Su Yebai was a “mistake” at home.
Painting was wrong. Her grades not being good enough was wrong. Being quiet was wrong, and crying was wrong too. Her father tore up her paintings, and her mother said, “You make us lose face in front of everyone.”
The day she was kicked out, she sat in the corner of a convenience store open 24 hours. A woman working the night shift handed her a hot bun. “Sit and eat. You don’t have to buy anything.”
Later, she fled to the rental apartment of her classmate Lu Qinghe and his older sister. It was small and messy, with an orange cat named “Boss” and an endless supply of tomato and egg noodles.
Lu Qinghe never asked her, “What’s wrong?” When she painted, he just sat beside her and read a book, turning pages all night without getting past the first one.
“Go ahead and paint. I’ll wait.”
In that old rental apartment, Su Yebai learned one thing:
You can break through a wall yourself.
Theme: A person’s worth does not depend on any external standard. You don’t have to be “good enough” first to deserve someone catching you.
