"Mother, why are you up?" Zhao Xiaocao asked softly, her voice somewhat eerie.

Startled, Cheng gasped softly. After recognizing Zhao Xiaocao, she rolled her eyes in exasperation. "You brat, what are you doing out here in the middle of the night?!"

Zhao Xiaocao felt wronged by the scolding. She had only gotten up to use the outhouse, and she never expected to run into her mother.

"What are you standing there for? Get back to your room!"

Zhao Xiaocao returned to her room feeling wronged. She was truly unlucky to have such a mother!

Sometimes, judging from her attitude towards herself and her brothers, Zhao Xiaocao even doubted whether she was her biological daughter.

Cheng walked towards the outhouse, while Zhao Xiaocao lay on the bed, getting angrier and angrier.

Suddenly, as if she had thought of something, she quickly got up.

Zhao Xiaocao's intuition told her that something was wrong with her mother. Because, according to her observations, her mother rarely got up to go to the outhouse at night.

Besides, with such a water shortage right now, and everyone only having so little water to drink, where would all that urine come from!

After getting dressed, Zhao Xiaocao secretly got up again.

She first went to the outhouse, but found no one there. Then she checked her parents' room, but still no one was there!

Zhao Xiaocao quickly chased after her out of the courtyard. In the moonlight, she saw her mother sneaking towards a grove of trees.

Driven by curiosity, Zhao Xiaocao secretly followed them.

Cheng arrived at a grove of trees in the village, where there were two men, both from Chengjiazhuang.

It turned out that Cheng had secretly told her family that Changfeng Village still had water. The two men in question were Cheng's elder brother and nephew.

The two dared not come to ask for water during the day, so they could only sneak over to Cheng's house at night. They arranged to meet at the same place every night in the middle of the night.

When Cheng saw her nephew Cheng Zixun and her elder brother Cheng Li, she complained angrily.

"Uncle, what exactly happened? Didn't we say this matter shouldn't be leaked? How dare you bring people to steal water at night? If our village chief finds out, how can my whole family stay in this village anymore!"

The mere mention of this incident fills Cheng with rage; for the past two days, her heart has been in her throat, and she's been feeling incredibly miserable.

She did this without telling her family. If they found out, her mother-in-law would skin her alive.

Cheng Li and Cheng Zixun were completely bewildered by the scolding. "Auntie, are you mistaken? It was just my dad and me who came. We kept this a secret from the elders in Chengjia Village."

"Yeah, girl, what happened? When I came here today, I saw so many people patrolling your village. I almost sneaked in myself," Cheng Li asked as well.

This time, it was Cheng's turn to be a little confused. "What? Those thieves from last night weren't brought by you?"

"What thief?" Cheng Li and Cheng Zixun asked quickly.

The water supply in Changfeng Village is running low. With so many disaster victims outside, what if they all come here to steal water? That would be disastrous!

Cheng was relieved and recounted in detail how thieves had broken into the village and stolen water the previous night.

Finally, he didn't forget to give a word of advice, "You guys better not come these next few days, lest you get caught. Take this water back with you and use it sparingly; it should last you a few days."

As she spoke, Madam Cheng poured the water from a wooden bucket into the earthenware jar that Cheng Zixun had brought.

Cheng Li and Cheng Zixun nodded and slipped away secretly when no one was looking.

Zhao Xiaocao watched all of this from a short distance away. "Wow, my good mother really knows how to do things."

Ever since the family split up, she has been openly taking things from her parents' home to her parents' home.

A few days ago they gave me two feet of cloth, and today they gave me the most precious water.

Zhao Xiaocao disliked her two uncles very much. Her eldest uncle was alright, but her second uncle was a local thug and a disgusting scoundrel.

Zhao Xiaocao suddenly had a brilliant idea.

She stood guard at the gate of the courtyard and kept it tightly closed.

When Cheng returned in a hurry carrying a wooden bucket, Zhao Xiaocao asked expressionlessly, "Why is Mother carrying a bucket when she gets up at night? Don't tell me it's to fetch water."

Cheng was startled again, and this time she was truly furious.

She immediately slapped Zhao Xiaocao across the face, "You brat, is this how you talk to your mother?"

The sharp "smack" was quite loud in the quiet night. Zhao Xiaocao's face turned to the side from the blow.

However, she seemed to be used to it and continued, "I saw my mother secretly delivering water to my grandmother's house."

Zhao Xiaocao deliberately used the word "I" here, instead of "俺".

Because she noticed that both Zhao Denglong and Zhao Wanzi used the word "I," as if saying it that way would make them sound like scholars and not so unsophisticated.

Moreover, Brother Zhao Yan also used the word "I" when he spoke.

At this moment, Madam Cheng did not notice Zhao Xiaocao's subtle change. She was furious and embarrassed that her daughter had discovered her secret.

"You brat, what's wrong with secretly giving your grandma's a little water? Didn't you eat your grandma's food when you were little?" Cheng said irritably.

In the middle of the night, she was absolutely driven crazy by her daughter.

Mentioning this only fueled Zhao Xiaocao's grudge. "Is Mother referring to the time when I was four years old, visiting my maternal grandmother's house, and standing by watching their whole family eat?"

"If I hadn't been lucky enough to sneak some food, I probably would have starved to death in Chengjiazhuang!"

Zhao Xiaocao still gets angry about it; it was her first time visiting her maternal grandmother's house. All her uncles, brothers, and sisters—the whole family—were eating there.

But her maternal grandmother was really harsh, saying that she wasn't a member of the Cheng family and had never worked for the Cheng family, so she didn't deserve to eat.

She finally understood where her mother's harshness came from; she was practically a carbon copy of her grandmother.

Therefore, Zhao Xiaocao never set foot in Chengjiazhuang again.

Feeling guilty, Cheng turned her face away and quickly changed the subject, "Go, go, go to your room and go to sleep. Don't get in my way."

As he spoke, he nudged Zhao Xiaocao.

However, nothing came of it.

"What? You're determined to go against your mother today, aren't you?"

Zhao Xiaocao stood firmly in front of the door, preventing Cheng from entering.

"I want to study!" Zhao Xiaocao took a deep breath and finally said what she had kept in her heart for so long without finding a suitable opportunity to say.

God knows how envious and jealous she felt every day as she watched Zhao Fengnian go to and from school.

She's much smarter than Zhao Fengnian, that blockhead. If she were to study, she would definitely do better than him!

"What!" Cheng was shocked by Zhao Xiaocao's request.

She couldn't help but scream in a high-pitched voice, then quickly covered her mouth.

"You silly girl, you're so clueless! What's so good about studying? Does it make you eat or drink?"