Love these books .
There's something really profound happening with the concept of hunger in this passage and I can't stop thinking about it. Xiao Tuanzi has literally just come back to her birth family after years of being lost, and what do we see? She's starving. Not just physically—though the ten pounds of meat disappearing is pretty telling—but existentially. She's a child who has been surviving on her own, learning to meditate and practice skills, living in a temple, and now she's in a home full of people who don't know how to feed her properly. The fact that she pats her belly and says she's only sixty or seventy percent full while everyone else thinks she's eaten an impossible amount? That's not just comic relief. That's a child whose baseline for 'enough' is completely different from everyone around her. And then there's the meditation angle—'eating too much would make her sleepy during meditation.' Her master taught her discipline, self-control, restraint. But Mother Shen hears 'cleaning' and assumes abuse. The gap between what Xiao Tuanzi actually experienced and what her adoptive mother imagines is heartbreaking. It speaks to this bigger theme about how we project our own understanding onto children's suffering. The parents are hiding the truth about the switched children to protect Mengqi, but in doing so they're also failing to truly see Qingxuan. They see a hungry child who needs food, not a child who needs to be known. The food on the table is abundant—'easily over ten pounds'—but is it enough? That's the real question, isn't it?
Such a good and juicy book. I loved their connection. I hated what he did to her but I guess it made theirove stronger
kudos author for this beautiful write up. I love it from beginning to the end
Please don't let her end up with Mason...
My days are not complete without reading a chapter from this book. The obsession is so trilling! I need more than one chapter update.
So far so good!
I want this story to continue, sad to know it has ended
Please update more. Love it
Awesome this was really a great book and put together well. Kudos to the author and I will be looking for more of your work
pourquoi il n'y a pas la version française ...
The first chapter had me almost crying for Valerie. Good job author, I can't wait to read more chapters.