No Possibility

"Gallo! You're back!" Lily hopped out from the balcony kitchen like a happy little lark, her hands still dusted with a bit of flour.

She excitedly pulled Gallo over to the corrugated cardboard box filled with materials for cloth dolls, and with the air of someone presenting a treasure, she took out a smaller box from the side.

Carefully opening it, nine palm-sized cloth dolls lay neatly inside. Some wore blue plaid skirts, others had braided flaxen hair, and even the stitched eyes had different curves—clearly the result of the two of them rushing to finish the work over the past few days.

"These are the nine most beautiful ones Mom and I made. Could you... could you take them out to sell?" Lily's voice was filled with anticipation.

They had been especially meticulous with every doll these past few days, never wanting to ruin a single one, and only after setting aside their two-per-box allowance for defects did they manage to accumulate these nine finest dolls.

"Even if it's not a full Copper Nil, if you could sell them for four Fenso each, that would be seven Copper Nil and two Fenso! That's enough to buy over two pounds of meat!"

Lily counted on her fingers, calculating carefully.

Gallo picked up a doll, his fingertips brushing against the fine, dense stitches. He examined the dolls closely; the stitching was tighter and more uniform than before, and the facial features were sewn with increasing vividness.

"You did a great job, Lily! Your craftsmanship is getting better and better." He praised her sincerely.

He crouched down and ruffled Lily's hair: "I'll take them to Lubo Lane tomorrow. Maybe the university students will like these cloth dolls. I'll try my best to sell them for one Copper Nil each, and if I can, I'll try to get an extra Fenso."

Lily cheered immediately, looking forward to the moment Gallo would take these dolls out tomorrow and have them snapped up by customers.

Gallo walked to the edge of the bed and pulled a new bottle of cough medicine from his pocket. It was a light brown liquid in a glass bottle, and the medicine looked clearer than the last one.

"Mom, this medicine is different from the last one, so don't dilute it with water. The pharmacist said that if you dilute this bottle, the effect will be worse and it will ruin the medicinal properties. But this bottle is more effective than the last, and it can reduce the weakness after the illness."

He unscrewed the cap, poured four tablespoons of the liquid into a small cup, and handed it to Aisha: "Your cough has eased a bit these past two days, but you must drink the full dose to recover completely."

Aisha looked at the medicine her son handed her, then at his collar, which was still neat despite being stained with a little dust, and her eyes turned slightly red.

She took the medicine bowl and drank it in one gulp. The bitter taste made her frown, but she still said softly: "Is your work very tiring?"

"It's not tiring at all, and I've sold quite a few books. The shop owner gave me a bonus recently." Gallo smiled, placed the medicine bottle on the bedside table, and tucked the corner of the quilt in for Aisha.

"Tomorrow I'll take the dolls to the bookstore to sell, and then I'll buy some fresh fruit on the way back."

He turned to ask Lily: "I see flour on your hands. What are you planning to make tonight?"

"Meat pies! You can take a few to eat while you work tomorrow."

"That works out perfectly, I bought some fresh meat. I'll mince the filling, let's make plenty of meat pies."

The next morning, Gallo carried the corrugated box containing the nine cloth dolls, with two fried meat pies wrapped in oil paper tucked against his chest.

He arrived at Lubo Lane a few minutes earlier than usual; in previous days, he would arrive just in time to hear the morning bells of the Clock Tower.

The waitress at the Moonlight Cafe saw him and smiled, handing him a cup of hot coffee with milk and sugar, placing it on the table where Gallo usually sat.

And unlike other days, there was a vase with fresh flowers on this table, looking particularly eye-catching.

"Mr. Gallo, you're here very early today."

Since Gallo's workplace was at their cafe, business had been particularly good lately, and when there were more customers, the staff received more service tips.

Therefore, the three waitstaff at the cafe were very enthusiastic toward Gallo, who was driving their income growth.

"Thank you."

Gallo placed the corrugated box of cloth dolls on the corner of the table, then took out four to give to the three waitstaff and the female owner inside the cafe.

