Chapter 6: Ch5 - Strawberry Flavored Scholar Gong (5)

The tragic system, crying until dizzy and seeing stars.

Translator: KunLin

Editors: Amaris, Grump

Gou Liang was choked with sobs. He tried to hold back his tears as he began to talk.

He said: “Uncle Ye, I didn’t, these people weren’t beaten up by me. Today I…I headed out of the house with brother. When we left the district gate, I got out of the car…I had something to do and was accidentally late for school. When I arrived at school I saw them gathered together, talking about me.”

“Someone had pried open the lock on my drawer and stole my diary. They had also ripped it apart and posted it for everyone to see…They, how can they be like this.”

Gou Liang sobbed spasmodically, his entire body was shaking with anger, but he still forced himself to continue speaking: “They kept yelling at me, saying that I’m a pervert and that I should go die. Wu Yong also said bad things about Mom and Uncle Ye…I really couldn’t stand it anymore, so I had an argument with Wu Yong. I only hit him because I was really too angry at that moment but he, he also hit back…and then for some reason the others started fighting too. Wu Yong was dragged into the crowd by them; they were the ones who beat him…I even saw Wu Yong spit out a mouthful of blood…I was very scared, so I ran away and right after Headmaster came with the teachers.”

“Mom…Uncle Ye, I know that I was wrong. I liked someone that I shouldn’t have liked.”

“But I never thought about doing anything that would embarrass the family, I really didn’t! I just secretly…I admit that I’m not innocent in this matter, so I will assume responsibility and accept whatever punishment I deserve! But the things that I didn’t do, even if you beat me to death, I still won’t admit it!”

“Good. Uncle Ye believes you.”

Ye Chao heard what he said and slightly sighed in relief. At least the situation hadn’t ended up being the worst possible scenario.

He kept silent on certain details. He did not mention his stepson’s homosexuality at all. Instead, he looked towards Madam Wu and said: “Madam Wu, you heard it.”

“Qi Cheng did hit your son but look at his physique and compare it with your son’s; isn’t it obvious who held the advantage? Xiao Cheng’s punches could only be considered not soft but not hard at most. Don’t tell me that your son fainted from shock? If you’re still not convinced, the school’s surveillance footage should be on its way here. Whether the truth is as Xiao Cheng said, I believe you will have the answer soon. I have also watched Wu Yong grow up. He’s in critical condition right now, so I won’t pursue the matter that he had not only insulted our Ye Family’s child but also injured Xiao Cheng. However, I hope that after he regains consciousness, he can be brave enough to own up to his actions and admit his wrongs like Xiao Cheng.”

After he said this, he no longer looked at Madam Wu who shifted her anger towards the other students and parents after hearing that her son was beaten to the point of coughing up blood. He bid the Headmaster farewell, saying that he would take Gou Liang away to check his condition.

Headmaster Chen naturally didn’t dare to keep Ye Chao, he merely reminded him that the police were already involved and they might need to cooperate with the investigation later on.

Ye Chao said: “Of course, any inquiries that would require my cooperation I won’t refuse.”

After he finished speaking, he left with the Cheng Li mother and son pair and headed towards the office of the hospital’s Director. On the way he made a call to the Director, telling them to send the report of Qi Cheng’s examination to the office. By now, the report should have already been delivered to the office.

Upon seeing them, the Director’s complexion became somewhat paler. He invited them into the office before closing the door.

It was hard to tell what Ye Chao was thinking. He asked the Director: “Director Lin, what is the condition of Xiao Cheng’s body?”

Director Lin sighed deeply. He handed the report over to Ye Chao so Ye Chao could see it for himself.

Sitting back down into his seat, the Director gave Gou Liang a measuring gaze before saying: “From the results of the examination, Student Qi Cheng’s injury this time isn’t serious. But the problems on his body are far more than just the wounds that he had received from today.”

“Based on this report, we can deduce that this isn’t the first time that he had experienced similar beatings at school…Mr.Ye, you can take a look at the injuries on this child’s body. I won’t say anything extraneous but I suggest that you arrange for a more comprehensive and thorough health examination for your child as soon as possible.”

When Ye Chao saw the mention of multiple soft tissue contusions in the report, he didn’t think much of it. After all, the more serious Gou Liang’s injuries were, the more advantageous it would be for escaping blame in today’s matter and it could also dilute the exposure of his homosexuality.

But as he listened on, he had a feeling that the situation was far more serious than he thought. When he saw Gou Liang’s wound-riddled body that was revealed after he took off his clothes, Ye Chao knew that he wasn’t overthinking things.

