Lu Ruoxi Side Story - Thorned Rose - The Gears of Fate

Su Yang knew that, at least for now, he couldn’t help Ye Ruoxi.

The only thing he could do was wait.

Every night, he would stand on the path between the cafeteria and the school gate.

Under the brightest streetlamp, he waited.

Waited for the figure dragging her exhausted body out of the building.

She always walked slowly, her weary frame resembling a frost-wilted blade of grass.

He didn’t dare approach.

Instead, he followed silently behind her.

Using his shadow to light a small stretch of her path home.

He knew she was aware of his presence.

But neither of them spoke of it.

This road became their new, heavier, and more sorrowful unspoken agreement.

A crushing sense of helplessness lashed at Su Yang’s heart like a whip.

He had to do something.

He had to become stronger.

Strong enough to hold up the sky for her.

On the weekend,

he went to the busiest computer market in the county.

To save for their future tuition—for himself, and for her.

He stopped in front of a shop called "Geek," which specialized in custom PC builds.

A sign in the window advertised part-time help wanted.

The owner, a man in his thirties with messy hair and glasses, sized Su Yang up.

"Done this before?"

"No."

"Then why are you here? I don’t carry dead weight."

"I learn fast."

Su Yang’s gaze was unwavering.

"And I don’t need pay. Just give me lunch."

The owner paused, intrigued.

"Fine. Come in and show me what you’ve got."

Su Yang stayed.

His hands were quick, his mind sharper.

The owner only had to teach him once—how to assemble a rig, how to manage cables.

Soon, he was doing it faster and better than anyone expected.

For the first time, he glimpsed the world inside a computer.

The intricate circuit boards, dense clusters of chips, lines of indecipherable code scrolling across monitors—

To him, they weren’t just lifeless components.

They were a language, more captivating than math, brimming with logic and beauty.

A week later,

the owner slipped three hundred yuan into Su Yang’s pocket.

"Kid, you’re a natural."

He clapped Su Yang’s shoulder, admiration plain in his eyes.

"Stick with me. I’ll make sure you’re paid right."

Su Yang clenched the money—earned through his own skill.

For the first time, he felt something new: power.

Here, he’d found another path to reach her.

Time passed silently. The second semester of senior year began.

The air was thick with tension.

Everyone had one goal:

the college entrance exam.

Ye Ruoxi longed for that day more than anyone.

To her, it wasn’t just a test.

It was the only door to her freedom.

But Zhang Cuilan’s demands grew worse.

She knew Ye Ruoxi had scraped together a meager sum—saved from school scholarships and extreme frugality.

That money was meant for a train ticket to Jingzhou after the exam, even part of her living expenses.

It was her only hope.

One night, after washing the last dish, Ye Ruoxi returned to the suffocating house.

Her room had been ransacked.

The small metal box, wrapped layer after layer in a handkerchief and hidden beneath her bed, was gone.

Zhang Cuilan sat in the living room, legs crossed, cracking sunflower seeds.

When she saw Ye Ruoxi, her lips curled into a smug, cruel smile.

"Looking for something?"

She patted her bulging pocket.

"I’ve kept it safe for you."

Ye Ruoxi’s blood ran cold.

She stepped forward.

"Give it back."

Her voice was eerily calm.

"Why should I?"

Zhang Cuilan stood, looming over her.

"I’ve raised you all these years! Fed you, housed you! Your money is mine!"

"Listen well, Ye Ruoxi. Starting today, you’ll pay me rent every month. Or get out!"

"That’s my ticket to Jingzhou."

Ye Ruoxi spoke each word deliberately.

"Jingzhou? Dream on!"

Zhang Cuilan scoffed.

"What good is college? You’ll still leech off me! Not a chance!"

"Finish high school, then go work like you’re supposed to. Send your wages home!"

Ye Ruoxi stared at the woman who called herself a "mother."

At the face twisted by greed and selfishness.

The last shred of delusion—of something called "family"—shattered.

