The morning sun quietly lit up the night sky of early spring. In the courtyard, chickens began to crow with their necks stretched out. Yu Xiaocao's older twin sister, Yu Xiaolian, quietly dressed herself.   

　　Yu Xiaocao slept a lot during the day, so she was immediately stirred awake by her older sister's movement. She rubbed her eyes, looked through the window paper, and noticed that it was still very early outside. She muttered, "Why are you waking up so early?"

　　Yu Xiaolian yawned as she put on a jacket that was covered with patches. She glanced at Madam Liu, who was sleeping on the kang bed, and whispered, "Did I wake you up? Mother slept really late yesterday. I'll do more work and let her rest some more. It's still early, so you should sleep a little more …"

　　Xiaocao stared at this young girl's thin back. She was only an eight year old child. In modern times, she would just be an elementary school kid who was still acting like a spoiled child in front of her parents. However, she was already one of the major contributors in this family.

　　In the courtyard, their grandmother began screaming again, "What time is it? Why haven't you started cooking yet?! Don't think that you can't do whatever you want just because there's a patient in your family!"

　　This person was also someone who strategically chose her victims. She knew that Madam Liu had a soft personality and Yu Hai was an obedient son. Thus, she was able to grasp all of them within her hands. She was probably somewhat worried about Old Yu, so she treated them slightly better when the men are home.

　　Yu Xiaocao frowned with annoyance when she heard Madam Zhang shouting early in the morning again. She had a biased grandmother and her eldest aunt was always nitpicking on them. Furthermore, she also has a greedy and lazy older cousin who was always bullying them… In her previous life, she had raised her younger brother and sister up all by herself. Even though they were in a difficult situation, but they had never experienced such grievances.

　　For these past few days, besides doing heavy household ch.o.r.es, Madam Liu also had to take care of her daughter at night. Thus, she barely had any time to sleep. Her body had originally been weak and she was so thin that she barely had any flesh on her body. Moreover, her face was so pale that there didn't seem to be a trace of blood on her face. She also had dark shadows under her eyes.

　　Madam Liu hastily stood up when she heard the screaming outside. However, when she got off the bed, she staggered for a few steps before steadying herself.  

　　Yu Xiaocao hastily got off the kang bed to support her mother, helped her sit on the bed, and said, "Mother, your health doesn't seem that well either. You should rest some more. They won't starve just because you didn't cook for a day! If you got sick, then father would be heartbroken…"

　　Based on her observation, her new father, Yu Hai, not only spoiled his children, but he also loved his wife dearly. If he was at home, he would always rush to take over his wife's duties. However, he was usually out fis.h.i.+ng, selling fish, and hunting every day. Thus, he seldom spent time at home. Otherwise, Madam Liu's health wouldn't have deteriorated so much.    

　　"You silly girl! Where did you learn to speak like that?!" A rosy blush emerged on Liu Muyun's wan face.