A beam of light danced across Zhao Li's eyelids, waking her. She raised her left hand to block out the sun, feeling the sun's rays penetrate her hut window, giving warmth to her hand.

A howling yawn echoed through the hut, and Zhao Li felt her entire body strain as she stretched, stirring herself awake gingerly.

She pushed herself up, trying to sit up, but fell back to her padding, her muscles still stiffened.

As she lay there, she tried to smile, thinking that today would be better than yesterday, but that thought dissipated instantly with fright as she was uncertain what she would get for breakfast this morning.

The whispers of the drought being blamed on her had taken their toll on her mentally. Those words scarred her to the point of her not wanting to leave her hut.

She would've ignored it like most things her father told her to do, but this time, it was too much. Especially after not seeing her father for two months.

The loneliness was unsettling... something she was unaccustomed to and did not plan to become accustomed to.

As Zhao Li continued to cradle herself in bed, she finally got enough rest. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, sat up in her padded bed, stretching her arms above her head. She birthed another wide, toothy yawn as she looked around her room, taking in the familiar surroundings.

To her left was an old dresser her stepmother gave her after her father demanded one for her. Her broom sat propped up against the dresser for when she needed to tidy up. I have to clean up before my stepmother arrives, Zhao Li complained.

On the right, three robes hung from nails embedded in her hut walls. The robes were of varying colors: black, purple, and yellow. The most frustrating thing about the robes, though, was that they weren't in a hanfu-styled dress.

Zhao Li balled her fist in frustration, thinking of her little sister's own dresses, eight to be precise, with intricate designs of flowers, cranes, and anything a girl would dream of. Why couldn't she have such pretty things? Her sister was only four, while she was six herself.

As the shame finally hit Zhao Li in the form of goosebumps, she asked herself, Am I jealous? She hugged herself, cradling herself for a few seconds, trying her best to push those thoughts from her mind.

She failed.

Zhao Li wanted pretty dresses as well; she wanted to feel pretty. She wanted everyone in the village to love her, but she knew that would never happen, and that made her feel detested.

She stretched out her left hand, barely touching the edge of the mirror her father had given her before she could even speak. It was her most prized possession.

Once she got two fingers on the edge, she pulled it to herself, held it upright, and looked in the mirror.

Zhao Li's lips curled into an unconscious smile as she looked at herself. She saw her emerald-accented eyes, with thick eyebrows. Her lips were fluffy for a child, which made the pinkness of her lips more pronounced than other children of the village. However, her most defining feature was her puce-colored skin, which made her look alien compared to everyone within the village... even her father.

As she stared at herself in the mirror, tears began to flow down her cheeks despite her innocent smile. She did this every morning and still didn't understand why her skin was so different from everyone's.

"Am I the demon they say I am?" Zhao Li asked herself for the thousandth time. She looked at herself until the tears finally dried up. She steeled herself, then placed the mirror back on the dresser.

The tears flowed again like a waterfall; she tried her best, but no matter how hard she tried, the tears wouldn't stop.

An hour passed, and Zhao Li finally forced herself out of bed, the hairs at the back of her neck stiffening as she rose when she realized the sun was hitting her.

The grogginess from her eyes slowly dissipated, and she stretched out her arms. She groaned another yawn and smacked her lips, feeling like she'd been awake the first time. "Humph... it seems you're finally awake," Jiang Li said stiffly.

Zhao Li's heart skipped a beat; she jumped out of her bed and bowed deeply, closing her eyes as she did so. "Good morning, Mother Jiang," she said softly.

"Humph... Mother Jiang? Am I not good enough to just call Mother?"

"That is what Father told me to call you."

"Humph... you do everything he says, but yet you can't listen to a word I say? Does that make sense to you... despite you calling me 'Mother'?"

Zhao Li didn't know how to answer, so instead of vilifying her stepmother into whipping her, she stood there silently. "I'm sorry, Mother Jiang. I don't understand the question. So please forgive me for being unable to answer."

"That's right!" Jiang Li snapped. "You're as smart as your father..." Jiang Li harrumphed with contempt.

Zhao Li bit her tongue, trying her best not to ball her hands into fists. She hated how her stepmother always spoke ill of her father behind his back, but she mostly hated how she would treat him differently in person.

