Shocking! A three-year-old brings his aloof mother to their door.

Niu Qiang, who was tidying up the shelves, looked up at the sound and saw Jiang Hui and her family behind her. A simple smile immediately spread across his face.

"Oh! Xiaohui's here? Oh, this must be your granddaughter? She looks so radiant!"

Note: [Niu Qiang didn't go to Mo Ye's house for dinner; his wife did. To clarify, "inviting the whole village to dinner" means one person from each household attends.]

Jiang Hui bent down and said to Tongtong, "Tongtong, this is Grandpa Niu."

Tongtong greeted sweetly, "Hello, Grandpa Niu!"

"Oh! Okay, okay!" Niu Qiang grinned, his eyes barely closing as he emerged from behind the counter and asked kindly,

"Little one, what do you like to eat? Grandpa Niu has lots of delicious food here!"

Tongtong's inner voice was already cheering wildly, ready to carry out her plan to empty the convenience store!

(✧ω✧)

She secretly turned her head and immediately caught sight of He Wanqing walking over not far away, looking at her with a faint, all-knowing gaze.

The little flame of reckless shopping that Tongtong had been harboring was instantly extinguished.

She shrank back, turned to her grandmother, and said in her most obedient tone, "Grandma~ Tongtong wants to eat ice cream, is that okay?"

Jiang Hui's heart melted when she saw her granddaughter's "sensible" little face, and she picked her up in her arms.

"Of course! What flavor would you like, Tongtong? Pick it yourself!"

At this moment, Mo Ye and He Wanqing also arrived at the entrance of the convenience store.

He Wanqing followed Mo Ye and greeted Niu Qiang, "Uncle Niu."

"Xiao Mo is back? This is... his wife? They're a perfect match!" Niu Qiang nodded with a smile.

Mo Ye walked to the freezer, opened the glass lid, and a blast of cold air came out.

He pointed to a large ice cream cone wrapped in a white plastic bag, revealing a purple scoop of ice cream on top, and smiled at He Wanqing:

"Try this? It's our childhood favorite, the Big Head Ice Cream, the taro flavor inside is especially authentic."

He Wanqing wasn't particularly interested in sweets, but seeing Mo Ye's nostalgic gaze and the simple packaging, she felt a slight urge to try them.

She nodded: "Okay, I'll try it. If I can't finish it, you'll have to take care of it."

"No problem, I've got it covered." Mo Ye readily agreed.

Upon seeing this, Tongtong immediately pointed to the purple ice cream while still in her grandmother's arms:

"Grandma! Tongtong wants that too! Just like Mommy and Daddy!"

"Okay, this is it." Jiang Hui made the decision.

So, Niu Qiang took four large ice cream cones out of the freezer, put them in a plastic bag, and handed them over: "Four pieces."

Jiang Hui took out a small wallet carefully wrapped in a handkerchief from her pocket, opened it, and inside was a neat stack of banknotes of different denominations.

She licked her fingers, deftly pulled out a five-yuan note, and handed it to Niu Qiang: "Here you go, Uncle Niu."

Niu Qiang took a dollar out of the drawer and put it in Jiang Hui's hand.

Tongtong leaned on her grandmother's shoulder, watching the entire transaction with wide eyes.

When she saw her grandma exchange that purple piece of paper for ice cream, her little head was filled with big question marks.

"Grandma," she couldn't help but ask, pointing to the wallet in Jiang Hui's hand, "that piece of paper... can you buy things with it?"

In the city, she makes daily purchases by swiping cards or using her mobile phone. When her parents take her to the supermarket, they also use their phones to make payments. Tongtong has never actually come into contact with physical currency, let alone knows what money looks like.

Jiang Hui paused for a moment, then laughed: "Oh dear, these kids nowadays, don't they know anything about money?"

She pulled out a red 100-yuan bill from the small roll of money, unfolded it for Tongtong to see, and patiently explained.

"This isn't ordinary paper, it's called money, it's Chinese currency. With this, you can exchange it for whatever you want to eat or play with, at Grandpa Niu's place and elsewhere. Look, this red one can be exchanged for lots of ice cream!"

Tongtong seemed to understand, but she did understand that it could be exchanged for lots of delicious food.

She looked at the red paper her grandmother handed her and felt as if it were glowing!

"This is for Tongtong as pocket money," Jiang Hui said, stuffing the hundred-yuan bill into the small pocket on the side of Tongtong's skirt and patting it.

"From now on, whenever Tongtong wants to buy snacks, she can come to Grandpa Niu's and exchange this for them, okay?"

Tongtong lowered her head, her little hands tightly covering the small pocket, her big eyes sparkling with a strange light.

For the first time in her life, she had the most direct and basic feeling about money.

"Thank you, Grandma!" She hugged Jiang Hui's neck tightly.

Jiang Hui pinched her little cheek and smiled:

"Silly child, there's no need for thanks among family. Come on, let's go home, Grandma will make you a clay pot chicken!"

Jiang Hui took an ice cream from the plastic bag and handed it to Tongtong, who was looking at her expectantly. She took one for herself and then shared the rest with Mo Ye and He Wanqing.

Tongtong took her turn and eagerly used her two chubby little hands to skillfully tear open the plastic bag, revealing the purple cylinder inside.

She happily stuck out her little tongue and licked the brown chocolate layer at the top, her eyes squinting with bliss.

Just then, Zhang Xiuying, carrying a slightly worn bamboo basket on her back, walked over from the other end of the road.

When Tongtong saw her great-grandmother, she quickly licked the ice cream stains off her lips with her tongue and called out in her childish voice, "Great-grandmother!"

Zhang Xiuying approached, smiling as she looked at her great-granddaughter's rosy cheeks, damp with sweat and grime, and the ice cream that had been chewed unevenly:

"Where did Tongtong go to play? She looks like a little kitten."

"Tongtong went to catch the chicks~" Tongtong puffed out her little chest and shouted loudly.

"Oh? Is Tongtong happy?" Zhang Xiuying gently tapped Tongtong's little nose with her fingertip.

"So happy! So happy!" Tongtong nodded vigorously, almost shaking her ice cream off her nose.

She quickly stuck out her little tongue and licked it off, then, remembering her victory, added, "Tongtong beat the chick! And she beat the dog!"

Zhang Xiuying cooperated perfectly, displaying an expression of surprise and admiration: "Wow, our Tongtong is so amazing! So great!"

Seeing the ice cream melting quickly in the sunlight, Tongtong quickly licked it a few more times, then asked curiously:

"Great-Grandma, where are you going?" She noticed the bamboo basket on her great-grandmother's back.

Zhang Xiuying straightened up and pointed to the distant green mountains: "Great-grandmother went into the mountains to pick zongzi leaves."

"Zongzi leaves?" Tongtong was unfamiliar with the word, blinking her big eyes. "Why are you picking these?"

"We'll pick them and sell them for money," Zhang Xiuying explained cheerfully.

"With the money from selling them, we can buy rice and vegetables, and also buy candy for our Tongtong."

"Money!" Tongtong's eyes lit up instantly...