Turns Out I’m the Villain They’re Supposed to Redeem? [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 2

After Qi Liang and that boy left, Li Xuzhi brought Huo Yuwan back to her office.

There was no hospital bed in the office, so Huo Yuwan was made to sit on the office chair.

Kneeling apologetically in front of Huo Yuwan, Li Xuzhi gently cleaned the scrapes on her knees with a disinfectant cotton swab.

“Sorry, I should have treated your wounds first.”

Her movements were tender. Huo Yuwan watched her slender, pale fingers and smiled nonchalantly.

“It’s fine, it’s not serious anyway.”

With Huo Yuwan’s personality, she would have ignored such minor scrapes long ago.

She had been raised since childhood to become a Shao Siming, far from a life of luxury. Not only did she have to study various academic subjects, but practicing spells and engaging in martial arts were also part of her daily routine.

After her wounds were treated, Huo Yuwan looked at the neatly applied white gauze on her knee and couldn’t help but marvel inwardly.

Dr. Li is truly a conscientious and responsible doctor.

“Let’s exchange contact information. If there are any issues with the wound later, you can reach out to me anytime.”

Taking her phone out of the drawer, Li Xuzhi smiled softly and handed her WeChat QR code to Huo Yuwan.

Huo Yuwan, who had been trying to come up with an excuse to ask for her contact information, was overjoyed. Without a second thought, she happily nodded and scanned the code.

Once they became friends, Huo Yuwan curiously clicked on Li Xuzhi’s profile picture to take a look.

Against a black background, there was a white image, a fluffy, pure white animal tail.

Her tailbone inexplicably tingled. Huo Yuwan thought, This must be a fox tail, right?

…

By the time she left the school clinic, it was almost lunchtime. Huo Yuwan hurried to the training ground.

As noon approached, the sun overhead grew even more scorching.

Huo Yuwan found a seat under a shaded awning in the stands and sent a message to Huo Yuqing, asking where she was.

There were hardly anyone in the stands at noon, and with a quick glance, Huo Yuwan couldn’t spot her second sister anywhere.

However, Qi Qiuyuan was indeed training on the track.

Just as in the original host’s memories, she was a tanned, short-haired girl, exuding health and vibrant energy.

Shifting her gaze away, Huo Yuwan checked the reply from Huo Yuqing.

The locker room?

Getting up and heading to the locker room behind the stands, Huo Yuwan finally found Huo Yuqing there.

“Why are you washing clothes here?”

In the empty locker room, Huo Yuqing, dressed in a plain white shirt and jeans, stood alone by the sink, meticulously scrubbing clothes in a basin.

Her phone was placed on the edge of the sink, playing an English audiobook.

Hearing the noise, Huo Yuqing glanced at her and paused the audio.

“I’ll be done soon. What do you need?”

“Nothing much, just bored and thought I’d ask you to have lunch together.”

“Is this… Qi Qiuyuan’s clothes?”

While Huo Yuqing was rinsing and scrubbing the clothes again, Huo Yuwan finally recognized them.

The red and white fabric was unmistakably Qi Qiuyuan’s training uniform.

“Yeah, Qiuyuan thinks the public washing machines aren’t clean, so I’m hand-washing them for her.”

Huo Yuqing replied casually.

“If she thinks they’re not clean, she should wash them herself. Why are you doing it?”

Huo Yuwan couldn’t understand.

“I already said I’d wash them myself, Yuqing. What are you doing?”

A helpless yet doting voice came from behind. Huo Yuwan turned to look.

It was Qi Qiuyuan, who had just finished training.

She walked over to Huo Yuqing, gently tapped her nose in a gesture that seemed scolding but was actually indulgent.

“Don’t do things like this for me next time. I can’t bear to see you tired.”

Huo Yuqing nodded with a face full of happiness, then efficiently wrung out the freshly washed clothes and took them out to hang.

After giving Huo Yuwan a polite but distant greeting, Qi Qiuyuan picked up her own bag of clothes and turned to go into the inner room.

…

The three of them had lunch together in the school cafeteria. As soon as they arrived, Qi Qiuyuan kissed Huo Yuqing on the cheek, then smiled and headed up to the second floor.

Huo Yuwan was a bit confused. “Isn’t she eating?”

Huo Yuqing, walking beside her, shook her head. “Qiuyuan is going to save us a spot. I’ll get her food.”

