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

(Thanks to Liu@Chuanfeng, Huici Family, Wuyuzi♡, Duke Wellington of Qilianshan, Taoqi, Liu Jiayin who likes domestic fish, and the bosses for their donations!)

Ya Ya's fingertips still felt the soft touch of the chick's down. She rubbed her fingers together silently and looked up at her smiling aunt in the red apron. This apron was exactly the same as the one her aunt was wearing!

"I've never seen anything like it, Auntie. I didn't know chicks could be dyed such beautiful colors like clothes! They're so pretty, all sorts of colors."

Ya Ya didn't get up after replying. She remained squatting beside the cage, with her hands on her knees, her chin resting on the back of her hands, staring intently at the cage.

The nest of eggs we're guarding hasn't hatched yet. If we could buy some cute little chicks to take back with us, Grandpa Village Chief would be overjoyed.

But Grandma Duck has always forbidden bringing live animals. Grandpa Fang has also said that he cannot bring live animals back to the village, nor can he bring live animals from his village here.

Ya Ya looked past the chicken coop and ahead. In a cage a little further away, she could vaguely see a snow-white rabbit. In the distance, she could hear the calls of other animals, so there must be other small animals as well.

Normally, it's hard to find even a single live animal at the morning market, but this time Daji had so many.

My aunt said that there is only one auspicious day on the 28th of each month, and if we don't buy it this time, we'll have to wait until next month.

Why don't we ask Grandma Duck for leniency and let her take a few chicks back first?

"These are just temporarily dyed chicks, meant to amuse children. They haven't been vaccinated, so even if you bring them back to the village, they won't survive. We don't bring live animals to maintain balance, so don't even think about it." Before Ya Ya could even speak, Grandma Duck's voice rang in her mind.

Unlike his usual relaxed demeanor, his tone carried a hint of seriousness.

"Oh." Ya Ya lowered her little head. Grandma Duck must be right, and she must be doing it all for her own good, but she still couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.

"Don't worry about those chicks that can't survive. The duck that your village chief's grandfather is guarding has chicks already pecking at their shells in the past few days. In a few more days, your village will have its own hatched chickens, ducks, and goslings." Seeing the little guy's pitiful appearance, Jie Chi couldn't help but offer a few more words of advice.

"Really? The egg that guards the egg is ready to hatch?" Ya Ya's voice brightened a bit.

"Would I lie to you?"

"Then I won't buy it. I'll go look at something else. Thank you, Grandma Duck!" Ya Ya pursed her lips, reluctantly stretched out her little hand, and gently touched the fluffy green chick in the cage one last time.

The little chick, resembling a fluffy ball, tilted its head and gently pecked at Ya Ya's fingertip.

Ya Ya suppressed her feelings of affection and sensibly took two steps back. Although her eyes were still filled with deep reluctance, she did not turn her head to look at her again.

"Little friend, would you like to take one? Five yuan each, two for eight yuan." Seeing that the little boy had looked at it for a long time, liked it but didn't ask any more questions, and was about to leave, the aunt selling chicks couldn't help but ask.

"I won't buy it, Auntie. The chick is cute, but it can only live in my heart, not in my house." The little blue figure pushed the cart forward without looking back.

The auntie selling chicks looked at the blue, fluffy figure and thought, "Tsk, blue does seem kind of cute. I'll try dyeing a few chicks blue next time."

……

Passing through a bunch of stalls selling fluffy things, Ya Ya had to work really hard to keep her eyes from turning to either side.

I've finally gotten through this phase, and the chirping and barking noises in my ears have quieted down considerably.

Ya Ya's tense body relaxed.

We were almost out of the red-awning area. After turning a corner, we saw a row of stalls neatly displaying many bare saplings with dry branches. The bottom of each sapling was wrapped in strips of cloth and straw to form a round ball, and a smell of damp earth and grass wafted over.

Ya Ya stopped and went up to the stall owner, asking curiously, "Grandpa, all these trees are dead, why are they still here? Are you carrying them over to sell as firewood? These are so thin, you won't be able to sell them!"

The old man tending the stall chuckled upon hearing this, pointing to a row of branches on his stall. "Little girl, you're mistaken. This isn't a dead tree; it's a fruit tree sapling. Look at the roots and the branches—they're perfectly preserved. You can buy it, plant it in the soil, and it will thrive."

