Chapter 31

Logan twisted the cap onto the water bottle and packed both the book and the bottle into his backpack.

Summer continued tidying up her comic books, smoothing out the curled pages and stacking them neatly.

As she put away the last book, she suddenly heard a hesitant voice ask, "Can I go to school?"

Both Summer and Logan looked up at the same time, only to see a boy dressed in gray standing before them, looking dusty and disheveled.

The boy appeared to be around fifteen or sixteen years old, his eyes darting around nervously, and his expression was filled with apprehension.

Logan didn't hesitate and bluntly refused him, "No tuition, no school."

Summer also assumed that he was like the girl they met in the morning, wanting to go to school but unable to pay the tuition, hoping to attend classes for free.

But the boy quietly said, "I can pay the tuition."

Logan was a bit puzzled, "Then have your parents bring you directly to the school to register."

The boy hesitated for a moment before saying, "My grandpa is John."

His grandpa is John?

Summer and Logan quickly understood.

They had just learned about many families in the village that morning, and Summer had taken notes.

John used to be a landowner in the old society.

So this boy in front of them used to be the young master of a landowner's family but was now looked down upon and restricted in everything he did.

Afraid that Logan would refuse him outright again, Summer quickly intervened, "We can help you try to get approval from the village committee. We'll notify you once we have an answer, okay?"

Hearing this, the boy's eyes brightened.

He finally looked directly at Summer and thanked her, "Thank you."

Then, as if afraid of being a bother, he hurriedly left.

Summer quickly called after him, "What's your name?"

The boy stopped and answered, "My name is Billy."

Then he hurried off again.

Summer took on the task, and Logan showed no objection, picking up his backpack and leaving.

Summer packed her comics into her backpack and quickly followed him, saying, "If you don't want to get involved in this, I can talk to Leonardo myself."

Logan glanced at her, "Did I say I didn't want to get involved?"

Summer smiled at him, "So you're willing to help him get a chance to go to school?"

Logan looked away and said, "Our main goal is to recruit students and successfully open the school. As for what kind of students we recruit, it doesn't matter to me."

Summer felt relieved, "Then let's do this together."

She was more than happy to do anything with him.

***

Having promised Leonardo that he and the village secretary would attend the school's opening ceremony in seven days, Summer and Logan had little free time these days.

After dinner at the youth camp, they only rested for a while before heading to the villagers' homes to continue persuading them to send their school-aged children to school.

Summer's situation at the youth camp was now quite similar to Logan's.

Her relationship with Henry and the others was like a cold war, ignoring each other.

She was excluded from the lively and harmonious atmosphere.

Being in such a state, Summer didn't feel any discomfort or unease from being isolated. Instead, she felt unprecedented relaxation, comfort, and freedom.

She hoped to keep this mutual non-interference forever.

Before setting off for the villagers' homes, Summer took a can of preserved food from her travel bag.

Since she started cooking for herself, she had been eating the canned food with her meals. Now, she only had two cans left. If she continued eating them, even sparingly, they wouldn't last long.

So she planned to take out a can and exchange it for pickles at the villagers' homes.

Most households in the village made their own pickles, but they rarely got to eat meat. Using meat to trade for pickles would surely make some families happy.

Of course, she couldn't trade a can of preserved food for just one jar of pickles.

Her canned food was meat, so she should get several jars of pickles in return.

If one family couldn't trade that much, she could open the can and trade with multiple families.

After packing the canned food, Summer put on her backpack and left with Logan.

She knew that if Henry and the others saw her leaving with Logan, they would gossip about them behind their backs, but she didn't care about their opinions or thoughts.

When they arrived at the villagers' homes, she and Logan worked in tandem, using various techniques to persuade the villagers to send their children to school. The main point was to make them believe that education was useful.

Although today's persuasion wasn't much more successful than yesterday's, the difference was that some children, upon hearing about school, would excitedly shout, "Dad, I want to go to school!"

Those parents, who were slightly hesitant, would show even more wavering expressions when their children clung to their legs and arms, shaking them.

After persuading one family, Summer would take out her canned food and ask if they wanted to trade pickles for some meat.

Many people craved a taste of meat.

So, even before their work was done, Summer had already traded all her meat.

Her backpack was now filled with five jars of pickles, including dried radish, sweet garlic, mustard greens, pickled cucumbers, and fermented soybeans.

After trading the last piece of meat, Summer's backpack was full.

Logan casually asked, "You got so much, can you finish it all?"

Summer looked at him and said, "If I can't, I'll share it with you."

Logan turned to look at Summer, "You'd be so kind to me?"

Summer replied sincerely, "Yes, I'd like to be friends with you."

Logan quickly looked away, "No need, I don't want to be friends with you."

Summer: "..."

He was really cold and heartless...

Summer slowed her pace.

Noticing that Logan had gotten ahead, she hurried to catch up.

***

After visiting another house, Summer and Logan happened to pass by Leonardo's home.

They knocked on the gate, and soon heard Leonardo's wife, Linda, call from inside, "Who is it?"

Logan raised his voice and answered, "Auntie, it's Logan."

Summer followed up, "Auntie, it's also Summer. We came to discuss something with Leonardo. Are you still up?"

Soon, Linda came to open the gate.

She led Summer and Logan into the yard, saying, "We're not asleep yet. What brings you here?"

Logan smiled, "It's about the children's schooling."

Once inside and greeted, they sat down and explained Billy's situation.

Leonardo listened and then took a deep breath, saying, "I know, you're talking about Billy. The boy is about fifteen or sixteen now, right? Age isn't the issue, but his family background..."

Logan continued, "That's why we came to you. Although his grandfather was a landowner, he is one of the children we can educate. Since we're opening a school to educate people, isn't it better to include him? What do you think?"

Leonardo nodded slowly.

He then said, "Their family has indeed behaved well over the years, especially Billy, who has never shown any problematic thoughts. Allowing him to attend school shouldn't be an issue for the villagers. But I need to discuss it with the secretary. I'll let you know once it's decided, okay?"

That was good enough.

Logan and Summer said in unison, "Sure, thank you."

Leonardo laughed, "It's no trouble, just a few words. You two have been working hard these days. How many students have you recruited so far?"

Summer smiled, "Leonardo, none yet, but we should have some soon."

Leonardo looked at Summer, "Confidence is good. It shows we didn't misjudge you two. Keep working hard to recruit more students and leave the task of eradicating illiteracy in our village to you."

Summer and Logan nodded together.

After chatting a bit more, they left Leonardo's home.

Since some families were still awake, they continued their rounds.

After finishing, they walked back to the youth camp under the night sky and moonlight.

Summer took a deep breath and said, "I hope someone comes to register tomorrow."

Logan replied with a hint of certainty, "They will."

Summer perked up, "Yes, they will."

The stories they told today had a good effect.

Many children were excited about going to school, changing from rejecting the idea to really wanting to attend, and they expressed their strong desire to their parents.

Even if no one came to register tomorrow, this atmosphere of wanting to go to school would continue, and parents would eventually bring their children to register.

By the time they returned to the youth camp, it was very late, and like last night, everyone else was already asleep.

Summer found this quite good, avoiding seeing Henry, Sophia, and the others, and not having to listen to their lively chatter.

Although the day was mostly spent talking, it was still tiring.

Summer quickly washed up and went to bed, falling asleep almost immediately.

Her last thought before falling asleep was hoping someone would come to register tomorrow.

Despite going to bed later than everyone else, Summer and Logan still woke up earlier the next morning.