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

"Auntie, Grandpa Chen said that everyone in our village has worms in their stomachs and we need to buy medicine to get rid of them."

"For deworming, huh? That's easy to buy. You've never been to a pharmacy before, have you? How about I go with you later?" Hearing that it was for deworming medicine, Cao Xiulian felt relieved. Intestinal parasites are not a serious illness; they are just a common minor digestive problem.

For most adults and children with intestinal worms, oral deworming medication can be purchased directly from a pharmacy.

Nowadays, city kids rarely see this, but in Ya Ya's village... I guess it's caused by drinking untreated water, so it's not surprising that they get it.

"Oh my, Sister Ya, you haven't taken your deworming medicine yet?" Peng Xuanxuan quietly ran over, put her arm around Ya Ya's shoulder, and whispered in Ya Ya's ear, "Sister Ya, let me tell you, after you take this medicine, whatever you do, don't look down when you poop, or you'll poop out worms! Some people have so many worms that they'll even poop out live ones!"

"Huh—"

Ya Ya's little face scrunched up into a little bun, and goosebumps rose all over her body. She subconsciously shuddered.

Live insects.

If everyone in the village took the medicine, wouldn't they have to poop out a huge bunch of worms? It's terrifying to even think about. Luckily, everyone uses squat toilets now, so they can flush it away after they're done. Otherwise, I don't even want to imagine how horrible it would be if the ground were still covered in worms from those old earthen pits.

"Xuanxuan, thank you for reminding me. I definitely won't look. I'm leaving now." Yaya rubbed her arms as she pushed the stroller out.

There are so many things to do today: I need to buy medicine, pork intestines, and chicken feet.

Hmm... fatty intestines.

Could there be worms in the pig's intestines? My aunt just mentioned intestinal parasites, which are things that hide in the intestines. We need to get them checked properly later. Humans can get worms, so there's no reason why pigs can't.

The thought of the insects kept swirling in her mind as she walked, pondering it over and over. Before she knew it, she had wandered up to the braised meat stall.

The owner of the braised meat stall spotted her immediately. A couple of days ago, this young girl came and practically bought out all the meat at his stall; she's a big customer.

Today, it came straight to its own stall without turning a corner, and the owner's face was beaming with a warm smile.

"Hey kid, buying braised meat again?"

Ya Ya put the cart aside, stood on tiptoe, and peered over the edge of the stall at the counter. Her eyes fell directly on the pile of oily and shiny braised pork intestines on the left.

"Uncle boss, I want to buy pork intestines, I want this kind of intestine."

"Alright! Pork intestines, right? Uncle will get them for you! How much do you want?" The boss reached out with tongs to grab some.

Ya Ya quickly waved her hand: "Wait a minute, Uncle Boss, I need to get checked first. What if there are worms hiding in my intestines?"

The boss was both amused and exasperated.

"Little friend, there can't be any bugs. If there were bugs, I wouldn't dare sell them. All the pigs in our market have been quarantined. Sick pigs can't even get into the morning market. You can rest assured."

If any other adult had said that, the shop owner would probably have thought they were deliberately picking a fight. But this tiny kid, who was also a big spender, wasn't angry at all. Instead, he even cooperated by using long tongs to pick up a braised pork intestine and hand it to the stall.

"Take a look."

Ya Ya leaned closer, her eyes wide open, and carefully examined the surroundings. The outside was clean and tidy, but the inside was a labyrinthine maze.

"Uncle will cut it into small pieces for you, so you can see it clearly when it's cut open, okay?"

Ya Ya nodded vigorously: "Okay, thank you, Uncle Boss. I want all of these intestines after you've checked them!"

The boss swiftly sliced ​​the large intestines into small pieces, and Ya Ya examined each piece closely. This was food to be taken back to the village for everyone to eat, so there couldn't be any insects mixed in; she couldn't be careless.

After carefully checking everything and confirming that there were no abnormalities, Ya Ya finally looked up. "Uncle, your food is so clean! I've checked it all. Could you please weigh it for me? How much does it cost in total?"

"Braised pork intestines, fat removed, thirty-eight yuan per jin (500g), only fifteen jin were braised in total, and it's all here. Five hundred and seventy, I'll give you five hundred and fifty."

"Uncle boss, why are pig intestines so expensive, while the meat is cheaper?" Ya Ya was a little confused when she heard that pig intestines were priced the same as beef and mutton.

Uncle Zhao said that restaurants in the city don't accept these kinds of meat; they only accept good quality meat, which is something ordinary people eat to treat themselves. How come it's as expensive as beef here?

"Because braising pork intestines is time-consuming and has a lot of waste. It takes many steps to clean fresh intestines, and after processing the raw intestines, you can only get about four or five ounces of cooked intestines from the last pound of raw intestines, so the price is high." The boss patiently explained to Ya Ya that he had to get up before dawn to clean these things and he usually didn't make too much. He would usually make ten or twenty pounds, and only make a little more on weekends.

"Oh, I see. Thank you, Uncle Boss, I understand!" Ya Ya held out her little watch for the boss to scan.

It cost over 500 yuan in one go! Grandma Duck's food is getting more and more expensive these days!

"Uncle, what are these bulging circles? Are they food too? I don't think I've seen them before." As Ya Ya was pushing her cart and getting ready to leave, she caught a glimpse of several round, dark brown circles on the side of the stall. They looked like intestines, but they were bulging.

"These are some new sausages I made these past two days. I just put them out to try selling them today. They're made by layering pig small intestines together and braising them thoroughly. When you bite into one, the braising sauce bursts out."

Ya Ya's eyes lit up. "Exploding juice?" Is this the "Mao Jie Zi" that Sister He Miao mentioned? Mao Jie Zi is also juicy when you bite into it. I didn't get to eat it at the hot pot restaurant before, I only heard Sister He Miao describe it.

"Uncle Boss, is this the same thing as Mao Jiezi?"

The owner of the braised meat stall had nothing else to do at the moment, so he took the opportunity to explain the difference between the two to this little big customer:

"The texture is somewhat similar, but they are actually different foods, and the preparation methods are completely different. Mao Jiezi is made by cutting pig small intestines into small sections, tying them into tight knots, and then braising them. They are small, lumpy balls with thin intestinal walls. What you eat is that small knotted ball."

Making "circle sausage" is much more labor-intensive. It involves repeatedly nesting a whole pig's small intestine from one end to the other, layer upon layer, until it forms a tight, thick, round roll, which is then slow-cooked in a rich braising liquid. The resulting "circle sausage" has thicker layers and a more substantial meaty texture; when you bite into it, the braising liquid accumulated in the layers bursts open, offering a chewier and more substantial flavor than "maojiezi" (a type of sausage).

Ya Ya swallowed hard. It sounded delicious—thick, juicy, and meaty…

"Buy it all, give it all to me. Let me taste it and see if it's really that delicious." Jie Chi's voice rang in my mind, accompanied by what sounded like swallowing saliva.

"Grandma Duck, I don't think there's much left. You can't eat too much. Leave a few for me to take back so everyone can try them."

Ya Ya stood on tiptoe and counted; it seemed there were only a few dozen.

I'll eat half, and you can take the rest and share.

"it is good."

Before they even bought them, the two of them had already decided who would get the sausages.