Director Song's house was built quickly. The house, with its blue tile roof, looked square from the outside, and consisted of four bright rooms arranged in a row.

Like the other houses in the village, it also has a large courtyard.

In the past, the villagers thought He Tiantian's four mud-brick houses were already quite impressive. Now, with these tiled houses rising from the ground, He Tiantian's four houses simply can't compare.

No one in the village had ever seen such a beautiful blue-tiled house. Every day, I would deliberately linger there at the village entrance, filled with envy.

Zhao Yanniang usually loves to join in the fun. She and several other women from the village had just returned from looking for food in the back mountain.

Seeing this row of beautiful blue-tiled houses, I couldn't help but stop in my tracks.

"Wow, when will my family be able to live in such a magnificent house? I heard that an old lady from an official family lives here."

Sister-in-law Wang replied with a smile, "Sister-in-law, you'll be here soon. When your son Yan'er passes the imperial examination and becomes an official, you'll be an official's wife too."

Tian was not a talkative person to begin with, and just listened quietly to Zhao Yanniang and Aunt Wang chatting.

However, she was genuinely envious from the bottom of her heart, and probably would never have such good fortune in her life.

The three people were admiring each other when He Tiantian came out of her house.

"Hey, Zhao Yanniang, Sister-in-law Wang, what are you doing here?"

Zhao Yanniang sighed and pointed to the blue-tiled house in front of her.

"I heard that Director Song is going to move here soon? Then... he must have bought this land, right?"

Zhao Yanniang's shrewd eyes darted around, and she immediately thought of something deeper. She wondered how much Zhao Tingzhang had sold the land for, and what he planned to do with the money.

He Tiantian naturally understood the meaning behind Zhao Yanniang's words, but she could pretend not to know.

She shook her head. "I haven't asked about this either. Everyone just keeps to themselves and lives their own lives. Who asks so many questions?"

Zhao Wanzi had noticed that the tomatoes in her backyard vegetable garden had mysteriously disappeared, so for several days in a row, she had Wujin and Coconut guard the garden.

That evening, the whole family gathered together for dinner.

Suddenly, the barking of black oysters and coconuts came from behind the house, followed by someone screaming.

Zhao Wanzi threw down her bowl and chopsticks and stood up excitedly.

"The scoundrel has finally been caught."

She kicked the stool aside and rushed out of the house.

The others followed, wanting to see what was going on.

In the vegetable garden behind the house, Wujin and Coconut, each with a dog on one side, were pulling on Zhao Xiaocao's two trouser legs, trying to drag her home.

Zhao Xiaocao was always afraid of dogs, and now he was so scared that tears were about to come out.

"Don't bite me, don't bite me... Waaah, I'll never steal again."

Zhao Wanzi looked at the three tomatoes scattered on the ground and realized that the culprit was Zhao Xiaocao.

She was furious and started cursing at Zhao Xiaocao.

"Well, you little rascal, Zhao Xiaocao, you even go to school every day! Brother Zhao Yan explained it very clearly in class: stealing... stealing is wrong, it's shameful!"

Zhao Wanzi really wanted to use a quote from Zhao Yan, but she couldn't remember how he said it even after thinking for a long time.

A gentleman... what is a gentleman not?

Seeing so many people around, and realizing she couldn't escape, Zhao Xiaocao simply plopped down in the vegetable garden and admitted her mistake.

"Waaah... I was wrong, I was wrong."

Wujin and Coconut stopped dragging Zhao Xiaocao away when they saw that someone had come to their house.

He Tiantian went over to check Zhao Xiaocao's trouser leg. Fortunately, it was just a tear in her clothes, and she hadn't been bitten.

She frowned and looked down at Zhao Xiaocao.

This child is quite clever, but she's just like her cunning mother. She doesn't use her intelligence for important matters.

"Zhao Xiaocao, you've stolen vegetables more than once, haven't you?" He Tiantian questioned with a stern face.

Zhao Xiaocao has only been caught this once; she certainly doesn't want to admit to things she wasn't caught before.

"No, I've only ever stolen from here once," Zhao Xiaocao said, feigning a wronged expression.

"You'd better think carefully before you answer. One lie requires countless more to cover it up. And liars' noses grow longer..." He Tiantian threatened.

Upon hearing that her nose would grow longer, Zhao Xiaocao quickly touched her own nose.

She didn't want to become ugly, otherwise Erhua and Damao would definitely laugh at her.

Although Zhao Xiaocao was cunning, she was still just a child. He Tiantian's few words had frightened her into revealing everything.

Zhao Xiaocao explained clearly how many vegetables she had stolen on her previous two occasions.

Zhao Wanzi raised her eyebrows and looked at Zhao Xiaocao angrily.

"Say no more, pay up! Ten coins, not a penny less!"

Zhao Xiaocao was terrified when she heard that she had to pay compensation. She burst into tears, crying, "I...I don't have any money."

"Second Aunt, please, please let me off this time. If my mother finds out about the compensation, she'll definitely beat me."

As she spoke, Zhao Xiaocao lifted her sleeve. Several purplish-blue marks from being hit were clearly visible on it.

Zhao Denglong and Zhao Wanzi, who were standing nearby, were stunned. This was... too tragic.

Zhao Xiaolu and Zhao Xiaolan were quite used to the scars, because they used to be frequently beaten by their grandmother when they were at home.

The purplish-blue marks on his body were exactly the same, and sometimes the pain kept him awake all night.

Ms. Chen was unaware of the family's past relationship with Zhao Xiaocao. Upon seeing the scars, she sighed.

"Oh dear, which one is the biological mother? This must be the stepmother!"

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