Ruan Jie stuck his head out of the still unsealed window and shouted to the vendor outside, "Wait a moment, we want to buy some candy."
"Alright," the vendor responded, halting his steps and looking up at the imposing building in front of him with a sparkle in his eye, convinced that wealthy people must be living inside.
The group ran downstairs and saw an old man in his fifties or sixties standing in front of the building, carrying a shoulder pole with baskets hanging from both ends, which were covered with white cloth.
When the old man saw a group of children coming down, he quickly lifted the cloth from the baskets to reveal the ding-ding tang (hard candy) inside.
Ruan Jiaojiao was seeing this for the first time and looked around with curiosity.
The old man found her adorable with her rosy, tender skin, and better-dressed than other kids, so he pinched off a small piece of loose candy and handed it to her with a smile, "Try this, little one, see if it's sweet."