Chapter 7

Summer and Grace argued for half an hour, while Cecilia and Lily stayed silent. 

The two of them lay face to face under their blankets, exchanging glances and enjoying the spectacle. The issue with the mirror didn't concern them, so they stayed out of it. As for Summer not wanting to join the group, they did have their grievances. After all, Summer's decision was quite hurtful. However, Lily had already voiced their opinions during the meeting earlier, so there was no need to waste more words now.

Sophia still sat at the edge of Summer's bed, puzzled by her sudden change in attitude. Summer was as hard as iron, bristling with thorns, and Sophia couldn't figure out what had triggered her. Seeing that she couldn't get any answers, Sophia decided not to waste her breath trying to persuade her further.

Seeing that Summer and Grace had stopped arguing, she sighed softly and said, "Let's get some sleep."

She then got up, blew out the oil lamp, and climbed onto the middle bunk, pulling the blanket over herself.

With the room plunged into darkness, Summer put the mirror back beside her pillow and lay down, turning her back to Grace. 

Normally, before falling asleep, Sophia, Grace, Lily, and Cecilia would chat for a while, sharing complaints or trivial gossip. But tonight, none of them spoke after the lights went out.

Summer never said much anyway, so it didn't matter to her whether they talked or not. She simply focused on sleeping.

Admittedly, today's events were indeed strange. Before falling asleep, Summer closed her eyes and carefully went over everything in her mind, digesting it all. Once she had processed most of it, she fell asleep.

In her dreams, she once again held her mirror in front of her. At first, her reflection was as foggy as ever, but slowly it began to clear. As her face became more distinct, Summer grew tense with anticipation. She held her breath, staring at her reflection, afraid to blink. Finally, her entire face appeared clearly in the mirror—her brows, eyes, nose, lips, even the wisps of hair framing her forehead. She was overjoyed. 

It was an exceptionally beautiful face, with gracefully arched brows, bright eyes, rosy cheeks, and lips that naturally curved into a smile. She couldn't find words to describe it, only that she loved it dearly.

Suppressing her excitement, Summer reached out to touch the face in the mirror. Just as her fingers were about to make contact, the dream shattered, and she woke up.

The vivid scene lingered in her mind. She quickly reached for the mirror beside her pillow. In the faint morning light, her face in the mirror was still as obscured as ever. Summer closed her eyes and put the mirror back down. It had been just a beautiful dream.

She lay there for a while, not thinking too much about it. Since the others were still asleep, she got up quietly, dressed, tied her hair, folded her blanket, hid the mirror under her pillow, and went out to the yard to wash up.

As she stepped out of the dormitory with her basin, she saw Logan, who had just finished washing up. Logan, usually proud and aloof, looked down on Henry, everyone else, and especially Summer, who followed Henry around mindlessly. His disdain often showed on his face.

Most of the time, he wouldn't even glance at her. This time was no different. He ignored Summer entirely, picking up his basin and heading back to the dormitory.

With Logan's arrogant and cold demeanor, he had offended everyone at the settlement. Naturally, Summer didn't like him either. She acted as if she hadn't seen him, heading to the well to draw water and wash up.

While she was washing, Logan came out of the dormitory again and went into the kitchen. Summer didn't pay him any mind. She quickly finished washing, returned to the dormitory to put away her things, and then headed to the kitchen herself.

Logan was already stoking the fire behind the stove. Ignoring him, Summer went to her grain sack, grabbed some sorghum and dried sweet potatoes, washed them, and put them in the pot to make porridge.

The stove had two pots. Logan used the large one outside, so Summer used the smaller one inside. After putting the sorghum and sweet potatoes in the pot and covering it, she needed to light the fire.

Logan, sitting at the front stove, blocked her way. His back was just a few inches from the wall, making it impossible for her to squeeze past.

"Could you move, please?" she asked.

Logan didn't respond or look at her. He just moved his stool forward a bit.

"Thank you," Summer said politely, squeezing past to sit behind him. She grabbed some straw, shoved it into the stove, and opened the matchbox kept in the small compartment between the stove openings, only to find it empty.

She remembered she had used the last match after making pasta last night. The new matches were kept by Henry.

Summer put the empty box back and glanced at Logan's stove. It would be easy to borrow fire from his stove, but she couldn't bring herself to ask. Logan was notoriously stingy and cold-hearted. Lily often called him small-minded and petty, despite his good looks. Knowing she'd likely be refused, Summer didn't bother asking.

She waited a moment, then quickly rolled some straw in her hands. When Logan got up to check his boiling porridge, she immediately reached her straw into his stove, lighting it and transferring the flame to her own.

She worked fast, as quick as her heartbeat. But outwardly, she remained calm, avoiding eye contact with Logan. Once her fire was going, she continued to feed the stove with straw.

Logan stirred his porridge, then glanced at Summer and gave a cold laugh.

Summer ignored him, pretending she hadn't heard anything. Fortunately, Logan didn't say anything either, and they resumed treating each other as invisible.

Logan had started cooking earlier, so his porridge finished first. He ate, washed his dishes, and by then, Summer was just sitting down to eat her porridge. Logan didn't leave right away; he busied himself with other chores. Summer watched as he washed sorghum, corn, and sweet potatoes, laying them out to dry in the yard.

She thought to herself, He sure knows how to manage things. These coarse grains weren't meant for daily porridge; they were too tough and unappetizing. Usually, they were dried, ground into flour, and made into bread for storage.

After finishing her breakfast and washing her dishes, Summer also washed some sorghum, corn, and sweet potatoes. Since Logan had used the basket, she used a winnowing pan to lay them out in the yard to dry.

By now, the sky was fully lit. The eastern sun peeked over the horizon, promising a clear day. Summer prayed it wouldn't rain again today and headed out.

It was early March, and the morning air was fresh and cold. Last night's rain made it even chillier as she stepped outside, carefully choosing her steps. The muddy ground soaked from the rain left no dry path, every step sinking into the mire.

***

Not long after Summer left the fenced yard, a sharp, piercing bell rang out, "Ding ding ding…"

The others, still sleeping in the dorms, reluctantly opened their eyes to the alarm.

After the bell stopped, they lay in bed for a bit before slowly getting up, yawning and stretching. They tidied their blankets and lazily went to wash up.

Fully awake after washing, someone suddenly asked, "Hey, what's for breakfast?"

The question snapped everyone to attention.

Before they had separate food supplies, they would get up at the alarm, wash quickly, and rush to their host families for breakfast. But now, the hosts wouldn't prepare meals for them, and by this time, most hosts had already eaten.

"Did no one make breakfast?" someone else asked.

Everyone looked at each other, silent.

Someone rushed into the kitchen and lifted the lids of the pots, revealing two clean, empty cauldrons.

Soon, everyone gathered in the kitchen, staring at the empty pots.

There was no need for an answer. It was clear—no one had made breakfast.

Lily swallowed hard and looked at Henry. "What do we do?"

Henry, not a miracle worker, paused and said, "What else can we do? We'll just have to go hungry."

Cecilia almost burst into tears. "But we have to work, too. We might starve!"