Huo Yuwan glanced again toward the staircase to the second floor, her mind full of questions.

This cafeteria was newly built, and the second floor hadn’t opened any food counters yet, so the entire level was empty.

Even if some students preferred to eat upstairs to avoid the crowd on the first floor, there were more than enough seats.

What was the point of “saving a spot”?

With that, Huo Yuqing carried two meal trays steadily in one hand and went up to the second floor.

Huo Yuwan followed behind, watching her sister’s practiced movements and couldn’t help asking, “Do you two do this every day?”

Huo Yuqing nodded cheerfully, not finding anything odd about it.

“Yep, Qiuyuan and I both really love that window seat on the second floor. So we have a clear division of labor, she saves the spot, and I get the food.”

Seeing her sister’s delighted smile, Huo Yuwan pressed her lips together but said nothing.

She couldn’t tell if it was just her imagination, but Huo Yuwan felt there was something subtly off about the way this couple interacted.

Was it because she was a single fox? Huo Yuwan lowered her gaze thoughtfully.

…

During the meal, Huo Yuwan recalled the scene earlier in the locker room where Huo Yuqing had been washing clothes while listening to an English recording.

In the original host’s memories, her second sister had always excelled academically.

Especially in English, even though they came from a small town with limited English education, Huo Yuqing had taught herself out of sheer passion, developing fluent and standard pronunciation from a young age.

In college, Huo Yuqing had chosen English as her major and won gold in the English competition every year…

Thinking of this, Huo Yuwan felt a flicker of inspiration.

Maybe Huo Yuqing’s aspirations were tied to English?

“Sis, are you competing in the National College English Contest this year?”

Huo Yuwan’s eyes shifted thoughtfully.

“Yeah, why?”

While placing food into Qi Qiuyuan’s bowl, Huo Yuqing responded.

“Just curious. Well, I’ll be waiting for you to bring home your third gold medal.”

Huo Yuqing had won first place in the National College English Contest for the past two years, and Huo Yuwan was confident she would perform just as well this year.

“Don’t speak too soon. Yuqing isn’t that outstanding, the last two times were just luck.”

Qi Qiuyuan, who had been quietly eating with her head down, spoke coolly.

Huo Yuqing, who had been about to joke with her sister, suddenly looked strained but softly agreed with Qi Qiuyuan’s words.

From across the table, Huo Yuwan saw clearly that Qi Qiuyuan’s comment was no different from pouring cold water on her sister.

“What luck? My sister is genuinely excellent.”

Huo Yuwan retorted without hesitation.

Meeting Qi Qiuyuan’s narrowed gaze, she calmly looked back at him.

“Hmph.”

With a clatter, Qi Qiuyuan slammed down his chopsticks, his face dark as he turned and strode away without a backward glance.

“Qiuyuan, Qiuyuan!”

Caught between her boyfriend and her younger sister, Huo Yuqing was torn.

“What a temper.”

Taking a leisurely bite of rice, Huo Yuwan rolled her eyes at Qi Qiuyuan’s retreating back.

Throwing a tantrum over this? Tch.

“Ah, you…”

Seeing her sister’s expression, Huo Yuqing didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

She understood that her sister was standing up for her.

“Your final exams are in a few days, make sure you study hard. Don’t just scrape by this time. If you do well, I’ll double your allowance next month.”

With that, Huo Yuqing affectionately ruffled her sister’s hair before hurrying off after Qi Qiuyuan.

Pouting, Huo Yuwan replied, “Got it.”

Their family was of modest means. Her parents were ordinary factory workers. Her eldest sister, Huo Yushuang, had married and started a family right after college through a family-arranged match and rarely came home except during holidays.

Her second sister was the most accomplished, excellent grades, scholarships all her life, not only covering her tuition but also earning extra through awards and part-time jobs to help support the family.

Huo Yuwan, the youngest, was average in every way except for her looks.

Even her admission into Kaicheng University last year had been a narrow pass, thanks to Huo Yuqing’s relentless tutoring.

Huo Yuqing doted on her younger sister, giving her extra spending money every month on top of what their parents provided.

But according to the plotline, Huo Yuqing was portrayed as materialistic and vain.

Now, after inheriting the original host’s memories and experiencing things firsthand, Huo Yuwan realized the so-called plot was merely the tip of the iceberg.

