Lu Ruoxi Side Story: Thorny Rose - Bitter and Astringent

The girls' gossiping about Ye Ruoxi and Su Yang wasn't particularly loud.

Yet their voices pierced Ye Ruoxi's ears like invisible needles, sharp and relentless.

Her explanation came to an abrupt halt.

The tip of her pen froze against the paper.

The faint trace of softness that had briefly touched her focused expression vanished without a trace.

In its place settled that familiar, bone-chilling frost—a coldness sharp enough to wound.

She stiffened suddenly, putting deliberate distance between herself and Su Yang.

Then, with clipped efficiency, she rattled off the solution, stripping away all nuance—just as she’d done before in the library.

She shoved the workbook back toward him.

The motion carried unnecessary force.

"That’s it."

Her voice had regained its usual ice,

laced now with something subtler—a thread of irritation, maybe even panic.

"Figure out the rest yourself."

Without waiting for a response, she turned away, yanked a book from her desk, and buried herself in its pages.

Su Yang remained frozen, staring at the unyielding line of her profile—a wall of pure frost, cutting him off from her world once more.

The tiny spark of joy that had flickered to life in Su Yang’s chest

was doused in an instant, as if plunged into icy water.

Not even a wisp of smoke remained.

Her rigid posture screamed rejection.

He opened his mouth, but no words came.

What had he done wrong?

He lingered like a scolded child, lost and small,

before finally retreating to his seat, workbook in hand.

The math problem that had stumped him all night—

the one Ye Ruoxi’s guidance had nearly unraveled—

now blurred into meaningless symbols.

He didn’t understand.

The warmth between them had shattered into frozen silence.

His gaze drifted back to her, still hunched over her book, refusing to look up.

For the first time, a bitter taste filled his throat—something raw and aching.

Something like hurt.

What Su Yang didn’t know was this:

To Ye Ruoxi, those careless, even well-meaning whispers from the girls

were far more terrifying than outright cruelty.

She stared blankly at the textbook,

its words dissolving into senseless black marks.

The phrases looped in her mind like a taunt:

"Her knight in shining armor."

"They’d make a perfect pair."

Panic clawed at her ribs.

Malice? She could handle malice.

But kindness? Kindness meant connection.

And connection meant entanglement—

a luxury she couldn’t afford.

A danger she couldn’t risk.

What would Zhang Cuilan say?

"Shameless girl, chasing boys instead of studying?"

She could already see the woman’s sneer, her face twisted with contempt.

Su Yang’s warmth was the only light in her pitch-black existence.

But she couldn’t step into it.

That light would expose her—

make her the subject of whispers,

of laughter over dinner tables.

Worse, it might weaken her resolve.

No attachments.

No weaknesses.

She had to climb out of this hell alone,

cutting every tether that might hold her back.

She’d hurt him.

She knew.

She could sense the disappointment and hurt in him when he left just now.

In some corner of Ye Ruoxi's heart, a faint, needle-like pain prickled through.

But she quickly suppressed that pang of sorrow, forcing it down.

I'm sorry.

She murmured silently in her heart.

But please, stay away from me.

For my sake, and for yours.

...

After that incident, Su Yang didn’t seek out Ye Ruoxi for two whole days.

He didn’t know how to face her.

The air in the classroom seemed to freeze over again, returning to the way it was at the very beginning.

No—it was even colder now.

Ye Ruoxi had grown even quieter than before.

Like a snail retracting into its shell after being startled,

she completely isolated herself from the outside world.

She kept her head down while eating, while walking,

as if the ground beneath her feet was her entire world.

Seeing her like this made Su Yang feel worse than if he were the one being ignored.

He began to reflect.

Where had he gone wrong?

He replayed every detail of that day in his mind.

Then, he remembered the hushed whispers of those girls.

And in an instant, he understood.

It was those words that had hurt her.

His so-called "knight-in-shining-armor" act hadn’t brought her protection.

It had brought trouble.

It had made her the target of gossip.

Su Yang’s heart swelled with guilt and regret.

He felt so stupid.

So impulsive.

He thought he was doing what was best for her.

But instead, he had only inflicted new pain.

He wanted to apologize.

But he knew that any words now would ring hollow.

They would only make her push him away even more.

He had to find a quieter, less intrusive way

to tell her that he meant no harm.

That he just wanted her to be okay.

...

Meanwhile, Zhang Cuilan’s initial excitement about her new job had worn off.

Working in the cafeteria was far from as easy as she’d imagined.

Every day, there were endless vegetables to wash and dishes to scrub.

Though meals were provided, the meager wages barely lasted a round at the mahjong table.

Less than two weeks in, she slipped back into her old habits.

She started complaining, slacking off.

When sorting vegetables, she mixed the good with the spoiled.

When washing dishes, she gave them a quick rinse, leaving them still slick with grease.

The cafeteria manager reprimanded her a few times, and though she nodded obediently, she forgot the moment she turned away.

Out of respect for Principal Zhen, the manager couldn’t fire her.

But Principal Zhen took hygiene and food safety extremely seriously.

Zhang Cuilan’s half-hearted efforts didn’t go unchecked—the manager made her redo the work.

Grumbling but not daring to disobey, Zhang Cuilan began plotting.

One evening after self-study ended, Ye Ruoxi was heading home with her backpack.

Zhang Cuilan intercepted her at the foot of the teaching building.

"Ruoxi," she said, her tone uncharacteristically sweet.

"My back’s killing me today, and there are still a few dishes left in the cafeteria. Could you… help me out?"

Ye Ruoxi looked at her.

At that face plastered with a fake smile.

She saw right through it.

"Principal Zhen said my studies shouldn’t be disrupted,"

Ye Ruoxi replied coldly.

It was the first time she had used Principal Zhen as a shield.

Zhang Cuilan’s expression stiffened.

"You’re so stubborn!" she snapped, irritation creeping into her voice.

"Just for a little while! How much time could it possibly take? You're such a good student—missing a bit of study time won't stop you from being top of the class!"

"I'm your mother! Isn't it only natural for me to ask you to help out with a few things?"