Ten Stools Set Out, the Shopkeeper Only Woke Once

Ten short stools were lined up in the front hall overnight.

The next morning, Xia Che came downstairs and chose the one closest to the window. He rocked side to side twice, confirmed the legs were sturdy, then leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.

"This one passes," he said.

Yan had just entered. "What about the other nine?"

"Take your time testing them."

After those three sentences, Xia Che went still.

Pancham walked over and waved a paw in front of his eyes. Xia Che's breathing was steady. He had clearly fallen asleep for real.

Zorua immediately used an illusion to add a banner over him that read: Inspecting Goods.

Hu Liena looked at it. "Don't wake him."

Zorua nodded in wholehearted agreement and added another line beneath the banner: Expected to Wake Before Lunch.

Xie Yue began moving the stools.

Six were to be arranged in two groups along the left wall of the front hall, for people waiting in the morning and afternoon. The remaining four were sent to the long table in the backyard, filling the places for Flabébé, Duskull, and temporary guests.

Metagross lifted a stack with two arms and steadied the top stool with another, carrying them firmly to the wall. Its red eyes scanned the spacing, leaving enough room between every stool for people to turn around.

Pancham was in charge of test-sitting.

On the first stool, it sat down and stood up.

On the second stool, it sat down and stood up.

By the sixth, it was getting impatient and simply stood on the seat and bounced twice.

The wood gave a dull creak, but the legs did not budge.

"All approved?" Xie Yue asked.

Pancham nodded.

Zorua turned the seventh stool into a soft pillow and sprawled comfortably across it. Pancham reached out to touch it, found hard wood beneath the illusion, and immediately chased it off.

The carpenter from the furniture shop happened to return for the delivery receipt. He stood at the door and counted the stools. When he reached the ones by the wall, he suddenly frowned. "Ten stools were delivered yesterday. Why are there eleven now?"

Everyone looked over.

There really was an extra stool by the wall. Its grain, legs, and freshly attached cushion were exactly the same as the others.

Zorua buried its face in its forepaws.

The carpenter walked over to move it, but his hand passed straight through the seat.

"This one is free," Xia Che said without opening his eyes.

"You're awake?" Yan asked.

"I heard someone mention money."

Zorua removed the illusion of the eleventh stool. The carpenter counted again. There were exactly ten, so he handed the delivery receipt to Indeedee.

Indeedee checked every item. Ten stools, one delivery fee, cushions separately prepared by the shop—everything matched what had been agreed upon yesterday. Only after stamping it with a small seal did she place the remaining payment into the money pouch.

The carpenter saw the banner on Xia Che. "The shopkeeper has worked hard inspecting the goods."

Xia Che did not open his eyes. "It's my duty."

Hu Liena turned away, her shoulders trembling slightly.

"The four stools in the backyard need testing too," Yan reminded them.

Pancham looked at him.

Magby eagerly ran over, ready to do the bouncing in its place.

"Sit. Don't heat them up," Yan said.

Magby obediently sat on the first one. Its body heat still slowly warmed the wooden surface, and when it stood up, a warm round imprint remained in the center of the seat.

Zorua quickly claimed that stool.

Once all four had been tested, it had four spots to rotate through as they warmed.

Indeedee took out a roll of thick gray cloth and a pair of scissors. New stools placed directly on the stone floor would scrape noisily, so a layer of padding needed to be attached underneath.

Xie Yue cut the cloth into squares while Pawniard watched beside him.

Yesterday, the lining of the medicine basket had been pressed close to loose threads, so it had not used its blades. Today, the thick cloth was spread alone over a wooden board, with the area around it cleared. It voluntarily raised its arms and, after Xie Yue nodded, cut along the marked line.

The cut was perfectly straight.

"This time is fine," Xie Yue said.

Pawniard pushed the second piece of thick cloth in front of itself.

One drew lines while the other cut cloth, and they worked quickly. Yan handed the finished squares to Indeedee, while Magby held down the padded stool legs until the adhesive set.

Hu Liena looked around. "What should I do?"

Indeedee handed her six small wooden plaques.

The stools in the front hall needed to be divided into morning and afternoon groups, and the plaques only needed suns drawn in different positions. Hu Liena picked up a pen as Eevee lay nearby watching. Once the first plaque was finished, it lightly tapped the round noon sun with a paw.

Zorua also leaned in. With a flick of its tail, a black fox appeared on all six plaques.

"This will make people sit in the wrong place," Hu Liena said.

The fox jumped from the morning plaque to the afternoon plaque, then back from the afternoon plaque to the morning one.

"That makes it even easier to get confused."

Zorua had no choice but to remove them.

People who had attended class yesterday gradually came to retrieve belongings they had left behind. Some had forgotten old reins, some had left water bottles in the rest area, and some had come specifically to deliver a packet of freshly ground spice leaves as thanks to the Golden Generation for their help.

Hu Liena did not accept anything valuable, only keeping the spices that had been intended for the shop's stew anyway. A runner from the carriage shop also brought several leftover pieces of leather padding, just right for attaching beneath the legs of the two stools that would be moved most often.

"Can these get me one more morning slot?" he asked with a smile.