Gallo could use his own money to cover the cost of the four dolls he gave away; his total income over this period had exceeded six Nalang.

However, all the money was stored in a box under his bed that he used for clothes. Once he saved up to about ten Nalang, he would take the time to deposit all of it into the bank and open a dedicated account.

After receiving their thanks and hearing how much they loved the exquisitely crafted cloth dolls, Gallo sat back in his seat, set up the sign board introducing his Knowledge Navigation service, and began waiting for customers.

As soon as Gallo sat at his workstation, he received the new book lists and shelf storage manifests sent over by the various bookstores in the lane that morning. These had all been agreed upon yesterday, allowing Gallo to save a significant amount of time without needing to wander through every single bookstore.

It also helped support the business of each bookstore.

When the bells of the Clock Tower rang out through the neighborhood, customers soon came looking for him.

The first customer was a student from the Engineering Department who needed information on "steam pipe sealing integrity testing." Gallo casually rattled off the names of three bookstores and the shelf locations, and the student paid two Fenso without hesitation.

The second was a girl from the History Department looking for content related to navigation logs from the colonial period of the Southern Continent. Gallo not only pointed out where the books were but also explained the core content of one of them, earning another Copper Nil.

Soon, the cafe began to bustle with people again. Often, within ten minutes of Gallo sitting down to work, all the staff in the cafe would be busy along with him.

By ten in the morning, it was time for his break. After serving the last customer before ten, he rubbed his throbbing temples, preparing to close his eyes and recharge.

"Gallo! I have something important to tell you!" Stur ran over, panting, his face filled with irrepressible excitement as he flopped into the chair opposite Gallo.

"I met Sacia Taylor at the library yesterday, that very famous girl in school!"

Gallo picked up his coffee and took a sip, waiting for him to continue.

Stur said excitedly: "She asked to borrow my notes on The Charm of Industrial Computing, and I chatted with her for over an hour.

You have no idea, her eyes are like sapphires when she smiles, and she speaks so gently. I think... I think she likes me!"

Gallo looked at him, a bit confused, and asked: "So, a girl at your school likes you, and you rushed over here to tell me?

Why?"

Even though they were good friends, it wasn't enough for Stur to be this eager to share the news with him.

"Uh... when I was talking to her yesterday, she was very impressed with the notes I had recorded, and then I happened to mention you," Stur explained.

"Mentioned me?"

Stur leaned in close to Gallo and whispered, "Miss Sacia is very interested in you. She's even heard about what you did in Lubo Lane while at school, but since so many people have been coming to see you lately, she thought it would be best to find an opportunity to have a private chat with you."

Gallo smiled as he looked at Stur, "So you definitely agreed on my behalf, right? And do you really think that Miss Sacia is interested in you?"

"What's the problem with that?" Stur didn't quite understand.

Gallo continued to ask him, "Is that Miss Sacia also from the Engineering Department?"

"No, she's from the History Department."

So, a girl from the History Department comes to you, an Engineering student, to borrow notes on engineering textbooks, and you really are too close to the situation to see it clearly.

Gallo didn't say much more. He set down his coffee cup and used the charcoal sketching pencil he carried with him to write a new line at the very bottom of the cardboard.

"Divination Services: Predicting event probabilities, pay as you wish."

"Do you want to try my new service?" He pulled that greasy, blackened coin from his pocket.

"Let's divine the possibility of you and Sacia Taylor dating. You can decide the service fee yourself."

Stur was stunned for a moment. He looked at the "ordinary" one Fenso coin in Gallo's hand and asked in return, "You're going to divine by flipping a coin?

Isn't that always a fifty-fifty probability in this kind of situation?"

"But my divination results are extremely accurate!"

Gallo flicked his fingertip, and the coin traced an arc through the air. When it landed on the back of his hand, the reverse side was facing up.

"The result is that there is absolutely no possibility between you and that Miss Sacia," Gallo said calmly.

Stur's smile froze on his face instantly.