There is One New Rule Every Month Globally

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"Setting up your stall so early today?"

A middle-aged man, grinning, approached a vegetable vendor in the market and handed him a cigarette, "I've never seen you out this early on a regular day. Give me three eggplants, a bunch of green onions, and half a pound of chili peppers."

"Not at all."

While chuckling, the vendor took the cigarette and tucked it by his ear, skillfully packing the man's vegetables: "I always come this early, here you go."

"That'll be 17 yuan in total, but since you're a regular, the green onions are on the house, no charge."

"Alright."

The man, without any fuss, cheerfully accepted the vegetables the vendor passed him and looked casually over to the neighboring stall where a simple-minded big fellow was staring eagerly in their direction, "That idiot is still here selling fish."

"Yeah, he's always here; shows up pretty early every day.

"He tries hard," the vendor casually added, "It's a pity his mind isn't quite there, and he even has a little girl with him. No matter how hard he works, it's useless in this unforgiving world. Never seen their parents, probably died early, just leaving an idiot and a little girl behind in this world. It's really tough on them."

"Apparently, they won't be here much longer; the market is about to implement a new rule that won't allow vendors selling seafood to stay. They're going to be driven out soon."

"Next time you come, they won't be here."

"So be it."

The middle-aged man didn't care much, the world was so big, with so many important things happening every day, who would worry about whether you could see an old fool of a fishmonger again or not.

"I'm off."

"Sure, come by next time."

...

...

Tie Chui sat on a bench behind his own stall, his gaze slightly vacant as he watched the middle-aged man talking to the owner of a neighboring stall. He wasn't sure what he was thinking, but only after the man had left did he slowly turn his head to look at the cigarette tucked behind the man's ear.

In this vegetable market, many regular customers would pass a cigarette to the vendors when interacting with them.

But... no one had ever passed one to him.

At first, he thought people simply didn't know he smoked, so after much deliberation, he bought the cheapest pack of cigarettes he could find and, in front of many people, lit one up and put it to his lips only to cough incessantly from irritation.

Even so, still, no one offered him a cigarette.

From time to time, he could hear various other comments.

"Hey, look at that idiot, he's even trying to smoke."

"Might be dumb in the head, but not the mouth."

"Exactly."

His mind might not work well, but that didn't mean he couldn't tell who was kind to him and who bore ill will. He wasn't clear about why they acted like that, he could only continue to sit on the bench behind the stall day after day, silently passing the time.

And that pack of cigarettes? He never smoked it again.

He left half a pack on the stall.

"Brother."

Just then, a complaining voice came from nearby: "I told you at the time not to buy those cigarettes, but you insisted on getting them. You know we hardly have any money, cigarettes are so expensive and uneatable, why did you buy them?"

...

Tie Chui didn't speak but turned to look at the little girl only a bit over a meter tall next to him and suddenly smiled foolishly, patting the two small braids at the back of her head. The braids didn't look that great—they were his handiwork.

He had secretly practiced for a long time.

His sister once said she wanted braids like other little girls, but she didn't know how to do them, so he learned in secret. But his mind was slow; no matter how hard he tried, he could never make them as pretty as the other girls.

But his sister didn't mind.

In fact, she was delighted.

Seeing his sister happy made him happy too.

"Nevermind."

Perhaps tired from the complaint, Iron Nail stopped her grumbling, no longer mentioning the unfinished pack of cigarettes. Instead, she proudly pulled out a flyer from her bosom, her eyes sparkling with excitement as she spoke enthusiastically.

"There's a new seafood market opening soon, and they're looking for vendors."

"The manager of this market, knowing we've been running a stall here for a year, thinks we're experienced fishmongers. They're willing to give us a six-month rent deferral, allowing us to pay the first six months of rent after we've been there for half a year."

...

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