Strategy to Capture That Scum Gong

Chapter 36 - Teacher Xie’s Final Class

Translated by Eve

Edited by Karasunofight

18. Teacher Xie’s Final Class

Li Hongxuan was afraid of upsetting Xie He, so he hired a nursemaid to take care of him. He did not appear before Xie He, except for when the other was asleep. Only then did he secretly come by to kiss that pair of soft lips, clearly reluctant to give them up.

Xie He stayed there quietly and did not try to escape. In reality, he also had nowhere to go.

It was like he closed himself to the world. He did not speak nor make a single sound. He separated the outside world from his own inner world. He didn’t even take a single step out of his room.

【Xie He：I’m a bit bored, ah....】

【444：Do you want me to put on a movie?】

【Xie He：Baby, you’ve finally raised a constructive suggestion. Extremely well done. Give me a couple of tragic films, ba. It wouldn’t be good if I broke out of character while watching a comedy.】

【444：No problem! The top ten greatest tragic films in this galaxy have been downloaded!】

After Xie He watched all ten films, he felt like his acting skills have improved again. His temperament was refined, and his whole person seemed to fall a few shades more dejected. His eyes were full of desolation.

The nursemaid saw Xie He’s appearance, and her heart hurt dearly. She had been hired by Li Hongxuan and was given a very detailed explanation. She was very clear on what misfortunes this young teacher had encountered. Every day, she would attentively take care of him. However, when she saw Xie He become thinner every day, she was saddened to the point of secretly wiping away a few of her own tears.

About a week later, Li Hongxuan finally appeared again. He also brought along Xu Wenhao.

After Li Hongxuan let Xu Wenhao in, he left. From beginning to end, he did not come within 3 metres of Xie He.

Xu Wenhao looked at Teacher and felt his eyes sting. No matter what he did, he couldn’t suppress it. In the end, he couldn’t help but cry. A big, tall man quietly stood there, tears dripping down his face.

Xie He stared at him blankly. A long time later, he spoke with a hoarse voice, “You, what are you crying for....”

This was the first time he had spoken in the last few days.

Li Hongxuan stood on the other side of the door, leaning against the wall. Only Heaven knew just how much he wanted to go in but couldn’t. He would only hurt Teacher, make him afraid and frightened...right now, he couldn’t even approach Teacher. He could only hide outside, separated by this wall, and eavesdrop on Teacher’s conversation.

How low...just because Teacher didn’t want to see him.

So, he couldn’t make an appearance.

Xu Wenhao wiped his tears. He looked at Xie He earnestly and said, “Teacher, I already know about everything that’s happened.”

Xie He shrunk into a ball and turned his head away. He didn’t dare to look his student in the eye.

Xu Wenhao felt extremely sad. He grabbed hold of Xie He’s hand and spoke sincerely, “Teacher, I have always believed in you. You’ve helped me so much, I am very clear on what kind of person you are! I’m not the only one who believes in you. There are other students who also believe in you!”

Xie He’s lips trembled, but he did not speak.

“Teacher, you must get better, because I’m really worried about you. I really care about you,” Xu Wenhao fixed his eyes on him, tone solemn, “Please don’t forget that I, your student, am waiting for you to get better, OK?”

Otherwise, he will never be able to forgive himself. If it wasn’t for him, how would Teacher have sunken to such circumstances? His guilty conscience had been tormenting him ever since he realized.

If he could have foreseen this result, that day that they had met in the dorm...he would never have let Teacher leave with Allen.

He would never have let Teacher pay such a price for his sake.

【Ding, Xu Wenhao’s Favourability Value+5. The current Favourability Value is 100.】

Xie He was despondent for a moment, expression changing slightly. He did not agree, but he did not disagree either.

Xu Wenhao knew that he must not rush this matter, that he had to take gradual steps. He accompanied Xie He for a while. Although Xu Wenhao was the only one speaking, Xie He did not act afraid or conflicted. This made him feel relieved. As he was about to leave, he said, “Teacher, take good care of yourself. I will come see you tomorrow.”

He gazed at Xie He deeply. In the end, he still left reluctantly.

Xie He watched Xu Wenhao leave and then began to chat with 444.

【Xie He：We can almost leave this world.】

【444：Li Hongxuan’s Favourability Value still lacks 2 points. How do you plan on settling that?】

【Xie He：We’ll get it tonight. 🙂 】

..............................

In the dead of night, Li Hongxuan lightly stepped into Xie He’s room.

Teacher was quietly sleeping on the bed. It was probably because he did not feel safe, but his entire person was curled up into a ball. The blanket had dropped to one side, exposing his thin arm. Li Hongxuan sat down on the side of the bed and gently lifted the hair by Teacher’s ears, revealing that pale, handsome visage.

He had once thought that there absolutely would never be a day where he would give up Teacher. But reality was really not the same as expectations. When he saw how frightened Teacher was, only then did he understand that sometimes one must understand when to let go for the sake of love.

Only...he was truly reluctant to let go.

A deep pain flowed out of Li Hongxuan’s eyes. He lowered his head and lightly kissed Teacher’s lips. Perhaps...this would be the last time he got to kiss his dearly beloved Teacher.

