The little one's purse connects the two worlds, turning a desolate village into a paradise.

It seems we can only wait for Grandpa Village Chief to hatch the eggs.

As Ya Ya was about to turn around and walk out, she suddenly heard someone shout from the side:

"Give me a beggar's chicken, please."

Beggar's Chicken? What kind of chicken is that?

Is it a chicken that can make a sound like a flower or a chicken with flowers growing on its body?

Curious, she turned her head toward the direction of the sound and saw a large tin cart with clumps of dried mud piled on it.

"How much is it?" the young lady who wanted beggar's chicken asked again.

"thirty."

The sprout stretches its neck; can even a mud clod sell for thirty yuan?

The aunt, dressed in dark blue, took out a transparent bag and scooped out a large clump of dried mud. "Here, take this. It smells good and is very hot."

"Should we break it apart?" the aunt asked, holding up the dried mud.

"fall."

Then Ya Ya saw the aunt in the blue dress squatting on the ground and banging the big lump of mud in her hand on the ground.

If Xiao Shuanzi were here, he would definitely love it; he adores playing in the mud.

The mud clump cracked open, and a burst of hot air shot out.

It was wrapped in a layer of crumpled silver paper, the same color as the thermos my aunt had given me before.

Ya Ya moved even closer.

This doesn't look like a chicken at all.

After the silver cardboard shell was torn open, a fragrant steam wafted out. Underneath the paper was a dark yellow layer. The aunt continued to tear it open with her fingers.

When the layer of dark yellow leaves was torn away, Ya Ya's eyes widened—

Inside this lump of mud, there was actually a whole chicken—a whole chicken, golden brown, fragrant, and glistening with oil!

The aroma wafted straight into her nose, and Ya Ya couldn't help but secretly swallow.

Then I saw the young lady take the wrapped chicken, wave the bright cube at a green piece of paper on the aunt's car, put on the transparent gloves the aunt gave her, and eagerly tear off a chicken leg.

The golden-brown chicken skin was roasted until crispy, with oil droplets dripping down the bone, making it look shiny and fragrant, and tender.

As if it had a mind of its own, Ya Ya's little feet moved over little by little.

Her eyes were fixed on the steaming, oily chicken leg, and she secretly pursed her lips again and again.

YaYa wants to buy one too!

On a whim, Ya Ya dragged her little cart to the aunt in the blue dress and said, "Auntie, I want a beggar's chicken too."

The aunt looked down and saw a tiny, short child standing in front of the cart, whose speech was quite clear.

"Little friend, did you come here by yourself?"

Ya Ya nodded and repeated, "Auntie, I want a beggar's chicken too."

"Okay, here you go. Do you want it smashed? Big flame or small flame?"

Ya Ya didn't understand. She glanced at the young lady who had just walked away and said crisply, "I want to be like that young lady."

The aunt understood immediately, quickly cracked one open for her, put it in a bag, and handed it over.

"Be careful, it's hot."

Ya Ya reached out and grabbed the little handles on the bag; it was quite heavy. She carefully opened the stroller lid to put it inside.

The cart was already piled high with fish and meat.

"Hey, don't put cooked and raw food together, they'll mix flavors. Here, let me hang it on your handlebars for you."

When the aunt saw that the stroller was full of raw meat, her eyes widened and she quickly helped.

After hanging it up, he added, "Go home early, fish don't keep well."

"Thank you, Auntie." Ya Ya thanked her aunt obediently. After thinking for a moment, she looked up and asked, "Auntie, do you know where I can buy chicks? And salt too?"

The stroller is getting a bit heavy now, and I might not have enough time to find it myself.

Ya Ya mustered up her courage and asked the seemingly kind aunt.

"Live chicks? Those are hard to come by. They're usually picked out and sold by the village elders occasionally. I'm afraid there aren't any today. As for salt, see that shop with the red sign over there? That's a general store; they have some there."

Ya Ya looked in that direction and saw it was just a few steps away. She thanked her aunt again and pushed her stroller over.

As soon as Ya Ya entered the general store, it looked familiar.

It's a bit like Uncle Manager's two-dollar store, with rows of shelves, but this store is much smaller, with only three rows of shelves.

"Hello uncle, I'd like to buy salt."

A childish voice came from inside. The shopkeeper smiled, got up, and got a few packets of salt for Ya Ya. "Salt is two yuan a packet. How many packets do you want? Anything else?"

Ya Ya looked at the exquisitely packaged salt bags on the counter, reached out and took one. She rubbed the bag with her little hands; inside were tiny grains.

Such good salt, such a big bag, only two yuan?

Where they live, salt costs tens of coins per kilogram!

And it wasn't thin like that; it was a large, grayish mass with small grains of sand and soil.

Every time my mother-in-law went to exchange salt, she had to crush it bit by bit with small stones afterward.

Such good salt for only two yuan?

Ya Ya thought for a moment, "Five packs, please!"

Buy more, you can also pickle vegetables and dried small fish to eat.

After paying ten yuan, Ya Ya looked up at the sky and then at the shop.

"Uncle, do you have any sauce?" It's getting late. If I can buy it here, I won't have to look for sauce next time.

"Yes, what kind of sauce do you want? Soy sauce? Or our Northeastern soybean paste? Doubanjiang (fermented broad bean paste)? Sweet bean sauce?"

Ya Ya was completely bewildered; how could there be so many kinds...?

"Can...can I see them all?"

With nothing else to do, the owner cheerfully brought over several kinds of sauces from the shop.

A bottle of dark brown soy sauce, three festive red and yellow sauce packets with lids, and a chubby red jar.

"This is cooked sauce, so it has more ingredients and is a bit spicy. This is soybean paste; those who like it sweet can buy this. This jar is Pixian chili bean paste, which has a salty and savory flavor, and almost every household keeps some on hand. And this is a very classic soybean paste."

Ya Ya stared at the row of bottles and bags in front of her, finding each one novel and interesting.

She'd seen soy sauce before; her aunt had given her a small bottle last time. Aunt Lin would add a little when she cooked, and the dishes would smell amazing. She definitely wanted this one.

The rest...

Ya Ya looked at this and that, but couldn't choose. They were all unopened, and she couldn't smell them.

"Uncle, how much are these? Are they expensive?"

"It's not expensive at all, I'll just charge you twenty-five yuan here."

Twenty-five yuan, that's a lot.

Ya Ya pouted, no longer hesitating, she'd take it all if she had the money!

"Uncle, I want them all. Could you please put them here for me?" she said, opening the lid of her stroller.

After buying salt and soy sauce.

The car, which was already heavy, became even heavier now.

Ya Ya gripped the handlebars tightly, pushed hard with her calves, and leaned her body slightly forward due to the effort.

Fortunately, the road was flat, and the wheels rolled steadily.