Turns Out I’m the Villain They’re Supposed to Redeem? [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 6

“Qiuyuan, what’s wrong?”

Handing her a towel to wipe her sweat, Huo Yuqing followed Qi Qiuyuan’s gaze in confusion.

In the center of the green field, Huo Yuwan stood out strikingly among the other students with her fair skin and beautiful features.

“Yuwan…”

Huo Yuqing murmured unconsciously.

Ever since their last unpleasant phone call, Huo Yuwan had been sulking and ignoring Huo Yuqing completely.

Her younger sister had always been like this since childhood, throwing tantrums over the slightest grievance, a habit nurtured by the family’s doting.

Huo Yuqing understood this well. These past few days had been troubling for her; on one hand, she genuinely felt for her sister, but on the other, Qi Liang was, after all, Qi Qiuyuan’s cousin, and she didn’t want to sour the relationships between them.

“Your sister is nothing like you.”

Qi Qiuyuan wiped the sweat from his neck, his expression darkening as he shoved the towel back at her.

“With such a spoiled temperament, she’s bound to face consequences sooner or later.”

Huo Yuqing felt a pang of discomfort at his words. Pressing her lips together, she retorted softly, “That incident wasn’t Yuwan’s fault to begin with.”

She had only agreed to persuade Huo Yuwan for Qi Qiuyuan’s sake, but that didn’t mean she accepted others blaming her sister.

Huo Yuwan wasn’t the one who started the trouble.

Qi Qiuyuan, who had been stretching his arms, paused mid-motion and let out a cold laugh.

“What about just now? She kicked the ball right into Liang’s head. Isn’t that retaliation?”

Huo Yuqing watched Huo Yuwan’s bright smile on the field, and the gloom that had weighed on her for days seemed to lift slightly.

Though she hadn’t witnessed the scene herself, out of concern and bias for her sister, she instinctively replied, “Yuwan definitely didn’t do it on purpose.”

“Besides, it was agreed earlier that she could retaliate once.”

Meeting Qi Qiuyuan’s increasingly stormy gaze, Huo Yuqing’s voice trailed off belatedly.

It really wasn’t her sister’s fault.

Qi Liang was Qi Qiuyuan’s brother, but Yuwan was her sister too.

Snorting coldly, Qi Qiuyuan averted his eyes, growing more dissatisfied with his girlfriend.

He realized that ever since encountering Huo Yuwan, Huo Yuqing had become increasingly unreasonable.

Just as his mother often said, children from ordinary families were always petty.

…

The football bounced across the green field. A senior standing nearby turned as if to retrieve the ball, but was actually bending over to stifle silent laughter.

She hadn’t expected this junior to be so talented, pulling off a rainbow flick on her first try.

And even managed to hit Qi Liang, who had been trying to show off.

How amusing.

With her hands clasped behind her back, Huo Yuwan looked at Qi Liang’s displeased expression and feigned innocence.

“I really didn’t mean to, Qi. You’re not upset, are you?”

It’s too early for him to be angry now.

She hadn’t had enough fun yet.

Forcing a stiff smile, Qi Liang casually wiped the black mark off his forehead.

“Not at all. Bumps and knocks are normal in football.”

“Let’s just get started.”

He’d settle the score with Huo Yuwan on the field.

“Huh? Aren’t we going to learn more tricks?”

Huo Yuwan sounded genuinely disappointed.

“Next time. The team is waiting for us.”

Making up an excuse, Qi Liang turned away, his smile vanishing instantly.

For some reason, he felt an inexplicable sense of unease creeping over him.

Just last semester, Huo Yuwan couldn’t even perform basic dribbling in PE class, how could she suddenly execute a rainbow flick?

It must be luck. Definitely luck.

At this point, Qi Liang could only console himself with that thought.

The players on the field were divided into two teams, and Qi Liang deliberately didn’t place himself in the same team as Huo Yuwan.

This made it easier for him to pull off some underhanded tricks.

With the blow of a whistle, the match began.

