The wind cleared the dense fog in the mountains at dawn, and the appearance of the mountain village gradually took on color under the early sun.
From the depths of the village, a sharp voice of a woman cursing a child echoed from a house with green tiles.
Tao Ti's twin sister fell down by herself, and when Tao Ti tried to help her up, she was pushed away by Little Fatty.
The five-year-old girl was plump like a ball, a stark contrast to the skinny Tao Ti.
With her barely open little eyes, the chubby girl glared and shouted fiercely, "Don't touch me! Broom Star, get lost!"
"What happened? Oh dear, my sweet baby, how did you end up on the ground?"
The village woman, who had been cooking, ran out from the kitchen and rushed over to her daughter who had fallen.
A boy, eating a Lollipop, pointed at Tao Ti with his chubby finger, "Mommy, she pushed sister down!"
"Right! It was her who pushed me!" The chubby girl also pointed at Tao Ti and yelled.
"I didn't..." Tao Ti tried to explain, but the woman didn't give her the chance to speak.
As the woman came out of the kitchen, she happened to be holding a rolling pin, and she raised it high to strike Tao Ti.
Tao Ti turned and ran, saying as she did, "Mommy, it really wasn't me who pushed sister, she fell down by herself..."
"Still denying it! Looks like you're asking for it!"
Being only six years old, Tao Ti couldn't outrun an adult. Just as she was about to be caught, she ducked her small frame and crawled through a dog hole to escape.
The village woman charged out the door, but Tao Ti was already far away, with the woman chasing and cursing her while brandishing the rolling pin.
Tao Ti was small and always picked narrow paths to run on. With her experience in escaping, she quickly lost the woman.
Her stomach made a rumbling noise, and Tao Ti licked her lips, but she dared not go home. She could only wander aimlessly around the village, waiting to return only when Grandpa came home.
In the entire household, only Grandpa was kind to her.
But Grandpa's health... was getting worse.
Lately, he always held her hand and told her, "Tao Ti, what will you do if Grandpa is gone? Actually, you... oh, never mind, let's not talk about it, it's such a sin!"
Every time Grandpa would stop halfway and never finished what he wanted to say.
"Hey kid, wait!"
Suddenly, a shout came from behind.
Tao Ti stopped and looked back curiously.
It was a beautiful sister wearing a lace dress, dressed up like a doll.
Celebrity Manli's task on the variety show was to find the old man who made sugar paintings in the village.
But she had been searching the village for half a day and hadn't seen a single stall.
"Kid, is there anyone who sells sugar paintings in this village?"
Tao Ti nodded.
Manli cheered, "Finally, a clue!"
"Gurgle..." A growling stomach interrupted.
Tao Ti hurriedly covered her stomach in embarrassment.
"Hungry? If you take me to find the old man who sells sugar paintings, I'll buy you one!"
Tao Ti's voice was milky and soft, "I'll take you to find Grandpa, you don't have to buy me a sugar painting."
Tao Ti led Manli to find the old man and squatted down to watch him make a sugar painting.
Manli handed the sugar painting to her, "This is your reward for showing me the way."
Tao Ti fumbled her small hands together apprehensively, "I don't want the sugar painting, I want something else."
Under everyone's puzzled gaze, Tao Ti raised her eyes, her gaze hopeful, "I want sister to like me, even just a little bit!"
Her parents, brother, sister, and relatives didn't like her, which made her feel she might be an unlikable child.
She thought, if this beautiful sister could like her, maybe that would mean... she was likable too?
Manli locked eyes with the little girl, as if bewitched.
The camera also captured the girl's eyes.
They were striking eyes, encircled with a rim of pitch-black, and the depths revealed a deep blue, like a starry night sky, dazzling and vast, encompassing everything.
It was involuntary, the shock these eyes provoked in a person.