Every ounce of suffering, every humiliation, every ounce of blood squeezed from her since her father’s death erupted at once.

She shoved Zhang Cuilan with all her strength.

"Give it back!"

The scream tore from her throat.

Zhang Cuilan hadn’t expected defiance.

She staggered, landing hard on the floor.

After a stunned second, she wailed like the world was ending.

"Help! She’s hitting her own mother! No justice in this world!"

Rolling on the ground, she slapped her thighs in a theatrical fit.

"After all I’ve sacrificed for you, this is how you repay me!"

"You ungrateful wretch! You jinx!"

Ye Ruoxi stood there, motionless.

Her gaze was icy as she watched the woman on the ground, her disgraceful display only deepening the cold disgust in Ye Ruoxi's heart.

Escape.

Escape this place.

The thought rang louder than ever in her mind.

Not even the boy who had once brought her warmth could make her feel any attachment to this place.

She turned and walked back to her room, shutting the door behind her, blocking out the shrill cries.

After that argument,

Ye Ruoxi's world fell into complete silence.

Zhang Cuilan never troubled her again.

It was as if she couldn’t be bothered to even glance at her.

In fact, she seemed almost afraid of her own daughter.

They became strangers living under the same roof.

Ye Ruoxi didn’t care.

She poured all her energy into her final sprint.

Like a tireless machine, she absorbed knowledge with a relentless hunger.

She wanted to achieve an unprecedented score.

She wanted every university in Jingzhou to fight over her.

She wanted the highest scholarship.

She wanted to break free—completely, permanently—from everything here.

...

That day, at noon.

The cafeteria of Anhe No. 1 High School buzzed with noise.

The air was thick with the aroma of food and the boisterous chatter of teenagers.

Ye Ruoxi sat alone in a corner.

On her tray was nothing but a plain steamed bun and a bowl of watery, free seaweed soup.

She ate slowly.

One hand held the bun.

The other pressed down on a sheet of scratch paper covered in dense mathematical formulas.

Her brows were tightly knit.

The clamor around her seemed to fade away.

She was lost in her own world.

Focused. Silent.

Lu Chenyuan’s footsteps stopped three meters away.

His eyes landed on her immediately.

That solitary figure, so still amidst the chaos, as if existing in her own separate dimension.

He noticed her hand resting on the edge of the table.

Her fingers were slender, but the tips were red and swollen from prolonged cold and labor.

Her grip on the pen was tight—

as if she wanted to crush it.

As if she was pouring all her strength into the ink beneath.

The scratch paper was filled with intricate calculus and series derivation formulas.

Far beyond the scope of the high school curriculum.

Lu Chenyuan walked over unhurriedly.

He took a seat across from her.

His tall frame cast a shadow.

Finally, the girl deep in thought sensed something.

Ye Ruoxi looked up.

Her clear, alert eyes met his.

She studied the unfamiliar man before her.

Handsome features. A composed presence.

And that tailored suit—clearly expensive—

all unmistakably signaling that he didn’t belong in this small-town high school.

"Who are you looking for?"

Her voice was cool, laced with a wariness beyond her years.

Lu Chenyuan didn’t answer.

His gaze wasn’t on her thin face.

But on the scratch paper.

"A simplified model of the Riemann Hypothesis? Interesting approach. But in the third step’s variable substitution, using the trigonometric form of Euler’s formula would make it more concise."

His voice was steady, gentle.

As if this were an equal academic discussion.

Ye Ruoxi’s pupils constricted sharply.

The Riemann Hypothesis.

One of mathematics’ greatest unsolved problems.

She had only stumbled upon fragments of it in old library books, driven by curiosity.

She’d been trying to derive it herself.

None of her classmates or teachers could even begin to discuss it with her.

Yet this man had pinpointed the very obstacle she’d been wrestling with all morning in a single sentence.

Who was he?

Only then did Lu Chenyuan shift his gaze to her.

He gave a simple introduction.

"Hello, Ye Ruoxi. I’m Lu Chenyuan of Lu Corporation."