Chapter 8

Grace chimed in, "You boys can handle the heavy lifting, but we girls just can't."

Mike, one of the boys, suddenly retorted, "If you can't handle it, why don't you get up and make breakfast?"

Grace turned to him, "No one said we had to make breakfast yesterday."

Mike laughed, "Isn't it obvious? Cooking is a woman's job."

Grace felt her temper rise, "Who says it's a woman's job?"

Mike retorted, "Have you ever seen a man cook?"

Seeing the argument escalate, Henry quickly intervened, "Enough!"

Both Grace and Mike fell silent. Henry continued, "It's my fault for not organizing things clearly last night. Now, here's the situation: we either go to work on empty stomachs or skip half a day's work and eat first. Your choice."

Everyone exchanged glances, momentarily silent.

Cecilia was the first to speak, "I'd rather eat than work."

Jack, another boy, added, "Who wants to work? But if we don't work, we won't earn points, and without points, we won't get food. Think it through."

Cecilia mumbled, "Missing a day or half a day shouldn't be too bad, right?"

No one responded.

Lily looked at Henry and said, "Henry, you decide. We'll follow your lead."

Henry didn't decide immediately. Instead, he suggested, "Let's vote."

He surveyed everyone, "Raise your hand if you want to go to work on an empty stomach."

Only four hands went up.

"Alright, then we'll stay and cook. We'll go to work in the afternoon," Henry declared.

With the decision made, they quickly organized into two groups: boys and girls, taking turns cooking by the day. Today, it was the girls' turn.

The girls headed to the kitchen to start cooking.

The four who wanted to work didn't go either. They were living as a group of ten, sharing everything, including the work points and food they earned.

Who would be foolish enough to work on an empty stomach, only for everyone to share the points earned?

With the arrangements settled, everyone relaxed a bit.

The girls in the kitchen examined the food they had. There was little wheat and rice, and the wheat was whole grain, the rice still in husks, making them unusable for cooking. Most of their stock consisted of sorghum, corn, and dried sweet potatoes. They had previously had a thin porridge made from sorghum and sweet potatoes at the locals' homes, so they decided to cook a thicker version of that.

Once the plan was made, the four girls began cooking porridge and chatted idly.

After a while, Lily remembered Summer and asked, "Did Summer leave after breakfast?"

Grace responded, "Of course, she wouldn't leave on an empty stomach."

Cecilia sighed, "Why didn't she wake us up when she got up?"

Grace replied, "Who knows what's gotten into her. She was so sharp-tongued last night. You still expect her to wake us?"

Cecilia sighed again, "I was hoping she'd cook for us. She makes such delicious food, and she's so capable. But she insists on not joining us."

The others felt the same. They all knew Summer was a great cook and had all craved her meals.

Cecilia continued, "She was fine before. Why the sudden change? Do you think Logan influenced her?"

Lily quickly answered, "No way."

Cecilia looked at her, "Why not?"

Lily explained, "You really don't get people, do you? Logan would never get close to anyone. Haven't you noticed? Out of all of us, he's the least interested in Summer. It's almost like he has 'disdain' written on his forehead."

Cecilia thought for a moment, "You might be right."

Lowering her voice, she asked, "Then what's wrong with her? It's so strange."

No one had an answer.

Sophia, who had been silent, finally spoke, "Stop worrying about her. She's probably just throwing a tantrum. She'll come around after facing some hardships."

Grace added, "I'm waiting for her to cry."

Cecilia murmured, "Hope she regrets soon..."

***

In the endless fields, wheat sprouted in the wind, painting the landscape green.

It was the season for fertilizing the wheat, and various figures were busy in the fields.

Summer, with a thin scarf covering her nose and mouth, held a long-handled fertilizer scoop, working alongside the villagers to fertilize the wheat.

After half a month of farm work, she had gotten the hang of it.

She could now understand most of the local dialect and manage a few words with the villagers.

Aunt Flo, not far away, complimented her on how well she was working.

Summer smiled and thanked her.

As she turned back to her task, the team leader, Leonardo, approached.

"Where's Henry and the others?" he asked directly.

Summer looked around, not seeing them.

"I don't know," she replied.

She had come to work immediately after breakfast and hadn't paid attention to anyone else.

Leonardo, hands on his hips, gritted his teeth in frustration.

Of the twelve volunteers, only Logan and Summer had shown up on time today. The rest were absent without any explanation.

What could the reason be? Just a bunch of lazy people.

Thinking about it, Leonardo felt their village had bad luck, getting such a group of volunteers.

In the half-month since they arrived, only Logan and Summer had been reliable, working diligently. The others were constantly causing trouble.

Stealing chickens, fighting with local ruffians.

They had energy for fights but always had excuses to avoid work—sore legs, stomach aches, always something.

Especially that troublemaker, Henry. He had been reported to the local authorities and attended criticism meetings.

Most people would be embarrassed, but not him. He treated it like a game, completely unfazed.

His thick skin was impenetrable.

And now, this.

Leonardo stood on the field's edge, fuming.

After a while, he seemed to calm down. He called Summer, "Take a break and come to the field's edge. I need to talk to you."

He then called out to Logan, "Logan, come over here."

Logan, working twenty meters away, responded.

Summer quickly set down her scoop and walked to the field's edge.

As she approached, she pulled down her scarf.

Logan jogged over, reaching the edge at the same time as Summer.

Both stood before Leonardo.

Logan spoke first, "What is it, Mr. Leonardo?"

Summer didn't ask, assuming it was about the others not showing up for work.

But Leonardo surprised her, "The village committee had a meeting yesterday. We want to reopen our village school. It was closed during the revolution and hasn't reopened because we couldn't find teachers. Now that you're here, we want you to be the teachers. How do you feel about that?"

Summer was stunned.

Although this was exciting news, her reaction wasn't due to the surprise.

Instead, she remembered the contents of a novel she had read, believing in its accuracy even more.

Because this was in the novel too.

In the novel, Henry had asked her to give up this opportunity to Sophia, who then became the teacher.

Logan immediately expressed his delight and honor.

Leonardo noticed Summer's silence and asked, "You don't want to be a teacher?"

Snapped out of her daze, Summer quickly smiled, "Of course I do, Mr. Leonardo. It's just such a wonderful opportunity, and I'm so happy I'm a bit overwhelmed."

Who wouldn't want such a good thing?

Being a teacher meant a steady paycheck without the daily hard labor in the fields. It was significantly better than earning work points through manual labor.

Leonardo smiled, "Great. Let's go now. I'll show you the school."

Summer happily followed, glancing at Logan because they were sharing this opportunity. Their joy was mutual.

But as her eyes met his, she remembered their current relationship status.

She quickly suppressed her smile, pretending nothing had happened, and walked on.

Logan was speechless.