Chapter 116

Summer and Logan quickly pulled their cart over and smiled. "We saw you were all busy, so we thought we'd wait a bit. There's no rush."

Their grains were indeed already weighed and ready.

Before Summer could help, Ken came over and, with Logan, loaded everything onto their cart.

As Lily and her group had just left, Leonardo naturally brought them up, "Finally, they're starting to shape up. Sometimes, you have to show them who's boss."

Summer and Logan nodded in agreement.

"Hopefully, they won't cause any more trouble," Summer remarked.

Ken spoke up, "I wouldn't be so sure. Who knows how Henry and his friends are handling their time at the work camp? They're the most troublesome and unpredictable ones."

Summer and Logan hadn't seen Lily and her group lately, and they certainly hadn't seen Henry and his friends. In the original story, those three hadn't gone through this experience, so Summer had no idea how the three months of reeducation would affect them.

But Summer wasn't worried. She hadn't inquired about their situation during this time. Her main goal was to break free from the original storyline and sever all ties with Henry, finally living her own life.

As they finished their conversation, Leonardo said, "I don't believe they're that tough. If three months doesn't straighten them out, we can always send them back for a year or so. We'll see if they learn their lesson then."

With the sun setting, Leonardo and Ken wrapped up their conversation and began tidying up the table and scale. Summer and Logan bid them goodbye and left.

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After receiving their grains, the next step was to store them for winter. To preserve the sweet potatoes better, Summer and Logan dried most of them, turning them into sweet potato chips, while the rest were stored in the cellar for fresh consumption.

As autumn deepened, two rainstorms came, and the weather grew colder by the day. By December, the cold air was biting.

In the classroom, Summer stood at the front, waiting for the dismissal bell with the students. As it rang, she addressed the class, "The weather's getting colder, and many are falling ill. Make sure to wear enough clothes and keep warm."

The students responded in unison, but as they shouldered their backpacks and headed to the courtyard to line up, they chatted among themselves:

"I wish I could get sick..."

"Me too, then I wouldn't have to work or do homework..."

"Yeah, I could just stay in bed..."

"And eat candy and drink syrup..."

The children laughed and talked as they lined up and exited the schoolyard. Summer and Logan watched them leave before returning to their office to finish up their work.

Apart from the colder weather making their hands and feet numb, not much had changed. After completing their tasks, Summer and Logan returned to their quarters, doing their usual chores.

After dinner, while still warm from the meal, they quickly washed up and got into bed. Though Summer wanted to find an excuse to spend more time with Logan, the cold weather made the bed the most comfortable place to be, so she spent most of her time there. If it wasn't too late, she would light an oil lamp and read or study by its light.

Unlike the shared room at the communal living quarters, where the lamp's light was dim and strained her eyes, she now had the lamp to herself, making it much easier to read.

That night, as usual, Summer read for a bit before bed. As she started to yawn, she placed the oil lamp on the table, extinguished the flame, removed her layers, and settled under the warm blankets, falling asleep quickly.

Getting up in the morning, however, was a struggle. Compared to the warmth of the bed, the outside air was chilly, making it hard to get up. After waking, Summer lingered a while before finally sitting up, putting on her clothes quickly, and washing with hot water.

After dressing and braiding her hair, she noticed Logan's door was still shut. Usually, he was up before her, so she called out, "Logan, time to get up."

Hearing no response, she knocked again, "Logan, are you awake?"

Still no answer. She noticed the door wasn't locked, so she hesitated before pushing it open slightly and peeking in. Logan was still in bed, looking like he was in a deep sleep. This was unusual for him.

Worried, Summer entered the room, calling his name. When he didn't respond, she noticed his flushed face and placed a hand on his forehead, feeling the intense heat. Logan had a high fever.

Realizing he was seriously ill, Summer knew she couldn't move him alone. Instead, she rushed to the clinic to get medicine. The clinic was nearby, and she hurried in, asking the doctor, "Dr. Jones, I need some fever medicine."

She was startled to see Henry there. He looked significantly different after three months, having lost much of his youthful arrogance. Startled, Summer quickly turned her attention back to the doctor, who handed her some fever medicine. She paid, avoided Henry's gaze, and ran back to Logan.

Logan was still in bed, so she dissolved the medicine in warm water and managed to get him to swallow it, though he grimaced at the bitterness. After ensuring he drank enough water, she felt slightly relieved and went to cook some food.

After making porridge, she returned to Logan, who looked a bit better but was still weak. She checked his temperature, noticing it had gone down a bit. She decided to feed him the porridge.

Seeing he was too weak to eat by himself, she offered to feed him. Logan, with a feeble voice, mumbled, "Summer, you want to die?"

Summer was taken aback. "You're awake?"

Feeling awkward, she quickly helped him dress and sat by his bed, feeding him the porridge. Despite the tension, she felt a pang of sympathy as he struggled with his illness.

In her attempt to lighten the mood, she said, "You must be seeing your mom in me, right? It's natural to want your mom when you're sick."

Logan, still weak, reached out and gently grabbed her hand. "I mind..."

Summer was taken aback, feeling a mix of emotions as she sat there, holding his hand.