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

"Okay, thank you, Grandpa Sun, you've worked hard!"

At the other end of the courtyard, next to the chopping board, Ji Chuntao had already started making mountain sea buckthorn.

The mung bean sheets had completely cooled. She took a knife and cut the translucent sheets into appropriately sized square wrappers. The previously prepared filling of fish, shrimp, water chestnut, and bamboo shoots was laid out beside her.

"Don't just fold it in half and call it a day. This rice noodle skin is soft, so you have to fold the corners inwards in a staggered manner, relying on the moisture of the skin itself to seal it so that it won't fall apart after steaming." Ji Chuntao said while demonstrating how to wrap a three-dimensional triangle.

Place a small spoonful of fish, shrimp, and water chestnut filling in the center of the dough. Lift the bottom corner and fold it upwards at an angle to cover half of the filling. Then fold the left corner to the right, and fold the right corner upwards and to the left. Finally, fold the remaining top corner downwards.

The four corners intersect at the top. Gently press along the three seams with your fingers repeatedly, and a three-sided pyramidal mountain-shaped stone will take shape.

Yan Sanya stood aside watching Ji Chuntao's nimble hands, her fingertips moving, turning the flat piece of leather into a delicate, three-dimensional, beautiful triangle.

"Auntie, you're so skillful."

"Are you interested? Auntie will wrap a few more, but you can learn by wrapping them slowly."

Yan Sanya was slightly taken aback. Learn? He wanted to teach her?

In this world, such culinary skills and methods of preparing fillings and wrapping dough are family traditions. Ordinary families who want to learn them have to pull strings, say nice things, and formally perform an apprenticeship ceremony, kowtowing before the master will impart all his knowledge.

The prescription and the technique are the lifeblood of an entire family.

Most of the time, it's already a huge favor if someone just glances at her from afar. How could anyone be so sincere as to teach a complete stranger who's only been here for two days?

She was both surprised and delighted, and instinctively wanted to turn to her eldest sister and second brother for advice.

But when she looked around, she suddenly remembered that her eldest sister and second brother had already gone with Brother Da Niu and the others to move stones and build a wall. For a moment, she stood there, her cheeks flushed red, not knowing what to do with her hands.

Seeing that she was standing still with a very troubled expression, Ji Chuntao stopped what she was doing: "What's wrong, Sanya? If you don't like it, that's fine. You don't have to learn it."

"No, no! Auntie, no! I... I like it!" Sanya hurriedly explained as soon as she heard this.

In her family, her eldest sister's cooking skills were merely passable, and her second brother's cooking was a disaster. After her eldest sister got married, she took over the cooking duties, while her second brother started the fire and chopped firewood. She enjoyed experimenting with different recipes, but with limited ingredients, she couldn't create anything interesting from wild vegetables alone. Now, someone was willing to teach her cooking with such sincerity, using such excellent ingredients—this opportunity was truly unexpected.

Ji Chuntao smiled upon hearing this: "Since you like it, then you can learn it. Are you worried that your aunt won't teach you well enough to help you learn it?"

"No, no, Auntie, it's a great thing that you're willing to teach me..." Sanya had a thousand words stuck in her throat, and she didn't know how to start.

Seeing that Aunt Chuntao was still waiting for her to finish speaking, she took a deep breath, steeled her resolve, and suddenly took half a step back, bringing her feet together and bending straight down.

He bowed deeply to Ji Chuntao at a ninety-degree angle.

"Master, please accept my bow! From now on, I will definitely learn the craft well. If one day you grow old, I will take good care of you and see you off in your old age!"

This bow came so suddenly that Ji Chuntao was completely dumbfounded.

"Wow, Aunt Chuntao has taken on an apprentice! She'll be the master chef from now on!" Ya Ya, Xiao Douzi, and Xiao Shuanzi, who had just finished applying the medicine, came over and happened to see this scene. They clapped their hands happily and circled around the two of them.

Grandma Wang, who was standing nearby, also smiled and said, "This is wonderful! Sanya is willing to learn. In the future, Chuntao will have a capable apprentice to help her with cooking, and someone will be able to help with some of the more difficult tasks."

Ji Chuntao didn't stand on ceremony and helped Sanya up, saying, "Alright, alright, let's not bother with these formalities. There's no need to talk about taking care of her in her old age or seeing her off in her final days. Auntie is still healthy, so there's no need for you to make such promises. The important thing right now is to finish the work. The filling won't be fresh if it's left out for too long, and the taste will be worse."

Sanya's face was flushed, and her eyes were also red from the heat of her cheeks. She straightened up with Ji Chuntao's help and respectfully replied, "Yes, Master!"

After responding, he focused his mind and stood back in front of the cutting board to learn the craft from Ji Chuntao.

"If you find the triangle shape too complicated, you can start by making a pouch shape. Take the dough like I am, gather the four sides towards the center, pinch it out in circles, seal the top, and then tie it with a fresh vegetable stalk." Ji Chuntao pinched and twisted her hand, and a round, semi-transparent pouch stood on the cutting board.

Ya Ya rolled up her sleeves. "Aunt Chun Tao, I want some dumplings. I'm your apprentice too. I'll go buy you some delicious treats tonight as a belated apprenticeship gift."

Come to think of it, I started learning from Aunt Chuntao earlier than Sister Sanya. Thinking about it this way, wouldn't Sister Sanya be my junior sister?

Thinking of this, Ya Ya covered her mouth and chuckled secretly. Little Bean and Shuanzi were also taught by Aunt Chun Tao. But no matter who they were, she, Queen Ya Ya, always came first—she was the eldest sister!

Upon hearing this, Ji Chuntao was taken aback at first, then couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Alright, alright, Nannan will make one too, no need for the apprenticeship gift. The purses are simple in design, you three can start with this one."

As she spoke, she separated several small pieces of pink leather and set them aside, reminding everyone, "Remember to wash your hands thoroughly before handling the handbag."

Upon hearing this, Ya Ya immediately turned around and pulled Xiao Douzi and Xiao Shuanzi's hands over to examine them.

Yes, everything is clean and tidy.

"Master, we've already washed our hands!"

Ji Chuntao suppressed a laugh, "Alright, alright, then you two can learn from me."

Once given permission, the three little ones immediately started bustling about enthusiastically.

Ya Ya frowned, "Big Sister has to make it big."

She took a small spoon and stuffed spoonful after spoonful into the rice noodle skin. When she thought it was about right, she followed Aunt Chuntao's example and closed the skin. The rice noodle skin was stretched into a round shape, and with a gentle pinch of her fingers, the fish and shrimp filling would gush out.

Ya Ya was so anxious that she paced around the cutting board, frantically trying to plug the leaking filling.

"Master, my Shan Hai Dou (a type of toy) vomited..."

Little Shuanzi, standing to the side, had his own ideas. He folded and stacked the dough here and there, managing to shape the square rice noodle sheet into five pointed corners. After finishing, he raised his hand and "slapped" it flat.

Little Bean held up his little finger, afraid of touching the little shrimp inside, and pinched it very slowly.

Ji Chuntao glanced at it occasionally, silently marveling at how the children's ideas were so varied and their creations were always so unexpected.

However, she didn't stop them and let them do whatever they wanted.