"Fruit trees?"

Ya Ya tilted her head and stared at the rows of dry branches on the ground. Aren't fruit trees supposed to be thick and juicy? These thin little branches, just a handful, don't look like fruit trees at all.

"Yes, they have fruit tree saplings—peaches, apples, pears, blueberries, you name it! Buy them, plant them in your yard, and they'll bear fruit in a year or two!"

Ya Ya's eyes lit up: Fruit!

Lotus Village has never grown fruit trees before.

Just as she was about to ask again, several uncles and aunts came over, and Ya Ya quietly stepped aside.

"How much are these fruit tree saplings? Are they good quality?"

The old man selling seedlings chuckled and said, "I have a lot of seedlings. The price varies depending on whether they are one-year-old or two-year-old. You can pick out what kind you want first. The ones with reddish trunks are peach seedlings, and the ones with grayish trunks are plum trees... Each of my seedlings has white roots and a lot of them, so the survival rate is very high!"

"It's definitely a good seedling. The stem is straight, the bark isn't broken, and there are many small buds bulging at the top."

Someone picked up a few and peeled back the roots to take a look.

"Boss, do you deliver fertilizer?"

The old man at the stall waved his hand: "I don't give you fertilizer. Just go home, dig a hole, mix in some chicken manure, water it thoroughly, or sprinkle some wood ash. Just don't use raw manure, or it will burn the roots."

Seeing that several uncles and aunts were squatting in front of the stall carefully picking out items, Ya Ya imitated the adults, taking small steps over and squatting down in a very similar manner.

She stretched out her little hand and carefully parted the straw covering the tree roots. With her big, bright eyes, she peered at it intently, muttering to herself what she had just heard: "The roots should be plentiful, white and tender..."

After inspecting the dense root system and finding none that were blackened or dried out, he nodded in satisfaction.

Then she straightened up and ran her little hands along the thin trunk from top to bottom, carefully examining the bark. When she encountered even the smallest, most inconspicuous crack, she would frown and ponder it for a long time.

When Ya Ya touched the swollen buds on the branches, she recalled what she had heard before: many swollen buds mean more leaves will grow.

"Hmm, this is good."

The auntie picking seedlings nearby, seeing her expert-like demeanor, couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Wow, this little one's quite the expert, knows how to pick them. Does your family run an orchard?"

Ya Ya blushed slightly, didn't reply, just smiled at her aunt, and put the sapling back in her hand.

"Grandma Duck, the little seedlings are alive too, so can't we take them back?"

The Jiechi was playing with colorful beads in the space when it heard the little guy's question, and its claws paused.

I just turned down the little guy's request to bring over some colorful chicks. Although he didn't keep asking, his face clearly fell. If I refuse again, his little mouth will probably be so sore it could hold an oil bottle.

This little cub has been making a lot of money lately, but it's also spending it quickly. The transaction volume is soaring. Maybe we should give it a little reward. Fruit tree seedlings and live poultry are different after all. Taking a few less shouldn't be a problem.

Jie Chi pondered for a moment, then did not reply immediately.

These saplings are, after all, modern cultivated varieties. Their ability to seize soil fertility and nutrients far surpasses that of the native trees in the mountains and forests of Ya Ya's world. If too many are brought and planted haphazardly in the wild, they will crowd out the living space of wild trees.

However, if they are only planted in the village yard, the scope is controllable, and they will not disturb the ecology. It is not a big problem to grow a few plants for your own consumption.

After careful consideration, Jie Chi's voice rang in Ya Ya's mind: "Pulling them up is a special privilege. You can only choose five, not one more. Remember, they can only be planted in the village, not on the mountain."

Ya Ya looked up abruptly, her eyes filled with surprise and disbelief: "Really? I can take five back?"

She immediately perked up.

The fruit from this area is incredibly sweet.

The sweet taste of the mandarin oranges I bought during my first few days back is still vivid on my tongue, as are the bright red, juicy taro.

My mother-in-law would be especially happy if we could buy saplings and plant them ourselves.

"Okay, five trees, pick them," Jie Chi replied.