The senior student from earlier happened to be on Huo Yuwan’s team. Zhang Cancan glanced at Huo Yuwan’s sandals and, out of concern, softly reminded her, “Just stay behind me, junior. It’s just for fun, don’t get hurt.”

Her impression of Huo Yuwan was quite positive now: she was straightforward, not at all awkward, and pretty too. Zhang Cancan could somewhat understand why Qi Liang had a crush on Huo Yuwan.

Honestly, she kind of liked her too.

“Thanks, senior, but I still want to give it a try.”

With a slight smile, Huo Yuwan agilely stole the ball from an opponent’s feet.

She dribbled in her casual clogs, aiming for the goal. Qi Liang exchanged a glance with a teammate before charging aggressively toward her.

With a nimble sidestep, Huo Yuwan skillfully executed a rainbow flick, sending the ball soaring over both their heads.

Qi Liang stood frozen in shock.

He must have been fooled by Huo Yuwan again.

She knew how to play soccer!

Cheers erupted behind him. He turned to look, Huo Yuwan had scored.

“Not bad at all, junior!”

Zhang Cancan jogged over to Huo Yuwan, casually slinging an arm over her shoulder as she praised her.

“Just average.”

Huo Yuwan smiled politely and shifted slightly, letting Zhang Cancan’s arm slide off her shoulder.

Unfazed, Zhang Cancan shrugged and rejoined the game.

“Xuzhi, let’s go.”

A soft voice called from beside her, and Li Xuzhi snapped out of her thoughts, pulling her gaze away from the field.

“What were you looking at? I called you several times with no response.”

Wen Jinyuan, dressed in a crisp, formal black suit and looking travel-worn from her business trip, smiled as she asked.

“Nothing, Auntie. Let’s go.”

Li Xuzhi stood up, shaking her head gently, and reached out to take the document folder from Wen Jinyuan.

Wen Jinyuan was Li Xuzhi’s maternal aunt, a lawyer and also a professor in the law department at Kaicheng University.

Li Xuzhi had received a call from her before leaving work. Wen Jinyuan had just returned from a business trip and needed to pick up some materials from the university. Only then did she remember that her car had been sent for maintenance recently, so she asked Li Xuzhi to give her a ride home.

The south gate near the playground was close to the law school’s office building. After work, Li Xuzhi had wandered over to wait for her.

Wen Jinyuan sidestepped slightly, handing her the smaller briefcase instead. Shaking her head affectionately, she said, “You’re delicate and not very strong. Better carry this one.”

Not insisting, Li Xuzhi nodded and followed her aunt as they left from the side of the platform.

Before leaving, she couldn’t help but glance back toward the center of the field.

Huo Yuwan seemed to have scored again, surrounded by excited cheers from both male and female students.

Withdrawing her gaze, Li Xuzhi lowered her eyes with a faint smile, though the curve of her lips carried a tinge of melancholy.

…

The match was nearing its end. Qi Liang was bent over, panting heavily as he tried to catch his breath, sweat dripping in large beads down his cheeks.

He hadn’t even gotten close to Huo Yuwan, let alone managed to trip her up intentionally.

Qi Liang was growing anxious.

Zhang Cancan wiped the sweat from her temple with the back of her hand, unconsciously glancing sideways at Huo Yuwan.

Beads of perspiration had also formed on Huo Yuwan’s forehead, with stray strands of hair clinging softly to her fair skin. Yet she didn’t appear disheveled, her sparkling eyes, when they met others’, radiated nothing but sunshine and vitality.

The match continued, but Huo Yuwan’s pace slowed.

It wasn’t due to exhaustion; rather, her feet were suffering.

Her Crocs didn’t hinder her ability to play, but tiny black particles from the field kept finding their way into her shoes.

One after another, they pressed uncomfortably against the soles of her feet, leaving Huo Yuwan somewhat helpless.

The score gap between the two teams wasn’t too wide. In the final minute, the ball returned to Huo Yuwan’s feet.

Qi Liang and his teammate closed in on her tightly.

Shifting her ankle slightly, Huo Yuwan shot a glance at Qi Liang before kicking the ball away.

To everyone’s surprise, her shoe flew off along with it.

