In the dilapidated alley of the village in the city, the midday sun was like a fireball, making the asphalt road oily. Even the dogs were lying in the corner sticking out their tongues. Only Fan Liao was still squatting behind his dilapidated stall, fanning a cattail leaf fan that was about to fall apart. The sweat beads on his forehead dripped down his chin and hit the old newspapers in front of him, causing a small wet mark.
His stall is, to say the least, a deception. The floor is full of tattered gadgets from scrapyards - porcelain bowls with missing mouths, copper bracelets with peeling paint, old watches that don't even move the hands, and some "old coins" that look ridiculously fake. The prices range from ten to fifty yuan. To put it bluntly, they are meant to deceive old men and women who are crazy about picking up missing items.
