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

After having lunch and resting, Fang Tiesheng led the three children to learn to read in the yard.

Little Bean sat upright, reciting the Thousand Character Classic with some difficulty. He had already learned the line "The phoenix sings in the bamboo, the white horse grazes in the field".

Xiao Shuanzi couldn't sit still. After being held aside for a while, he slipped to a corner, squatted on the ground, picked at clods of dirt, and occasionally caught a small insect to play with.

Ya Ya has already completed half of the "King of Literacy" series. She started a day later than Xiao Douzi, but her progress has far surpassed Xiao Douzi's.

The illustrations are easy to understand, with bright colors and simple text. They are easy to understand at a glance and easy to learn.

Unlike the Thousand Character Classic, which has complex characters and no pictures for explanation, Fang Tiesheng taught it word by word and explained it sentence by sentence, requiring students to memorize it by rote.

After setting a schedule for the three little ones for the day, Fang Tiesheng chuckled and stroked his beard, saying, "If you all do well today, I'll give each of you a hole to play with, and then we'll continue telling you the story of Nezha after he arrived at the Dragon Palace."

The three kids perked up at the idea, even Little Shuanzi, who was digging in the dirt, came running back. His task was simple: learn the numbers. However, after a week of studying numbers one through ten, he still only knew "one, two, three."

Since they didn't go to pick wild vegetables today, the village chief and Zhao Hu discussed it and decided to let Ya Ya rest for a day before going to the morning market.

It's illogical for a little girl to run off that way every day without fail, without any adult supervision. Even if the clever girl says her uncle is with her, what family wouldn't love their child?

The two explained the reasoning to Ya Ya, and were relieved when she nodded.

……

Cao Xiulian was setting up her stall and greeting customers while glancing across the street every now and then, seemingly oblivious to the stone steps.

But no matter how long they waited, they didn't see any sprouts.

This was the first time she had seen the little girl not come over since she met her. Without the little figure beside her, she felt empty and a little unaccustomed to it.

Many regular customers habitually come over wanting to pick out a couple of fresh wild vegetables, but when they see that the young owner hasn't come, they have no choice but to give up.

Wang Guifen had brought back bamboo shoots yesterday, intending to put half of them in the refrigerator. But to her surprise, the bamboo shoots were exceptionally crisp and tender, with a delightful crunch and a distinct bamboo aroma.

This stuff loses half its weight after blanching, and it's so delicious that if everyone eats a little, it's gone. How can we save any to make buns?

I came here early this morning to see if there were any bamboo shoots left, so I could buy some to take home, but when I looked, the sky fell down.

Forget about bamboo shoots, even the boss has disappeared.

However, no one thought much of it. After all, Ya Ya was too young, and it was cold. How could she come to set up a vegetable stall every day? It was perfectly normal for the elders to feel sorry for her and let her rest.

If they came every day, they would start to wonder if their families were having a really tough time.

After Cao Xiulian finished her work, she looked at the paper bags laid out under the stall and realized she could only bring them over tomorrow.

A few days ago, she bought some underwear for her son online. Her mischievous son is always climbing and playing, and his underwear was already covered in lint in less than a month.

I casually thought of Ya Ya and remembered the tattered clothes she wore when she first arrived. I figured no one would care about these undergarments, so I decided to buy them all at once.

Not only are there soft, skin-friendly underwear, but also a pair of fluffy brown bear-head gloves.

After paying, several more related products for girls popped up on the order page. Cao Xiulian couldn't resist clicking on the "Choose any two sets for 49 yuan during the seasonal change" offer.

After exiting the shopping app, another order appeared in the pending delivery list: two sets of children's pure cotton thermal underwear.

She specifically bought a size larger, taking photos based on her height of one meter.

Kids grow fast, so they should still be able to wear these clothes in the fall.

As soon as the items arrived, she washed them all carefully. The room was warmed by the heating, and everything smelled fresh and clean. She folded them neatly and put them in a bag, bringing everything with her in the hopes of giving the little one a surprise.

……

It gets dark early in Lotus Village.

No one went home; all the solar lights they received were clipped to the wooden fence in Grandma Liu's yard, basking in the sun all afternoon. As dusk fell, all twelve solar lights lit up simultaneously, dazzling everyone in the yard.

By now, everyone had figured out the styles, and they divided the work so that each person could focus on knitting a pair. The styles that didn't need much modification were already finished, and the more complicated and novel ones were basically just waiting for the finishing touches.

This is already a very slow speed. If it were their usual style, it would take at most an hour to finish weaving.

Ya Ya squinted her eyes, "This is way too bright!"

Ji Chuntao made persimmon and egg noodles for the three little ones that evening. She stir-fried them with plenty of ingredients, and the rest was still warm in the pot. They would have a bowl after they finished weaving their shoes to warm their stomachs and ward off the cold.

The four thermos flasks next to her were filled with hot water in the morning, and when Ji Chuntao opened them and reached in in the afternoon, they were still steaming.

With this thermos, making formula and drinking water will be much more convenient in the future.

After we finish eating the noodles, we'll each make a cup of hot milk.

Time slowly passed until the sky was completely dark, and the last pair of straw sandals was finally finished. Old Sun carefully trimmed the exposed grass tips from the edges of the sandals. I must say, this new style looks quite classy.

The one in his hand was the most intricate, with a cloud-patterned double-headed design.

Wearing her reading glasses, Grandma Liu carefully inspected each pair of straw sandals one by one, making sure they were tightly woven and that the uppers and linings were smooth and free of burrs. Only then did she feel at ease and asked the village chief to bring the small transparent bag that had previously been used to store rain boots. She then packed each pair of straw sandals into a separate bag and neatly stacked them into Ya Ya's little cart.

I'll have Ya Ya take her there first thing tomorrow morning.

Everyone looked at the small cart with a mixture of nervousness and anticipation.

They didn't know if their fairy friend over there would be satisfied with what they did. Dissatisfaction was secondary; what they were more afraid of was that if they didn't do a good job, it would embarrass Ya Ya.

The work finally came to a stop, and the people sitting in the drafty courtyard belatedly realized the chill of the night.

"Go wash your hands and have a bowl of hot soup noodles to warm yourselves up." Ji Chuntao had already started boiling water and was waiting to cook the noodles.

"Okay!"

"Coming right away!"

After eating hot soup noodles, drinking a cup of milk, and brushing their teeth, everyone picked up a solar-powered clip-on lamp and headed home one after another.

Grandpa Li held Xiaodouzi's hand with one hand and his wife's hand with the other. Xiaodouzi was holding a solar-powered clip-on lamp that was glowing.

Behind them were Grandpa Liu holding Xiao Shuanzi, and Zhao Hu grinning as he admired the lanterns.

The lights swayed gently with each step, and the once dark night road was now adorned with warm glows.

The figures were scattered, and the light streaks swayed, like a flowing river of light that slowly spread out along the village road.

Lotus Village, which used to be pitch black at night, now only had light in Granny Liu's small courtyard.

Now, solar-powered clip-on lights are being brought back to homes, and lights are now clipped onto the doors of every household.

One courtyard after another, one house after another, warm white light slowly spreads across the mountain valley, like stars falling into the mountains, illuminating the originally desolate night with gentleness and tranquility.