…

On exam day, Huo Yuwan woke up a bit late, she had been pulling all-nighters to study.

The original host had been even more negligent than she’d imagined. Aside from advanced mathematics and English, she had barely paid attention in several major courses. Huo Yuwan had no choice but to focus all her energy on just passing the exams.

She jogged all the way to the classroom and, upon entering, ran into Qi Liang, who was standing at the podium organizing the sign-in.

Perhaps her words from the other day had an effect, Qi Liang didn’t shamelessly try to strike up a conversation again. He only gave her a silent sidelong glance as she passed by.

This exam was advanced mathematics. As soon as Huo Yuwan got the test paper, she began answering earnestly.

Just as she’d expected, the content was something she had studied back in her fox clan days as a child.

Resting her chin on one hand, Huo Yuwan leisurely turned the paper over.

In less than twenty minutes, she had finished all the questions.

But exam rules stated that even if you finished early, you couldn’t leave until at least thirty minutes had passed.

After waiting another ten minutes, Huo Yuwan took her test paper and answer sheet up to the podium, handed them in, and promptly turned to leave the classroom.

Her next exam was in the afternoon. She planned to grab a bite in the cafeteria first.

She’d woken up too late that morning and, to avoid being late, had skipped breakfast to make it to the exam on time.

Huo Yuwan’s early departure unsettled the other students in the classroom.

But most assumed she must have left early because she couldn’t answer the questions.

After all, they’d been classmates for almost a year, and everyone had a rough idea of each other’s academic level.

Qi Liang, still diligently working on his paper, thought the same.

She’s definitely going to fail this one, he gloated inwardly.

The difficulty of this exam was on a completely different level compared to last semester. Even the top student in the grade found it unusually challenging.

Let alone Huo Yuwan, who was an academic underachiever.

……

Meanwhile, Huo Yuwan, having her brunch in the cafeteria, wasn’t overthinking it. She scrolled through her phone while sipping porridge.

A new post popped up in her social media feed, posted by Li Xuzhi just a minute ago.

It was a photo of a chubby fox crouching under a willow tree.

Huo Yuwan recognized it as the same fox from last time.

“It clearly looks like a fox. How could Dr. Li mistake it for a cat?”

The thought amused her.

Since she had nothing better to do, she figured she might as well go chat with Dr. Li and strengthen their bond.

That’s what Huo Yuwan decided.

……

The path to the school clinic was lined with willow trees. In summer, their drooping branches provided ample shade, making it a favorite gathering spot for many of the campus’s stray animals.

Li Xuzhi stood under one of the trees at that moment. Her loose white coat didn’t accentuate her figure, yet it couldn’t completely hide her delicate frame.

On the phone pressed to her ear, her father’s familiar nagging continued. Distracted, Li Xuzhi gazed down at the little fox pawing playfully at the hem of her pants.

“Do you really plan to waste your entire life at the school clinic? I worked hard to support you through your doctorate—not so you could hide away in a school!”

Li Xuzhi’s persistent silence only fueled her father’s frustration on the other end of the line.

“Studying medicine was never my choice to begin with.”

She murmured a quiet reply, then crouched down, pulling a piece of ham sausage from her pocket. Unwrapping it, she fed the treat to the little fox at her feet, her eyes lowered.

Her father’s roaring soon echoed through the phone, but Li Xuzhi didn’t even flinch, she was used to it.

Only her grip on the phone tightened briefly before relaxing again.

Soon, her mother’s soothing voice came through the speaker, calming her husband before shifting the conversation with her daughter.

“Xiao Xu, come home for dinner tonight. I’ll make your favorite ginseng chicken soup. It’s been so long since you last stayed over.”

Pressing her lips together, Li Xuzhi replied softly, “We’ll see.”

Then she hung up.

Last time she went home, her mother had used the same excuse. Li Xuzhi knew it wasn’t right to stay away from her parents for so long, so she had obediently returned.

But what awaited her was another family sitting with her parents.

A blind date.

That was the “dinner” her mother had prepared.

……

A gentle tug at her pants brought Li Xuzhi back to the present. She looked down at the little fox.

The entire sausage had vanished, and the still-hungry fox was now rolling around, begging for more.

“Are you really that hungry?”

She chuckled softly.

Even though she had already fed it plenty before coming.