Cloth Doll

Lily came over to the box, opened it, and took out a palm-sized cloth doll.

"What's this? Did you make it?"

He took the cloth doll Lily handed him. It was very small and delicate, light enough to be held gently in one hand.

Its round face had eyes and a mouth stitched with threads of different colors, and its hair had been braided into little pigtails.

A floral plaid dress had been sewn onto it as well.

Lily said loudly, "I didn't make it by myself. Mom and I made it together."

"It's very good. Exquisitely made!"

Gallo walked over to the corrugated box and looked inside. It was filled with materials for making dolls, including semi-finished doll bodies.

Gallo took out one of the semi-finished dolls. It had no hair, no eyes, and no mouth, only a dress sewn onto it.

Aisha explained from the side, "You need to use a needle and thread to stitch the eyes and mouth onto the face, then braid hair onto its head.

I used to work in a textile factory, so I'm fairly skilled at needlework."

Gallo nodded, then asked, "How much can you earn for making one of these dolls?"

"Four finished dolls earn one Fenso."

Gallo drew in a sharp breath. Four completed dolls only earned one Fenso, and stitching facial features and hair onto the dolls with needle and thread was probably the most mentally taxing part.

"How many have you made?"

Lily said loudly from the side, "Thirty in total!"

"That makes one Copper Nil and two Fenso." Gallo rubbed the corner of his eye. The returns on this kind of handmade work done at home were far too low.

Still, Mrs. Jell meant well. Given their family's current situation, Gallo's little "internship" salary alone definitely wouldn't be enough to keep them going.

"How much would a finished cloth doll like this sell for at the market?" Gallo asked.

Aisha said, "A finished cloth doll sells for one Copper Nil in a shop.

But if you buy one from an outdoor stall, it would probably cost around four Fenso."

Gallo nodded. Lily took out another doll with awkward-looking features and held it up in front of him. "Look, Gallo, I made one for myself too.

Her name is Annabelle!"

Aisha chuckled softly. "Actually, it was made badly. But Mrs. Jell said there are forty-two cloth dolls in one box.

A full box of finished dolls has exactly forty dolls, and we have to finish one box within two days. That earns two Copper Nil."

Looking at the doll in his hand, whose stitched face was warped and twisted, Gallo said, "So the extra two can be treated as material losses?"

"Yes. If there are more than two, two Fenso will be deducted for every doll that gets ruined."

Aisha continued, "But so far, only this one was ruined. Lily used it to practice at the beginning. I wanted to try fixing it, but it really couldn't be salvaged."

Lily puffed up her cheeks and said loudly, "This is Annabelle. She's one of a kind!"

Gallo's mouth twitched. He said to Lily, "You should pick another name. Annabelle doesn't sound nice.

Call her Belina instead."

"But I still like calling her Annabelle."

Gallo leaned close and whispered in her ear, "Call her Belina, and I'll bring you some pastries when I get back tomorrow."

"Madeleine Cake?"

"Sure!"

Lily blinked, looked at the doll, and said, "Then I think Belina does sound a little nicer."

She continued, "Gallo, if we finish all forty-two dolls, we can keep the extra two and sell them ourselves."

"Sell them ourselves?"

Aisha explained, "Originally, even the ruined material losses had to be returned to them.

But Mrs. Jell told us we could keep them."

Lily said excitedly, "If we can keep two every time and sell them ourselves, one Copper Nil each, that's more than what Mom and I earn from making thirty dolls a day."

Gallo rubbed Lily's head. "That's the price if they're sold in a shop.

But... tomorrow, I can ask the shop owner whether we can put out two dolls for sale. Do you want to sell Belina?"

"It can sell for one Copper Nil?"

"What are you thinking? With a face made like that, you couldn't sell it for two Fenso."

"She's one of a kind!" Lily said indignantly.

The next day, Gallo woke up early, but Aisha had already warmed up last night's leftover stew and bread for her son in the kitchen.

After drinking the medicine Gallo had brought back yesterday evening with water mixed into it, Aisha's coughing had eased considerably. But seeing how she drifted about weakly as she walked,

Gallo decided that when he came back that evening, he would buy more meat and fresh fruit from the market to help his mother regain her strength.

Oh... and he had to buy Lily a Madeleine Cake too. After all, he had promised her last night.

Gallo did not want to disappoint his little sister.

After breakfast, he had Aisha rest early, packed up, and set off for work at Lubo Lane.

Along the way, Gallo occasionally saw people riding past on black metal bicycles. Someone in this world had already invented this convenient means of transportation.

His daily commute on foot currently took two hours. Whenever his feet went weak and his legs ached, Gallo would grit his teeth and resolve that once he earned enough money, he would buy a bicycle too.

Then an hour-long walk would take only a dozen or so minutes.

When Gallo arrived at Moonlight Cafe on Lubo Lane, the rich aroma of coffee drifted out from inside and filled half the street.

A group of people had already gathered there, waiting...

Yet although the cafe was clearly open for business, not one of them went inside to order a cup of coffee.

It was not until Gallo came into their sight that he realized they were not there for coffee, but had come specifically to wait for him.

Among them was Stur, his old customer.

When Gallo appeared at the entrance to Lubo Lane, Stur spotted him first and immediately raised an arm, calling out loudly, "Gallo! Over here!"

At his shout, a small stir ran through the waiting crowd.

More than a dozen pairs of eyes focused on Gallo at once. There was curiosity, doubt, and even impatience in them.

Gallo's steps paused slightly, surprise flashing through his heart. This should have been only his second day officially setting up his stall to provide consultations.

So word had spread yesterday after all.

But seeing the excited Stur standing at the front, Gallo had no doubt that everyone around him had been brought here by Stur.

He adjusted his breathing, put on a calm yet courteous smile, and walked unhurriedly toward his usual spot outside Moonlight Cafe.

"Good morning, Mr. Stur.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen."

Gallo nodded to Stur in greeting and greeted the surrounding crowd as well. His manner was composed, showing no timidity despite the spectacle.

"Gallo, you finally came!"

Stur practically rushed forward, speaking at a rapid pace.

"These are all my classmates and friends!

You left early yesterday, so they didn't get to see you and thought I was bragging.

I told them that if they came earlier today, they'd definitely run into you."

Stur lowered his voice, leaned closer, and said to Gallo, "I made a bet with them. If you hadn't come today, not only would my reputation have been ruined, I'd have had to pay out a huge sum for living expenses."

Gallo smiled. He sat down on the chair outside the cafe where he had sat the previous two days and said to them, "Why don't you all order a cup of coffee here?

Then line up properly and wait quietly. We'll go one at a time."