After Helping the Protagonist Escape From a Madman, I Became His Target [Transmigration Novel] - Chapter 4

After a sleepless night, Shen Luyang felt as though he had drifted back to his university days specifically, the time he’d impulsively chosen German as an elective.

The day before the final exam: one pen, one book, one night, one miracle.

But the result hadn’t been ideal; he had failed.

He had been decent at high school physics, but counting it out on his fingers, that felt like a lifetime ago. To be precise, it had been four years. He glanced at the original owner’s elegant handwriting in the lesson plans, where the teaching objective was written in three bold words: “General Review.”

Wonderful, he thought. Just perfect. He didn’t even know where the review had left off.

After splashing some water on his face in the morning, he bypassed his collection of ostentatious bags and picked out the plainest black backpack he could find. He threw on a simple black tracksuit and white sneakers. After packing the results of his all-night study session, he dizzily left the apartment complex, following his memory to a breakfast stall to line his stomach.

Having not slept a wink, he didn’t dare drive; instead, he took the bus to school. By the time he reached the gates, it was barely 5:30 AM. To his surprise, the office door was already open.

He pushed it open and stepped inside. The lights were off, but as his eyes scanned the room, he spotted Xie Weihan lying on the sofa next to the far-right desk. The sofa was too small; one long leg was awkwardly bent while the other rested on the floor. He was draped in a black coat, eyes closed, his chest rising and falling slowly. He was clearly catching up on sleep.

Shen Luyang resolutely looked away. He was exhausted too, but he still had a mountain of concepts to understand. He couldn’t just walk into class and announce a “self-study period.”

He sat down quietly at his desk, pulled out his notebook and handwritten materials, and began writing while searching for answers on Baidu. During last night’s self-study session, he’d heard from the homeroom teacher, Ms. Zong, that he was supposed to go over last week’s quiz results today.

Based on his memories, the original owner hadn’t covered them yet. His current mission was to master that test paper to avoid the excruciating embarrassment of being unable to answer a student’s question.

After twenty minutes, his head began to throb. He applied some cooling balm from the pharmacy to his temples. A few seconds later, he tilted his head slightly, and the faint breeze at his temples carried the menthol sting straight into his eyes. He sat there staring at the test paper, tears streaming down his face.

After wiping his eyes and jotting down a few key points, Shen Luyang silently cursed the System. Last night, he’d asked for help, but the System had told him: [I can’t help with that sort of thing. For example, if you wanted the winning lottery numbers, I wouldn’t have the clearance to tell you.]

Shen Luyang couldn’t wrap his head around how teaching him a few physics problems was equivalent to the lottery. Did the System think that knowing these answers was harder for him than winning the jackpot? Was that even logical?

“Teacher Shen, so early?”

Shen Luyang turned around.

Xie Weihan had just sat up. Likely due to the uncomfortable sleep, he was lightly massaging his neck, looking at Shen Luyang with a faint, lingering smile. The only light in the room came from the faint glow of the laptop, casting a soft light over the right side of his face while leaving the other half shrouded in shadow. Perhaps because he had just woken up, his pale complexion held a bit of a flush, and his eyes shimmered with a soft light.

He looked like a dangerous, seductive demon lurking in the dark.

Receiving no response, Xie Weihan called out again in a low voice, “Teacher Shen?”

Shen Luyang had to pinch himself to snap out of the trance induced by the man’s beauty. He shook his sleep-deprived head and managed a greeting. “Good morning, Teacher Xie.”

Xie Weihan stood up. Instead of approaching, he sat back in his own chair. “Preparing for lessons?”

The misery that had been suppressed by the sight of a handsome face came rushing back. Shen Luyang let out a heavy sigh. “Yeah.”

Xie Weihan’s hand paused as he reached for his water bottle. He smiled understandingly. “Run into some trouble?”

Shen Luyang spun around to face him, his eyes lighting up. “I’ve run into lots of trouble. If I can get some help, I’m willing to work like a dog for you!”

The smile on Xie Weihan’s lips deepened. He deliberately dropped a slice of lemon into his cup, his clean, slender fingers lightly tapping against the glass before he looked over. “If it isn’t for a… ‘physics problem’ like yesterday’s—” He emphasized those last words meaningfully. “I believe I could take a look for you.”