Seizing the opportunity, Qi Liang charged toward Huo Yuwan, pretending to intercept the ball but actually intending to knock her over.

His tense focus kept him from noticing the other object soaring through the air.

Thwack.

The white shoe struck the back of Qi Liang’s head.

The impact wasn’t strong, but it distracted him momentarily.

Flustered, he turned to see what had hit him, only to be bumped into by another teammate rushing forward to intercept the ball.

Staggering, sweat dripped from his forehead into his eyes.

Before Qi Liang could even identify the object on the ground, he stepped on it, twisted his ankle, and fell hard.

Thud.

It was the sound of a body part colliding with the goalpost.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

The ball rolled smoothly into the net.

Several players rushed over to check on Qi Liang, who had fallen. Only Huo Yuwan stood out, hopping on one foot to retrieve her shoe, now imprinted with a dirty footprint.

Seriously?

Her white shoe had turned black.

Sitting down in distaste, Huo Yuwan shook the shoe out.

I’ll just have to make do for now.

Helped to his feet, Qi Liang clutched his mouth tightly, blood already seeping slowly into his palms.

The fall had caused his teeth to knock against the goalpost.

He could already feel one of his front teeth loosening.

He had seen it, the thing he’d accidentally stepped on, causing his fall, was Huo Yuwan’s shoe.

He blamed her entirely for his mishap.

But everyone else knew it was just an accident.

The teammate who had bumped into him earlier was apologizing profusely; he never expected such a light nudge to trigger a chain reaction.

Who would have thought he’d fall right into the goalpost?

The players, seeing the blood at the corner of Qi Liang’s mouth, tried to support him as they urged, “Let’s get you to the school clinic, it looks like you’re hurt pretty badly… Ignoring their advice, Qi Liang limped over to Huo Yuwan, his palm smeared with a mix of saliva and blood.

“You’ll pay for this!”

Huo Yuwan looked back at him innocently, rising from the ground with a tone full of concern and self-reproach.

“Qi Liang, I didn’t expect my shoe to fly off, and I’m sorry it ended up under your foot. It’s my fault, I apologize.”

“How dare you play innocent!”

Fuming with rage, Qi Liang felt like tearing her apart.

The others felt uneasy, what did any of this have to do with Huo Yuwan?

Even if someone were to blame, it could only be for her not wearing her shoes properly, and she had already apologized…

“Alright, alright, let’s just head to the school clinic first.”

The two boys holding Qi Liang exchanged a glance, tightened their grip, and turned to drag him away.

They ignored his incessant grumbling and cursing, refusing to slow their pace.

Although there had been a minor hiccup at the end, overall, the soccer match had been exhilarating. Several senior-year seniors, in particular, were left with a very favorable impression of Huo Yuwan.

After agreeing to hang out again sometime, the team members soon dispersed in different directions.

Everyone was sweaty, exhausted, and dirty from playing, eager to hurry back for a shower.

Just before leaving, Zhang Cancan jogged over to catch up with Huo Yuwan.

Meeting Huo Yuwan’s puzzled gaze, Zhang Cancan seemed uncharacteristically bashful.

“Um, junior, could I get your contact info?”

“Uh, sure.”

After sharing her QQ number, Huo Yuwan watched Zhang Cancan walk away, her retreating figure practically radiating excitement, and couldn’t help but feel a little confused.

…

The iced milk tea had lost its chill, and Huo Yuwan no longer felt like drinking it.

Zhao Lan circled around her enthusiastically, chattering nonstop and praising Huo Yuwan’s impressive performance on the field.

“Honestly, have you really never played soccer before? How did you get so good?”

Huo Yuwan pretended to ponder deeply for a moment, stroking her chin before shaking her head with a sigh. “Maybe it’s just natural talent.”

Foxes were born with innate athletic ability.

She wasn’t exactly lying.

“Oh, come on!” Zhao Lan laughed and gave her a playful shove.

As the two of them laughed and joked, they were suddenly blocked by Qi Qiuyuan, who stormed up to them in a rage.

“Huo Yuwan, you’ve gone too far this time!”