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

Ji Chuntao stared blankly at the pile of ingredients in front of her, her heart burning with emotion.

Not only was her rural craft recognized in that area, but she also received orders that earned income for the villagers!

Her eyebrows arched upwards, her eyes brimming with undisguised joy.

"Oh! Great, that's wonderful! I'll go get ready right away and calculate how much I'll need. This pot is big enough; I can cook a hundred pounds in no time. I must make it well..."

"Chuntao, don't rush. Nannan didn't say it had to be made right away. Make it well, and this meat sauce might become our village's signature dish!"

"Aunt Chuntao, you're amazing!"

"After we finish making the shoes we're making today, we'll all go into the mountains to help Chun Tao collect snails. Chun Tao, you just focus on making the sauce!"

As soon as the words were spoken, everyone spontaneously sprang into action, busily gathering around the ingredients, dividing the work of sorting, rinsing, and chopping meat. The water splashed and the cutting boards thumped, and the yard was filled with laughter and chatter.

Fang Tiesheng was writing down prices in his notebook. "Nannan, how much does Chuntao sauce cost per pound again?"

He spoke too quickly and didn't have time to remember or hear clearly.

Ya Ya held up four fingers: "Forty!"

Forty? Fang Tiesheng paused, his pen poised. Chili peppers with a little minced meat and pickled cowpeas, a pound of that could actually sell for forty?

"How much did you pay per pound for the meat and the chili peppers?"

"The meat was seven yuan a pound. I bought pork belly, which was marked as eight yuan eighty cents a pound. My uncle gave me a discount because I bought a lot. The price of meat has gone up now." Ya Ya frowned and tried hard to recall. "I bought a lot of chili peppers. My aunt helped me negotiate the price down to three yuan a pound. Some were cheaper, while others, like the fatter ones, were more expensive. I bought them all and got the same price."

Fang Tiesheng quickly jotted down the details: the cost of raw materials was about ten yuan per pound, and with firewood and seasonings added, he could earn about twenty-five yuan per pound! This order of spring peaches alone earned him two thousand five hundred!

One hundred catties sounds like a lot, but it only takes two or three pots to cook. If this business can be made into a long-term business, it would be a great thing.

Gou Ya silently watched the lively crowd, then looked at her own little hat, feeling somewhat down.

It's been quite a while now, and it seems she hasn't sold a single hat. I wonder what's wrong with the quality. If there's a problem, she can always fix it...

After a quick bite of breakfast, everyone went back to their tasks, with the village chief leading three little children slowly toward the riverbank to guard the egg nest.

The egg-guarding creature remained quietly lying in the grass nest, not moving even when it saw the group approaching.

The village chief gestured for the three little ones to be quiet, and the four of them crouched down a short distance apart. Several eggs in the nest had already cracked open, and faint, pecking sounds could be heard coming from inside.

The three little babies had their hands on their knees, their heads huddled together, peering out, their eyes fixed on the small half of the eggshell sticking out from under the egg's bottom, and they even unconsciously kept their breathing very soft.

"Grandpa Village Chief, when will the chicks hatch?" Ya Ya quietly tugged at the village chief's sleeve and asked in a soft voice.

Xiao Shuanzi held up one finger: "Keep your voice down, little chick, it's pecking at its shell!"

Before long, a crack suddenly widened, and a small hole appeared on the smooth eggshell. A tiny, tender yellow beak peeked out and began to breathe softly.

The children's eyes lit up instantly, they craned their necks even further, touching each other and whispering secrets:

"Sister Ya Ya, look, its mouth is yellow!"

"The shell is so hard, do you need help, Shuanzi?"

"The village chief hasn't moved yet, so we'll listen to him."

The egg-guarding dog shifted its position, making way for the hatched egg.

The hole in the eggshell grew larger and larger, and the damp, pale yellow down slowly squeezed out, followed by a soft little body that slowly pushed its way out.

"They're out!"

"It's a chick!"

"Why is she so ugly?"

The village chief lowered his eyes and looked gently at the chattering children, raising his hand to gently make a shushing gesture.

The newly hatched chicks were covered in damp down, clinging to their bodies in wisps, looking rather wilted. Their tiny wings drooped, and their thin, red legs were still unsteady on their feet.

Its pale orange little mouth opened and closed, and its black, bead-like eyes, half-open and half-closed, rolled around in a daze. It struggled to kick the edge of the eggshell, with the remaining half of its body still stuck in the broken shell, occasionally emitting a soft, weak "chirp" sound.

Hearing the soft chirping, the egg-guarding creature in the middle of the grass nest slowly turned its head, its round eyes fixed on the newborn little one, and its thick, flat beak gently peeked forward.

Ya Ya held her breath as she watched: "Grandpa Village Chief, if the duck is guarding the eggs, what if it finds out there are chicks and gets angry?"

"No, the duck that guards the eggs is a good duck with a spirit." Besides, it has eaten so many insects that he catches every day from dawn till dusk, so it should be well-fed.

Little Bean and Little Shuanzi rested their chins on their hands and stared at the nest in the grass. They saw Shoudan slowly raise his body, carefully move to the side to make a small gap, and gently rub the wet chick with the soft, warm feathers on his side, as if to comfort him.

Once the chick has barely managed to break free from its shell and is wriggling and searching for a heat source, the egg-keeper slowly folds its wings to protect this first chick of the year from Lotus Village.

The remaining egg also began to move, and the three children watched it so intently that they didn't want to leave.

A gentle breeze carried the faint scent of hay from the riverbank, and the soft chicks in the hay nest began to chirp more and more frequently.

Little Bean looked at the two wet chicks under the wings of the egg-laying hen, then at the calm river water, and said, "Grandpa Village Chief, can we take the chicks home and raise them? To keep the wild pheasants company?"

Ya Ya looked at the village chief with hopeful eyes.

The village chief shook his head slightly. "Not now. We need to keep it for at least a whole day before we can bring it back to the village."

"Why do we have to wait a whole day?"

The village chief pointed to the downy feathers still clinging to the chick's skin and explained to the three little ones in detail, "The chick has just hatched from the egg, and its downy feathers aren't completely dry, so its body can't retain heat. Right now, we have to keep it warm by guarding the egg to prevent it from getting cold. If we take it back, there won't be a warm place like this, and the chick will easily get sick and die."

"Oh, I see." Ya Ya looked thoughtfully at the two chicks being protected by the egg.

I wonder if the hairdryer that my aunt used to blow-dry her own hair can also be used to blow-dry the chicks' feathers.

"Wait one more day, and Grandpa will bring you here tomorrow so we can take the chicks back to the village."

"Great! We'll pick up the chicks tomorrow! Our village will have chicks again!"