Yesterday? What physics…

Oh. The magazine clipping of the lady in high heels that he’d tossed into his bedroom trash can.

Shen Luyang cringed so hard he felt like he was building another dream castle with his toes. He decided to just own the embarrassment. “Yesterday was an accident. Let’s forget it!” He stood up, steering the conversation back to more noble pursuits. “Teacher Xie, please look at these problems for me. They’re driving me insane.”

Xie Weihan let out a soft chuckle. His fingers tapped the desk twice in a rhythmic “tap-tap.”

Shen Luyang immediately grabbed his laptop and rushed over.

******

Around 7:00 AM, Zong Weiqing walked into the office. Seeing the two young teachers huddled together over their books, she felt a wave of satisfaction. Young people these days are so ambitious!

After a session of coaching from Xie Weihan, Shen Luyang’s feelings had shifted from simple admiration to pure worship. The man was brilliant, considerate, polite, and best of all, not a talker. He didn’t ask why a physics teacher had suddenly lost his mind and forgotten basic formulas, nor did he ask why Shen Luyang had suddenly stopped wearing clothes with giant tigers on them.

The only thing in Shen Luyang’s ears was that sexy, low voice explaining concepts. On the messy pages of his notebook, a hand holding a gold fountain pen wrote out clear, elegant calligraphy…

[Luyang, don’t you think an office romance is dangerous?]

Shen Luyang: Teacher Xie is incredible. If I were a girl, I would definitely chase him.

[…]

[As expected, admiration is the ultimate catalyst for human emotion.]

Shi Fan didn’t show up that morning. Shen Luyang heard that a family member was sick, so he’d taken the day off. This reminded him that in the original Mourning Love, Shi Fan actually had an official love interest.

[So you finally remembered the target you’re supposed to protect? I thought you were going to let Teacher Xie charm you to death.]

Ignoring the System’s sarcasm, Shen Luyang suddenly realized something.

Shen Luyang: If I help Shi Fan get together with his official love interest, does that count as completing the mission?

[No, Luyang~ You must either follow the entire plot written in the book to ensure the timeline remains stable, or make Teacher Xie lose interest in Shi Fan before the plot concludes. Only then is the mission successful.]

Shen Luyang: What do you mean ‘lose interest’? If it’s only temporary, and they’re still teachers in the same school and office, he could get interested again later. Wouldn’t I just fail the mission again?

[Smart! That’s why there’s a third method]

Shen Luyang: Tell me.

[While preventing Shi Fan and Xie Weihan from developing feelings, find a way to make Xie Weihan fall in love with someone else.]

[To wake a sleeping prince, all you need is a kiss from a knight.]

Shen Luyang: A knight??? Wait… Teacher Xie likes men?

[Bingo!]

Shen Luyang took a long, deep breath. Shi Fan likes men too… In that case… what if Shi Fan falls for Teacher Xie?!

[…Theoretically, that wouldn’t happen. Even in Mourning Love Plus, Shi Fan was the one being forced.]

Shen Luyang: Oh!

So, in order to gain a new life as soon as possible, where was he supposed to find someone capable of making Xie Weihan fall in love? Shen Luyang tried to imagine it. It would have to be a high-quality Omega to be worthy of Teacher Xie.

******

The first period after lunch was physics. Since this was Shen Luyang’s debut performance, he nervously reviewed Xie Weihan’s notes one last time before pushing open the classroom door.

The classroom was a boiling cauldron of noise that stuttered for a moment before slowly simmering down. Having spent over twenty years as a rowdy student himself, Shen Luyang felt an unusual sense of kinship with a noisy classroom.

He stood at the podium with a neutral expression, letting the buzzing continue while he organized his exercise sets.

Li Shenyu sat in the back row. He didn’t have a high opinion of this new physics teacher who dressed like a flamboyant grasshopper every day. The man’s lectures were a mess, he was frequently stumped by questions, and he was blatantly biased toward top students while looking down on the struggling ones. He was just a rich kid who had been shoved into the school to experience “real life.”

The entire Class 21 looked down on him. They even deliberately caused trouble during physics class, which had revealed another weakness: he was a bully who feared the strong. He was visibly intimidated by the muscular Alphas in the back row.

But today, Li Shenyu frowned. What’s this guy Shen playing at, standing there without saying a word?