Even Cheng Li who had been pondering on how to ask about homosexuality, this ‘illness’, to the Director cried out in alarm. She covered her mouth and tears suddenly began to drip down her face.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

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He furrowed his eyebrows. Seeing that under Cheng Li’s questioning Gou Liang only hung his head while not saying a word, his heart relaxed. At the same time he felt even more disappointed in his son’s recurring mistakes.

He first had Gou Liang put on his clothes then asked the Director to arrange a full body examination for the child. Coincidentally, at this time the Headmaster had sent someone over to invite the three Ye family members to cooperate with the police and give a statement. Ye Chao thought back to the injury report and decided to have Cheng Lin accompany Qi Cheng to do the health examination while he went to deal with the police himself.

【System: Master, Ye Chao has already sent someone to school to bring Ye Hui home, he also specifically specified to take away Ye Hui’s phone.】

Gou Liang who was being poked and probed by the doctor wasn’t surprised by this at all. However, the system didn’t feel the same. It was like Monk Zhang Er who couldn't touch his head. But, unfortunately, its master wasn’t interested in explaining the game that he had started with Ye Chao and Ye Hui using today’s big show.

By the time Gou Liang had finished being examined and had been arranged to be hospitalized, Ye Chao had also more or less finished with taking care of things. He even had people send lunch over.

He told the Cheng Li mother and son pair what had happened: unexpectedly, all ten heavily injured students that were involved in the fight had varying degrees of acute heavy metal poisoning symptoms.

Wu Yong and Ye Hui’s three lackeys were poisoned the most severely resulting in shocks. In addition, they had varying degrees of rib fracturing and internal hemorrhaging, so they needed to be hospitalized for a long period of time before they would recover. As for the students who were only lightly wounded and weren’t poisoned, all of them testified that their injuries had nothing to do with Gou Liang. Instead, it was those poisoned students that had suddenly gone crazy and attacked them for no reason. This group of youths had fought back in indignation, resulting in this mess.

In terms of how this matter was going to be settled, Ye Chao had discussed it over with the school and third parties, he believed that he would receive a result soon.

As for the original host’s diary, Ye Chao returned it to Gou Liang.

He watched Gou Liang hurriedly shove the diary under the blanket while hanging his head and said sincerely: “Xiao Cheng, in just another year you will be an adult. Uncle believes that you have your own judgment and ways of approaching things.”

“But Uncle hopes that you can clearly think things through. You’re still young, you still don’t have the ability to shoulder the pressure that society will give you for being different. Especially things like feelings, in the next several decades, you will meet a lot of people. When you look back you may realize that the person that you had liked and cared about wasn’t as good as you thought they were. Your final exams will focus on the liberal arts. After that will be the college entrance examination. I hope that you can understand that, right now, studying is your most important task.”

“This concerns your entire life’s prospects; I hope that you won’t be distracted by other things.”

As a stepfather, the fact that Ye Chao was willing to say all this already proved that he was more responsible than the average person.

Whether the other party was doing this in order to restore the Ye Family’s place in his heart or perhaps saying this with the intention of compensating him, Gou Liang still cooperatively shed tears of gratitude while saying: “Thank you, I understand.”

Cheng Li on the side said: “Ah Chao, I just asked the Director to invite over a famous psychologist. Let the professional talk with Xiao Cheng, ba. You still have things at work to take care of, so go first if you’re busy. I can handle things here.”

Gou Liang suddenly widened his eyes.

Because there was a wound on his forehead, the doctor had used gauze to bundle up Gou Liang’s overly long hair. As a result, an exquisite and pale face was revealed. At this moment the pair of red and swollen eyes were filled with shock and sadness, the eyelashes that were wet with tears became even more damp from the layer of mist that was emerging from his eyes.

Gou Liang felt the abhorrence and loathing in Cheng Li’s gaze. He lowered his head once again. Ye Chao stared for a moment and then furrowed his brows.

In the end, he chose not to comment on his wife’s behavior. Instead he said: “I can afford to leave work for this bit of time. Since you have invited the doctor, let’s listen to the doctor’s suggestions together. After all, this is the child’s most crucial two years. Although I’m not his biological father, I take him as my own child and hope that he can pull himself up from this.”

Cheng Li thought that he was putting up with Gou Liang’s scandal for her sake. She was touched to the extreme, leaning against his shoulder, she cried for a while.

The psychologist arrived soon after. He stayed with Gou Liang privately in the ward for a full hour before coming out.