"Raise your head, child De-," Jiang Li said, stopping herself before the words could come out.

Zhao Li raised her head slowly while her shoulders slumped. She didn't meet her stepmother's eyes, but she saw how elegantly she was dressed.

Jiang Li wore a green opaque hanfu with yellow stitching. It wasn't as intricately designed as she was used to seeing her stepmother in, but the silk in her inner robe made her regal. "Look me in the eye, child," she huffed.

Zhao Li raised her eyes to her stepmother's own, smiling as prettily as she could, trying to soften her stepmother's steel. It never worked, but her father told her to keep trying, so she did as he suggested.

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Jiang Li was the prettiest woman within the Purple Mist Valley, making her the prettiest woman Zhao Li had ever seen. Her eyes were as dark as the night sky, and her lips were thin. Her nose was small, with a slight hook at the end, but her heart-shaped face made her seem as though she was a fairy, despite the wrinkles at the ends of her mouth.

As her stepmother's lips stiffened from her smile, Zhao Li's heart skipped a beat. It was a natural reflex because it usually meant she had done something wrong.

"Do you know what time it is?"

"It is early in the day, Mother Jiang," Zhao Li said.

"It is not early in the day; it is midday!"

Fright crept into Zhao Li's eyes as she swallowed deeply, trying to stop the butterflies from swirling within her stomach. "I..."

A scowl appeared on Jiang Li's face, stopping Zhao Li from uttering another word. "I heard you've been complaining about your breakfast," Jiang Li said, her voice low and dangerous.

Zhao Li's heart skipped a beat. She didn't want to lie, but she knew that telling the truth would only get her into more trouble. "I..."

"I... what?" Jiang Li barked. "Have you no conscience? We are in a drought! Everything available is what you will get. Do you not know of two boys dying of starvation in the Iron Stone Village?!"

"Of-f c-co—"

"Then you will eat what is given to you!" Jiang Li snapped, looking at the loaf of bread sitting on the dresser.

"Yes, Mother Jiang."

"Good..."

Jiang Li lifted up her dress and began strutting towards the door. As a hollow creak groaned out as she opened the door, Jiang Li looked back at Zhao Li, licked her lips into a devilish smile, and blinked her eyes twice before speaking. "You'll be cleaning this pigsty today, do you understand?"

"Yes, Mother Jiang," Zhao Li answered.

She then harrumphed as she shut the door to Zhao Li's hut with a click, leaving the little girl to swell her eyes in tears, just as she had done earlier in the morning.

Zhao Li allowed her tears to run once more, but not for long. She knew if she finished her chores early, she'd still have time to play.

She wiped her tears from her cheeks, then knelt down, feeling the boards grate her knees slightly. She winced for a second, then began rolling her bed padding.

Once she was finished, she tucked it next to her dresser and sat cross-legged, doing her best imitation of her father while he sat in that old decrepit cave.

Zhao Li took the bread from her plate and took a bite, feeling the tangy taste of the crust explode across her teeth while her teeth began to ache because she took a bigger bite than normal. It's harder this morning than it was yesterday, she thought before swallowing deeply.

The bread didn't go down as smoothly as Zhao Li had hoped. When she took her second munch, she allowed her saliva to break the bread down this time and swallowed deeply again. This time the bread didn't scrape her throat.

She then drank the cold tea that her stepmother had left her. She scooped up the broom and began cleaning her hut. After she finished sweeping, she took off her nightgown, placing it on the nail farthest from her robes.

She unhooked her black robe from the nail and dressed herself, trying to remember every hook and knot her stepmother had taught her.

Light shot through the hut door, almost blinding her; she wasn't used to it. She raised her hand, blocking the sun, then walked through the door, squinting as she felt the sun's full embrace.

Zhao Li's hut was located on the western section of the Jiang Clan's siheyuan. It was easily the biggest residence within the Purple Mist Valley, but her hut was the smallest of any space found there.

She walked across the grass and jumped on the stone path. Two servants carrying trays spotted her and turned around, heading in the opposite direction, making Zhao Li conscious of where she stood within the siheyuan.

"I hate it here," she whispered. "At least they speak to me in the mountains!"

