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

After about fifteen minutes, Qiao Chuan finally looked up.

He opened his mouth, but hesitated and didn't speak.

"What's wrong, Chuan girl? Did you find out there's a problem?" Li Guixiang asked quickly.

"Grandma Li, I've done the calculations. If the six of us pool our money together, it won't be enough. The six of us together only have 1,800 yuan, but that refrigerator on the screen will cost nearly 3,000. I've heard that it's a pretty good one, with two functions: refrigeration and freezing. I heard Grandpa Fang say that refrigeration is like being able to eat for an extra day or two, but we don't need that."

In the summer, you can store it in Jingli Town or in the cellar. Buying a separate freezer specifically for freezing food might be cheaper, but I'm not sure how much cheaper. However, our current quota is definitely not enough to buy what you've mentioned, let alone add a few more items ourselves.

"Oh, I thought it was something difficult. This is easy to handle. There are so many people in our village, just include everyone. Oh, and don't include the three Yan siblings. They just arrived, and I guess they want to buy a lot of things. The child is also thin, so they need to eat more to make him stronger," Li Guixiang said with a smile.

Qiao Chuan nodded, "Then I'll calculate it based on everyone in our village now. We have twenty-five people left, so each person gets three hundred... Let's say the paper is twenty, and the refrigerator is two thousand. After deducting all that, we still have over five thousand left. If we take out another two hundred to buy toys, we'll have enough money."

The remaining money will be used to buy clothes for the baby, and everyone will need to buy their own thermal underwear and long johns...

As he calculated, Qiao Chuan himself became a little confused.

She had only been learning arithmetic for a short time and only knew some simple addition and subtraction. Just writing down such a long string of numbers made her dizzy.

"How about we call everyone over to discuss and verify together? We can also invite my master and Grandpa Fang; they're faster at math. I... I'm not very good at math, and I'm afraid I'll make a mistake."

"Alright, it's time to call them together to discuss this."

Several elderly women clapped their hands in agreement and went off to greet the villagers.

A moment later, everyone sat together in a large circle. After listening to the ideas of the old ladies, Xiong Bo and Fang Tiesheng each picked up a stick and helped with the calculations.

When the three Yan siblings heard that they were going to pool their money to buy items, they refused to be excluded and insisted on joining in.

They already felt unworthy of the 300 yuan, so it would be even more unreasonable for them not to contribute when everyone pooled their money to buy items.

Even if they don't receive a single penny, as long as they have enough to eat and a place to sleep, that's enough for them.

Fang Tiesheng and the village chief exchanged a glance, pondered for a moment, and nodded in agreement: "Alright, then we'll include your three hundred as well."

After determining the total amount, Fang Tiesheng said, "Let's plan first. If we only buy a small freezer specifically for freezing food, we can get it for under a thousand. Let's estimate it at a thousand. After deducting the freezer, we'll still have six thousand eight hundred yuan left."

"Next, let's talk about thermal underwear. The ones priced at 49.9 yuan a set in the video are a good buy, and there are many styles available. Let's estimate 50 yuan a set, and each person can get one set. Underpants are 9.9 yuan for three pairs, so let's say 10 yuan each. That's 60 yuan per person."

Fang Tiesheng calculated each item one by one.

"After deducting the cost of clothes, we have 5,120 yuan left. I calculated that the plush toys that Granny Li and Granny Liu mentioned Nannan likes should cost around 300 yuan each, leaving us with 4,800 yuan. Everyone, think about what else we absolutely need to buy together?"

Da Niu raised his hand high: "Dad, I want to buy Nannan another set of clothes. I saw a yellow one in the video. It looks nice, but the material is a bit thin. She can wear it in two months when it gets warmer."

As soon as Da Niu finished speaking, several more people raised their hands.

"There was a purple dress that I thought was pretty and would suit Nannan."

"The last girl in the red dress gave Nannan that blue dress, and she looked so radiant in it. Why don't we buy a few more in different colors? That kind of fabric looks windproof and dirt-resistant."

Fang Tiesheng calculated the price of the clothes everyone had their eyes on, then smiled and nodded, "Okay, let's set aside another eight hundred yuan specifically for Nannan's new clothes. We'll each have about one hundred and fifty yuan left."

"You can use this money as you see fit. Buy other clothes, stock up on toilet paper, or buy food—choose whatever you need," Fang Tiesheng said. "Let's record this account for now, and this afternoon everyone can think about what you plan to buy with this 150-plus yuan. We'll register everything after watching the video a second time. Does everyone have any objections?"

Everyone clapped their hands, beaming with joy: "No way! There's still so much money left! A bottle of milk costs nine yuan and ninety cents, and a family can buy about twenty yuan worth of toilet paper. Wow, we have so much money we can't even spend it all."

Zhao Hu scratched his head, looking puzzled: "That's strange, Uncle Fang. Why don't they just charge ten yuan directly in that area? Why do they insist on nine yuan and ninety cents? And even fifty yuan items are reduced to forty-nine yuan and ninety cents. Does nine have any special meaning in that area? These odd amounts are just troublesome."

……

"Nowadays, in shopping malls and online, they don't sell things at a whole price; they always put a 90-cent mark at the end, which is really troublesome. In our time, prices were set uniformly by the state, and the prices were all clearly marked."

"If you ask me, we have to pick the right things to bring in from foreign investment and popularize them. This is too troublesome!" Cheng Huaisong muttered to himself as he sat in the passenger seat of the truck.

"It's all about selling goods. Merchants have discovered that customers subconsciously see 9.9 as a little over 9 yuan, rather than close to 10 yuan, and sales have skyrocketed, so it's become popular." Cheng Jianguo explained to Cheng Huaisong while swaying as he grabbed the handle on the roof of the car.

As people get older, they tend to reminisce about the past.

Grandpa Cheng was no exception; he always reminisced about the old days.

The same goes for taste; we always try to recreate the flavors from our memories. But while ingredients are easy to find, where can we find the soil and water from back then? The changes to the environment caused by modern industrial development and the passage of time are irreversible. The flavors in our memories, besides the food, seasonings, and soil, also have the added weight of those memories.

Where can I find something exactly like the one I had when I was a child?

Who knew that Xiaoyouzi would actually find it when she came back? He had tasted the bok choy before, and it was indeed delicious, but he didn't really have a concept of whether it was a memory or not. Maybe he was still young and hadn't reached that age yet.

Cheng Jianguo was lost in a jumble of thoughts, while Cheng Huaisong's intermittent ramblings filled his ears.