"That fool is picking vegetable leaves again."
The head of the Zhang family who sells pork gestured to Mrs. Li, who sells vegetables, with his chin, pointing to the shaky and weak figure not far away.
Mrs. Li shook her head at him, signaling him not to speak anymore, for fear of scaring the poor fool.
The sun is already high in the sky, the early market has not many people coming, the vegetable sellers have all packed up and are planning to go home for breakfast.
No one remember when it started, this idiot who knows where he came from, like a stray dog, always comes at the end of the morning market to pick up some bad or discarded vegetable leaves to fill his stomach.
Aunt Li's husband passed away early in her life, and her children have all grown up and started their own families. She manages the vegetable garden left by her husband, living self-sufficiently and even making some extra money by selling surplus produce at the market.
She pretended not to see the timid figure, just slowly sorted out her things. After sorting for a long time, the little fool finally walked up to her. His eyes stared straight at the vegetables left in her basket, knowing that they were good and had to be bought with money. He just swallowed his saliva and did not move.
"Tsk." Zhang Laoda, who sells meat, impatiently clicked his tongue, causing the foolish boy to tremble in fear, shrugging his shoulders and moving further away.
But today at the morning market, he didn't find anything, not even rotten vegetable leaves. He didn't know that the vendors at the morning market were already tired of this silly boy waiting beside them every day to pick up leftover vegetables without spending any money. So they agreed to leave nothing behind, even things they planned to throw away, they would take back home before discarding them.
The little fool crouched pitifully by the wall, hoping that Mrs. Li would leave something behind for him to fill his stomach.
Aunt Li couldn't bear it, called him over, and asked him, "What's your name?"
The little fool's eyes were still stuck on the freshly washed and very plump water radish, speechless.
He hasn't been full for a long time.
Aunt Li sighed. Although this little fool is simple-minded, he is not as dirty and smelly as those wandering lunatics who grab food when they see it. Even if he is starving, he doesn't take other people's things. He gets thinner and weaker every day, but he still waits patiently, only picking up what others don't want to eat.
Aunt Li felt sorry for him, quietly put the steamed bun she had just bought and not eaten into his hands: "Take it and eat."
The silly boy was stunned for a moment, then he lowered his head and smiled slightly at the steamed bun.
"Thank...thank you," he said, walking away happily as if holding a treasure.
"It's a matter of life no matter how you put it." Aunt Li said to Zhang Laoda who had been standing with his arms crossed, "There's no need to bully others."
Zhang Lao Da raised his eyebrows without commenting, "In this world, who can still save who? If you have a kind heart, wait until he takes advantage of you, then you will see how tough it is!"
"That's none of your business!" Aunt Li frowned, not wanting to say another word to this rude man, she picked up the basket of vegetables that had already been packed up, carried it with a carrying pole, and headed straight home.
The little fool got a steamed bun, held it in his hands like a treasure, and planned to take it back to his small cave to eat slowly.
But as he walked, his stomach was really hungry. The steamed bun in his hand, although cold long ago, still faintly emanated the fragrance of white flour.
Just take a bite, little fool thought, just take a bite first.
He coughed, took a big bite of steamed bun, but forgot that it could choke him. He ate so hastily that he choked and burped continuously, his face turning red, yet there was no water to wash down the steamed bun.
The little fool was originally walking and eating at the same time. Being choked like this, in a panic, he stumbled heavily on the stone road back.
The steamed bun that choked the mouth went down, but it was full of a fishy sweet taste. The bun in hand was also dropped and fell to the ground, rolling a layer of dust.
The little fool lay on the ground, dumbfoundedly looking at the steamed bun, even forgetting to stand up, crawling to pick up the steamed bun, and gently blowing away the dust.
"Ah pu... Ah pu..." He blew hard on the dust on the steamed bun, without noticing at all that the corner of his mouth had just been hit by a stone chip and was bleeding, looking very embarrassed.
Before he knew it, there was a pair of feet wearing nice boots in front of him. The little fool realized that there was a person standing in front of him, and this person had probably been standing there for a while.
The little fool looked up the pair of boots and saw tall, handsome men with expressionless faces looking down at him.
"Is it worth it?" The man asked the fool with his head down.
"Apu... Apu..." The fool continued to blow the dust off the steamed buns in his hand, looking up at him. He didn't understand what this handsome man was saying, cautiously moving his body back.
The man frowned, stepped forward and grabbed the fool's hand, knocked the steamed bun out of his hand, forced him to look into his eyes, and asked again, "Is it worth it?"
Is it worth it for him to become like this?