Turns Out I’m the Villain They’re Supposed to Redeem? [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 38.1

Moonlight poured down, separated by a curtain of warm water before her eyes. The woman stood quietly a few steps away, her fair cheeks as lustrous as cold jade under the moonlight, captivating, her thin, tightly pressed lips rosy and moist.

Her long hair, which had been tied up during the day, now cascaded loosely, dark and glossy like a waterfall. Her soaked clothes clung tightly to her skin, accentuating her graceful and delicate figure.

Gazing at the beauty through the water, Huo Yuwan was momentarily stunned.

The evening breeze rustled the branches, and she belatedly snapped back to reality.

“Why are your clothes wet?”

Glancing down at her own attire, Li Xuzhi didn’t seem too concerned. “I wasn’t paying attention when I was scooping water from the bucket earlier.”

Holding up the clothes in her hand, she looked at Huo Yuwan. “Your clothes.”

Seeing the familiar set of clothes, Huo Yuwan instinctively retreated further behind the water curtain. She exclaimed indignantly, “So it really was you! Don’t you think this is highly disrespectful?”

To sneakily take them without a word and now return them, was she treating her like a child to be teased?

“You think I took your clothes?”

Li Xuzhi was taken aback for a moment, then couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle.

“Why would I do something like that?” she retorted.

Meeting her gaze, Huo Yuwan felt a mix of embarrassment and awkwardness. If Li Xuzhi said so, it meant she hadn’t taken the clothes.

Suddenly, a thought struck her, she remembered the other member of the household.

Huoling.

That mischievous dog. What was it thinking, stealing clothes for no reason?

Realizing she had misunderstood, Huo Yuwan felt a pang of regret, but it was rare for Li Xuzhi to speak so much.

Her mind racing, she said seriously, “Of course you have a reason to do it! I’m so beautiful, with such a great figure, it’s only natural you’d be tempted to sneak a peek.”

“…”

Li Xuzhi instinctively glanced at her chest.

Realizing what she was doing, she quickly averted her gaze, her face flushing. “That’s not a reason. I…I’m not bad-looking either.”

It was the first time in her life she had praised herself like this, and Li Xuzhi pressed her lips together, looking somewhat uncomfortable.

Hearing this, Huo Yuwan stifled a laugh before clearing her throat lightly. “In terms of looks, you might be slightly prettier than me, but when it comes to figure, it’s hard to say. Is your chest as full as mine? Is your waist as slender? Is your butt as perky?”

Her series of questions successfully made Li Xuzhi blush crimson. Realizing she was actually discussing such shameless topics with a girl several years her junior, Li Xuzhi turned to leave.

Seeing that she had teased her to the point of irritation, Huo Yuwan quickly called out to stop her, “Sister, wait! You haven’t given me my clothes yet!”

Without turning around, Li Xuzhi placed the clothes on a nearby stool.

“It was the little white dog at home who took the clothes. I found them and brought them back,” she explained softly.

It was only because she had seen the dog running off with a pile of clothes in its mouth that Li Xuzhi had been distracted while scooping water, accidentally splashing herself and getting her own clothes wet.

She never expected Huo Yuwan to mistake it for her stealing the clothes.

“Huoling took them? Then there wouldn’t be its drool all over them, would there?”

Huo Yuwan’s expression turned troubled.

Slightly taken aback, Li Xuzhi glanced sideways at the set of clothes.

“Not only might there be drool, but probably even dirt from the ground,” she said, eyeing the smudge of dust on the fabric and feeling an inexplicable urge to laugh. “But since you don’t trust me, perhaps I shouldn’t meddle in your affairs.”

Seeing her actually about to walk away, Huo Yuwan grew genuinely anxious, she couldn’t very well run out naked, could she?

“Don’t go, sister! It was my fault, I was talking nonsense just now…”

She just wanted to chat a bit more with her wife, how did it come to this? Huo Yuwan felt like crying but had no tears.

Upon hearing her admit her mistake, Li Xuzhi indeed stopped walking and turned back to look at Huo Yuwan with a faint, teasing smile.

Perhaps even she herself hadn’t noticed that, because of the playful banter that evening, the distance between them had unknowingly narrowed a great deal.

She had even unconsciously let down her cold, silent facade in front of Huo Yuwan.

Since the incident at home, when had she ever relaxed and laughed so freely with someone?

Under Li Xuzhi’s unabashed gaze, Huo Yuwan blushed, hugged herself, and her voice softened.

“Could you get me another set of clothes, sister…”

Li Xuzhi lowered her eyes slightly, a smile curling her lips. “Alright.”

After changing into the newly fetched clothes, Huo Yuwan breathed a genuine sigh of relief. It was the first time she had ever felt a sense of security from a set of clothes.

It was Li Xuzhi’s turn to take a bath, so Huo Yuwan brought a stool and sat outside to keep watch, then narrowed her eyes to look at the fox spirit wandering aimlessly in the yard.

Noticing her gaze, the fox spirit guiltily trotted over and sat down in front of Huo Yuwan.

“Master, I didn’t mean to. I thought those were the clothes you wanted to change out of, so I volunteered to bring them out for you…”

Rubbing the fox spirit’s head vigorously, Huo Yuwan gritted her teeth and said, “You’re having so much fun you’ve forgotten everything, haven’t you? Don’t you even remember which set of clothes I wore during the day?”

Hearing this, the fox spirit guiltily lowered its head.

