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

As the sun sank behind the western hills, Zhao the hunter and the village chief finally returned with two baskets of wild vegetables.

Just as Ya Ya, Xiao Dou Zi, and Xiao Shuan Zi finished learning today's numbers, Fang Tiesheng even took some wrapping paper and taught Ya Ya to recognize a few simple characters with missing parts.

The main purpose of teaching Ya Ya to recognize the characters there is so that she can distinguish them when buying things there and avoid being ripped off.

Fang Tiesheng even pointed to the small characters on the paper and compared them, discovering that the way the numbers were written there was completely different from the way the counting rods were written in the village. He silently memorized a few, thinking that when Ya Ya brought back such a thing with characters next time, he would compare it with other numbers and figure out how to write it there.

After taking a breather, everyone got busy washing the wild vegetables around the square table in the courtyard. They cleaned each bunch thoroughly, making sure not a speck of dirt remained, then sorted them and bundled them neatly.

Then they brought out the old scales and weighed everything.

The thorny shoots are the most abundant, and they'll probably be almost completely harvested in this hillside area by now. It's too dangerous to go any further into the mountains; the elderly and weak in the village can't handle it.

It weighed nearly eight pounds.

If Ya Ya hadn't brought that little stroller, they wouldn't have even considered letting her carry so much. The baby is so small and thin; how could she possibly bear such a heavy burden!

Now that we have that little cart, we've been able to pick even more.

I also picked two handfuls of stinky leaves, which weighed about a pound.

I picked some tender stems and leaves from the top of the shepherd's purse, and the ones I picked earlier in the mountains have sprouted new leaves. When I weighed them, they weighed a full four pounds.

Bracken fern was something Ya Ya had been thinking about. I kept one pound to make breakfast for her tomorrow morning, and there were two pounds left over.

Zhao the hunter didn't put the shrimp and snails he caught in the car. Those things have a strong river smell, and they would easily absorb other odors if left in the car, plus there's not much meat in them.

I just picked it up casually and put it directly into the tank to let it purge out the sand.

The villagers didn't have the habit of eating three meals a day. Poor families were lucky if they ate one meal a day. Now, because of Ya Ya, the villagers are living a good life with two meals a day.

Get up early to cook one meal, and then cook another meal after noon.

But three meals a day is out of the question. We're not that rich yet. We haven't planted wheat, so we don't have any food. I'm still a little worried.

However, Aunt Lin still specially heated up a carton of milk, cut two slices of pork knuckle, and cooked three small bowls of hot noodles.

I prepared nutritious meals for three little children in the village.

Watching the three children eating with gusto, Aunt Lin still felt a little regretful: "If only there were eggs, and a fragrant poached egg on top, that would be perfect!"

After all the wild vegetables were sorted and packed into the cart, and the lid was closed, Ya Ya touched the handle of the cart, wearing the clothes that Cao Xiulian had bought for her, waved her little hand to the people in the yard, and slowly pushed the cart into the house.

The ground in the courtyard was uneven; even during the day, when villagers were building stoves and repairing houses, the ground was still bumpy and uneven.

Ya Ya gave the cart a push, but the wheels got stuck in a small ditch in the ground and she couldn't move it.

I pushed it several more times, but it still wouldn't budge.

These wild vegetables, if weighed in modern terms, would weigh about 30 jin (15 catties), which is about the same weight as Ya Ya. If it were flat ground, it would be fine, but like the flat and smooth main road of the morning market.

But the dirt roads in this village were far beyond what a five-year-old could conquer.

Ya Ya pushed herself up with her short legs, but the wheel didn't budge.

Zhao the hunter turned around and saw the scene. Quick as a flash, he rushed over, slapped his forehead, and cursed himself, "Oh dear, how could I be so stupid to let Ya Ya push such a heavy cart! She's only five years old!"

The village chief also blamed himself: "It's all our fault for being greedy. We wanted to pack more for Ya Ya, but we forgot that she's so small. Even with wheels, she can't carry that much!" As he spoke, he reached out to pull the lid off the truck bed, "Quickly, take some out."

Adults are not as strong as children. Ten or eight pounds is not much weight for villagers who are used to physical labor such as plowing and turning the soil, so no one thought of this when they put it in.

"No need, no need!" Ya Ya quickly said, her little face showing a stubbornness. "Ya Ya can do it, she can manage! The road over there is flat, Ya Ya can push it!"

As she spoke, she lunged forward, her small body clinging firmly to the sidecar, protecting it. Then, in a flash, the stroller and Ya Ya disappeared.

Everyone stood there, looking at each other, filled with regret.

Hunter Zhao sighed and slapped his thigh: "It's all our fault for not thinking things through. Next time, we absolutely can't pack so much; ten pounds at most!"

The village chief stared at the uneven yard of Granny Liu's house and said in a deep voice, "Level this yard as soon as possible, and compact the soil so the child doesn't fall."

……

As soon as Ya Ya opened her eyes, she was standing next to the familiar stone block. From afar, she saw her aunt, who was wearing a red floral jacket, frying sugar cakes. Ya Ya's eyes crinkled, and she gripped the handle of the stroller with her little hands, pushing it with a thud.

She also looked around to see if there was a tin car that her aunt had mentioned.

Cao Xiulian looked up and saw a small, creamy-yellow figure pushing a cart that was a little taller than her, slowly making its way towards her.

The cars on both sides saw the conspicuous little girl, but they weren't in a hurry. They all turned on their hazard lights and waited quietly for her to cross the road from a distance of several meters.

Cao Xiulian hurriedly wiped her hands on her apron, ran over, steadily held the cart with one hand, and bent down with the other to take Ya Ya's cold little hand and lead her to her stall.

"Quickly warm yourself by the fire, your little hands are freezing! What are you carrying? It's so heavy!"

Mimicking the adults around her, Ya Ya rubbed her little hands together vigorously by the fire, then looked up at Cao Xiulian with a beaming smile and said, "Auntie, these are wild vegetables picked by the grandpas and grandmas in the village. They brought so many! Grandpa Village Chief even found some bracken for Ya Ya; it's in the car. Auntie, take some home to eat. It's crisp and sticky, so delicious!"

Upon hearing this, Cao Xiulian immediately recalled the two tender shoots that Ya Ya had given her yesterday.

She packed up her stall and took the aralia shoots home. She stir-fried them with eggs and made a side of aralia shoots with egg sauce. Her husband and two sons devoured the food, praising the aralia shoots as a great purchase, saying that every bite was full of wild mountain flavor!

She tried it herself, and it was so delicious that her tongue almost fell off. She wondered where Ya Ya's village was and how the tender shoots of the prickly ash were so delicious!

Cao Xiulian unconsciously smacked her lips twice, her gaze fixed on the small black plastic box on the trolley.

They're all wild vegetables!

Wild vegetables shouldn't be kept hidden away.

She quickly reached out and lifted the lid, and when she saw what was inside, wow, so much!

Seeing her mother's surprised expression, Ya Ya puffed out her little chest, looking proud and smug: "Auntie, look! Grandma, Auntie, and Grandma all washed it carefully, it's so clean!"

As she spoke, Cao Xiulian pointed to the vegetables in the small box. She looked at the abundance of tender shoots of prickly ash, the bright green shepherd's purse, and the bundled ferns. Then she glanced to the side and saw a small handful of toon leaves. The aroma was authentic!

"Oh my, there's even toon sprouts! That's a real treat!"