The Ye couple that had been waiting outside the door went to meet him. The psychologist smiled at them and invited them to the Director’s office, which had been borrowed for them to talk.

As soon as they entered the room, Cheng Li impatiently asked: “Doctor Li, what is the circumstance with my son? Is he really a homosexual? Can it still be corrected?”

Doctor Li invited them to sit down, then sat down on the couch in front of them before saying: “Madam Ye, I hope you can understand something first.”

“Homosexuality isn’t an illness. It is written in the human genes. Student Qi Cheng did not choose this; this is something that he can’t control. In essence, sexual orientation can not be changed by acquired means otherwise it would become distorted. If you absolutely have to ‘change’ him, of course, he might change because he cares about your feelings or he might comply with you and accept your arrangements. Such changes can be made. But I hope you know that doing so won’t solve the root of the problem, rather you are avoiding the problem while at the same time it is more harmful than beneficial towards the child’s growth.”

“What…Doctor Li you mean to say, we should let him continue being wrong? How would other people view him, how would they view his stepfather and me? His classmates, his teachers—”

Ye Chao restrained Cheng Li, who wanted to stand up and argue with the psychologist. He smiled apologetically and said: “Please don’t take any offense, she is also worried about the child. How is Qi Cheng?”

“It’s alright, I can understand.” Doctor Li said: “What I said before was also a bit too conclusive, however, this is the key point that I want to get through to the both of you.”

“From what I could see in the one hour that I had interacted with Student Qi Cheng, there isn’t a problem with him psychologically, in fact he’s healthier than most teenagers these days. In other words, he has a very positive three views, he is aware of his own actions and feelings and he has clear judgments. As it is, there isn’t much value in me counseling this child’s psychological state. Even if there are some minor problems, he could resolve it himself. However, in regard to the long run, there are still some words that I want to speak to the both of you.”

Ye Chao saw that in this short period of time, this psychologist had actually formed a strong sense of protectiveness towards his stepson. This was unexpected. He asked the psychologist to speak frankly.

Doctor Li looked toward Cheng Li. He said in a relaxed, conversational tone: “Prior to coming here I had roughly a three minute conversation with Madam Li. Concerning your worries from before, your child liking the same sex has nothing to do with him thinking of himself as a girl. I can answer your question right now: it’s not like that.”

“Although Student Qi Cheng has long hair and his appearance is even more beautiful than the average girl’s, he has no problem recognizing his own gender. I’ve probed him, and a likely reason that he keeps this kind of hairstyle is because he once overheard a conversation between you and your youngest son. At that time, you said that you wanted a daughter. You said that if you had a daughter you would definitely especially cherish her. He does this to arouse a little bit of your care for him.”

“I…”

Cheng Li was dumbfounded, it was as if at this moment she realized that she never participated or paid attention to the growth of her eldest son. All of a sudden she didn’t know how to refute the doctor’s words.

Doctor Li smiled at them and continued to talk: “I can tell that he longs for the acceptance of his family. He is also a very soft child who is considerate of others. Even though he likes boys, he chose to keep silent because he didn’t wish for his family to be criticized because of him. This is the reason why, although there isn’t much that I can help him with, just based on the expensive consultation fee that you have given me, I have the responsibility to say a few extra words even if it’s out of line. Don’t give the child too much pressure. Your one sentence of blame or even your careless expression of disappointment, to him it causes pain and burdens him psychologically…”

【System: Master…what kind of medicine did you feed him?】

【Gou Liang was enthusiastically watching the psychologist at work with the Ye couple through the system monitor. He raised an eyebrow and said: In any case, I’m still a King-ranked spirit user who couldn’t be killed even after the world exploded. Even without soul force, something as simple as giving him some psychological hints, how can that stump me?】

System: …this feeling of showing off, it must be his imagination _(:зゝ∠)_

As expected, when Cheng Li followed Ye Chao and returned to the ward, her attitude became a lot softer. She awkwardly asked her eldest son some questions about school, but upon seeing that he wasn’t willing to talk much, her heart couldn’t help but begin to worry.

She had always known that her son’s grades were bad. It was impossible to compare him to Ye Hui—or should she say that from small to big, there was nothing that he could outdo Ye Hui in—she had long given up any hopes for him. When it really came down to it, she knew nothing about her son’s life. This made her feel even guiltier. She urgently wanted to make her son tell her everything.

Ye Chao patted her shoulder and said: “Alright, don’t ask these questions anymore, they’re not exactly good memories.”

