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

Zhao Hu carefully took down the trolley, stroking the smooth metal handle with great fondness. He even discovered that the trolley's basket could be folded up; when not in use, the basket could be folded up, the handle lifted, and it would become a single piece, taking up no space.

The village chief also discovered that this was a good thing, and kept exclaiming: "This cart is so convenient. I don't know what these four wheels are made of, but they make no noise at all and roll so smoothly. Pushing it around with things saves a lot of effort."

"Even such a small child like Ya Ya can push heavy things; the people over there are really clever."

As she spoke, she squeezed the box part of the stroller again, "This thing looks thin and brittle, but it's actually quite sturdy and lightweight!"

Fang Tiesheng was still checking numbers with Ya Ya, his stick scratching the ground in dense lines, when he suddenly said in a deep voice, "Stop looking at things, we've discovered a huge problem, a massive problem!"

Everyone immediately fell silent and looked at him.

"According to Ya Ya, all these things were exchanged for the bag of prickly buds she brought. They're called thorny shoots over there! Let's calculate it based on their numbers. This little bit of prickly buds is worth more than 300. But this whole pile of stuff—salt, oil, seasonings, meat, milk, refined rice and flour, plus the three new clothes Ya Ya is wearing—they say it's worth more than 500. That's strange."

Fang Tiesheng pointed at the numbers on the ground with his stick, "Either the things over there are worthless, or our prickly buds are precious, but that's not important. What's important is that our prickly buds can be exchanged for a lot of good things over there!"

The village chief and Granny Liu hesitated, seemingly unsure what to say. Fang Tiesheng, sensing their doubts, continued, "I also suspected that the aunt over there might have been well-intentioned, deliberately buying these worthless thorny sprouts for Ya Ya at an inflated price. Ya Ya didn't believe it either, but she saw with her own eyes how people rushed to buy them as soon as the aunt called out!"

"These past two days, besides helping Granny Liu's family with setting up a heated kang bed, expanding the yard, digging a cellar, and building a stove, we've gathered everyone else together and sent them into the mountains to find thorny shoots. Once we find a suitable spot, we pick half a cartload a day and have the thorny shoots take them over to exchange for goods and money."

"Once we get rice, flour, and salt, we won't have to worry about food anymore! And with that money, Ya Ya can buy whatever she wants to eat! She won't have to envy what other people eat or wear!"

Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up, and they nodded repeatedly.

They had already discussed it while they were waiting for Ya Ya to come back.

Granny Liu's mud-brick house was too small. Not only did it leak wind and rain, but most of the kang (a heated brick bed) was also blocked off, so it wasn't warm enough to sleep in.

Ya Ya helped the villagers find a way to make a living over there. They couldn't just do nothing. First, they tidied up the house where Ya Ya and Granny Liu slept, and they also needed a place to store the things Ya Ya brought back. The village was going through a food shortage, and what they ate depended entirely on luck. So they decided to build a big stove for Granny Liu's family first, and they could eat there from now on.

There aren't many people in the village, and the place isn't big either, but when everyone gets together, it's lively!

It also allows me to learn more about the situation there.

With a wave of his hand, the village chief designated two more plots of land in front of Granny Liu's house, and construction would begin tomorrow.

Unexpectedly, before this well-planned project even started, Ya Ya brought them such a big surprise!

While the group was still immersed in this tremendous surprise, discussing their plans to go up the mountain to find Sprout Sprout, they turned around and saw Sprout Sprout's little head drooping down little by little.

It was already past 7 PM, and the child had pushed a cart full of things back; she must be exhausted after running around all night. Grandma Liu quickly got up and brought over some water that she had already boiled and kept warm. The village chief softened his tone and pulled the two of them to their feet: "Stop talking, let the little girl rest."

Grandma Liu wrung out a hot towel and gently wiped Ya Ya's face. She then carefully removed Ya Ya's new clothes, the fabric making a rustling sound as it was taken off. Grandma Liu moved even more gently.

