Chapter 108

If any more trouble is caused, there won't even be a life to live.

After Mike and the others left, Sophia and Grace stared at each other for a while, creating a tense atmosphere.

Cecilia tugged on Grace's sleeve and whispered, "Let's not argue anymore."

The argument was interrupted by Cecilia, and seeing that Sophia was about to cry, Grace averted her gaze, picked up some food with Lily and Cecilia, and left.

Sophia was left alone in the kitchen.

She stood by the cupboard, tears streaming down her face, which she quickly wiped away.

After wiping her tears and sniffing a bit to hold back more tears, she went to the stove, served herself a bowl of rice, and started eating.

She was so hungry that her rice was quite thick.

After wolfing down the food, the physical pain she felt subsided a bit.

A bowl of rice could ease her physical discomfort, but her mood remained heavy.

There were too many emotions and pains she couldn't digest.

Sophia sat alone at the table, staring blankly into space.

Her eyes filled with tears again and again, and she wiped them away each time they fell.

***

In the girls' dormitory, Grace and the others had already washed up and gone to bed.

Summer, who had gone to bed earlier, would have been asleep long ago if they hadn't started arguing in the kitchen again.

Once Grace and the others lay down in bed, Cecilia spoke softly, "She really looks pitiful. She's not good at physical work, and today she was forced to work all day. Without Henry to protect her, and us ignoring her, she must feel awful."

Grace responded, "You're too kind."

Lily added, "And who cares about us? Do we not feel pitiful?"

After a day of hard work, they had cried countless times from exhaustion, especially when Ken pushed them too hard, making them want to lie down and die. They had to grit their teeth and continue working. Who pitied them?

Cecilia explained, "I don't mean to be kind or imply that we aren't pitiful. I just think it's better to avoid more trouble. What if Henry comes back and causes us problems to defend her?"

Grace retorted, "If he dares to cause trouble, I'll report them to the authorities."

Cecilia sighed, "How far do we need to go to hurt each other like this? Everything was fine before. How did it come to this?"

Lily and Grace were too exhausted and in no mood for such reflections.

Grace said to Cecilia, "If you really can't stand it, you can partner up with her, serve her like a maid, and help her earn more work points when food is distributed."

Hearing this, Cecilia couldn't muster any more compassion.

She whispered, "I didn't mean that..."

After Cecilia spoke, Sophia entered the dormitory.

As soon as she came in, Lily, Grace, and Cecilia fell silent.

The dormitory atmosphere was complicated but quiet, with five people either sleeping or washing up.

Summer, already isolated by them, naturally remained a bystander. She didn't care about their conflicts as long as they didn't drag her into it.

Even though the situation hadn't affected her directly, living in an environment where arguments could erupt at any moment made it impossible to live peacefully.

She also had her own conflicts with them, so Summer still planned to finish building her house and move out to escape this situation.

Once Sophia finished washing up and went to bed, Summer also fell asleep.

She woke up naturally at her usual early morning time.

But today was Sunday, and she wasn't planning to go to the market, so she decided to sleep in a bit.

Just as she turned over to continue her sleep, she heard a loud, urgent banging sound from the courtyard.

The banging was followed by Ken's voice, "Everyone, get up!"

The noise and Ken's voice worked better than Jack's alarm clock.

Lily, Grace, Cecilia, and Sophia all shot up from their beds like they were switched on, quickly tidied up their bedding, and went to wash up.

After washing, the seven of them stood in the courtyard.

Ken held Jack's alarm clock, tapping its glass cover with a stick as he said, "Half an hour to gather at the work site!"

None of them dared waste time. They quickly acknowledged and went to prepare breakfast.

To save time in the morning, they had cooked extra rice the night before, so now they just needed to heat it up, eat quickly, and rush to the work site, fearing punishment for being late.

After they hurriedly left, Summer couldn't sleep anymore.

She got up, leisurely tidied her bed, and went out to wash up.

At the water pump, as she set down her washbasin, Logan also came out of the dormitory.

Summer grabbed the handle of the pump and greeted him, "Morning."

"Morning," Logan replied, placing his washbasin down and taking over the pumping from Summer.

Summer squeezed some toothpaste, filled her enamel mug with water, and began brushing her teeth.

After brushing her teeth and washing her face, she went to the kitchen to start breakfast, finally having the chance and mood to chat.

Summer added water to the pot, set up the steamer, placed the buns inside, and said, "Compared to the life they're living now, their previous days were like paradise."

Logan, tending the fire, agreed, "Exactly. Wasting food, skipping work, and slacking off on the job. Now they're paying for it with hard labor. Their paradise days are over; it's time for some hell."

In the end, it didn't really affect them much.

After a few casual words, Summer and Logan stopped talking.

They had their own tasks to complete today.

After breakfast and feeding the chickens, they borrowed a cart from the town office and headed to the market.