The private KTV room was quite spacious considering there were only Qin Qu and Xiao Zhi-Yuan seated inside before Ru and Xiao Zhi-Ren entered.
Sleek marble floor with wooden checkered wall interior, comfy sofas lined up against the wall and a huge flat screen tv made the ambiance of the room seem pleasant. Ru looked around curiously since she had never taken the initiative to come to a KTV club before. It was a whole new world for someone like her.
"Oh, Mr. Xie! I didn't know that you'd also be joining us." Qin Qu abruptly stood up seeing Ru enter along with Xiao Zhi-Ren.
"You don't have to be so formal," Ru said distractedly. Her focus was on the beautiful room.
"Oniisan, come and sit with me," Xiao Zhi-Yuan dragged her towards his own seat. While Xiao Zhi-Yuan was figuring out the way to operate the music system, Ru found her solace in the food menu placed on the table.
She pressed the buzzer and a guy from the staff came to take their order. Ru ordered a bunch of food without any hesitation while Qin Qu gaped at her, not knowing what to think.
"What about the drinks?" The staff member asked politely.
"Just bring some wine," Xiao Zhi-Ren told the name of the wine and he left the room.
Xiao Zhi-Yuan was the first one to put on a song and took the mike. He had put on a song of his choice but Ru wasn't listening to him. She used her superpower of shutting the world around as she focused on eating.
"Mr. Xie, won't you sing?" Qin Qu asked rather reluctantly.
"I don't know any song. How can I sing it?" Ru answered to his question sincerely.
Qin Qu looked askance as he asked, "You have never heard any song?"
"Huh? I have heard obviously. In this age and time, you get to hear music everywhere you go. I just don't pay attention to them since I'm not interested." Qin Qu still wasn't very convinced but seeing the look in her eyes, he had to believe.
"Why don't you take some wine?" Qin Qu was about to pour some wine for her when she stopped him.
"Don't bother. I don't drink wine."
"Why is that?" Xiao Zhi-Ren asked the question, looking at her curiously.
Ru sighed heavily saying, "I have my reasons. Excuse me for a moment," she excused herself and came out in the empty hallways.
Finding a silent corner which had glass walls looking over the skyscrapers of the city, she pulled out a pack of cigarettes. She bit a stick of cigarette between her lips and lit it up before taking a puff.
Leaning her head against the wall, she thought about why she didn't drink wine? Once upon a time, she used to love wine. Especially the peach wine brewed by her grandfather. But then she started avoiding the wine. She puffed out rings of smoke and closed her eyes losing herself in memories.
*Flashback*
"Put young master Ru on the ice blocks," the booming authoritative voice made everyone present cower back a bit. But two people still came up to teenage Ru's side.
"I have legs. I'll just go down myself." Ru stopped the two boys from touching her. She didn't look aggrieved or sad. In fact, there was no visible expression on her face as she took off her shoes and stood on the ice block barefoot. She felt her body being bit by the freezing feeling but she still didn't hiss.
"Kneel!" She looked up at her father's raging face and kneeled down on the ice block. "Pull up your sleeves!" The next order was heard and she had to obey. She knew the next part herself, so, she stretched out her arms.
She was about 16 years old at that time when she stole some wine from her grandfather's courtyard but was caught by her father. Obviously, it wasn't her first time doing it but somehow it became the first time when she was caught. She called it her rotten luck.
It certainly was rotten luck since her father who was the patriarch of the clan punished her severely. When she stretched her bare arms, her father asked his subordinate to thrash her with a wicker cane a hundred times.
All the blows were made on her forearms and by the time he was done, Ru's forearms were covered in blood and she could barely feel her arms. Her father looked at her calm face and walked away shaking his head.
There wasn't a single tear that dropped from her eyes but the ones watching had pitiful looks in their eyes. She didn't care. It wasn't the first punishment and it definitely wasn't going to be the last. She tried to stand up but her body rolled down to a side because of the numbness caused by the ice.
This time she didn't try to stand up too soon. She laid on the ground with her face up and lifted her arms slowly to blow on them. Seeing that it wasn't effective, she dropped her arms to the ground. "Young master, let me help you to your courtyard." A young disciple came up to offer his help but Ru shook her head.
"Aye! If I can't even bear this much pain then how will I be able to become your next leader?" Her dignity would never allow her to take help. Also, she was aware that if she took the help that disciple will be punished as well. And she would never allow that to happen.
It took a while before she could feel a bit of sensation in her legs and with much effort, she managed to stand up. Stumbling, falling, rolling somehow she finally reached her courtyard. She was sweating buckets by the time she walked inside. She lost all her strength to walk and fell down to the ground. Since there was no-one in her courtyard, she didn't care about how long she stayed on the ground.
She had just closed her eyes when she heard a voice, "Look at this weak person. How is he gonna take over the legacy of our clan?" She instantly opened her eyes to look at her mother's displeased face. "Why are you down there? Get up already!"
Ru groaned inwardly and stood up to cup her fists to greet the clan matriarch with respect. "Go and lay down." Ru nodded at her command and went under the shade to lay down on a bamboo mat. Her mother sat down beside her and put some herbal paste on her arms.
"Are you happy by being a rebellion like this?" Ru shifted her eyes to see her father glaring at her.
"I just stole a bit of wine," Ru replied innocently.
"Do you think I punished you for stealing wine?" Her father's tone got louder making her want to bury a hole to hide inside. "Ru, how can you break the rules again and help someone outside of the clan?"
Hearing his words, she realized what he meant. Because of her best friend, she used her resources and authority as the young master of the clan to help a girl in hiding her past. It wasn't a big deal, was it? Well, it was! And she knew it. She was not allowed to keep contact with the outside world and yet she broke the rule time and again.
"I don't care that you used your authority. But let me remind you, the way you want to spread happiness will only leave you emptyhanded. Because the people who sell happiness are often left with nothing for themselves." With these words, her father left her courtyard.
"Stop challenging your father's patience. He doesn't have much of it." Her mother spoke gently and left after applying the medicine to her wounds.
*Flashback Ends*
Coming back to the present, Ru could only scoff at her own self. "Father, you were right. I'm really emptyhanded. For the world, I have everything one could wish for; money, and power. But I don't have anything left in my heart that could make me happy." She whispered softly to herself. "I'm not even left with the courage to face you again."
She didn't stop drinking because of this event rather she left it because no wine ever appealed to her the way her grandfather' did. She even tried to brew it herself but she couldn't bring out the taste that she desired badly.
She never hated her parents for being cold to her. She knew they loved her but their way of showing that love was peculiar. Instead of loving her like a normal child, they raised her to be the strongest child since she was anything but normal.