His action was extremely soft and cautious, but carried a thick yearning....

A moment later....

Li Hongxuan did not dare continue in fear of startling Teacher. He forced himself to restrain his urge. He raised his head and parted from those soft lips he was so reluctant to part with...and it was at this moment that Teacher’s eyes suddenly opened without warning. In that instance, their eyes met the other’s.

Li Hongxuan froze. Panic from having been discovered quickly flashed through his eyes. He, whose expression wouldn’t even change if Mount Tai came crashing down in front of him, suddenly felt nervous and helpless.

Teacher had just gotten a bit better after so much difficulty. Would he worsen again because of his rude and impetuous action...?

He stood up as fast as lightning and turned to dash out.

However, Teacher suddenly called out his name.

Xie He stared at his lonely figure and slowly said, “Li Hongxuan.”

His voice was utterly calm without any fear or tremble. There was no hate or loathing either. It was like he was calling out to just another ordinary student.

Li Hongxuan’s footsteps came to a still. He slowly turned around. In the dark of the night, that pair of eyes were as deep as the deathly stillness of an abyss.

“That day, I heard what all of you were saying,” Xie He looked at him calmly, lips parted slightly, “I know that you did not cause that situation to occur.”

Li Hongxuan had originally been awaiting his sentence. Who would have thought that he would hear this instead? For a moment, he couldn’t recover. The next moment, a tiny sliver of hopeful light emerged from within his eyes. He then returned over to Xie He’s bedside.

“You...you know...” Li Hongxuan stared at him blankly, tone pained.

Xie He fell silent for a moment and then said, “So, I don’t blame you, and you don’t have to blame yourself.”

Li Hongxuan felt his eyes heat up as if boiling hot liquid would soon flow out. What did he just hear? He had thought that he would never hear those words in this lifetime, but he had actually heard them.

Despite enduring such torment, Teacher could still say that he didn’t blame him.

He even gave him forgiveness, which he hadn’t dared hope for.

【Ding, the target Li Hongxuan’s Favourability Value +2. The current Favourability Value is 100.】

【Ding. This world’s target has been successfully captured. You will leave this world in three days.】

Li Hongxuan parted his lips. His voice was hoarse, “Thank you.”

Xie He glanced at him and said, “I want to leave. From now on, don’t come looking for me.”

Li Hongxuan said, “OK.”

Xie He added, “The same applies to Allen. Please help me tell him that I also forgive him.”

Li Hongxuan, once again, replied with, “OK.”

Xie He smiled. After so long, he finally revealed a smile once more. Although it was very, very shallow, it seemed to possess the power to sweep away all of the dark haze that covered this world.

Li Hongxuan could not look away upon seeing this. However, he knew that he should leave. It was not easy for them to reach this conclusion. He could not destroy the smile on Teacher’s face once again because of his own selfishness.

He clenched his fist tightly and used a low, hoarse voice to say, “Teacher, goodbye.”

Afterwards, he stared at Teacher with a profound look. He firmly engraved that gentle face and that pure and shallow smile into his heart. After he confirmed that he would not forget about these his entire life, he slowly turned to leave. He raised his heavy feet and walked away, step by step.

【444：Host dada, Allen’s Favourability Value isn’t full yet. Do you want to leave right now?】Feels like this isn’t Host dada’s style, ne....

【Xie He：Don’t worry. Don’t we still have three days left?】

..............................

The next morning, Xie He left early in the morning and returned to Su Yan’s familial home.

Not a lot of time had passed, so Mother Su had yet to find out about the matters at school. She was very surprised that he had come home early.

Xie He casually came up with an excuse, and Mother Su also didn’t pay any attention to him. His stepfather didn’t care about this son either and very quickly tossed Xie He to the back of his mind.

Xie He lounged about happily. The second day after he returned home, he suddenly heard the system’s notice.

【Ding, Allen’s Favourability Value +5. The current Favourability Value is 100.】

【Xie He：It seems that Li Hongxuan has passed on my message. Smile.jpg】

【444：En!】

【Xie He：Now is the time to leave this world. Help me exchange for a bottle of sleeping pills, Baby.】

【444：A bottle of strong sleeping pills costs 10 experience points. The exchange is complete!】

A bottle of pills suddenly appeared in Xie He’s hand. He poured a glass of water for himself and swallowed the entire bottle’s worth of pills down. Then, he locked the door to his room and sat before his desk. He pulled out a sheet of letter paper and wrote down his last words.

“So soon as love is dead, man becomes a living sepulchre of himself, and what yet survives is the mere husk of what once he was. When love and goodness become remote, society becomes naught but a cemetery full of living corpses.”

Xie He carefully looked over it, feeling satisfied. He deeply felt that he had fulfilled his duty as a teacher until the very last moment. Then, he gleefully told 444 that they could leave.

【Ding, the target of this world, Li Hongxuan, was successfully captured. Obtained 10,000 experience points. The world’s important character, Allen, was successfully captured. Obtained 8000 experience points. The world’s important character, Xu Wenhao, was successfully captured. Obtained 8000 experience points. The total amount of points earned in this world is 26,000. 】

【Ding, process to leave this world commencing. Transfer in progress....】

..............................

