Turns Out I’m the Villain They’re Supposed to Redeem? [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 45

“Isn’t that Sun Chuanlu?”

There were many students moving about between classes and given Sun Chuanlu’s affluent family background and his constant aristocratic young master appearance, it was hard not to recognize him.

“Surrounding a girl in public, what does Sun Chuanlu think he’s doing?”

“Hey, I don’t think I’ve seen that female student before. Which class is she in?”

“Is she a transfer student? I just heard a teacher say a new student will be transferring next week.”

…

Noticing the increasing attention from the surroundings, Huo Yuwan pressed her lips together in slight helplessness. Adhering to her principle of not causing trouble at school, she took out the airplane model from her bag.

“If you want to see it, then look.”

Seeing her so compliant, Sun Chuanlu’s smile grew even more smug.

“She’s giving in already?”

“What else can she do? Four against one, she can’t fight them…”

“It really is an airplane model! Wow, those are expensive!”

The onlooking students buzzed with discussion.

Sun Chuanlu took the airplane, turning it over and over in his hands. He picked up the controller and operated the model. When the plane lifted off the ground, a faint glint flashed in his eyes.

“It really can fly.”

Huo Yuwan nodded casually. “You’ve seen it, you’ve played with it. Give it back now.”

Narrowing his eyes at her, Sun Chuanlu rubbed the controller in his hand.

“Give it back? Sure, I’ll give it back right now.”

With that, he slammed the controller forcefully onto the ground, then stomped on both the model and the controller, grinding them under his foot.

In an instant, the controller shattered into pieces, the plane’s metal shell was crushed flat, and its internal components scattered messily across the ground.

Frowning deeply, Huo Yuwan glared at him. “What do you mean by this?”

“You didn’t make this airplane yourself, did you? The paint on the body has obvious misprint marks, and there’s a Guangning Toy Factory logo on the bottom. This is clearly a defective product discarded by the toy factory. Who knows where you got it from.”

Step by step, he closed in on Huo Yuwan, his eyes filled with mockery.

“This might even be their new product that hasn’t hit the market yet, but you picked it up and claimed it as your own idea. How shameless.”

The students following Sun Chuanlu were shocked, then immediately began to echo his words.

“I knew she stole it!”

“Stealing a defective product and having the nerve to say she invented it herself!”

“Thinking a few lies would get her into school? Hah, if not for Chuanlu, we’d all be kept in the dark…”

Listening calmly to their accusations, Huo Yuwan almost laughed in disbelief.

“You’re not even sure if the factory is actually producing this toy, yet you insist I stole it?”

“You’re being completely unreasonable.”

Sun Chuanlu looked at her disdainfully and replied, “I’m doing this because I already know you’re someone with poor character.”

“You spread rumors everywhere in the village, causing harm and making my cousin’s family face ostracism to the point they could barely survive. If you’re capable of that, then lying must be as easy as breathing for you.”

Kicking the toy on the ground carelessly, Sun Chuanlu’s words dripped with contempt.

The moment he learned Huo Yuwan’s name, he suddenly remembered, about half a month ago, a man and a woman from the countryside had come to his house.

According to her mother, they were some distant relatives separated by several generations who had traveled a long way to borrow money. Seeing the woman with her simple-minded son, her mother felt sorry for them and lent them some money.

At the time, Sun Chuanlu sat impatiently in his room, and even through the door, he could hear the woman sobbing about how she couldn’t survive in the village anymore. She claimed a young girl had spread rumors about her, ruining her reputation…

Back then, Sun Chuanlu paid no attention, finding it noisy and annoying. But now, having coincidentally encountered Huo Yuwan and recalling the woman’s lamentations, he pieced everything together in an instant.

He refused to believe that someone from the countryside with only a few years of schooling could possess such remarkable skills.

Dropping out of middle school and trying to jump straight to high school? And modifying an airplane? Hah, what a braggart without even bothering to prepare a decent lie.

Exhaling a heavy breath, Huo Yuwan felt the urge to punch that infuriating face of his. But this was a school, and starting a fight would create a bad impression.

“I didn’t spread those rumors, and I really did modify the airplane myself. Believe it or not, but there’s one thing.”

Taking a step forward, Huo Yuwan stared at him and enunciated each word clearly.

“You have to compensate me for this model.”

As if he’d heard a joke, Sun Chuanlu snorted coldly.

“Fine. Since you keep insisting you made this thing yourself, then prove it. Make another one right in front of me. If you can produce an identical one, I’ll pay you five hundred yuan.”

Huo Yuwan smirked, glancing at his slickly combed hair.

“Five hundred yuan barely covers my labor cost, but it’s not enough for the emotional distress caused by your slander.”

“Then how much do you want? Eight hundred? A thousand? As long as you can actually make it, I’ll pay whatever you ask.”

Sun Chuanlu didn’t take her words seriously. In his eyes, a country bumpkin like her could never have the ability to modify an airplane. He assumed she was just putting on a brave front to save face.

“If I succeed, you’ll run ten laps around the school track, shouting one sentence the whole time: ‘Sun Chuanlu is a big, stupid donkey.’”

Money wasn’t the point; Huo Yuwan simply couldn’t stand his condescending attitude.

Narrowing his eyes, Sun Chuanlu’s gaze turned icy as he looked at her.

