Liu Ziyuan stormed home in a rage, his teeth grinding audibly with fury.
Hearing his footsteps, Liu Ruoxi, who was in her room, quickly stuffed the draft she had just written into a drawer and picked up a broom, pretending to sweep the floor.
The door was shoved open from outside with brute force, slamming against the wall with a loud bang, sending dust flying and making her cough.
The moment she noticed the storybook in his hand, Liu Ruoxi’s heart skipped a beat.
She put on a puzzled expression and asked, “Brother, what’s wrong with you?”
Liu Ziyuan slammed The Tale of the Qin Maiden hard onto the table.
His face was colder than ice, and the anger radiating from him had almost taken physical form.
“Did you write this storybook?”
Liu Ruoxi glanced at it nervously and immediately shook her head in denial.
“No, didn’t you already tear up the one I wrote before?”
His neck bulged with rage as he slapped the table over and over, the surface threatening to collapse under the force.
“Do you think I’m blind and easy to fool? The name’s changed, but everything else is exactly the same. If you say it wasn’t you, you’d have better luck lying to a ghost!”
Seeing that she couldn’t talk her way out of it, Liu Ruoxi clenched her fists and raised her voice to bolster herself, though her tone was full of grievance.
“So what if I wrote it? Even County Princess Linghui said I write well, so why can’t I sell it?”
“And I’m not just writing this one—I’m going to write many more in the future.”
Seeing his sister dare to talk back, Liu Ziyuan’s anger only flared higher.
He grabbed The Tale of the Qin Maiden from the table and waved it in front of Liu Ruoxi’s face.
“Is this the kind of thing a respectable girl should write? And if people find out, who would still want to marry you? How am I supposed to explain this to Mom and Dad?”
Liu Ruoxi gritted her teeth. “It’s not even porn, so why can’t I write it?”
“Besides, I’m using a fake name, so no one will know. And honestly, if it weren’t for you getting upset, I would’ve used my real name.”
Liu Ziyuan widened his eyes in disbelief. “You knew I’d be angry, and you still wrote it?”
His voice turned bitter and choked.
“Have I ever starved you or denied you anything? Do you have any idea what the neighbors will say if this gets out?”
Seeing her brother so upset, Liu Ruoxi felt bad too.
Her voice softened, but there was not a shred of regret in it.
“I haven’t murdered anyone or started a fire. Who cares what people say? Nothing matters more than money. I don’t want you to work yourself to the bone—I want our family to live a better life. Is that wrong?”
With that, she began to cry, tears streaming from her eyes in big drops, splashing onto the floor and soaking into the ground.
Liu Ziyuan put down the storybook and tried desperately to reason with her.
“But your brother can support the family now. The debts are all paid off. Can you just stop writing from now on, please?”
Liu Ruoxi sobbed. “What’s wrong with me making money? Turning down silver is what fools do.”
Seeing that his sister was dead set in her ways, Liu Ziyuan said, “I’ll let you manage all the household money from now on. Young Master Song said I have talent, so I’ll only be earning more in the future.”
Liu Ruoxi stared at him with burning intensity. “But County Princess Linghui also said I have talent. I earn even more than you do.”
The two of them stood facing each other—one with tears glistening in his eyes, the other crying without stop—but neither was willing to back down.
After a long silence, Liu Ziyuan spoke in a low voice. “But what if your future husband’s family looks down on you for writing these shameless storybooks, and you end up unable to marry? What then?”
Liu Ruoxi roughly wiped the tears from her face, her eye corners rubbed raw.
Her voice was full of stubborn resolve.
“If he looks down on me for that, then he’s not the right one. On their wedding night, people still read erotic picture books to get the deed done. I only wrote a few lines about intimate moments between husband and wife—what’s so shameless about that?”
