The waning moon hung slanted over the tips of the parasol trees, and a touch of dawn's light began to show in the east.
On the spacious stone-paved boulevard, faint figures of early-rising small traders could be seen peddling their goods.
A new day had again begun.
Liu Shock turned his back to the wind and lit a cigar, swinging his empty sleeve as he took big strides toward a simple stall, where he greeted the owner and received a mule meat sandwich and a bunch of big-grapes.
