Page 2
By late morning, a stall owner finally called him over.
Two large sacks of rice were placed on Minh’s shoulders, making his knees buckle.
The straps dug into his calloused skin, causing a dull, burning pain.
He gritted his teeth, took a deep breath, and kept walking.
Each step up the stairs felt heavier than the last, but whenever a customer said, “Thank you,” Minh still smiled brightly as if he had just received a huge reward.
His wages rested safely in the palm of his hand—several old, worn bills softened by passing through countless hands.
Minh stared at them for a few seconds before heading over to the rice stall.
Just then, a little boy bumped into him, causing a sack of rice to fall to the ground.
White grains scattered all over the walkway.
The boy’s face went pale with fear.
Minh crouched down and began picking up the grains one by one, smiling as he said, “It’s okay.
The rice just wanted to go for a little walk.”
Minh had only taken a few steps while carrying the sack of rice when he suddenly heard someone shouting behind him:
“Thief!
Thief!”
Without thinking, he threw the sack of rice aside and sprinted like a bullet.
He ran so fast that he actually overtook the thief.
Then he turned around and shouted, “Follow me!”
The thief stared at him in confusion before chasing after Minh, while the victim chased after the thief.
The entire street suddenly turned into the strangest running competition anyone had ever seen.
At the intersection, Minh turned around, intending to block the thief, but he slipped on a banana peel.
He spun around twice like a circus performer before crashing straight into a police officer who was directing traffic.
The two of them fell to the ground together.
The thief panicked and somehow tripped over his own feet, diving headfirst into a pile of foam boxes filled with fish.
The fish vendor burst into applause, laughing so hard that he completely forgot to yell at anyone.
The police officer dusted himself off and looked Minh up and down.
His shirt was covered in fish powder, his hair was decorated with sparkling silver fish scales, and the smell of fish was absolutely overwhelming.
The officer burst out laughing.
“Are you catching a thief, or applying for a job selling fish?”
Minh scratched his head awkwardly.
Just then, a small fish that was still trapped inside his collar suddenly jumped out with a loud splash and landed right on his face.
The entire crowd burst into uncontrollable laughter.
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