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

"Gui Xiang and I will go again tonight. Hu Zi, you rest." The village chief narrowed his eyes, needing to know how many people were still in that village.

Gui Xiang is right. If we take action, we must leave no one alive.

It's impossible not to take action.

Their claws have already reached for the village children, and there are no able-bodied men in the village to defend against them.

If there's retribution for doing this, he'll accept it. He's just an old man who's lived this long and has enjoyed things that even a county magistrate, no, even the emperor, can't enjoy. He's even seen a flashlight that glows and a chicken that can start its own fire. He's had his fill!

Granny Li held the village chief's hand tightly and did not object.

"How can that be, Uncle and Aunt? How can your bodies take it? I'll go. I've been there before, I know the place well."

Zhao Hu panicked when he heard this. If something went wrong with the two old people going into the mountains in the dark, he would never be able to live in peace for the rest of his life.

Besides, he only dared to venture into those deep mountain paths when he was hunting. The village chief and his wife had never set foot in the deep mountains, so how would they know those side paths?

The village chief waved his hand, "You stayed up all night yesterday, you must have been scared half to death. If you don't get some rest, you'll break down."

The two argued back and forth, and Granny Li couldn't stand it anymore. She glared at them and said, "Stop arguing, the three of us will go together! Tiger will lead the way, and the two of us old folks will follow. He's right, we're not familiar with the mountain roads. Old man, don't worry about the young man."

He's the only able-bodied man in Lotus Village; we can't afford to be timid!

Zhao Hu nodded repeatedly, realizing that his earlier hesitation had worried the village chief. "I can do it, Uncle. I'm good at slaughtering livestock."

"Okay, fine, I'll do as you guys say. Tiger, get some rest during the day and come meet us around 3 PM."

The three people inside reached an agreement and went about their respective tasks.

The village remains peaceful and bustling.

After a hearty meal, the villagers went about their own business. Those who were too old to do heavy physical labor skillfully wove baskets from the newly dried cattail branches, while those with enough strength carried water and turned over the soil. Everyone wore new shoes, no longer the cloth shoes and straw sandals that exposed their toes.

Life has really gotten better. We're even wearing cotton shoes now, and today we even got to eat dry rice, refined rice!

Ya Ya, holding a brand-new pair of reading glasses hidden behind her back, walked towards the corner where Grandpa Fang and Xiao Douzi used to practice calligraphy.

"Practicing calligraphy?" Little Ya Ya asked, her hands behind her back, like a little adult, as she lingered beside the two of them.

Fang Tiesheng looked at her and pinched her soft little face with his fingertips. The little girl had gained some weight recently, and her face was round.

"Yes, we're practicing calligraphy. Ya Ya, would you like to learn a few characters too?"

Ya Ya waved her little hands behind her back and looked at the paper in front of Xiao Douzi. Wasn't this the corn planting method she brought back?

Little Bean looked up, "The characters are too small, Grandpa Fang can't see them, so he asked me to trace them." He smiled sheepishly, "It's just that I write too slowly, but I'll try my best to become more proficient so Grandpa Fang can quickly recognize how to plant corn!"

Little Bean ate those golden corn kernels once and couldn't stop thinking about them; they were so sweet and sticky.

If he learns this, he'll definitely save all his farmyard manure and put it in his cornfield!

"Hehe, that's not slow at all. Our little bean has only been learning for two or three days and he can already write his own name. If he were in an outside school, he would be a little genius."

Little Bean blushed from the praise, buried her head, and grinned widely.

Hearing what Xiaodouzi said, Ya Ya tilted her head, stared intently into Grandpa Fang's eyes, and asked softly, "Grandpa Fang, is it that you can see objects clearly normally, but your eyes get blurry when you see small print up close?"

"Yes, how does Ya Ya know so much? Do those immortals over there also have the same situation as Grandpa when they get old?" Grandpa Fang asked curiously.

Ya Ya's little eyes darted around, "Ta-da!"

He revealed the reading glasses he had been hiding behind his back.

"Grandpa Fang, I saw some old men over there buying this. They said it helps them see the words clearly. Ya Ya even asked the stall owner if it would help since you have presbyopia!"

Grandpa Fang and Xiaodouzi both looked at the pair of reading glasses covered with a transparent plastic film.

The frame is black, with two thin, transparent crystal-like pieces embedded inside. There are also two slender legs stacked on the back of the frame, making it look exquisite and expensive.

"Could this be the Ai Dai (pronounced with a fourth tone) over there?" Fang Tiesheng's voice trembled slightly.

He had heard people mention Ai Dai, a crystal that was polished. When you held it in your hand and held it up to the characters, the characters appeared larger.

It's not something the average person can afford.

"What's 'Aida'? It's called reading glasses." Ya Ya heard a new word she'd never heard before, her dark eyes filled with confusion.

However, her hands didn't stop moving. She unsealed the transparent bag, took out her reading glasses, and, imitating the old man, straightened her legs, then stood on tiptoe and put them on Grandpa Fang's ears.

Grandpa Fang cooperated by not moving, but simply closing his eyes. He was afraid that Xiao Yaya might accidentally poke herself with the two sticks that were pointing straight at her.

A cool touch brushed against his ear and then against the bridge of his nose. The reading glasses were then firmly seated on his face. He shook his head; they didn't fall off, they were quite secure.

Little Bean next to him stared wide-eyed at Grandpa Fang without blinking.

In all his years, he had only ever seen elderly people in the village squint to see things; he had never seen anyone with such a strange thing on their face.

The frames were black, the temples were straight with rounded little hooks, and they fit perfectly on Grandpa Fang's ears. On the bridge of his nose were two thin, crystal-clear lenses, so clean that they could reflect a person's image.

In Xiaodouzi's eyes, Grandpa Fang suddenly changed. He no longer looked like an old man who toiled in the soil, but more like the learned and knowledgeable old gentleman he had imagined.

It's both imposing and quirky, and also beautiful.

Fang Tiesheng still had his eyes closed.

Ya Ya smiled so hard her eyes curved into crescents. She stood on tiptoe to check Grandpa Fang's reading glasses. He hadn't put them on the wrong glasses!

"Grandpa Fang, please open your eyes and look!"

As she spoke, she bent down and picked up the corn planting method sheet next to Xiaodouzi's feet, then held it up in front of Grandpa Fang with both hands.

Fang Tiesheng slowly opened his eyes.

He felt a slight dizziness and instinctively frowned, then gently shook his head.

This is the first time in my life I've had something on my face, and I'm really not used to it. I don't even know how to focus my eyes.

He reached out to rub his eyes, but touched the cold lenses.

A jolt went through him, and he quickly withdrew his fingers. He couldn't afford to damage them; his hands were rough, and he'd be heartbroken if he scratched them!

"Look here." Ya Ya shook the paper in her hand.

Fang Tiesheng composed himself, his gaze slowly descending until it landed on the paper, just for a fleeting moment.

The small print, which was originally blurry and crowded together, suddenly jumped into my eyes clearly.

Horizontal strokes are horizontal, vertical strokes are vertical; each stroke is sharp and clear.

That was the first time in his life that he had seen the small characters so clearly and distinctly.