“Xiao Cheng, I’ll get justice for you in this matter. However you should mentally prepare yourself, you being…This matter has already been made public, Uncle can’t shut the mouth of every single person. It is inevitable that you will hear some rumors and slander in the future. If you want, Uncle can transfer you to a school with a better environment…”

Gou Liang shook his head and said: “Thank you Uncle, but there’s no need for that. I don’t have anything to hide. In any case, it can’t be worse than before. I can adapt.”

——what a joke, where the target is he also has to be, ah.

A profound look flashed through Ye Chao’s eyes. Afterward, he mentioned that when Gou Liang was having a session with the psychologist, he and the school had come to a conclusion on how to settle this matter.

From what was shown in the monitor, it was as Ye Chao had guessed. It was Wu Yong who had pried open his stepson’s drawer and stole the diary; it was also Wu Yong who took the initiative to insult and provoke Qi Cheng first. Even if he was discharged from the hospital, Ye Chao wouldn’t allow him to return to YuLe, his exact words were: “This kind of student with a defective moral character, no matter how good his family conditions are, what he needs is not the school’s education but his family’s or even a third party’s assistance. I cannot allow my son to continue being classmates with this kind of person.”

According to the statements taken from the students who had been poisoned the least severely, the police found out that, among all the poisoned students including Wu Yong, the day before they had all met at an abandoned chemical factory to plan today’s matter. They had wanted to teach Gou Liang and Zhan Yongzhe a lesson. Although it wasn’t a glorious thing, this kind of conclusion finally minimized the school’s responsibility to the lowest.

The heavy metal poisoning carried the pot for this incident. The parents of these students also couldn’t request for someone to come forward and take responsibility for their child’s injuries. It also wasn’t suitable for the police to meddle too deeply, so they agreed to let the parents discuss in private and come to a solution.

In the process of questioning the few PE students, they confessed to frequently bullying Gou Liang at school. Ye Chao in a very unyielding manner had the school heavily punish them, including the three people that had just came out of the emergency room.

The school agreed.

Gou Liang was at first surprised. Immediately after he revealed a bright smile.

“Thank you, Uncle Ye.”

He said this wholeheartedly.

This kind of smile was very infectious. Ye Chao smiled back at him. He told him to not be so unfamiliar. If he met any problems in the future Gou Liang could come to tell him, and he would do his best to help.

Gou Liang didn’t decline. He waited until it was about time and opened his mouth to ask them to head back.

He said: “Mom, I’m very good, there isn’t any place that feels uncomfortable. It’s just being hospitalized for one night for observation, there’s no need to accompany me. You should head back first, it’s already time for little brother to be dismissed from school. If he goes home and can’t find you, he will be unhappy. Uncle Ye, you too. You still have work tomorrow. I’ve already troubled you both today, it’s already too much…”

Cheng Li only just noticed the time. She thought of her youngest son and her heart became worried. She got up and didn’t say anything more about staying.

Ye Chao left with Cheng Li. He turned back and took an extra look at Gou Liang who was following them with his eyes—the latter hadn’t expected him to look back, the disappointment and sadness in his eyes hadn’t had time to retreat. He saw his stepson smiled awkwardly at him, saying, ‘Be careful driving on the road’. His heart sighed in regret.

He didn’t have any interest to understand this stepson of his before. They had lived under the same roof for ten years, but other than the other’s gloomy and introverted behavior, he knew very little about him. He never would’ve thought that his stepson might not necessarily be someone destined for a small pond…

As his thoughts went toward his son Ye Hui, Ye Chao immediately furrowed his brows.

The minute they left, Gou Liang buried himself into his blanket. He couldn’t control his elated expression anymore.

【The System climbed out from the pile of pink bubbles with much difficulty. The System, who had been scared by his fickle master, smiled and dryly asked: Ding, Master, you…you’re very happy? 】

Of course he was happy! Since he was born, today was the happiest day of his life!

His heart was full of the temptation to show off, he couldn’t resist and divulged his private bank account to the system so it could see ↓↓

Soul No.1343854 has given you 100100 spirit coins free of charge on X year X month X day X hour X minute X second of the space-time calendar.

10W spirit coins ah ah ah ah ah!!  It was even 100 more than the bonus for completing the mission, ah ah ah, and he had only purified not even a third of the original’s soul force!

Don’t you feel like your entire body is filled with energy!

Mission and whatnot can go die don’t you think so!! ＞U＜！！

【System: …】

The System had already cried until it was dizzy and seeing stars.