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

Drawn by the mesmerizing loudspeaker blare, Ya Ya's short legs unconsciously led her toward the source of the sound. After squeezing through half of the bustling street, she spotted a small shop with a red signboard and yellow lettering. Baskets and jars were placed in front of the shop, and the loudspeaker was placed on one of the baskets, repeatedly calling out "Two yuan, two yuan."

A thick, transparent plastic curtain hung on the door frame, and she craned her neck to look inside, but it was all blurry.

Ya Ya took two more steps forward. People were coming and going around her, and people were constantly going in and out. When the curtain was lifted, she could see a clear, bright light and a dazzling array of things through the gap.

Ya Ya tightened her grip on her small handbag, where she kept the money she earned from selling wild vegetables.

She knew that two yuan was a very small amount of money, and she was sure she could afford it.

With so many people coming and going, there must be something good inside.

She mustered her courage and gently nudged the curtain with her little head. A gap opened in the magnetic curtain, and a warm, complex smell mixed with plastic and various household chemicals wafted out.

Ya Ya's eyes widened suddenly, her little mouth slightly open, completely stunned.

This store is huge!

As far as the eye could see, shelves stretched out in rows, piled from the ground to the top, filled with all sorts of colorful trinkets—more than all the miscellaneous goods she had ever seen in the village combined.

Red, blue, yellow, pink, sparkly, round, square—she was dazzled by the sight of them, as if she had accidentally stumbled into a cave full of treasures, wanting to reach out and touch each and every one of them.

"Little friend, what would you like to buy?"

A gentle voice came from behind, startling Ya Ya. She looked up and saw a smiling uncle standing behind the counter on her left.

She rubbed the corner of her clothes a little shyly, then looked up at him and asked, "Uncle, I have a hundred yuan. How many things can I buy here?"

The shop owner paused for a moment, then smiled and held up five fingers: "I can buy fifty."

"Fifty?!"

Ya Ya's eyes lit up instantly, and she quickly stretched out her little hand to count on her fingers: one, two, three... She got confused when she got to twenty, feeling that fifty was too many, too many to count.

"Thank you, Uncle. May I look around by myself?"

"Of course, there are small baskets over there. You can take one, put whatever you want in the basket, and then come to my place to pay." The shopkeeper pointed to a stack of small, wheeled baskets piled up next to him.

Seeing that Ya Ya was really small, I took two steps over and got her a basket. I lifted the basket handle and said, "Here, little one, you can hold this and drag the little basket around."

"Wow!" Ya Ya's eyes crinkled with laughter. This little basket is so amazing, it even has wheels.

"Thank you, Uncle," she said sweetly again, then dragged her little basket and slipped into the middle of the rows of shelves.

The shelf had five shelves, each filled with things, but she was too small to reach the bottom two shelves. She had to hop and crane her neck to see the things on top, which made her neck ache.

She found each one fascinating.

She couldn't move past the first shelf.

Next to it was a row of square and round, shiny things, in various colors and with beautiful patterns.

She leaned closer, tilted her head, and gently touched it. It was icy cold, like ice, or like water, but it wouldn't move.

As she got closer, Ya Ya's eyes widened in surprise.

There are many buds inside!

Her small face, small nose, small mouth, even the wispy bangs on her forehead and the crooked little braids were all clearly visible.

The buds inside were also staring wide-eyed.

Ya Ya tilted her head to the right, and the little figure inside followed suit.

These are all mirrors!

In all her life, she had only ever seen herself in a basin of water. The water would ripple and the reflection would become blurry. But this mirror showed her clearly; she could even see the tiny downy hairs on her face.

So this is what she looks like.

Ya Ya looked at herself in the mirror and laughed foolishly.

Grandpa Fang once said that the mirror was made of copper, which was heavy and expensive, and no one in their village owned one.

But this mirror, so thin, so light, so shiny, only costs two yuan?

"Uncle, is this a mirror? Are all of these two yuan?" Ya Ya turned around and asked the shopkeeper uncle for confirmation.

"Yes, everything in the store is two yuan. These are mirrors, would you like to take one home?"

Ya Ya's eyes were bright and sparkling. Grandma Liu always said she couldn't see her white hairs clearly because she couldn't pluck them all out. Aunt Lin loved to look pretty, and every time she washed clothes, she would look at her reflection in the river and carefully comb her hair neatly in the water.

The village chief also likes to stroke his beard in front of the water vat at his home.

They would be overjoyed if they had such a clear mirror!

She carefully picked up a small round mirror, gently placed it in the basket, thought for a moment, and then picked out a few more mirrors of different shapes and sizes to make five.

Two of them were sets, which also included a comb.

Go back and ask Grandma Liu to use this comb to braid my hair!

Next to the mirror wall is an entire wall of bracelets and necklaces.

Strings of beads hung on the hook, some like dewdrops, some like gemstones, sparkling under the light, dazzling Ya Ya's eyes.

She had never seen so many, such beautiful strings of beads.

The old women in the village wear wooden beads that are dark in color; none of them are as bright and translucent as these.

She tilted her head back and picked out a few strings of the brightest colors.

At the very bottom of the hook hung a row of brushes with thin handles and a small tuft of bristles on the head. Below that were several boxes containing things she didn't recognize.

Ya Ya stared at the small brush for a long time, unable to figure out what it was used for, then turned to the shopkeeper and asked, "Uncle, what is this?"

The store manager was taken aback, as it was the first time he had ever seen a child who didn't recognize a toothbrush. However, he patiently smiled and said, "This is a toothbrush, used to clean teeth. It can make your teeth very clean."

The people in this area are really particular; they even have people who brush their teeth properly. Unlike them, who just rub their fingers with a cloth wrapped around a little salt and rinse their mouths with water, that's considered the most refined thing they do.

Ya Ya pointed to a basket of long, rectangular objects in green cardboard boxes next to a basket of long, rectangular purple boxes and asked curiously, "What about these?"

"These two baskets are all toothpaste, which you need to use with your toothbrush." ​​Seeing that she really didn't know, the shop manager took advantage of the fact that no one was paying at the moment, walked over to the side, picked up a tube of Heyman toothpaste for her, unscrewed it and showed it to her, "Like this, squeeze a little bit onto your toothbrush, put some water in your mouth, and you can make a lot of foam when you brush."

Brush your teeth thoroughly, inside and out, then rinse your mouth with water. Your mouth will smell fresh, and your teeth will be whiter.

Bubbles? And they smell nice? Ya Ya's eyes sparkled as she listened, finding it truly amazing.

"Uncle, there are 21 people in our village. How many toothbrushes and toothpaste do I need to buy?"