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

"There are indeed things in our Lotus Village that cannot be told to outsiders. You can enter the village but not leave. If you are determined to stay, you must abide by the rules of Lotus Village. If you still have your heart set on the outside world, Uncle Fang will give you vegetable seeds, grain seeds and some transitional food. You can make a living on your own. You must never set foot in this place again, and you must never reveal the situation of the village to outsiders."

As you can see, the barbed wire fence has been expanded so that outsiders can neither get in nor get out.

Sanya did not reply immediately, her expression somewhat grave.

She can't make this decision alone.

She looked around at her surroundings, only able to vaguely make out the winding village path and a few dilapidated houses. Looking further in, she could see that a section of the road surface seemed to be a different color, as if it were paved with small gray pebbles. The humming sound in her ear became clearer.

"Uncle Fang, let me discuss this with my eldest sister and second brother."

Fang Tiesheng wasn't in a hurry.

The three siblings huddled in a corner, whispering and discussing for a long time. Finally, they made up their minds to join Lotus Village and stop going out.

Xiong Bo looked at the three young men and said, "You will be glad you made this decision in the future. My apprentice Qiao Chuan and I were also taken in by the village."

Just then, Niu Cuihua carried a wooden tray into the house. On the tray were three small bowls filled with fragrant noodles.

It was boiled in water and seasoned only with a little salt and soy sauce.

A faint aroma of noodles mixed with the salty and savory scent of soy sauce slowly wafted into the nostrils of the three Yan siblings.

The three Yan siblings hadn't tasted salt in a long time. Especially Erzhu and Sanya, who had endured a long and arduous journey, mostly eating only a few bites of bland wild vegetables.

Yesterday was another busy day, and all I managed to do was drink a few sips of wild vegetable water and eat a few vegetable leaves.

The simple, unpretentious aroma wafted into their nostrils, and the three of them immediately felt their stomachs rumble uncontrollably, their throats bobbing involuntarily.

"You must be starving. Have some noodles. I specially cooked them a little mushy so they'd be easier to digest." Niu Cuihua placed the tray on the only dusty table in the room.

My gaze swept over the calves of the group of people that were sticking out of their ripped trouser legs. They were all very thin, but their calves, in addition to the abnormal bluish-purple discoloration from the cold, also had a slight swelling. When touched, they would leave a small dent.

Just like before, they were lacking salt.

Without saying a word, Niu Cuihua shoved the bowls into the hands of the three people.

Caught off guard, the three Yan siblings found themselves holding a heavy, warm, rough earthenware bowl. From a distance, they could only smell the aroma, but now, seeing the paste inside, they were utterly astonished.

The bowl contained a thick porridge made from snow-white thin noodles, with clear broth sloshing around, a thin layer of light brown soy sauce spreading out, and glistening specks of oil.

"This...this is actually fine white flour!" Erzhu exclaimed in a low voice.

"We don't need to eat such good food and waste it. We can just have some soup." Sanya got up and tried to hand the bowl back to her.

Yan Daya and Yan Erzhu swallowed hard, their eyes glued to each other.

In the past, such fine white flour was a rare treat, only enjoyed during festivals like the Lunar New Year. The aroma of the flour tantalized their empty stomachs, while the warm bowl gradually warmed their frozen, stiff hands.

Seeing Sanya's movements, the two of them forcibly suppressed their longing for the bowl of noodles and also got up unsteadily.

"Eat quickly, it won't taste good if it gets cold." Niu Cuihua and Fang Tiesheng pressed the three young men back down.

"Since you're staying in our village, you're family. Don't be afraid."

"Yes, if you feel bad about it, Erzhu, you come with me tomorrow to build a wall and move stones. Our village is short of people who can do heavy work right now." Da Niu looked at Yan Erzhu with a smile. Master Xiong of the power grid had tried it and found it useful. Next, they would build a wall to surround the village, plaster the ditches, and build a wall behind every house in the village. The road surface had not yet been plastered with cement.

With Erzhu and the others joining, the process will be much faster!

Yan Daya pursed her lips tightly: "I'm stronger than Erzhu. I can move stones and pull a millstone. We won't freeload."

"Eat first, you can only work if you're full."

Niu Cuihua looked at the three men with a smile, thinking they were all fine young men.

The three siblings exchanged glances, and their initial resistance gradually softened; any further resistance would not have been politeness but affectation.

The three of them carefully shoveled the noodles into their mouths, and the simple taste of salt and soy sauce was surprisingly delicious on their tongues, something they had never experienced before.

"Master Xiong! Are you inside? Hurry to the yard, Nannan has brought back the sewing machine and needs someone to assemble it." Chun Tao's voice came from outside.

"What? The sewing machine has arrived? Oh dear, I'm coming right now!" Xiong Bo suddenly jumped up, quickly stood up, and didn't forget to call to his little apprentice, "Chuan girl, come on, you come too."

"Nannan's back, so I'll head over there too. Da Niu, Hu Zi, you two stay here." Fang Tiesheng's eyes lit up, he patted his clothes and got up.

"Alright, you guys go ahead and get busy. We'll keep an eye on things here." Da Niu patted his chest.

Little girl, can you sew a chicken?

"Brother Da Niu, what is this 'sewn chicken' thing? Where did you catch this chicken so late at night? Why do you need to assemble it? Do you have to put the chicken back together after chopping it up?" With the elders all out of the house, Er Zhu was no longer so reserved.

Curiosity overcame nervousness, and while eating noodles, he asked his good brother Da Niu.

"It's a good thing. I've never seen it before and can't really explain it, but it's pretty amazing. It's not for eating." Da Niu didn't know either; he had only vaguely heard that it was something that could be used to make clothes, but he couldn't explain why.

"You three can make do for the night, we'll talk more tomorrow." Zhao Hu watched the three younger ones wolfing down their food. Finally, someone had taken over his bricklaying work, freeing up his hands to start firing the bricks. He'd heard that the eldest daughter of the Yan family had married into the tofu shop in town; would she be able to make tofu herself from now on? And would her shop be able to sell more things?

Furthermore, he was originally a hunter and hadn't gone hunting in the mountains for a long time.

As time goes by, the mountain water sources will gradually dry up, and wild animals will migrate deeper into the mountains. At that time, it will be much more difficult to hunt wild animals in the mountains.