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

She looked down at her own bowl, then turned to look at the bowls of the uncles at the next table, her expression of confusion deepening.

Those uncles had just sat down; they hadn't touched their tofu pudding. Their bowls were overflowing with tofu pudding, and the toppings were piled high, making it a very generous portion.

But the ones my aunt and I bought weren't like that; they were only about half a bowl, and even with the toppings, they didn't fill the bowl completely.

Ya Ya blinked her big, innocent eyes and looked at the table next to her. Oh, they have a large portion! I should have bought the large portion. This tofu pudding isn't filling. The small portion was gone in no time.

Thinking this, Ya Ya quickly walked to the table next to her and asked curiously in a low voice, "Uncle, uncle, how much is a large bowl of tofu pudding? I didn't see it on the sign."

The man she was questioning looked up at the well-behaved and adorable little one beside him and said with a smile, "Little one, where did you get a large portion? This stall only has one kind, and it's always three yuan a bowl."

what?

Ya Ya stared blankly at her uncle's bowl, then looked back and repeatedly examined the bowls on her and her aunt's table, her mind full of questions.

She looked around again and saw a young woman with a child who was a little taller than her. The two of them had about the same amount of tofu pudding in their bowls as she did. Then she looked at the other old men and men, whose bowls were also full.

How could this happen?

Ya Ya circled around in confusion.

She recalled how, when food was scarce in the village, everyone would save most of their food for Uncle Zhao, Aunt Chuntao, and Grandpa Sun who worked in the fields, because only they had the strength to work and help everyone chop firewood, carry water, and turn the soil.

Is it the same here, where people who don't work have to share their food with others?

But I bought this with my own money! Why is it the same price?

Is this the local custom? But I've never done this when I sell snails. Everyone pays the same price, and she meticulously weighs and fills each bowl of snails according to the numbers on the scale.

Grandma Wang and Grandpa Zhang are the same, and they didn't say anything was wrong.

The more she thought about it, the less she understood. Ya Ya ran to the stall and clung to the edge of the tricycle: "Uncle Boss!"

There weren't many people queuing up at the stall now. The owner was wiping his tricycle and tidying up his stall with a rag when he saw the little girl coming over. He looked up and asked with a smile, "What's up, little one? Want to buy another bowl?"

Ya Ya shook her head and asked the shopkeeper earnestly, "Uncle, why are the uncles' bowls so full when it's the same price of three yuan, but my aunt and I have less?"

The tofu pudding vendor was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, "Men eat more and are stronger, so it's normal to give them more. You're a child, so you eat less. Most girls also have small appetites, so it's a waste if we give them too much."

Ya Ya frowned and retorted seriously, "But we get the same amount of money. If the uncles eat more, they should buy more, and if we eat less, we can buy less. It's not like we get different portions for the same price!"

A woman who had just finished shopping and was about to leave with her plastic bag heard Ya Ya's words and suddenly turned around.

Cao Xiulian, who had rushed over, patted Ya Ya's head and held her protectively in her arms.

"No wonder, I can never get full from just one bowl. Everyone else says one bowl is enough. I thought I had a big appetite, but it turns out it's just that the portions are different." The woman turned around and walked to the stall, looking around as well.

A few scattered voices of agreement rang out from the crowd: "We need to have a unified standard; we can't treat people differently based on their status."

The boss stopped what he was doing, his face turning slightly red. It wasn't on purpose; it was just a habit, an unconscious feeling that women and children eat less and therefore need less beatings, while young and strong men must eat more and therefore need more beatings.

He even felt that this was a kind of potential human touch.

Now that this little girl has said it, I do feel like something's not quite right.

The people gathered around were all residents who frequently came to buy groceries from the neighborhood, and they were all lost in thought.

In fact, many stall owners do it this way, and few people will delve into the issue. Most of the time, if people don't have enough to eat, they will give them extra food for free.

Allowing vendors to arbitrarily increase or decrease portions according to their own whims, and to treat people differently based on gender, age, or seniority, is not a kind of considerate human touch, but rather an unfair transaction that favors one side based on its own ingrained habits.

Of course, you can add more according to your own ideas, but it really shouldn't be about deducting your rightful share and giving it to others.

"In business, everyone should be treated equally. If the price and quantity are the same, then everyone should be paid the same," someone murmured.

Cao Xiulian looked down at the little girl in her arms and gave her a thumbs up.

Originally a little uneasy and afraid that she had done something wrong, Ya Ya straightened her back a bit after seeing her aunt's affirmation.

"The little kid is right, and everyone else is right too. It's my fault. I'm just used to it. So what do we do now..." The stall owner unconsciously rubbed the rag in his hands, his face flushed.

"Boss, is your normal portion the same as the other uncles' bowls?" Ya Ya's gaze fell on the tables of those uncles.

"Yes, they're all full bowls." The stall owner blushed even more as he said this.

Normally it should be a full bowl, but since the person paid, why did he take it upon himself to cut off half of it?

"Uncle, I have an idea." Ya Ya looked up at the uneasy tofu stall owner with her little face. "Since three yuan is a full bowl, and we don't get that much, we should charge less. You can split it into two prices, two yuan and three yuan, so that there are two portions."

The ladies, aunties, and uncles who come to buy things can choose how much or how little they want to eat!

The stall owner frowned, filled two bowls according to his usual practice, and looking at the obviously different portions, he thought for a moment, then suddenly slapped his thigh, "Oh dear, that's right, I was confused. Thank you, little girl, I'll give you two more bowls, thank you for pointing out my mistake."

As he spoke, the stall owner filled two bowls with tofu pudding and handed them to Cao Xiulian. He then immediately found the sign that had been set up earlier and carefully added the new prices.

Medium portion, 2 yuan (2/3 bowl portion)

Large portion of three yuan

Then, looking at the still-sparse crowd, he said, "Everyone who just bought tofu pudding, please stop for a moment. I was inconsiderate just now. Anyone who bought less tofu pudding from me, come over here and I'll refund you one yuan. From now on, I'll sell it to you at this price!"

Upon hearing this, Ya Ya gave the boss a thumbs up, saying, "He corrects his mistakes; he's a good uncle."

Cao Xiulian looked at the stall owner who was surrounded, then looked down at the tofu pudding in front of her, and then at Ya Ya who was eagerly waiting for her to eat. She gave Ya Ya a big smile, picked up the spoon and ate it in small bites.