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

It's only six o'clock, and the morning market is just starting to get busy.

Ya Ya pushed the cart past the braised meat stall she had seen before. She hesitated for a moment but didn't stop. She remembered that a little further in, there was a long board with a bright red glow, and that board was full of fresh meat.

She hadn't gone far when she saw the red light she was looking for. There were two signs hanging on the stall, one below the stall and the other on a pillar in the middle of the shed.

The prices are: pork ribs 7 yuan per jin / pork belly today's special price 6.9 yuan.

She recognizes the numbers, but she doesn't recognize the words before them. She can guess the meaning of "斤" (jin).

Ya Ya pushed her cart to the stall. The counter was high, so she stood on tiptoe, revealing her round eyes. "Uncle, what kind of meat is this? Is it all 7 yuan?"

"Such a little kid coming to buy groceries all by himself!" The uncle wearing an apron said with a smile when he saw the little head.

"Pork ribs, 7 yuan, great for soup or braised, super delicious. Also, pork belly, 6.9 yuan! Tenderloin and pork shoulder are different prices, which do you want?"

Ya Ya thought for a moment, "Then I want the 7 yuan one and the 6.9 yuan one."

She was afraid that other items would be too expensive, as they had clearly marked prices.

How much do you want?

"One jin... no, let's get two jin of each kind." There are many people in the village, and everyone needs to get some meat, so let's buy a little more.

The uncle swiftly chopped four pounds of meat for her, packed it into a small bag, and then, glancing at the cart next to her, simply put it into the cart's storage compartment.

Ya Ya was still counting on her fingers, "Two sevens, fourteen..."

"Twenty-seven yuan and eighty cents, just scan it for twenty-seven yuan and fifty cents." The uncle smiled broadly, clearly unable to do basic math, but the parents were incredibly carefree!

Sweep? Ya Ya didn't understand. She just rummaged in her little bag and pulled out three 10-yuan bills, handing them to the stall owner.

"These days, not many people use cash anymore!" the uncle said, taking out three coins from a small drawer under the cutting board and giving them to Ya Ya. "Luckily, I still have some change."

Ya Ya looked at the small silver and gold round pieces. The silver one had a number 1 written on it and a big flower behind it, while the gold one had a number 5 written on it.

"Uncle, is this five yuan? Did you give me too much?" Ya Ya thought for a while before looking up and asking.

"This is 50 cents. Two 50-cent coins make one yuan. Uncle didn't give me the wrong amount!"

Oh, I see. I've learned about several different types of currency here.

Ya Ya put the three coins into her small handbag: "Thank you, Uncle!"

Further on, there were still meat stalls.

Whole slabs of beef and mutton hung on iron hooks, in large chunks. There was also a whole sheep's head on the board, which looked a bit scary. Ya Ya only glanced at it before quickly lowering her head and pushing the cart around it.

A short while later, they arrived at the egg stall where they had bought eggs yesterday. The old man selling eggs had heard the sound of the wheels long ago. When he looked up and saw it was the little kid again, his eyes immediately narrowed into slits with laughter. "Little one, here to buy vegetables again? Do you recognize money now?"

"Yes, we met! And we even met a new person named Qian!" Ya Ya smiled sweetly.

She intended to push the cart over, but then she moved her feet back.

Yesterday, the village chief took five of the thirty eggs back to try hatching chicks. This morning, he steamed the eggs and made egg drop soup. Last night, the three children each ate a poached egg.

Thirty eggs seemed like a lot, but when we put them in the cellar, we found that there were only about ten left. Several elderly people in the village didn't get to eat any eggs!

Moreover, there are many ways to cook eggs: steamed egg custard, scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, poached eggs...

Let's buy another pack, not two! They can be stored for a long time.

Ya Ya thought about that empty cellar, which still needed to be filled!

"Grandpa, I'd like two more trays of eggs."

The old man selling eggs helped her place the eggs at the bottom, then put a layer of foam board on top before placing the four pounds of meat on top. He carefully instructed her, "Don't buy anything too heavy next time, okay? If the road is uneven, Grandpa is afraid you'll break those two trays of eggs!"

Ya Ya thanked her grandfather earnestly, muttering to herself, "We can't buy heavy things, we can't buy heavy things," as she continued to push the cart slowly forward.

Walking a little further in, there was a small shop with a picture of lush, vibrant green vegetables painted on the storefront. The shelves inside also had vegetable designs. At the entrance stood a large, steaming silver bucket, somewhat like the thermos her aunt had given her before, but much bigger.

It was still steaming, and a sweet aroma wafted out, tantalizing people's noses.

The bucket is too tall, so Ya Ya can't see what's inside.

Ya Ya stopped at the doorway, looked up and asked the shop owner, who was standing next to her with her hands tucked in her pocket, "Auntie, what's in this bucket? It smells so good."

The seed shop owner smiled and lifted the lid, releasing a sweet aroma of steam. She used tongs to pick up a yellow corncob with kernels still attached: "This is corn, steamed. Four for five yuan, sweet and sticky. Would the little one like to buy a few?"

"Corn? Is it wrapped with rice inside?" Ya Ya stared at the rings of small yellow grains on the corn cob.

Upon hearing this, the proprietress burst into laughter, bending over with mirth. She gently tapped the girl's forehead, saying, "Oh my, you little rascal, that's a really interesting question. This is the first time I've ever heard anyone ask such a thing. Have you never seen corn before?"

Ya Ya pursed her lips shyly and nodded.

"Look," the proprietress pointed to the dry leaves covering the corn, "these outer leaves are called husks, and the kernels inside are edible. We call them rice or grains here, so together they're called corn, or corn kernels. It's not just rice wrapped in husks."

Ya Ya seemed to understand but not quite, her eyes filled with a clear sense of bewilderment.

She then remembered something important and looked up earnestly, asking, "Can Grandpa and Grandma eat it even though their teeth aren't good?"

"They're edible, so soft and chewy," the proprietress said with a smile. "You just need to help break them off piece by piece so they can eat them easily."

Fearing she wouldn't understand, the proprietress simply took a small piece and demonstrated how to remove it, then handed the few golden corn kernels to Ya Ya: "Try it."

Ya Ya took the warm little granules, put them in her mouth, and chewed them gently. The sweet aroma spread in her mouth all at once.

Her eyes lit up immediately: "Eh? Isn't this the taste of those little yellow grains from the big tea porridge? So that's what's in the big tea porridge!"

"Yes! Corn is in corn porridge. That's clever."

Soft, chewy, and sweet, the more Ya Ya chewed, the more fragrant it became. She immediately pulled out a ten-yuan note from her small handbag and said, "Auntie, I want to buy ten yuan."

The seed shop owner smiled as she took the money, quickly wrapped up eight corncobs, and, worried she might get burned, stuffed them directly into the box in her cart.

Upon opening it, I found meat and eggs; she's a thrifty little one.

"Auntie, why doesn't your shop display the vegetables like the stalls next door? Why are they all pictures?" Ya Ya asked, looking around again while the proprietress packed the corn.

The proprietress was amused again by her earnest little face, squatted down to her eye level, and said gently, "Because we don't sell vegetables here, we sell vegetable seeds!"

"Think about it," she pointed to the lifelike pictures of vegetables on the wall, "whatever is depicted in the pictures, we sell the tiny seeds that can grow from them. Just plant those little seeds in the soil, water them, let them get some sun, and they'll grow into vegetables. You can even grow corn!"