Xie Yue pointed at the six mats in the training room. "No."

"I knew it."

He did not take back the leather pads, only collecting his old reins.

Two new customers saw the six stools along the wall and assumed they could attend class together today. Rotom displayed the morning and afternoon plaques, and each chose an open time slot instead of squeezing into the training room.

At last, the front hall was no longer crowded.

Near noon, Bibi Dong arrived as well.

Absol stepped through the door first. Seeing the six short stools neatly lined against the wall, it sniffed each one in turn. The scents of fresh wood and adhesive had not fully dispersed yet. It paused only beside the one nearest the door and did not sit down.

Bibi Dong then noticed Xia Che sleeping by the window.

He still had the banner reading Inspecting Goods, Expected to Wake When the Smell of Food Arrives hanging over him.

"Busy today?" she asked.

Hu Liena said, "Teacher, everything is already done."

"What did he do?"

"He test-sat the first stool."

Bibi Dong looked at the other nine.

Pancham stood nearby and pointed at itself with a paw. Magby also raised both hands, indicating that it had tested the four stools in the backyard.

"It seems the shopkeeper is not very useful," Bibi Dong said blandly.

Xia Che still had his eyes closed. "I can hear you."

"Then get up."

"It doesn't smell like food yet."

Absol walked up to him and lightly touched the banner with its nose. The illusion had no scent, and it turned to look at Zorua.

The little fox slowly removed the banner.

Xia Che was left unobstructed, yet he remained seated.

Bibi Dong did not call him again and went straight to the backyard to inspect the new seating. Absol followed at her side, then lay down beside its crescent-moon plaque.

Hu Liena looked at Xia Che. "Teacher has already left."

"I know."

"You're not getting up?"

"She went to wait for lunch."

The facts proved his judgment was accurate.

When Yue Guan and Ghost arrived for lunch, the four stools in the backyard were already in place.

Yue Guan chose the one near the window, convenient for looking at Flabébé and the rough pottery basin. Ghost did not choose one. He still habitually sat near the shadows. Duskull, however, circled a new stool twice and tapped the seat twice.

"It wants this one," Yue Guan said.

Ghost shifted the stool a little closer to the wall.

Duskull hovered above it, the red glow behind its mask flickering softly.

Bibi Dong's original seat had not moved, and Absol's crescent-moon plaque remained beside it. Indeedee had only added four places to the other side of the long table. Whoever arrived first could sit there.

Bibi Dong picked up a small wooden plaque beside one of the new stools. There was no name on it, only an empty bowl.

"A place for temporary guests?"

Indeedee nodded.

"What if five arrive?"

Xia Che was still in the front hall, so Yue Guan answered for him. "The fifth sits in the front hall."

Ghost said, "You sit."

"Why me?"

"You talk too much."

Duskull tapped the stool twice, seeming to agree.

Bibi Dong set the plaque back where it had been and did not join their argument. Absol, however, placed its tail beside the empty stool's leg, claiming a bit of space in advance.

"Where's Xia Che?" Yue Guan asked.

Hu Liena pointed toward the front hall.

The illusionary Inspecting Goods banner was still hanging over Xia Che, but Zorua had changed Expected to Wake Before Lunch to Expected to Wake When the Smell of Food Arrives.

Indeedee brought out the first pot of hot soup.

A stool leg immediately scraped softly in the front hall.

Xia Che walked into the backyard holding the illusionary banner. "Who put this thing on me?"

Zorua lowered its head and drank water.

"How were the inspection results?" Yan asked.

"Very sturdy."

"You only sat on one."

"They were made in the same batch. They're probably all the same."

Bibi Dong looked at him. "What if one of them was broken?"

"Pancham tested them."

Pancham puffed out its chest again.

"Then give it your inspection meal money."

Xia Che looked down at the soup he had just been served.

Indeedee had already given Pancham an extra piece of stewed meat, and Magby had received a roasted Berry as well. Xia Che's bowl had not gotten smaller, and only then did he sit down with relief.

Hearing that, Pancham immediately hugged the stewed meat it had just received. The other nine stools had all been tested by it and Magby.

Xia Che sat at the dining table. "Then they're even sturdier."

Lunch used the newly delivered spices today. The stew had an extra layer of fresh fragrance compared to usual. Flabébé hugged its blue flower and leaned close to sniff, but did not fall into the bowl. Duskull hid beneath a new stool, only emerging after Ghost set out dried Berries.

The ten stools did not give the shop ten more openings. They merely kept waiting customers from blocking the entrance and finally stopped two people from having to share one chair at the dining table.

After lunch, Indeedee began sorting the scraps left from cutting the cloth.

A soft thud of wood hitting the ground suddenly came from deep in the backyard corridor.

Everyone turned.

Lucario, who had been quietly training in the courtyard and rarely came to the front hall, walked out carrying an old stool in both arms. A black appendage hung behind its ears, and the spike on its chest avoided the stool's surface as it walked with steady steps.

Xia Che had just picked up his after-meal tea. "Lucario, do you need a seat too?"

Lucario set the old stool at the far end of the long table but did not sit down.

It looked toward the training room, its ears twitching faintly.

Next door, someone was still pacing back and forth nervously.