Not allowing that feeling to sink in, she stormed through the pathway, passing the garden her stepmother usually lingered in with her little sister. Once she passed the garden, she headed towards the main gate. "Where are you going, Young Miss?" a guard asked, watching her heading towards the gate.

"The farm."

"Your father has forbidden you from working the farm," he said firmly.

"Mother Jiang has ordered me there," she said defiantly, folding her arms.

"Oh... bu—"

Zhao Li ignored the guard and stormed to the door, standing in front of it with her fist balled. The guard hustled toward the main door and pulled it free, letting her walk through.

As the main door opened, the villagers' eyes all rested on her, making her feel like a sore thumb. She couldn't help but notice the way people looked at her. Some looked away, while others gave her curious glances. She knew they were talking about her, and it made her feel even more self-conscious.

Despite the discomfort of being watched and talked about, Zhao Li kept her head held high and continued walking towards the farm. She knew it was her duty to follow her stepmother's orders, even if it went against her father's wishes.

As she arrived at the farm, she saw the pigs gallivanting in their sties without care, but mostly taken care of. "I don't have anything to do; everything's done!" she celebrated, only to realize that one of the piglets was missing. "There's supposed to be four; there's only three."

Zhao Li walked up to the sty; her foot got stuck in the mud, almost toppling her over. She rebalanced herself by spreading her arms and shifting her weight to the opposite side. "I hate this," she said softly. "I hate it!"

"We all do, missy, but someone has to do the work!" Old Man Fu said. Zhao Li's lips curled into a smile as she turned right, watching Old Man Fu sitting atop the fence in the distance. "Old Man Fu!"

"Aiya, careful, Young Miss, or you'll fall. We can't have you damaging any more robes, or Mistress Li will give you a wiping."

Zhao Li shuddered instantly and instinctively grabbed below, remembering the pulsing sensation of the last wiping she had received. She nodded and smiled shyly. "I don't see one of the piglets."

"Aiya... me neither," he said ruefully.

"Old Man Fu..."

"Young Miss..."

"If one of the piglets is missing, why aren't you looking for it?"

"...aren't you the one that's supposed to be cleaning up the sty today, Young Miss?"

"Tha—" Zhao Li tried to retort but remembered it was her duty to clean up the pig sty today. It was already cleaned; the only person who would've cleaned it for her was Old Man Fu.

She turned back to Old Man Fu and smiled, giving him a curtsy. "Thank you, Old Man Fu."

"Now, there's no need for that. I'm no lord. Just run along and play. I'll tell the Young Mistress you already cleaned up and disappeared. How does that sound?"

"You mean it?"

"Of course!" he said. "Now go."

"But what about the piglet?"

"You let me worry about him. That rascal has been finding ways to escape the sty since he weaned off his mother's teat. Once I find his little secret hole, I'll plug it. Now you run along and enjoy yourself."

Zhao Li jumped out of the mud, feeling her boots almost sliding off her feet. She landed on the ground and sprinted out of the farm and into the forest, lips smiling from ear to ear, as if she wasn't just crying... but mostly happy.

"Then what am I supposed to do?"

Zhao Li made her way into the village and began climbing tree after tree. Whenever she jumped down, her hair ruffled in the wind, making her feel elated each time.

As she made her way up the tallest Cathaya tree, her lips curled into a smile as she thought of how much her father would beg her to come down from this height.

It wasn't that she didn't understand why he was scared, but she just loved for him to catch her when she leapt from the tree.

The broken glass sparkles of the lake made her squint despite her sWenlding her eyes. A surge of wind swept across the forest, sending goosebumps across Zhao Li's back and chest, effectively stealing the warmth from her hands.

Zhao Li jumped from the branch and landed with a huge thud, sending a shockwave of pain through her knees. She shrieked from the pain but ignored it as she limped past the lake.

After five minutes of walking, the pain finally subsided. Once it did, Zhao Li began to run, slowly at first, but within two minutes... she began to sprint, feeling the heat from her exertion race across her body, draining her of her energy.

As she ran, she tried to focus on the positive aspects of her life. She had a loving father, her own hut, and Grandfather Xiaobo, Aunty Lin, and Little Qing.

These were the few things she had to look forward to. Every day, it bothered her how the villagers treated her as though she didn't exist. It made her lonely, but most of all... it made her want to have one friend.