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

After peeling off the small flowers from the two pairs of slippers he had been given, Zhao Hu looked at the ten shiny, colorful plastic flowers on the bed, frowned and pondered for a moment, then scanned the room with his eyes.

He stood up, poked the earthen wall with his finger, and then looked back at the pile of colorful little flowers.

Zhao Hu ran outside and scooped up a basin of water left over from washing his hands. He moved the bed aside, gestured at the head of the bed, and used a small stick to draw a curved, arched line. Then he dipped the stick in water to make the line wet, and even poked it with his hand to smooth it out.

Once the mud has softened, carefully press each small plastic flower into the soaked mud wall.

After doing all this, Zhao Hu took several steps back, squinted at the rainbow-like floral decoration on the wall above the bed, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

He moved the bed back to its original position, lay down on it, crossed his legs, put his hands behind his head, and occasionally tilted his head to glance at the little flowers on the wall behind him, feeling quite pleased with himself.

Zhao Hu also has an artistic side.

"Brother Tiger! Brother Xiong and Qiao Chuan are tinkering with that washing machine, getting it ready to do laundry. Want to come and watch?" Zhao Hu was admiring his masterpiece when Da Niu's shout came from outside the door.

"Washing machine? What washing machine?"

Da Niu pushed open the door with a bang and came in: "It's that big black box in our bathroom! There's a cylindrical one inside, which is supposed to be used for washing clothes. There was no electricity before, so it was sitting there for a long time. My dad was holding several instruction manuals and reading them every day. He can almost recite the manuals by heart."

Now that Brother Xiong has fixed the electricity, he's observed it for two days and says it's stable. He's going to wash some clothes and test it out.

Da Niu shook out his freshly changed clothes and said excitedly, "Look, I've changed my clothes. I took the ones I took to the bathroom. I heard that the washing machine there can clean clothes just by spinning it. It's quite big and can hold a lot of clothes. Do you have any clothes to wash? Take them with you."

Zhao Hu's eyes lit up. He sat up from the bed and rummaged through a cardboard box next to him, pulling out a pair of yellow duck-themed pants: "Come on, I'll take one over to wash too."

Just as Da Niu was about to leave, he caught a glimpse of the little flowers on the wall above Zhao Hu's bed. Moonlight shone through the broken window of his room, making the flowers sparkle. "Oh, Brother Hu, these little flowers on your wall are so pretty."

Zhao Hu froze, somewhat awkwardly saying, "Let's go, what are you looking at? Hurry up and go."

A crowd of villagers had already gathered around the bathroom to watch the spectacle.

The lights inside were on, and a dim light shone through the semi-transparent glass door.

The temperature gradually rose at night, no longer as chilly as it had been a few days ago, and everyone was in good health and dressed warmly. Dr. Chen then stopped urging the elderly to go home early to avoid the cold.

Even the three Yan siblings moved small stools and sat on the side to join in the fun. They heard that they had set up a rare thing called a "laoshizi washing chicken" here. Chickens can wash clothes, which is quite interesting.

Zhao Hu and Da Niu pushed open the bathroom door and entered. The light inside made them squint instinctively. There were quite a few people standing in the bathroom: Xiong Bo, Qiao Chuan, Fang Tiesheng, the village chief, and Doctor Chen were all there.

Xiong Bo had just finished testing the power-on function when the buttons on the panel lit up with a red light. Fang Tiesheng leaned over and carefully examined each function button on the panel.

Seeing Zhao Hu come in carrying a pair of eye-catching yellow fleece pants, Xiong Bo lifted the lid: "Are you going to wash them? There's still plenty of room, just put them in here."

After finishing speaking, Xiong Bo bent down to check the water inlet, connected the matching water hose to the pre-installed faucet at the back of the washing machine, and secured it with Teflon tape. He then aligned the bottom water tank with the pre-drilled hole in the pre-modified sewage pipe on the ground and inserted it securely.

After repeatedly checking and confirming that everything was properly connected, Xiong Bo straightened up.

"It should be fine now, shall we begin?"

"Should we put in laundry detergent?" Qiao Chuan asked.

"Yes, let me see." Xiong Bo picked up the large bag of laundry detergent, which had usage instructions on the back. He scooped in two spoonfuls of detergent and looked at the washing modes on the control panel: "There's quick wash, standard wash, and mite-removing wash..."

"Let's use the standard one first." Fang Tiesheng closed the instruction manual.

Xiong Bo pressed the standard wash button, the washing machine beeped, and the number '45' appeared on the screen.

"What does this mean?" Da Niu asked, leaning closer.

"Timer, forty-five minutes," Fang Tiesheng casually replied.

As soon as he finished speaking, the washing machine started with a "bang," and the sound of running water came from inside. Everyone leaned out to look into the washing machine drum.

"Hey! It made a sound! It really started pouring water by itself!"

Clean water flows continuously into the cylinder through the inlet.

Fang Tiesheng quickly pressed the washing machine lid shut: "The lid must be closed tightly! Never open it while the machine is running. The washing machine works by constantly rotating to remove dirt, like a millstone. If someone gets curious and puts their hand in, it will be dangerous."

A few people stood by the washing machine for a while, but all they could hear was the whirring of the drum and the rushing water. Since the lid couldn't be opened and there wasn't much to see, they all retreated outside.

The villagers waiting outside handed over extra small stools to the group, asking in hushed tones, "How's the washing machine? Does it really work? Are there lots of little sticks inside poking the clothes?"

"Grandpa Li, there's no stick. I can see it clearly; it's just a round cylinder. Once it's opened, water is poured in. We can't see what's going on now. I heard it will make a sound to remind us after it's finished washing. We'll see how it goes then."

"I made a point of remembering where my clothes were dirty," Da Niu replied.

Sanya stared at the bathroom emitting white light. Over the past two days, everything in the village had become incredibly strange, and electricity was something that inspired both awe and fear.

And they seem to have begun to master the use of electricity.

What an amazing village!

Everyone sat around outside chatting about everyday things, village matters, and the progress of their work. Time flew by as they talked.

"Beep~ Beep~ Beep~" Three crisp, loud but not jarring beeps interrupted the villagers' chatter.

Everyone instantly perked up.

"Phew! I'm all done washing!"

"That sound means you're done washing, right? Wow, you washed so quickly!"

Xiong Bo and Fang Tiesheng led the way into the bathroom. After confirming that the machine had completely stopped running and finished the washing cycle, Xiong Bo turned off the water faucet at the back and unplugged the machine before opening the top cover of the washing machine.

A faint, floral fragrance wafted out.

The clothes inside the tube were all spun dry, clinging tightly to the inner wall of the cylinder in circles.