在一个清风徐来的小村庄里，有一位名叫老扒的老者， villagers knew him for his wit and wisdom. He lived alone in a small cottage on the outskirts of the village, surrounded by lush green fields and a babbling brook.
One day, while out foraging for herbs in the forest, old man Li stumbled upon three women from neighboring villages who had wandered into the woods to gather firewood. They were all dressed in worn-out clothes and carried large baskets slung over their shoulders. The women introduced themselves as Mrs. Zhang, Mrs. Wang, and Mrs. Liu - each with her own set of troubles.
As they struck up a conversation, old man Li learned that they were all struggling to make ends meet due to poor harvests and lack of resources. Feeling sorry for them, he offered them some dried fruits and nuts from his pocket but soon realized he was out of food.
In desperation, he remembered an old remedy passed down through generations involving grinding certain medicinal herbs into a paste-like substance that could be used as both medicine and sweetener when mixed with water or other ingredients. Old man Li decided to share this secret with the three women.
The first woman took one look at it before hesitating - she thought it looked like sugar! With no hesitation whatsoever (after all life was tough), she popped a spoonful into her mouth without even thinking about what she was doing! She chewed quickly then swallowed hoping everything would be fine!
The second woman watched nervously but couldn't resist joining in; after all times are hard these days so why not take advantage? She too tasted some before swallowing!
And finally came Mrs.Liu who'd always been known as stubborn because she never did anything without questioning others' motives... But desperate times call for desperate measures right? So under pressure from her companions' example ,she followed suit!
After tasting each lady's reactions carefully observing their faces ,they realized something wasn't quite right: Their mouths began watering uncontrollably ,and they felt an overwhelming urge to burp loudly which caused laughter amongst everyone present except maybe Old Man Li whose face turned bright red due anxiety .