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

Once the lid was lifted, the fishy smell became even stronger.

Fang Tiesheng complained that it blocked the light, so he turned on a flashlight.

The room was crammed full of things, with two whole, naked chickens crammed into the two opposite corners.

One was black-skinned and the other white-skinned, both with smooth skin and clean flesh.

The village chief pulled out two chickens and put them on the table.

Then came five bags of salt. Each bag weighed more than half a pound, and you could tell from the rustling sound that it was the same fine, white, high-quality salt as last time.

Below were several large red and yellow bags. Fang Tiesheng picked one up and glanced at the labels. "They're all sauces."

There was also a chubby jar with a red lid, and through the transparent part, you could see that it was also filled with sauce.

Finally, they fished out a damp, black bottle. It looked like the kind of soy sauce that Aunt Lin had used. The village chief took the cloth that Granny Liu used to wipe the kang (a heated brick bed) and wiped the bottle clean. He then placed the bottles on the table one by one.

Looking down further, wow!

It's all fish.

The most conspicuous thing was a large fish with white, shimmering scales, thicker than his arm, its eyes rolled back, looking like it was dead from lack of water and pressure.

There were also a few yellowish, slippery, scaleless fish nearby, and a bag full of small fish about the thickness of a finger.

None of the people present recognized these fish.

The village chief quickly went outside and brought back a large red plastic bucket, filled it with some water, and put the fish in one by one.

The biggest one probably weighs two or three pounds, and it's very meaty.

Several yellow fish, weighing around eight ounces each, were taken out.

The small white fish in that bag were completely different from the ones we usually caught in the mountain streams. They were white and flat, and there were quite a few of them. They were put into a separate basin.

There wasn't a single one alive; they were all completely dead.

Fang Tiesheng understood; if he hadn't died, he wouldn't have been able to bring Nannan back.

They can't take any living creatures with them, and they can't bring Nannan back either.

The village chief was a little melancholy. The egg that Nannan brought back a few days ago was still being incubated in a jar. The eggshell was smooth and there was no movement at all, but he had looked at it against the light for a long time and found that there were black spots inside.

Granny Li would flip the eggs every day and test the temperature; she took great care of them.

Previously, it was only because they couldn't take Nannan with them alive, but now it seems they can't bring her back either.

At the very bottom of the cart was a large piece of meat wrapped in a transparent bag.

Plump and white, the fat looks like it's about to drip out.

It looks like top-quality fatty meat.

There were also a few small, colorful packets. Fang Tiesheng picked one up and looked at it; it was sauce again, the yellow one with the words "pickled cabbage and fish slices" written on it.

"There are so many fish, we can't keep them all..." The village chief frowned deeply as he looked at the fish in the buckets and basins, as well as the two prepared chickens.

Although the weather is cold at night, it won't freeze these things. These fish have been dead for so long, and if we don't deal with them soon, they'll probably rot by the next day. If they rot, it will be a waste of such good food.

He weighed the bag of refined salt in his hand. The air outside was cool and dry, perfect for pickling fish.

Fang Tiesheng, who was next to her, quietly asked Ya Ya about the prices of the things she bought, and then wrote them down one by one.

When writing down the price of the fish, Fang Tiesheng paused, realizing that all the fish had been given to him by an uncle.

The people in that area are so kind.

Nannan is a lucky girl.

"Nannan brought salt, which is perfect for pickling all the fish. Once these fish are pickled, they'll last a long time. If we encounter any more disasters, they'll be lifesavers." Fang Tiesheng finished noting down the price and, hearing the village chief's mutterings, made the decision.

The aroma of the beggar's chicken on the table kept wafting out, making the adults' stomachs rumble and their mouths water.

When Ya Ya heard that the fish were going to be marinated, she remembered the seasoning that the uncle had given her and got up from Grandma Liu's arms.

"Grandpa Fang, can we make sauerkraut fish slices from that big white fish? Uncle said that if you slice it into fish slices and cook it with the seasonings he gave us, it will taste especially delicious. It also has no bones, so even children can eat it."

The little guy stared longingly at the fish, then swallowed hard.

She hasn't had pickled cabbage in a long time.

When there was plenty of greens, Grandma Liu would pickle a small jar to keep for winter. Sometimes when Ya Ya was craving some, she would secretly pluck a small stalk of pickled cabbage, chew on it, and find it sour, crunchy, and delicious.

Upon hearing this, the village chief sighed almost imperceptibly. The pickled cabbage was good, but there wasn't a single one left in the village. If there had been even a little bit of pickled cabbage, things wouldn't have turned out this way.

Fang Tiesheng picked up the yellow-packaged bag, put on his reading glasses, and held up a flashlight to carefully examine the small print on the back.

The packaging is exquisite; the large bag is bulging, and it features a picture of a bowl of yellow fish soup on it, with the fish skin so lifelike that it makes your mouth water just looking at it.

There were also several large bold characters at the bottom of the bowl: "Old Altar Pickled Fish Seasoning".

The bowl also had a sign that read: "Pickled cabbage tastes better than fish."

How could that be? Vegetables can taste better than meat?

He picked up the bag and looked at the back. There were several pictures showing how to make the dish. They were simple and easy to understand. It clearly showed when to add the ingredients and how long to cook them. At the bottom, in small print, the first word in the ingredients list was "pickled cabbage".

After thinking for a moment, he tore off a corner.

A familiar sour aroma immediately wafted out.

"Coo coo..."

Zhao Hu's stomach growled even louder.

The cake that Nannan bought before, he shared a few with her, and ate half of it when he was really hungry at night, but it's gone now. Today, with sauerkraut and sizzling, fragrant chicken, he's a bit overwhelmed.

Ya Ya craned her neck and asked, "Grandpa Fang, can you make sauerkraut fish fillets? Does it have sauerkraut in it?"

She secretly covered her tummy with her little hand, her bright black eyes darting back and forth between the fish bucket and the seasoning packets.

Fang Tiesheng's heart softened when he saw her like this. "There's pickled cabbage, it's all in there. Nannan, are you... hungry?"

Ya Ya's little face immediately turned a little red.

She used to be lucky to eat one meal a day, and two meals a day was considered a very good day.

Now she eats three meals a day. Before going to see her aunt, Aunt Lin even made her a bowl of fragrant noodles with an egg on top. She was still hungry. Isn't she eating too much?

Ya Ya shrank back into Grandma Liu's arms, her two little fingers sticking out, and whispered in a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz, "Just... a little bit... just a little bit..."

Fang Tiesheng, the village chief, and Zhao the hunter—Grandma Liu couldn't hold back any longer. She immediately made a decision: "We'll cook for the little girl whenever she's hungry!"

As they talked, some carried buckets, others moved basins, and Grandma Liu rubbed Ya Ya's head.

"Wash your hands and rest inside for a while. Grandma will make you some pork cracklings."