Ya Ya squatted in front of the pile of saplings, her little hands supporting her chin as she carefully considered the options. Five saplings were not many, so she had to choose carefully.

"Grandpa, which of these saplings bears the sweetest and most delicious fruit?"

The elderly stall owner chuckled as he pointed to the seedlings and introduced them one by one: "Look, this is an apple pear, with delicate flesh, lots of juice, and a sweet taste. The nectarines are also good, plump and sweet. And this is a grape; the vines grow quickly, bearing bunches of fruit. There are also blueberry seedlings, with a perfect balance of sweet and sour, good for the eyes, and..."

Ya Ya was stunned. Apart from apples, peaches, and grapes, she had never heard of any of the other fruits!

Grapes are not tasty at all. There are wild grapevines in the mountains that climb all over the rocky slopes in the summer. The grapes are small purple beans that are so sour that they make your eyes squint, and they are also astringent.

I've been eating too much and my teeth are about to fall out!

Seeing that Ya Ya didn't say anything, the stall owner picked up two grape seedlings and said, "Grapes are the best-selling grapes. You can build a trellis in the yard and the grapevines will grow along the trellis, providing shade and coolness in the summer. Two seedlings are enough to cover an entire trellis."

"But the grapes are sour." Ya Ya frowned, her teeth still feeling numb when she talked about grapes.

"Oh my, these are all Kyoho grapes, so juicy and easy to grow, and they're really sweet!"

"Really?"

"Really, would I lie to a little kid like you? It's sweet."

Ya Ya blinked, and two saplings would be enough to cover the roof. So, let's buy two grapevines, then one apple-pear sapling, one peach sapling, and that one called Blueberry, which is good for the eyes. That makes five saplings in total.

"Grandpa, I want two grapevines, one apple-pear vine, one peach vine, and one blueberry vine."

"Okay!" the stall owner replied with a smile. "Would you like Grandpa to help you choose?"

"Okay, thank you for your trouble, Grandpa."

The elderly stall owner deftly picked out five seedlings for Ya Ya and put them into her little cart box. "Fifty yuan in total."

With the saplings chosen, and seeing that it was getting late, Ya Ya needed to go back to the shop to get potato seeds. She gripped the handle of the small cart, ready to turn around and head back, but the market was bustling with noise and excitement.

This is extremely auspicious, it only happens once a month.

She tiptoed and looked outside. Should she wander around a bit more and see if the uncle who sold forks and canvas shoes had come back?

"Just a little while longer, just a short distance." Ya Ya made up her mind and pushed the small cart with its branches propped up, heading out of the red shed.

The clearance salesman didn't come today, and I didn't hear his loudspeaker. The spot that was supposed to be his was taken by an uncle.

The uncle stood quietly, not shouting. His stall only had a few dark boxes and long rolls of black rope, with a few oddly shaped forks placed to the side.

There are only two pointed tips.

The five-pointed fork I bought before is called a five-pronged soil turning fork, and everyone in the village says it works well. Will these two pointed ones work well too?

Full of curiosity, Ya Ya leaned forward and asked the stall owner, "Uncle, is this a two-pronged pitchfork? Is it used for planting?"

"This isn't a pitchfork for planting, little one, don't touch it carelessly, it's dangerous!" The uncle selling the goods said with a serious expression.

"Then what is it? What is it used for? Why is it connected to the black box behind it?" Ya Ya only realized after getting closer that this fork was really very different from the five-pronged fork she bought.

The pole was shorter and thinner, and the top of the pole was connected to a black rope, which was then connected to a large black box.

It's a complete set.

"This is a battery-powered electric domino, it works by using electric current," the stall owner explained simply.

"A battery-powered electric numbing device? What's it for?" Ya Ya was even more confused.

Seeing that no one was asking, the stall owner decided to explain to the little boy, "This thing is specially used to electrocute pigs and cows. It's very powerful. A big fat pig weighing four or five hundred pounds can be knocked to the ground with just one touch of this fork."

Convenient for slaughter.

Of course, he didn't say the last four words, for fear of scaring the child.

Ya Ya's eyes lit up suddenly. A pig could fall to the ground with just a touch?!

Wasn't Big Brother Niu being dragged down the mountain by the wild boar?

"Are the wild boars in those mountains also so fragile that they collapse at the slightest touch?"