Carefully unfolding the garment and covering Ya Ya with it, the garment felt soft and thick, much better than the coarse hemp quilt filled with cattail fluff at home. The cattail fluff quilt was rough and heavy, and it rubbed against the hands.

But fearing that Ya Ya would get cold, Grandma Liu continued to cover Ya Ya with the quilt, tucking the corners in, and silently thought: It's better than anything else for our Ya Ya to live a good life.

As dawn broke, Grandma Liu's courtyard became lively.

All the able-bodied people in the village came. They moved quietly so as not to disturb Ya Ya. Some were tearing down old courtyard walls, others were mixing mud to build new stoves, and a few others were carrying hoes to find a place behind the house to dig cellars.

People were busy inside and outside the courtyard, creating a lively and bustling scene.

When Ya Ya woke up, she rubbed her sleepy eyes and pushed open the door. She was stunned when she saw the whole yard full of people. Her little eyes were wide open.

When everyone saw that she was awake, they immediately gathered around her with smiles, their tone exceptionally warm: "Ya Ya's awake? Are you tired? Are you hungry?"

"If you're sleepy, just sleep a little longer. There's no rush."

"My dear girl, you worked so hard yesterday!"

Ya Ya blinked and asked softly, "Aunt Lin, Grandpa Li, Uncle Zhao, what are you doing?"

Aunt Lin chuckled and joked, "They're building a big stove and a courtyard for our Ya Ya! We all depend on Ya Ya for support, and from now on we'll all eat together in this courtyard."

Upon hearing this, Ya Ya immediately clapped her hands and laughed, "Great! It was so quiet before when it was just Grandma and me eating. It'll be more lively with more people, and Grandma will definitely be happy!"

"Don't worry, Auntie, Ya Ya is amazing now! She brought so much food yesterday, enough to feed everyone!"

As she was talking, she saw Xiaodouzi and Xiaoshuanzi squatting in the corner digging in the dirt. Her eyes lit up and she turned around and ran into the house, rummaging and rummaging through the milk box.

The little girl took out three cartons of milk and put them in her arms, filling them to the brim.

She stood at the doorway and called out, "Xiao Shuanzi, Xiao Douzi, come here quickly!"

Upon hearing the shout, Xiaodouzi and Xiaoshuanzi immediately stopped digging and looked up at the door. The two kids exclaimed "Wow!" in unison.

The two little ones stared wide-eyed at Ya Ya.

Ya Ya wore a white, fluffy rabbit ear hat on her head. The two soft rabbit ears drooped down, and when the wind blew, the fur on the hat swayed gently. She wore a creamy yellow jacket, the color of which was even more tender than the freshest egg yolk they had ever eaten, and the fluffy hem was decorated with lace.

The little girl, who used to be drab and dusty, looked like a little fairy child under Guanyin's seat today. Her eyebrows and eyes were smiling, her eyes were curved into crescents, and she was holding three small white square boxes in her arms. She stood there obediently and was so beautiful that Xiaodouzi and Xiaoshuanzi couldn't take their eyes off her.

"Sister Ya Ya, so pretty!" Little Bean exclaimed first, pulling Little Shuanzi along as they ran towards the door. Little Shuanzi followed, babbling along, "Sister, beautiful!"

The two boys ran up to her and looked at Ya Ya's fluffy, cloud-like jacket. Their little hands itched to touch it, but then they saw that their hands were covered in mud, so they quickly rubbed them hard on their coarse cloth clothes until their little hands turned red. Only then did they dare to carefully stick out a finger and gently poke Ya Ya's jacket.

Wow! It's so soft!

Ya Ya handed each of them a carton of milk, saying earnestly, "This is for you, one carton for each of us. Auntie over there said that children should eat this to grow taller and become smarter!"

When Xiao Shuanzi heard that he could grow taller, he gripped the box even tighter. He was now the shortest child in the village.

He wants to grow tall and smart, to grow up quickly, and to become as majestic as Uncle Zhao.