But looking into her eyes, he wondered if he was overthinking things.
Among the dozen or so people at the homestead, Summer was the most naive. From childhood to now, her mind had been occupied solely with Henry, leaving room for nothing else.
Although she seemed a bit smarter over the past couple of days, it was unlikely she had suddenly developed any cunning.
Her eyes were as clear and transparent as glass, revealing no trace of calculation.
So, Logan said nothing more, dropping his gaze back to the laundry.
Summer suppressed a smile, lowered her gaze, and continued washing clothes.
When they finished, and Summer stepped out, the others had just returned from work.
Logan didn't greet them, holding an air of indifference as he walked straight out of the courtyard.
Charlie and Gabe were about to greet Summer.
But before they could say anything, Summer deliberately avoided their eyes, treating them as if they were invisible, just like Logan, and walked out of the courtyard.
Charlie and Gabe stared after her in surprise.
Gabe clicked his tongue and said, "What's going on? Does Summer not recognize us anymore? Or has becoming a teacher gone to her head, acting like she didn't see us."
Henry felt a surge of frustration and said, "Forget about her."
With Henry's words, the others naturally dropped the subject, heading to the well to wash up before entering the kitchen.
It was the boys' turn to cook today, and they were making coarse grain porridge.
Charlie and Gabe were huddled behind the stove, feeding the fire, while the others sat around the table, chatting and resting as they waited for the meal.
After working in the fields all morning, they were exhausted.
Grace, looking weary, said in a lamenting tone, "More coarse grain porridge again. It's barely better than pig food. I'm getting sick of it."
It had only been four or five meals, but she was already fed up.
Before they had their own fire, they had complained about not getting enough to eat at the locals' homes and had looked forward to cooking for themselves, hoping for a better life. But as it turned out, cooking for themselves was even worse.
Though they still ate coarse grain at the locals' homes, at least they had bread and pickles, and sometimes even stir-fried dishes. Now, every meal was just the barely edible porridge.
Charlie added a handful of straw to the stove, watched the flames grow, and said, "It's all we have, so we have to eat it. We still need energy for work."
When they first arrived, due to limited family conditions, they hadn't brought much in terms of food or money. Henry, Charlie, and Gabe, in their carefree way, had only brought a few clothes.
By now, any snacks they brought had long been eaten.
No one had any pickles or canned food to improve the meals.
They looked at each other, all sighing in resignation.
Lily, after some thought, suggested, "How about we make some bread? I saw Logan and Summer making bread. It's better than just porridge."
Grace looked at her, "Can you make bread?"
Lily shook her head, "I can't cook. I never had to at home. I can barely boil porridge, and I can't even cook rice properly; it always turns out undercooked."
Grace looked at the others, and each one shook their heads.
Grace sighed again, "None of us can do it, so what's the point of talking about it?"
Mike, another young man, spoke up, "Why don't you all learn? Isn't it strange for women not to know how to cook?"
Grace turned on him, "Why should we? Can't you learn to cook?"
Mike retorted, "You're unbelievable. How will you get married if you can't cook?"
Grace shot back, "Well, I'm definitely not marrying you, so don't worry about it!"
Just as they were about to argue, Henry intervened.
They respected Henry and stopped arguing.
Henry thought for a moment and said, "How about this, after we eat, we ask the locals where we can grind flour and how to make bread. The boys will take the grain to grind, and the girls will make the bread. Deal?"
They looked at each other.
Charlie, from behind the stove, spoke decisively, "Henry, if you say so, we'll do it. We all trust you."
The others nodded in agreement.
But for now, they only had coarse grain porridge to eat.
Lily, with an idea popping into her head, suggested, "Summer made a lot of bread. How about we eat hers this meal and make more to replace it later?"
They all looked to Henry for a decision.
Henry didn't agree immediately. After a pause, he said, "Let's tough it out for now. Summer's in a bad mood lately, not as generous as before. If she makes a fuss, it'll be more trouble."
Hearing this, Cecilia was visibly disappointed.
She slumped, her posture resembling a shrimp.
Gabe voiced what everyone was thinking, "Summer's really being unreasonable. None of us offended her. We got along fine before. Now, just when we start cooking for ourselves, she suddenly changes. If we could work together, there wouldn't be so many issues."
Cecilia, still slouched, added softly, "You all say she's just throwing a tantrum and will come around soon, but I feel like she's set on distancing herself from us. I don't know how long she can hold out, but I feel like I can't take it much longer. Living like this is hard."
Lily patted her, whispering, "Don't give up so easily. Everyone has their troubles. We have ours, and she has hers. When she runs into problems with no one to turn to, how long can she hold out? We have strength in numbers. What problem can't we solve? Don't lose hope so quickly."
Cecilia quickly pressed her lips together, holding back any more pessimistic words.