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

Zhang Limin used to work in livestock feed processing.

Later, the feed became increasingly difficult to sell, and then the pandemic lockdown hit, almost causing the factory to shut down completely.

Looking at his parrot and remembering how stingy he was with buying birdseed, he decided to start a pet food processing business.

He managed to catch the wave, and orders kept increasing day by day, making his small factory thrive.

After finishing the snails, he greeted Ya Ya and staggered away with the middle-aged man.

Wang Guifen also rushed over, having changed into a clean and neat three-proof material outfit and tied her hair up. She was thinking of lending a hand and helping the young boss sell snails.

When they arrived, the buckets were all empty.

Upon hearing that the entire batch had been bought up in one go, Wang Guifen's eyes narrowed into slits with delight. See, there are still discerning customers. The little boss's products, whether snails or anything else, just sell well!

Ya Ya was sitting obediently on a small stool, guarding the empty bucket and waiting for her.

"Young boss, shall I take you to wash the bucket first? We can put the things we buy in the bucket later."

The Hongye Morning Market was specially renovated by the municipal government, with water pipes laid uniformly and an individual tap every short distance.

Seeing that Ya Ya nodded, Wang Guifen pulled the stroller and took Ya Ya to the nearby tap. She still squeezed the dish soap from Cao Xiulian.

They carefully washed the empty bucket inside and out with the cool tap water, and then wiped away the remaining water droplets with paper before the old man and the child plunged into the vegetable stall area.

I picked out a large bag each of bright red chili peppers, green chili peppers, and red bell peppers. I also bought a large bag of spices for stewing meat, such as star anise, cinnamon, and bay leaves. I also picked out two pounds of dried red dates and goji berries.

The various aromas mingled together, making Ya Ya sniffle with delight.

With Wang Guifen leading the way, grocery shopping is incredibly efficient.

Finally, Wang Guifen went to the chicken stall and picked out a white-skinned free-range chicken with yellowish skin, fine pores, and a thin layer of yellow fat under its skin.

She also taught Ya Ya to look: "Look at this chicken skin, it's yellow and shiny, and the meat feels firm. Look at the feet, they should be thin, and ideally, the soles should have calluses. That's a free-range chicken, and it'll make the best soup."

Ya Ya stretched out her little hand and touched it. When she pressed her finger down, the flesh bounced back immediately.

She had never bought this kind of chicken before; she had only bought the white and black ones. Today she learned that the yellow ones, called free-range chickens, are the best.

Following suit, I picked two snails to take back to Lotus Village so everyone could taste the deliciousness of the snail stewed chicken.

When it came time to pay, each one cost an average of 120 yuan. Wang Guifen paid quickly and without any hesitation, leaving the little country bumpkin Ya Ya completely shocked.

The black chicken she bought before was already incredibly fragrant when stewed in soup, and it only cost a fraction of the price of this yellow-skinned free-range chicken, less than 30 yuan.

Free-range chickens are so expensive!

Ya Ya's little mouth opened slightly, and she secretly clicked her tongue in amazement. But then she thought to herself, there must be a reason why it's expensive. Last time, the black chicken that cost less than 30 yuan was so delicious. This free-range chicken that costs 120 yuan must be incredibly delicious!

The chicken was bought, and everything else was almost ready, when Wang Guifen suddenly slapped her forehead – there was no wine left at home!

Looking around, I remembered there was a liquor store not far away. I decided to go and get some liquor; we couldn't eat snails without it.

She turned to Ya Ya: "Little boss, I'm going to get some wine. Are you going to wait here for me or go wander around some more?"

liqueur?

Ya Ya's heart skipped a beat.

She knew what alcohol was; it smelled pungent and spicy, and Grandpa Sun treasured it and kept it hidden on the kang (heated brick bed).

During the New Year, she saw Grandpa Sun carefully take out a little bit of it. It was murky and yellowish, like cooled rice porridge. He poured it into a rough porcelain bowl, and several people took turns sipping it. They would smack their lips after each sip and be happy for half a day.

Grandpa Village Chief also kept a small bottle; it was very rare.

But now they're all gone.

"I want to buy wine too!" Ya Ya pushed her little cart closely behind Wang Guifen.

Wang Guifen chuckled, "Okay, let's go together."

The two pushed the cart into a side alley. The alley was rather deserted with few shops. Wang Guifen stopped in front of a small shop with a red signboard.

The shop has no fancy decorations, only a strong aroma of fermented rice mixed with floral and fruity fragrances wafting through the air.

Ya Ya curiously craned her head to look into the shop. In the middle of the shop were several large vats, about half a person's height, with their mouths tightly sealed with red cloth. Small signs on top of the vats introduced the type of wine and its price.

A quick glance reveals that the lowest price is six yuan, and the highest is no more than twenty-five yuan.

Ya Ya doesn't recognize the other characters very well.

Neatly arranged on the shelves on both sides are rows of large, transparent jars, each with a red paper label and a small tap at the bottom for easy dispensing of wine.

There was a wide variety of liquors available, including strong spirits, mellow rice wine, sweet and sour plum wine, as well as wolfberry wine, jujube wine, and sorghum wine. Ya Ya couldn't keep up with all the choices.

These wines were clear and bright, with different colors, including light yellow, pale green, and red. They looked even better than Grandpa Sun's thin rice soup.

"Sister Wang, the usual today, two jin of sorghum liquor?" The liquor shop owner was very familiar with Wang Guifen, and he got up to greet her as soon as she entered.

"One jin of sorghum liquor and one jin of corn wine," Wang Guifen said to the shopkeeper.

The owner's snails weren't spicy, and she was worried that drinking too much would mask their freshness. The corn liquor was sweet and refreshing with a moderate alcohol content, which was just right.

Ya Ya craned her neck, looking this way and that. It was her first time visiting a wine shop, and everything was new and exciting to her.

Suddenly, her gaze fell upon a barrel of bright red wine with three words written on the label: "Daughter's Red".

Ya Ya's eyes lit up; she had heard of this before!

The day before yesterday, Grandpa Fang told a story called "The Rat's Wedding," about a big rat's daughter getting married, and the story included this wine.

Grandpa Fang recited at the time: "When a daughter is born, bury the wine; when she is married, open the jar. This is Daughter's Red Wine, it's very precious!" He even smacked his lips several times.

Ya Ya glanced at the price: 22 yuan for 500ml. She didn't recognize the symbols at the end, but she recognized 22 yuan. She could afford it, absolutely could afford it!

The grass-green liquid next to it is also very pretty. Among the three characters, Ya Ya recognizes the character for bamboo. Does it taste like bamboo?

The black and white dumplings in that colorful little book love to eat bamboo, so they must taste good too.

Ya Ya became increasingly eager to buy them, wanting to purchase some of each kind.

I made almost two thousand yuan selling snails today, spent over two hundred yuan on chicken, and less than one hundred yuan on spices and chili peppers. I still have plenty left over.