Chapter 13 Her Scars and Taboos

Having just left her room, Qin Ruan was hit with the intoxicating aroma of beef.

She was ravenous, to the point of almost fainting.

Perhaps, she was so hungry then that her eyes shone green, otherwise, she wouldn't have attracted the attention of that demon.

The Headmaster's male relative, who was also a caretaker at the orphanage, had set up a table in the yard, drinking and eating a delicious meal.

As Qin Ruan secretly swallowed her saliva, she was also secretly eyeing the meat dish on the table, tomato beef stew.

The mix of tomato and beef presented a vibrant color, its tantalizing aroma beckoning; it looked appetizing and immensely satisfying.

Perhaps delirious from hunger, the seven-year-old Qin Ruan made a dash for it, grabbing the stew in the plastic takeaway box and ran.

But with short legs, how could a child outpace an adult?

Qin Ruan was caught.

"Little rascal, stealing from me, eh? If I don't teach you a lesson today, won't you all take advantage in the future!"

The man's cruel and savage voice would be etched in Qin Ruan's nightmares.

The man vowed to punish her, and was utterly relentless with his fists and kicks.

The children sleeping in the house were awakened by the commotion, and many poked their heads out from the windows, while the bolder ones came out to watch.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the steaming-hot tomato beef stew was force-fed into Qin Ruan's mouth.

The dish was freshly cooked, scalding her mouth, throat, and her frail stomach.

The excruciating pain, relentless despite her struggles, engraved itself deeply into Qin Ruan's memory.

Her mouth, covered with blisters from the burn, and her already painful stomach compounded her agony.

For the following week, she couldn't eat.

It was not that she wasn't hungry; she simply couldn't swallow any food.

She could only quench her hunger by drinking water.

Yet even drinking brought her pain due to her internal injuries.

The trauma from these childhood experiences made Qin Ruan forever avoid tomato beef stew.

Just the sight of the dish would trigger her resistive instincts, as gruesome memories flooded her mind, the sensation of intense pain manifesting itself physically.

After being brought back to the Qin Family, one day, her father and her two elder brothers prepared three different tomato beef stews for her.

She thought that they knew.

That they knew about her wretched experiences at the orphanage.

To Qin Ruan, these were her wounds, her taboo.

The dishes prepared by her father and brothers were met with a strong sense of repulsion.

Under the expectant eyes of her father and brothers, she swept the three servings onto the floor, causing the ceramic dishes to shatter with a crisp piecing sound.

The bonds of father, daughter, and siblings were likewise kept at arm's length.

From the day she entered the Qin Family, Han Xian, and her daughter Han Kexin, had instilled into her that the kindness shown was due to remorse and compensation, and that she was ultimately a foreigner to the Qin Family.

The mighty Qin Family's actions towards her were nothing more than charity.

Qin Ruan knew well of the dislike from Han Xian and her daughter.

But she was not gullible to believe them blindly.

Having grown up in the slums of West City among various unsavory characters, Qin Ruan was guarded, wary of the Qin Family.

The misunderstandings between her father and brothers grew with each passing day, exacerbated by her aversion and the duo's persistent provocation and manipulation.

Not till everything was lost did she find the chance to clear up the misunderstandings.

No one knew that after turning over the dishes her father and brothers made, Qin Ruan quietly picked them up.

After all, she yearned for kinship deep down.