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

He Miao's WeChat notification sounded.

When she saw the design sketches sent by Su Yuqing, her eyes lit up slightly. To be honest, they were really beautiful!

There are round-toed Mary Jane-like shoes, slip-on fisherman shoes, and seven or eight kinds of slippers.

"Yuqing, these shoes are fine for indoor wear, but they can't get wet outdoors. Are you sure you want to make them?" They may look nice, but when it comes to the market, practicality should be the main focus.

She had previously bought a pair of shoes online for a few dozen yuan that were supposedly hand-woven.

The grass stalks were particularly thick, never split, and the knots were quite large, making them a bit bumpy to walk on. After two or three days, the toes of the shoes would come apart.

The upper of the shoe, woven by Ya Ya's mother-in-law, is made of fine, dense straw with delicate joints, but the sole is ultimately still made of straw.

"I'm going to make them, I'm going to put a woven fabric over the sole and add an MD sole to the back..." Su Yuqing's eyes lit up when she talked about her profession.

He Miao agreed to the task, and the two girls squeezed onto the sofa, eating braised dishes and sweet cherries while watching TV series and gossiping, chattering about everything from celebrity scandals to the neighbor's naughty kids.

The sky outside the window gradually darkened.

……

This was the first time the villagers of Lotus Village had gotten up so late; the sun had already climbed over the mountain.

The elderly people slowly woke up, their eyelids so heavy they felt like they were covered in sticky rice, too lazy to open them.

A warm, satisfying feeling slowly spreads from my chest and abdomen, neither bloated nor distended, just a solid, content feeling of fullness.

The taste of last night's pickled cabbage and fermented bean paste still seems to linger on the tip of my tongue.

The village chief subconsciously reached out and touched his stomach. After a while, he slowly opened his eyes.

The room was unusually bright, with a glaring white light shining through the window paper.

He was stunned for a moment before he suddenly realized that he had gotten up so late.

Ya Ya poked her messy little head out from under the soft blanket. In the yard, Aunt Lin and Grandma Li were quietly preparing to cook, while Grandma Liu went to the backyard to check on her vegetable garden.

Now I don't know whether to make breakfast or lunch.

Fang Tiesheng led Xiaodouzi and Xiaoshuanzi, with a slightly old, yellow-covered book on his lap. This was one of the many books that Yaya had brought back earlier.

The cover features a little baby with two topknots, wrapped in a red ribbon, holding a red-tasseled spear, and standing on two flaming wheels.

Besides the "Thousand Character Classic," "Three Character Classic," and "Hundred Family Surnames," there were many other miscellaneous books in that pile of old books. Old Fang would sometimes flip through a few pages when he wasn't busy.

He had just finished reading this picture book called "Nezha Conquers the Dragon King" yesterday. Seeing that Xiaodouzi was learning to read quickly, he took it out as a reward and told the story to the two little ones.

"Legend has it that when Li Jing, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, was serving as the general of Chen Tang Pass, his wife gave birth to a ball of flesh after three years and six months of pregnancy..."

Fang Tiesheng's old and deep voice told the story in a gentle and detailed manner. Xiao Shuanzi, who had been staring at the ants on the ground, unconsciously raised his head and listened attentively with his ears perked up.

When they heard that Li Jing was about to slash the meatball with his sword, the two children's eyes widened and they covered their mouths.

"Don't hurt Qiuqiu!" Yaya, who had gotten up at some point, squatted down next to Old Man Fang.

"Is Nannan awake?" Fang Tiesheng asked with a smile.

Ya Ya nodded. "Grandpa Fang, please continue."

Little Bean also stared longingly at Grandpa Fang.

Inside the courtyard, three children listened quietly to the story of Nezha, while outside, the village chief and Zhao Hu went to fetch water.

In the vegetable patch, the radishes and greens that have been planted have sprouted a few small leaves, and it is the most critical time for watering.

Newly sprouted seedlings have very shallow root systems and are extremely delicate when it comes to water, so the soil must be kept moist at all times.

They water it twice a day, morning and evening. As the weather warms up and the soil dries quickly, they water it again as soon as the surface turns white.

After watering the plants, they heard the Lin family's wife calling from afar. The two wiped the sweat from their foreheads, washed their hands, and hurried into the yard, this time without any rush.

After eating a full meal at night, my stomach felt peaceful and calm, without the burning hunger I had felt before.

Aunt Lin took out the yellow and slippery fish she had left over from last night, smelled it, and only felt at ease cooking it after it didn't smell bad.

Heat oil in a pan, sauté ginger slices until fragrant, add fish and fry until both sides are slightly golden brown, then immediately pour in boiling water.

You need to add boiling water when stewing fish to make the soup turn milky white.

In the time it takes to boil a cup of tea over a high flame, a fresh and fragrant aroma wafts out.

Looking at the lone fish in the pot, Aunt Lin held the spoon and couldn't help but think: If only there were tofu, I would add some tofu cubes. It must be fresh, tender tofu with many pores so that it can fully absorb the flavor of the fish soup.

That tofu tastes even better than fish!

But now there are no soybeans in the village, and even if there were, it's impossible to make tofu. Grinding soybeans is a very tiring and strenuous task.

Soaked soybeans are poured into the millstone one spoonful at a time, and then a person pushes the millstone in a circle.

The beans fall through the millstone's eye into the gap between the two millstones and are crushed by the millstone teeth. The crushed soybean milk, mixed with water, drips into the wooden bucket below.

Back when Da Niu was still around, the village could only grind a few plates of tofu and eat it a few times.

Uncle Tiesheng's son is incredibly strong.

Aunt Lin sighed heavily and shook her head.

Refocus your attention on the soup in the pot.

After preparing the fish, she chopped a few sausages, mixed in a bowl of steamed eggs, and made a big bowl of wild vegetables. The porridge in the other pot was also ready. Aunt Lin called out to everyone to eat.

There was a large bowl of milky white fish soup on the table. The yellow fish were not very big, and each person finished it with just one chopstick.

Before everyone started eating, Aunt Lin ladled out a bowl of fish soup and gave Ya Ya the tenderest piece of meat from the fish's belly.

Ya Ya took a bite, and her eyes lit up. This fish didn't have many bones!

Moreover, it's tender and smooth, and tastes different from the fish slices from last night. It's so fresh and sweet, and the soup is delicious too!

I'll buy fish again next time!

The village chief sipped the fish in his mouth. It was a real waste to pickle such fresh and tender fish, but that was the state of the village. As the weather got hotter, things would be even harder to preserve.

If we could use well water to quench it, it might last a few more days.

There used to be an old well in the village, which was dug by able-bodied men in the early years. Later, it was abandoned, and half of the wellhead collapsed and no one took care of it.

They had no shortage of water, with plenty of water from mountain streams, so they forgot about the well.

Looking back now, we still need to find time to discuss and fix it.