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

Fang Tiesheng frowned slightly, silently remembering every detail Ya Ya had said, and gently drew lines on the ground with his finger.

After Ya Ya stopped talking, her throat dry, the adults exchanged glances, pondered for a moment, and then Fang Tiesheng coughed and said:

"The time there is the opposite of ours. The first time Nannan went there, it was probably Chen Shi (7-9 AM), which was dark there, corresponding to Xu Shi (7-9 PM). The second time she went there was You Shi (5-7 PM), which was Mao Shi (5-7 AM) there."

The two locations are different, but they should be from the same dynasty. The season is the same as here, and there are extremely fast metal monsters on the road, indicating that this road is also quite dangerous.

He paused for a moment, then said, "We still don't know if there's any connection between where Nannan goes and the time of day, but her safety is the most important thing. According to Nannan, I think it's safest to go around 5-7 pm next time. If we can also get to that 'early morning market in Northeast China' that she mentioned, then we can think about what Lotus Village can offer there."

Listening to Grandpa Fang's words, Ya Ya nodded repeatedly: "Grandpa Fang is really amazing, he said so much all at once! Ya Ya saw some green vegetables on a stall at the morning market in Northeast China, but she couldn't see them clearly because she was too far away."

Wang Dazhu immediately chimed in, "That's easy. Let's bring some of the wild vegetables we can find in the village and see if anyone wants them."

"Don't rush," Zhao Hu waved his hand. "Ya Ya is too young. It's best to go and investigate first. First, let's see if the place is still changing randomly, and second, we need to observe the safety situation there."

He recalled what Ya Ya had mentioned at the beginning about falling into the garbage heap and being rejected by people, and said, "We need to make Ya Ya some clean and warm clothes, and teach her to pay more attention to what people are saying over there. She can listen to what they are saying and remember what she can, but it's okay if she can't remember everything."

The village chief then spoke up, his tone solemn: "There are two more things. First, try not to pick up anything from that garbage dump anymore, for fear of finding something harmful. Also, don't let Ya Ya work to earn money anymore. Second, Ya Ya is a blessing to our village, not a cash cow or a crutch. We can't interfere with her choices; let her do what she wants."

He looked at the people in the yard and said, "What we need to do is not to rely on her to beg for food, nor to sit and wait for her to support us. We need to give Ya Ya a completely safe and trustworthy environment so that she can freely do what she wants to do."

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"The village chief is right," Zhao Hu agreed. "I think we can gather our resources and repair Granny Liu's house first, and clean the ash off the kang (heated brick bed)."

Fang Tiesheng nodded repeatedly and said, "She's just a young girl, going alone to unfamiliar territory for an hour. None of us are at ease with her."

As he spoke, he turned to Ya Ya and carefully instructed her: "When you get there, if you want to ask for information, look for those smiling, kind-faced aunties and grandmothers. Most of them are kind-hearted. If someone asks you where you came from, say you came with your grandmother. Your grandmother is waiting nearby. If you see anyone acting strangely, don't hesitate, quickly go to a crowded place, and when the time comes, immediately return to the village."

"I'll ask Aunt Lin to mend Ya Ya's clothes later, and then sew her a small, close-fitting crossbody bag so she can carry some light things."

Suddenly, Ya Ya tugged at the village chief's sleeve, looked up and asked, "Grandpa Village Chief, remember to give me the big bowl of tea porridge in that bucket, okay? Ya Ya promised Auntie she'd return it to her today."

The village chief slapped his forehead, realizing he had just remembered this. He looked reluctant to part with it, as the thick corn porridge was very precious, and each person only had a small bowl. He was planning to add some water and cook it again to make more bowls.

It's cold now, so things will stay fresh longer.

It's really hard to find food in the mountains right now. There are only a few trees with smelly leaves and some thorny trees. Wild shepherd's purse is also hard to find, and it tastes bitter when chewed. We have to eat everything sparingly.

