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

People around laughed along, saying, "This kid is quite the little tycoon, throwing around a hundred yuan like that."

"One hundred dollars is sixty pieces, can you finish them all?"

With a quick pull of her little hands, Ya Ya dragged her stroller to the front, patted the trunk, and exclaimed, "I have this! I can carry it!"

Seeing her serious demeanor, like a little adult, the shop assistant didn't ask any more questions, and nodded with a smile: "Okay, Auntie will pack it for you, just put it in your cart!"

As he spoke, he quickly filled bag after bag with sixty small red sausages.

I moved her little cakes out first, put the sausages at the bottom, tidied up the small box, and finally closed the lid. "I've packed everything for you."

"Thank you, Auntie!" Ya Ya sniffed and saw a cloud of white steam rise from behind her aunt, along with an extremely rich aroma of braised food.

She stumbled over.

"The braised pork is ready!"

The uncle in the apron behind shouted, holding a huge long-handled strainer in his hand. He dipped it into the bubbling deep pot of braising liquid, scooped it up, shook it, and tossed it, and a full spoonful of glistening braised food came out of the pot.

The pig ears were soft and trembling, the beef shank was a deep brown with clear marbling, the pig's trotters were stewed until tender, and the chicken feet and pig's tail were coated in a rich, glossy broth, the aroma of which wafted straight into one's nose.

One spoonful after another, he poured it all into the large white foam insulated box.

The middle-aged man bent over and exerted his strength, letting out a muffled groan as he slammed the heavy insulated box onto the table with a "thud."

The box shook, and the braised meat inside trembled slightly, glistening with oil and exuding a rich aroma.

Everyone at the stall sniffed.

"Your braised dishes are still the best!"

"Weigh out a piece of this beef shank for me, and cut it from here."

"Weigh out one pound of chicken feet."

People waiting for their braised dishes to be ready gathered around the stall, chattering away, keeping the two aunties who were weighing and collecting money extremely busy.

Ya Ya was too small to see anything, so she stood on tiptoe and stretched her neck in frustration, but still couldn't see anything. She then jumped up and down a couple of times before finally spotting a tiny bit of the brownish-red meat tip.

After that group of people finished buying, there were fewer people at the stall, so Ya Ya quickly asked, "Auntie... what do you have here?"

The shop assistant, who was styling her hair, looked down and saw the little one still there. Her eyes crinkled with laughter. "Little tycoon, haven't you bought enough yet? We have everything fresh out of the pot: braised pork, pig's ears, beef shank, pig's trotters, chicken feet—everything smells delicious."

"Slurp..." Ya Ya's mouth was practically watering.

Seeing her eager expression, her aunt cut her a piece of meat with skin on, about the size of her little finger, and said, "Try it."

The braised pork that is fresh out of the pot is different from the pork that has been bought and heated. The pork that is fresh out of the pot is the softest, most tender, and most fragrant.

The braising broth is still bubbling, and the meat is soaked in the broth. It bursts with flavor with every bite, the skin is chewy, the tendons are soft, and the aroma is at its most intense.

Ya Ya took a bite, and the aroma made her eyes squint.

"Mmm, it's so delicious!"

"Want to buy some?" The auntie saw how much she was enjoying her food and realized she was getting a little hungry herself.

"Yes, yes, yes! Um... Auntie, can I buy a little of everything?" Because she couldn't see, Ya Ya only knew that there were many kinds. She wanted to take each kind back and share them so that everyone could try them.

"Of course you can, how much is it?" the aunt with her hair up asked Ya Ya with a smile.

"Three, no, fifty yuan!" Ya Ya said, gesturing with her hand.

"Okay, Auntie will give you a little bit of everything. Come again next time if you're satisfied!"

……

The back hill of Lotus Village.

The village chief, his wife Li Guixiang, and the hunter Zhao had already reached the halfway point of the mountain.

Hunter Zhao carried his hunting bow and arrows on his back, while the village chief leaned on his well-worn cane, with a sickle tucked into his waistband.

Li Guixiang held a small, four-pronged, long-handled rake in her hand. It could be used as a crutch to help her walk, and if something happened, she could also use it to defend herself.

The three of them walked slowly. They had set off in the afternoon, and it had taken them an hour and a half to reach the mountainside.

It was completely dark by then, and the mountain breeze carried a damp, cool mist.

The village chief sniffed and lowered his voice: "It's going to rain soon, we need to hurry up, or we'll turn back and get caught in the downpour."

None of them wanted to wear new cotton shoes; their straw sandals left grass marks on the mountain path when shone with a flashlight.

He glanced down at his footprints in the mud, then suddenly paused, turning sharply to Zhao Hu: "Hu Zi, when you went to check last night, were there any footprints near that house?"

Hunter Zhao was taken aback, then his expression changed slightly: Footprints? Nobody lives there, so there wouldn't be any footprints.

Only him.

He stepped on the man's filth; the mud was soft!

At that moment, he was only thinking about the word "cannibalism," and he was so scared that he didn't care about any of the details.

"Uncle, it seems... I didn't see any footprints." Zhao Hu's voice was tense. "There are only the few tracks I made."

The air suddenly became still, the rain intensified, and a mountain breeze sent a shiver through the three of them.

The same thought popped into the minds of all three: the person must have a fixed spot near that house where they got up at night, and they certainly wouldn't have stepped into it.

Zhao Hu's footprints were so clear that even when they were dry, they were different from the surrounding soil.

If those two people had been a little more observant, they would have noticed during the day that someone had come to visit them at night just by looking down!

Zhao Hu grew increasingly panicked, his voice trembling, "Uncle, Aunt, what should we do? What if they've already found out? What if they're on guard?"

He quickly tried to reassure himself, "It shouldn't be, right? I didn't make any noise, they wouldn't be looking around the house in broad daylight..."

The village chief didn't say anything. He took a few steps, but the mountains were quiet and dark, and he couldn't see anything.

The shadows of the trees swayed, and the mountain wind howled, as if something might emerge from the darkness at any moment.

"Let's go up to the top of the mountain first."

The mountain road became steeper and steeper, and the more we walked, the more tired we became.

By the time we reached the mountaintop, the moisture was so thick it was almost dripping.

Zhao Hu, panting, still held onto a sliver of hope: "Uncle, it's about to rain. The rain will wash away all the footprints, and they might not even notice."

The village chief slowly shook his head: "We can't gamble the lives of the entire village on the fact that no one else has discovered it, much less gamble on 'should,' 'maybe,' or 'possibly.' This is no small matter; it's the lives of our entire village."

"We need to prepare for the worst now."

"They've already discovered someone's been here, and they're waiting for us to walk right into their trap, or even planning to take advantage of..."

The village chief wiped the moisture from his face.

"They'll probably come to our village during the rain," Granny Li said in a frighteningly deep voice. "People don't go out on rainy days, and the rain is so loud, it's the perfect time to make a move. If a few people are missing, no one will know."

"We can't go any further." The village chief turned to Zhao the hunter: "Is there only one road from here to that village?"

Zhao Hu nodded: "Yes, this is the only way to go. Beyond this is a cliff, and on the other side is a steep slope with a landslide. It's impossible to go on when it rains."

"Let's go back and dig a trap down the slope."

What they are dealing with are people.

When people walk downhill, they have momentum and walk faster, but they don't see as carefully. Digging traps on downhill roads increases the success rate.

Zhao Hu gripped the bow tightly. "Alright."