Lu Ruoxi Side Story - Thorned Rose - Warm Sun

Ye Sanqi's face darkened instantly.

"What nonsense are you spouting?"

His voice was harsh, like a chunk of stone.

"Ruoxi is only seven! She needs to study! To get into Jingzhou University!"

"Jingzhou University?"

Zhang Cuilan sneered and turned away.

"How much do you even make a month? Can you afford that?"

"Listen here, Ye Sanqi, I’ve raised her all these years—that’s more than enough kindness."

"In a few years, if she can’t bring some money back to this family, I’ll send her away! Or let her go out and work to earn her keep!"

"You wouldn’t dare!"

Ye Sanqi’s eyes reddened.

He grabbed Zhang Cuilan’s arm, his grip so tight it made her wince in pain.

"Let go!"

Zhang Cuilan shrieked.

Ye Sanqi released her.

He stared at his own hand, trembling slightly.

Suddenly, as if struck by a thought, he said in a shaky voice,

"I’ve heard things outside—about ‘child brides.’ That’s illegal!"

"If you dare agree to anything like that, we’ll both end up in jail!"

The words "end up in jail" seemed to frighten Zhang Cuilan.

Ye Sanqi fell silent. He picked up the report card and walked into the inner room.

With a box of thumbtacks, he pinned it neatly to the wall.

That peeling, patchy wall.

Because of those two red "100s," it seemed to brighten just a little.

Ye Ruoxi stood by the door, watching her father’s back.

And also the resentful face of her mother in the living room.

She said nothing.

When summer came, the construction site rushed to meet deadlines.

Ye Sanqi slipped on the scaffolding.

Though he didn’t fall, his foot twisted, swelling up like a steamed bun.

He had to stay home for half a month.

For those two weeks, the family had no income.

The atmosphere grew suffocatingly tense.

Zhang Cuilan’s face turned uglier by the day.

Her cooking, too, worsened with each meal.

Every day, it was just watery cabbage.

Ye Ruoxi came home from school and saw Ye Sanqi’s foot smeared with medicated oil.

She went to the kitchen to fetch a cup of hot water.

Zhang Cuilan was chopping vegetables.

With a loud "thud," she slammed the cleaver into the cutting board.

"What are you staring at? If it weren’t for you, this jinx, your father wouldn’t have fallen!"

"We can barely put food on the table, and you still want to go to school? Starting tomorrow, you’re coming with me to pick scraps at the market!"

Ye Ruoxi didn’t reply.

She silently poured the water and brought it to Ye Sanqi’s bedside.

"Dad, drink some water."

Ye Sanqi looked at his daughter’s thin face, his heart aching as if sliced by a knife.

He propped himself up.

"Ruoxi, don’t listen to your mother."

"Dad’s fine. In a couple of days, I’ll be back at work."

"You just focus on studying. You’re going to Jingzhou University someday. Don’t worry about anything else."

After his foot healed, Ye Sanqi worked even harder.

He wanted to earn more money.

To hold up this family.

To hold up his daughter’s future.

That autumn, he received his biggest paycheck yet.

He bought the family a black-and-white television.

A new coat for Zhang Cuilan.

And for Ye Ruoxi, a brand-new dress.

A white dress with tiny blue floral prints, like clouds drifting from the sky.

Ye Ruoxi put it on and stood before the mirror, turning this way and that.

For the first time, she felt like a princess.

Zhang Cuilan curled her lip.

"Buying such a white dress—it’ll stain in a day. Might as well throw it out after one wear."

Ye Ruoxi took those words to heart.

The next day, she wore the dress to school.

She walked carefully.

Avoiding puddles.

Avoiding rowdy classmates.

She treated it like a treasure.

But accidents happen.

During recess, a boy ran past, clutching a bottle of ink as he chased his friends.

He bumped into Ye Ruoxi.

The entire bottle spilled onto her white dress.

The ink stain spread like an ugly, inescapable storm cloud.

The boy panicked.

He apologized over and over.

Ye Ruoxi didn’t cry.

She didn’t yell.

She just stared blankly at the stain, as if the sky had collapsed.

After school, she hesitated at the doorstep, too afraid to enter.

She stood there for a long time.

Until Ye Sanqi returned from work.

"Ruoxi, why aren’t you going inside?"

He smiled when he saw her.

Then he noticed the ink on her dress.

His expression didn’t change, but he understood immediately why she was so upset.

Ye Sanqi reached out and ruffled Ye Ruoxi’s hair.

Her tears finally fell.

"Dad, I didn’t mean to…"

Her voice choked.

"It’s okay, it’s okay."

Ye Sanqi crouched down, using his rough hands to wipe her tears.

"We’ll wash it. If it doesn’t come out, Dad will buy you another one."

He took her hand and pushed the door open.

Zhang Cuilan was cooking.

Her eyes locked onto the glaring ink stain.

Her face twisted instantly.

"Ye Ruoxi!"

Her voice was sharp as an awl.

"What did I say yesterday? Are you deaf?"

"Such an expensive dress, ruined in one day!"

"You little spendthrift! Useless brat!"

She cursed as she moved, snatching the broom from the corner.

She swung it at Ye Ruoxi.

"Let’s see you wear nice clothes now! Let’s see you waste money!"

The broom struck Ye Ruoxi’s slender frame.

She clenched her teeth, refusing to make a sound.

Tears welled, but she refused to let them fall.

Then—

Ye Sanqi lunged forward.

"Enough!"

He roared.

He pulled Ye Ruoxi behind him, shielding her completely.

It was the first time he had ever raised his voice at Zhang Cuilan in front of their daughter.

"You dare shout at me?"

Zhang Cuilan snapped.

Years of pent-up resentment exploded.

"I’ve scrimped and saved for this family! And you? Wasting money on this useless girl!"

"She ruins things, and I can’t even scold her?"

"Ye Sanqi, all you care about is your daughter! Do I even matter to you? Does this family?"

Without waiting for a reply, she swung the broom at Ye Sanqi’s head.

He didn’t fight back, only stood there, silently protecting Ye Ruoxi as the blows rained down.

Eventually, the broom stopped.

Zhang Cuilan was either exhausted or stunned by Ye Sanqi’s silence.

Panting, she hurled the broom to the ground.

Her eyes bloodshot, she pointed at father and daughter.

"You’re both just debts I owe from a past life!"

With that, she stormed into the inner room and slammed the door.

The house fell into silence.

Ye Sanqi turned slowly, ignoring the pain on his back, and checked Ye Ruoxi for injuries.

Only after confirming she was unhurt did he exhale in relief.

Gently, he wiped the tears pooling in her eyes.

"Don’t be afraid, Ruoxi. Dad’s here."

Ye Ruoxi looked up.

At the broad, though no longer straight, figure shielding her.

And the tears came again, unstoppable.