down their pens and passed the papers forward. Shen Luyang scanned the room, reminding them, “I see everything, what are you doing over there?” Once all papers were collected, he waved them away.

“29 sheets. Pi Yi took one.” Shen Luyang tapped the papers together to straighten them. “I’ll deliver these, Teacher Xie. You have better handwriting; you write on the board.”

“Next period is Physics, same room,” Xie Weihan agreed, his eyes smiling. “Don’t get lost.”

“If I get lost, come out and find me!” Shen Luyang joked. His eyes drifted to the man’s fingertips. “Teacher Xie, what happened to your hand?”

Xie Weihan spared it a glance and curled his lips. “Just an accidental graze.”

During the twenty-minute break, Shen Luyang delivered the papers and made a quick trip to the infirmary. When the bell rang, he arrived just in time with the new papers. He ran to the podium and pulled a box of band-aids from his pocket, handing them to Xie Weihan. “Spares.”

Xie Weihan paused for a moment, then gave a low laugh. “Thank you, Luyang.”

The next period was dull. Proctors just had to stand or sit there, unable to speak or get too close to the students. Shen Luyang finally understood why Jiang Nuanyu’s face went numb at the mention of proctoring. It was the look of someone ground down by life.

Shen Luyang went numb too for two whole days. After the final exam on the second day, there was no break; it was straight back to the office to grade. Looking at the mountain of papers on his desk, he was shocked. “Are there really this many sophomores?”

Gong Wanjun looked up from her chemistry papers. “Teacher Duan Chen from downstairs is still in the hospital, so his papers were split among us.”

Shen Luyang resigned himself to the task and picked up his pen. He’d made plans to have dinner with Xie Weihan today, so he had to finish early. Fortunately, he taught physics, if a student didn’t know it, they usually just wrote “Solution” and a single formula, making it relatively quick to grade.

After an hour, Shen Luyang was hungry, tired, and lightheaded. The only thing keeping him going was the thought of Teacher Xie’s cooking. As for the plan to “pursue an Alpha”… He’d forgotten that entirely.

A cup of steaming coffee was suddenly placed on his desk. A set of long, distinct fingers rested by his hand, and a deep voice sounded by his ear. “How many left?”

Xie Weihan leaned over to look at the papers. Shen Luyang scratched his ear; it was a bit itchy. He took a sip of coffee. “Just a small stack.”

Xie Weihan rested his other hand on the back of Shen Luyang’s chair, ignoring the quantity. “How many answer keys do you have?”

“The group leader gave me a few spares,” Shen Luyang said, warming his hands on the cup. He rubbed his temples. “Grading these is making my blood pressure spike. The questions aren’t even that hard; why did none of them get it right?”

Xie Weihan chuckled. “You’ll get used to it. Give me a key and half the stack. You take a break.”

Shen Luyang’s eyes lit up. He reached for the key, grinning. “Oh, I’d feel so bad.” But he didn’t hesitate for a second to hand over a third of the papers and a key, offering them reverently to Xie Weihan. “Teacher Xie, your kindness is boundless. I shall never forget this.”

Xie Weihan ruffled his hair, took another stack from the remaining pile, and went back to his desk.

Shen Luyang took another sip of coffee. It was sweet.

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