Su Yan’s corpse was discovered by Xu Wenhao. Only when he went over to Li Hongxuan’s place the next day did he find out that Teacher had already left. He felt uneasy letting Teacher leave on his own at this critical time. He made some inquiries and found out that Teacher had returned home. So, he went to look for Teacher at the Su Family home. Only, it took a few days for him to get the address.

Mother Su was very busy with work every day. She basically didn’t have the time or thought to pay attention to her eldest son. After not seeing Su Yan for a couple of days, she had just assumed that he had returned to school. It was only when Xu Wenhao came looking for him that she realized that something was wrong. As a result, she discovered that her son’s door was locked from the inside.

Mother Su finally panicked and hurriedly went to get someone to open the door. However, when they entered, all they saw was Su Yan quietly lying on the bed, donning a smile on his face.

He had already been dead for a little over a day.

Upon hearing the news, Li Hongxuan rushed over, but Su Yan had already been taken to the crematorium. In the end, he wasn’t even able to see Teacher for one last time.

In the time just before, he had been too busy dealing with Li Hongcheng. Allen had switched to his side, and together, they dealt with the people in his home. Li Hongxuan very quickly beat Li Hongcheng down until he had no power to hit back. In this extremely short period of time, he exposed a multitude of Li Hongcheng’s criminal activities and sent him to prison. Then, he dissolved his engagement with Chen Sha at once. At the same time, he began to clear Teacher’s name at school.

During this entire process, Allen was always extremely cooperative. He didn’t treasure his reputation either. Together with Sun Zeyang, they stood up together and told the world that they had threatened Su Yan in the very beginning.

When everyone found out that they had misunderstood Su Yan, the majority of people were utterly regretful of how they had misunderstood and hurt Su Yan in the past. There were inevitably some dark-hearted people that still sniggered and looked down on Su Yan for his stupidity and believed that this was a matter of his own making. Quite a few people though expressed that they wanted to personally apologize to Su Yan and appealed to the school to rescind their decision to dismiss him.

However, they did not get the chance to make things right. Because Su Yan was dead.

Many, many people came to Su Yan’s funeral. His students, his coworkers, his friends....

Xu Wenhao, Allen, Sun Zeyang, and Chen Gu also came.

Li Hongxuan stood all alone in a far away corner. He didn’t know why, but he didn’t dare go over. In his hand, he gripped a letter. Xu Wenhao had given it to him. He had discovered it inside of Teacher’s room.

Teacher had left this world very serenely. He did not leave anything behind, except for these words.

Li Hongxuan parted his lips and silently mouthed the words: “When love dies, the human heart becomes nothing but a living grave. When love and good intentions become remote, society becomes naught but a cemetery full of living corpses.”

Teacher, was it because you became thoroughly disappointed with the world, that you were unwilling to stay in this world that held nothing but malice?

Is that why you took the little good remaining in this world and left?

Is that why you threw us away...?

But...I really miss you.

Li Hongxuan raised his hand and gently kissed the letter as if Teacher’s scent remained upon it. That scent pacified the madness overflowing out of his heart.

Teacher, I finally know how to love someone.

I finally know how to have good intentions, how to be a good person.

Unfortunately, you’re not here. You can’t see it at all....

Only, you don’t have to worry. I will not forget you, just because you’re no longer by my side. I also won’t forget about the beauty that you showed me. I will preserve your kind intentions and love. From now on, I will be a person that carries hope, and I will inherit your will, carrying it on.

This way, in the future, when I meet you in another world, you’ll smile at me, right?

The author has something to say:

Lalala, the second world has ended~ Scatter flowers~~\(≧▽≦)/

Tomorrow, we’ll begin a new world. The new world is one of this author’s favorite worlds~ Father-son play! Just thinking about it makes me so excited!!! A good-for-nothing son of a wealthy family x sadistic daddy kind of shameful story. (*/ω╲*) Firstly, I want to offer three sticks of incense to the great censor gods and shout three times: they are not biologically related, they are not biologically related, they are not biologically related! They are already of age, they are already of age, they are already of age!!! Hee hee hee hee, this author shyly lets out a pure laugh....

Eve: (;﹏;) Oh, my poor, poor baby. Well, that’s a wrap on this arc... I...am just...going to go...cry.... Goodbye. Next arc is entitled ‘Raising Rich Youth Manual.’ Xie He is the son, ML the father. No blood relationship (the title of the first chapter is literally ‘uh oh I’m not my dad’s biological child’ lol). ...This is one of my fave tropes (*blushes in shame*). And from here, the avg chapter length begins to grow oof.

Kara: Can’t believe this arc is already over!ヽ(°〇°)ﾉ Felt like it was just yesterday that we were getting annoyed with SY/XH for being a white lotus and now look. Our fandom has also grown and learned from this experience like LH–never underestimate Xie He. Looking forward to the next arc though since it’s a favorite trope of mine too hehe ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)✧ Let’s go!!! <(￣︶￣)↗(Also, wish Eve and I luck as we deal with longer chapters（ ＴДＴ）)