Peng Jun shot him a look, and Li Shenyu gave a subtle nod.

Peng Jun immediately slammed his hand onto the desk. Like a signal, Class 21 fell into an eerie, sudden silence.

Shen Luyang looked up and saw Peng Jun, whose hand was still on the desk. When the boy noticed the teacher’s gaze, he let out a disdainful “Tch.”

A little troublemaker, Shen Luyang thought. He felt a wave of familiarity. He wanted to say: I’m your senior in troublemaking, kid. I’m a veteran, but I’m a teacher now. Being a punk has no future.

But given the time and place, he turned to the blackboard and wrote down the formula needed for the first problem. He said casually, “Class is in session.”

The sound of students standing up was scattered and thin. A few mumbled “Hello, Teacher” followed, and before he could even respond, they all slumped back into their seats just as haphazardly.

Shen Luyang’s brow quirked. He leaned one hand on the podium, tilting his body as he looked down at the class and smiled. “When did our class evolve into a semi-automatic greeting system? Stand up on command, sit down without one?”

With Shen Luyang’s facial structure, he rarely gave off an intimidating vibe. But when he leaned forward slightly and looked at the boy in the first row who was glaring at him, the student only lasted a second before ducking his head.

If he didn’t establish some ground rules now, there would be no point in teaching.

Shen Luyang tossed a piece of chalk and, mimicking Teacher Xie’s manner, began tapping the desk with his knuckles. The rhythmic sound and his calm expression soon caused a stir of unease in the classroom. Having been a “troublemaker” for so many years, Shen Luyang didn’t just know how to cause problems; he understood exactly how teachers managed them.

He looked at Peng Jun, though he addressed the entire class in a very amiable tone. “Just now, who was it that slammed the desk?”

Peng Jun kicked his desk, his cold face twisted in a disdainful scowl as he looked at the teacher. With his buzz cut and a silver stud in his ear, he looked every bit the cool, defiant rebel.

Can’t hold it in already? You’re still too green, kid.

Shen Luyang glanced at the security camera on the wall. In his memories, the original owner had reported these students to the dean and had been cornered and beaten in a blind spot of the cameras. To have such a “colorful” experience after only a week of teaching; the original guy was certainly something.

Shen Luyang picked up the physics test paper and flicked it with his finger. “Student Peng Jun.”

Peng Jun kicked his chair back in a pose he clearly thought was badass. With a loud thud, he stood up with an imposing air, glaring defiantly. “What do you want?”

Shen Luyang found his name on the class list and asked casually, “Did you do your homework?”

“…No.”

“I see. Sit down then.” Shen Luyang made a note in his book. “You’ll have an extra assignment tonight compared to the others. I’ll give your mom a call after class and ask her to make sure you finish it.”

Before the boy could even process the shock of a teacher “cheating” by calling his parents, Shen Luyang took a brisk step down from the podium. He flashed a bright, sunny smile and pointed to the test papers in his hand, his tone cheerful. “Now, I’m going to check everyone’s homework. Please lay them out on your desks.”

The fear etched into their DNA caused the stagnant atmosphere of the classroom to explode into activity. Shen Luyang didn’t give them a chance to trade glances; he started checking from the very first row near the door.

The two girls in front looked very well-behaved and held up their assignments for him. A boy in the second row by the aisle hadn’t done his. Shen Luyang let out a soft “Oh?” and patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t be nervous. Stand up for now; I’ll tally everyone up later.”

The boy swallowed hard and stood up. For some reason, he felt a heavy sense of pressure from his physics teacher that had nothing to do with pheromones.

If Shen Luyang could hear the boy’s thoughts, he would have said earnestly: Sorry I scared you, kid. Your teacher was once a legendary figure in the streets, I’ve just retired from that life.

“Third row, second girl from the left—stop copying and stand up.”

…

“Stand up.”

“Stand up.”

“You didn’t do it either?”

By the time he had covered half the class, over a dozen people were standing, mostly in the last two rows, where everyone was on their feet.

It looked like a gathering spot for a little gang of troublemakers.

Shen Luyang stood next to Li Shenyu. He looked around and let out a very convincing exclamation of surprise. “Are you guys guarding a tower back here? You’re certainly resilient.”

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