"Wait a minute," the village chief said to Ya Ya. "I'll go to the Lin family's place first and have them sew you a handbag, mend your clothes, and bring you the bucket."

As he spoke, the village chief hurried off to Aunt Lin's house.

After giving the instructions, he went to the edge of the village to get the silver bucket.

Holding the bucket, the village chief couldn't help but exclaim: "This thing is a real treasure. As long as the lid isn't opened, the porridge will stay warm inside. If outsiders saw this, it would be worth at least a hundred taels of silver."

But it was just a thought. The village chief knew perfectly well that once outsiders found out about this treasure, they wouldn't be able to keep it. The principle of not flaunting wealth was more important than anything else in their lives in the mountains.

When the village chief came over with the cleaned thermos, Aunt Lin was still sewing clothes for Ya Ya, and the little handbag was already on Ya Ya.

She deliberately took apart her coat and took out some cotton.

Ya Ya's padded jacket was too thin, with only a thin layer of willow catkins and straw stuffed in the holes. The people in the whole Lotus Village were not well-off, and only those with some wealth could afford cotton-padded jackets.

Aunt Lin's cotton-padded jacket was the only one of its kind in Lotus Flower Village. Her husband bought it for her in the county when they were newlyweds, but unfortunately...

Aunt Lin stuffed cotton into Ya Ya's little jacket and then carefully patched it up. Although it wasn't very pretty, at least it was warm, sturdy, and clean!

The village chief also casually slipped a dozen or so copper coins into Ya Ya's little satchel, thinking she might need them somewhere.

……

The villagers had a rare day of hearty meals and were all full of energy.

They even have the energy to tend to the abandoned fields.

After Zhao Hu and his companions left Granny Liu's place, they looked at the large rocks and thick soil blocking the mountain path and seemed to be deep in thought.

If it weren't for the sprouting incident, anyone with a bit of strength would have come here to dig a little, hoping to get to the outside as soon as possible. But now the situation is different.

Lets see.

Ya Ya carried her little satchel and went to the hillside at the end of the village. That evening, she went to return the bucket to the kind aunt and wanted to bring her something.

But Lotus Village was too poor, and all Ya Ya could think of was to look for bracken, which she thought was the best vegetable in the mountains. It was tender and smooth, much better than shepherd's purse.

Shepherd's purse tastes bitter and astringent, so you have to be willing to add salt to make it taste good.

The clods of earth on the slope were scattered everywhere, and there were hardly any shepherd's purse plants left, let alone the bracken that Ya Ya had been longing for.

In the past two days, all the adults and children in the village who were able to move around turned the hillside upside down and picked everything that had been picked clean.

Ya Ya pursed her lips and moved step by step toward the mountainside with her short legs, still thinking about bringing something decent for her kind aunt.

She couldn't find bracken, and she disliked shepherd's purse from the bottom of her heart; its bitter taste was always hard to swallow. As she walked, her sharp eyes suddenly spotted several thorny tree trunks sprouting clusters of purplish-red tender stems in the bushes by the mountainside.

Ya Ya's eyes lit up. This was delicious. Usually, the tree had to be cut down with a sickle to pick the buds. This must be a newly grown bud that hadn't been cut off yet.

With no adults around, Ya Ya looked left and right, ignoring the thorns that pricked her, and walked over through the bushes. She tried to bend the tree trunk with her little hands, and then tried to pull the underground stem with her other hand, but she couldn't budge it.

The thorn hooked her small hand, piercing it and leaving a tiny, bloody hole, from which tiny beads of red blood oozed.

Ya Ya pouted, tears welling in her eyes, and continued to break the tree trunk with a furrowed brow.

The rustling sound caught the attention of Zhao Hu, who was carrying water down the mountain not far away. His eyes lit up. Could there be wild animals inside?

He put down the carrying pole he was carrying, walked over in a few steps, and saw that it was Ya Ya, whose little hands were covered in blood, which terrified him.