“If you fail, you’ll kneel and kowtow to me until I’m satisfied.”

“Deal.”

It was already noon, and the sun was blazing brightly, its rays filtering through the tree branches and falling upon both of them.

Calmly picking up the scattered parts from the ground, Huo Yuwan shook her head as she worked.

What a wasteful brat, he didn’t even know how to tread lightly.

Watching her collect the broken pieces without batting an eye, Sun Chuanlu sneered and then led the way toward the school’s physics lab.

“Chuanlu, aren’t you having lunch?”

A boy in a maroon vest caught up, looking hesitant. He still wanted to eat, he’d already paid for the meal, and it’d be a waste not to.

Noticing his concern, Sun Chuanlu said coldly, “Go eat if you want.”

With that, he strode off without looking back.

“We’ll finish quickly and come find you soon!”

The three boys shouted after his retreating figure, then headed together to the cafeteria. As they passed Huo Yuwan, who was cradling a pile of parts, they shot her looks of disdain and confusion.

Why couldn’t she just focus on studying honestly? Why resort to lying and deceiving others? She really wasn’t learning anything good, tarnishing the honest and kind reputation of people from the countryside.

The corner of her mouth twitched, and Huo Yuwan took a few steps to the side. The strong smell of sweat from the three of them was unbearable.

By the time they reached the physics lab, a crowd of students who loved watching drama had already gathered outside. They weren’t even in a hurry to eat, determined to see whether Huo Yuwan could actually assemble the airplane.

“Haven’t seen so many instruments before, have you? They were all generously donated to the school by my dad.”

Seeing Huo Yuwan looking around, Sun Chuanlu raised an eyebrow smugly.

“You probably can’t even name these instruments, but I won’t give you a chance to back out. Let’s start now.”

“…”

She hadn’t said a single word, yet he was already chattering nonstop.

Huo Yuwan sighed silently, placed the parts she was holding onto the table, and began working without another word.

Fortunately, the crushed outer shell could still be salvaged. Otherwise, if she had to remake the metal casing from scratch, her hands would probably be ruined.

Her expression was calm and focused, her movements orderly and deliberate. The students who had gathered to watch for entertainment gradually began to change their minds.

“She actually seems to know what she’s doing…” some students whispered.

“Could she have disassembled it beforehand and memorized the structure?”

Sun Chuanlu pressed down on the tool in her hand, his tone suspicious.

It wasn’t impossible. How complicated could the structure of a small airplane model be? If he studied it a few times, he might even memorize it himself.

With a weary smile, Huo Yuwan pulled her hand free from his grasp.

“You’ve seen news about missile launches in the papers, right? I’ll switch to making that. The flight dynamics of a vertically launched missile are different from an airplane, and there aren’t any toys like that on the market. There’s no way I could have memorized this in advance.”

Sun Chuanlu froze, taken aback by Huo Yuwan’s bold claim.

A simulated missile? Did she even know what she was saying?

“It’s not like I’m making a real one, it’s just a toy. The flight principles are similar.” Huo Yuwan lowered her gaze and switched the materials in her hands.

Only after she spoke did Sun Chuanlu realize he had inadvertently voiced his thoughts aloud.

The disdain and contempt in his eyes gradually faded, replaced by astonishment and disbelief as he looked at Huo Yuwan.

Tap, tap, tap

The spacious lab was filled only with the sound of Huo Yuwan handling the instruments. Unnoticed, the students who had been watching from outside the classroom had gathered behind her.

Sun Chuanlu swallowed nervously several times.

As time passed, Huo Yuwan’s movements grew faster and faster. Seeing the device on the table gradually taking shape, cold sweat broke out on Sun Chuanlu’s forehead.

If this continued, she might succeed in making a simulator, and he would have to run around the playground shouting those embarrassing words.

After shooing the students away from the classroom, Sun Chuanlu walked up to Huo Yuwan and pressed down forcefully on her arm.

“I believe you now. I sincerely apologize. I spoke carelessly and trusted my cousin’s words too easily. I’m sorry.”

Then, glancing at the device on the table, he added quietly, “Stop working on it. It’s almost time for afternoon classes. Everyone needs to return to the classroom…”

Seeing that he was trying to weasel out of the bet, Huo Yuwan took off her goggles and let out a soft, disdainful snort.

After all, she wasn’t the type to press an advantage, and she still remembered she needed to go to the hotel to find Li Xuzhi, so she stood up and responded.

“I accept your apology, but you still have to compensate me for the money.”

The moment Huo Yuwan rose to her feet, Sun Chuanlu lowered his gaze and let out a cold chuckle.

Deliberately angling his body to block the view of the students outside, he abruptly flung the hand that had been pressing on Huo Yuwan’s arm, sending the device on the table crashing to the floor. At the same time, he took a step back as if startled, his shoe landing squarely, and conveniently, on the device.

“You really are foolish,” Sun Chuanlu murmured with a low laugh as he heard footsteps approaching from behind.

“You!” Huo Yuwan’s hand throbbed with pain from the impact. She watched helplessly as the simulator she had built shattered on the ground, then was crushed into pieces under his foot.

Feigning ignorance, Sun Chuanlu subtly applied more pressure before stepping away in feigned panic.