After gaining a physical form, it had finally wanted to perform well in front of the Young Fate Master, but instead, it had only made things worse…

…

By the time Zhou Xia and Feng Shanshan returned, the moon was already high in the sky. They had thought Huo Yuwan and Li Xuzhi would already be asleep, but as soon as they entered the yard, they saw the two sitting there… giving each other a massage?

Exchanging a glance, they were surprised to see how well the two were getting along after just one afternoon.

After greeting each other, Zhou Xia and Feng Shanshan also brought stools and sat down nearby.

It was their first day doing farm work too, and they were just as sore and tired. Moreover, they had dinner at another villager’s house that evening. They had expected it to be similar to lunch, but to their surprise, there was hardly any oil in the meal, and both had only eaten half their fill.

“Xuzhi, what did you and Yuwan have for dinner? Was it good?” Zhou Xia asked proactively.

Glancing at Huo Yuwan, who showed no reaction, Li Xuzhi replied calmly, “Braised pork.”

A loud gulp was heard as Feng Shanshan swallowed, then she patted her stomach and smiled sheepishly.

“Yuwan’s family really has good meals…”

Zhou Xia chimed in with a sigh, but neither of them harbored any ill intentions, they were just inwardly envious of Li Xuzhi’s good luck.

They had found out that afternoon that Huo Yuwan’s family was one of the few well-off households in the village.

No wonder they never lacked rice or meat, living even better than they had growing up in the city.

Seeing how hungry and uncomfortable the two looked, Huo Yuwan stood up and fetched a handful of milk candies from the house. “Have some of these to tide you over.”

After giving a few to each of them, Huo Yuwan stuffed the rest into Li Xuzhi’s hand.

The other two unceremoniously unwrapped the candies and popped them into their mouths. Li Xuzhi looked at the candies in her hand, murmured a quiet “thank you,” and put them in her pocket.

“Why aren’t you eating?” Huo Yuwan asked. “Don’t you like the taste?”

Shaking her head with a light laugh, Li Xuzhi replied, “I’ve already brushed my teeth.”

Huo Yuwan’s hand, which had been unwrapping the candy, paused. Having brushed her teeth as well, she carefully rewrapped the candy. “Then I won’t eat either.”

Unable to suppress the smile at the corner of her lips, Li Xuzhi lowered her gaze and chuckled silently.

…

Early the next morning, Huo Yuwan, who had risen early, brought Li Xuzhi along to wash clothes by the river. The previous night, worried she might not wake up on time, Li Xuzhi had specifically asked Huo Yuwan to call for her when she got up.

Each carrying a basin of clothes, the two found a spot by the riverbank and began scrubbing the garments they had changed out of the night before.

Gradually, more people gathered by the river. Wu Xiao sat down next to Huo Yuwan.

Surprised to see Li Xuzhi, a newly arrived educated youth, up so early, Wu Xiao paused for a moment before leaning over to greet her. “Comrade Li, you’re up early too.”

Responding politely, Li Xuzhi withdrew her gaze and focused on washing the clothes.

Noticing that Li Xuzhi wasn’t much of a talker, Wu Xiao didn’t mind and instead leaned closer to Huo Yuwan to chat about everyday matters.

“You went home early yesterday after work, so you might not know, Widow Sun came to my house in tears, making a scene and demanding that my Yushu assign her an educated youth!”

Hearing this, Huo Yuwan paused, her tone indifferent. “Why didn’t she speak up during the assignment yesterday at noon?”

Although most villagers looked down on educated youths for being delicate, inexperienced at farm work, and consuming extra rations, for households short on labor, they could still be of some help.

According to the original plot, after Huo Yuwan’s death, her house was given to Widow Sun’s family, and Li Xuzhi and the other two educated youths naturally ended up living with them.

From this perspective, Widow Sun wasn’t entirely bad, at least, when other villagers were wary of Li Xuzhi’s background, she had stepped in to help.

But Huo Yuwan knew better. The fox spirit’s investigation of the plotline always came in fragments, and unless pressed, it never provided the full story.

After several days of questioning, she had managed to piece together a more complete version of the plot.

In the original storyline, no villager dared to take in Li Xuzhi, fearing trouble. In the end, it was Village Party Secretary Wang Yushu who assigned her to Widow Sun’s household.

At the time, Widow Sun’s family was the only one in the village short on labor. Following the principle of distribution according to need, Wang Yushu assigned Li Xuzhi to them.

By then, Widow Sun had just been allocated Huo Yuwan’s house, also based on need. So, faced with the village party secretary’s decision, she had no choice but to accept.

Hearing Huo Yuwan’s remark, Wu Xiao grew agitated. “Exactly! She didn’t speak up during the assignment, but afterward, she came to my house to make a fuss!”

Widow Sun had wept and wailed, complaining that she was the only one in her family who could work, her son being of little help. If she wasn’t assigned an educated youth now, with the harvest season approaching, how would she manage?

But Wang Yushu paid her no mind. He shooed her away and closed the door to sleep. After a long day of farm work, he was exhausted and had no patience for her cries.

Huo Yuwan smiled faintly. She knew Wu Xiao must have had a hand in it, otherwise, given Wang Yushu’s soft-hearted nature, he might have actually tried to find a way to reassign an educated youth from another household to Widow Sun.

After the three finished washing their clothes and headed back to the village, they spotted a crowd gathered further down the road, arguing loudly.

With sharp eyes, Wu Xiao noticed her husband trapped in the middle of the commotion. Clutching her basin of clothes, she hurried over.

Never one to miss out on drama, Huo Yuwan dragged Li Xuzhi, who had little interest in such matters, along to join the spectacle.