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

He Miao lowered her head and carefully stuck small notes on the medicine box. The words were written in large and clear characters. Ya Ya looked at them for a while and could barely recognize a few words.

When Grandpa Fang was teaching Xiaodouzi to recognize characters, she would sometimes follow along. However, the characters on both sides were different, and Grandpa Fang couldn't teach both styles by himself, plus he hadn't fully figured them out yet.

The two kids only learn math together, and occasionally I give Ya Ya extra tutoring.

I'm worried that my child might get ripped off if they don't know how to calculate the cost when they buy things here.

These days, Ya Ya has gone from a little one who could only count to ten to a smart child who can do addition and subtraction within fifty.

She recognized quite a few characters from this place, such as common and simple characters like 肉 (meat), 斤 (jin), and 大 (big).

Seeing her looking so intently, Chen Lei smiled and asked, "Little girl, can you read?"

"She has a name, Ya Ya."

He Miao, who was engrossed in applying tape, didn't even look up, but quietly added a comment.

Ya Ya hesitated for a moment, "I...I only know a few..."

"Wow, that's amazing! You can even read!" Chen Lei gave her a thumbs up.

Conditions in the mountains are poor, and many people have never left the mountains in their entire lives. He felt that the elderly in Ya Ya Village were typical examples, and he guessed that not many of them could read. Ya Ya looked to be three or four years old, yet she could read on her own, which he really thought was quite amazing.

However, it's best to start learning to read as early as possible.

Especially for little girls, reading, understanding principles, and learning to read are essential for protecting themselves.

Since he's already encountered this situation and has already helped out, he might as well help a little more.

Ya Ya felt a little embarrassed by his praise, and gently rubbed the floor with her little cotton shoes.

Chen Lei got up and went to the shelves in the study area to browse, pulling out a thin little book.

The cover features a large cartoon bunny with the four characters "King of Literacy" written on it.

The book is small, just the right size for a child to hold in their hands. It is full of colorful illustrations, and each large word is accompanied by a simple and easy-to-understand cartoon picture.

The character for "meat" has a picture of a piece of red meat next to it, the character for "rice" has a bag of white rice next to it, and the character for "egg" has a round egg with a smiling face next to it.

Each character is marked with its pinyin, and below each large character is a line of small-character doggerel.

For example, the character for "oil" is depicted as a bucket of yellow peanut oil, with the following printed next to the large character:

Didi oil,

Sparkling.

French fries,

It smells delicious.

This is the best-selling children's literacy primer in Chen Lei's store. The characters are large, the illustrations are cute, and it's easy to understand.

Ten yuan a book.

Chen Lei gently handed the book to Ya Ya: "Here, take this. Learn slowly. The more you recognize, the more you'll understand what you want to read or buy in the future."

Ya Ya tilted her head back and looked at the colorful little book she had never seen before, her eyes gradually brightening.

She lightly touched the page with her fingertips. The paper was smooth and flat, with bright colors, and felt fine and smooth to the touch—a strange sensation she had never experienced before.

book!

In her heart, books were extremely precious objects; a good book was worth several bushels of grain.

The book in front of me is brand new and exquisite, with such beautiful colors and such lovely illustrations. It doesn't look like something you could buy for two dollars.

This must be a book treasured by the shop owner himself. It's so well-preserved; he must really cherish it.

She can't have it.

Chen Lei could guess seven or eight parts of the story just by looking at her cautious, eager yet hesitant expression.

When Ya Ya whispered, "It's too expensive, I can't accept it," he felt a mix of laughter and sadness.

precious?

He buys these old-fashioned children's educational books by weight; they're thin and have very low costs.

Feeling a little embarrassed by the child's serious attitude, he scratched his head and said, "It's not expensive, it's really not expensive. Uncle buys it by the box."

As he spoke, he pulled out an old cardboard box from under his cash register, inside which was a large pile of old books covered in dust.

When Ya Ya looked down at all those books, her mouth instantly formed an "O" shape.

Wow!

This isn't a book; it's clearly a chest of gold!

There wasn't a single book in their village.

Looking at the pile in front of her, her eyes were filled with an irrepressible longing.

With books, Grandpa Fang can properly teach Xiaodouzi and Xiaoshuanzi to read and write, and then they can take the imperial examinations and become high-ranking officials.

With books, she can learn to read and better learn about the world.

Chen Lei could see clearly that this child genuinely loved books.

He used this box of old books to prop up table legs; many of them were discarded by other people and were decades old.

Most of the books are old editions with vertical layout and traditional Chinese characters, as well as early Hong Kong and Taiwan reprints of Tang poems, the Three Character Classic, and the Thousand Character Classic.

There are also old-fashioned comic books.

Chen Lei flipped through the books and took them all out at once. Some of them were martial arts stories with fighting and killing, and some were romance stories. He didn't want the children to be misled by them.

The remaining old books were cleaned and weighed; they weighed three jin (approximately 1.5 kg).

"Here are three jin. If you want them, I'll give them to you at cost price, but they're not free."

"I'll give you three yuan for this 'King of Literacy' book."

Ya Ya nodded like a chick pecking at rice, "Yes, yes!" What a windfall! So many books! Grandpa Fang will be overjoyed to see them.

Three threes plus three more.

Before Ya Ya could figure it out, Chen Lei pulled her over again and pointed to a pile of things on the cart: "Look, Uncle has put all the sulfur soap you wanted, ten bars of sulfur soap."

There's also iodine solution; Sister He Miao will help you put on the little note in a bit. I've also got cotton swabs and band-aids; for scrapes and cuts on the hands, they'll stop the bleeding and help heal faster.

Ya Ya covered her mouth, utterly shocked. The things here are amazing! This Band-Aid is so small, and it stops the bleeding as soon as you put it on.

There must be some kind of magical technique hidden inside!

The older brothers, sisters, uncles, and aunts here are all as kind as gods.

At this moment, He Miao came over with a few small notes and stuck them on the iodine, cotton swabs, and alcohol that Chen Lei had prepared. Then she clapped her hands and gently instructed Xiao Yaya: "Sister stuck little notes on each of your boxes. Take them back and show them to your elders."

If you run out of medicine, or if you have any symptoms not listed on the note, be sure to come find us. This uncle is here every day.

She then pointed to the back of the largest piece of paper, "My phone number is here. Call me if you're really in a hurry. I live nearby."

Ya Ya listened attentively, but what exactly was this phone?

She wanted to ask, but held back.

I've been out for too long today, and I still need to pay my uncle. If I delay any longer, it will be too late.

After He Miao finished giving her instructions, she hurriedly looked up and asked, "Uncle, how much is it in total?"

Chen Lei casually gave a number: "Thirty."

Ya Ya looked at the huge pile of soap and felt something was off. She tilted her head, took out three ten-yuan bars and handed them to Chen Lei, then dragged the cart outside.

I'll ask Grandpa Fang to calculate it when I get back. If I've underpaid, I'll pay Uncle next time I come.

Seeing that it was pitch black, Chen Lei couldn't bear to leave a small child walking alone at night, so he said, "How about... I drive you home?"

He Miao nodded and said, "Let your uncle take you home. How did you get here?"

Ya Ya quickly waved her hand, "No need, no need, Uncle brought me here. He's buying things over there, we'll meet up later."

She pointed to a corner at random.

Chen Lei and He Miao exchanged a glance, both feeling a bit strange. Since her uncle brought her here, why didn't he accompany her to buy medicine?

Just as I was wondering, I saw the little guy dragging his little cart, the wheels clattering on the steps a few times, and then he disappeared.