บท 2: Chapter 2

This new and wonderful life experience once again amazed Summer.

She continued to eat a second bite, a third... and soon finished a big bowl of spaghetti bolognese.

After more than half a month at Tamsford Village, this was the first time Summer felt full and satisfied.

She looked at the empty porcelain bowl in her hand, burped contentedly, and sighed, feeling like the past eighteen years of her life had been wasted.

She placed the bowl and chopsticks on a nearby stone.

Stretching her body completely, she slowly digested this feeling of satisfaction from head to toe.

The reeds by the river swayed gently in the wind, accompanied by the chirping of insects and croaking of frogs, weaving a symphony of nature.

If it weren't for the fact that it was still cold in early spring, Summer would have dipped her feet into the river to splash around.

While digesting this feeling of satisfaction, she was also processing the new information in her mind.

She wasn't sure if the strange information was real, but her life experiences over the past eighteen years matched perfectly with what was described in the novel she had read.

Just as the novel described.

She had been mindlessly following Henry since childhood.

Henry was her life goal, her life ideal, and the entirety of her existence.

Since she could remember, her only important life goal was "to marry Henry."

She had been silently making sacrifices for Henry since she could remember.

She knew all of Henry's preferences, would scrimp and save to buy him the things he liked, and would meticulously research various recipes to cook his favorite dishes.

Her love for Henry was selfless, silent, and completely unrequited.

Henry did not see her as a romantic interest; he only saw her as a sister, and she didn't mind.

When Henry met the first woman who moved his heart, Grace, at school, he pursued her passionately and fervently, eventually winning her heart. Even though Summer witnessed the entire process of their falling in love, she only felt a silent heartache and had no intention of pulling away.

When he was happy, she stayed in the background; when he was sad, she would appear.

But whether visible or invisible, she was always silently supporting him.

Upon graduation, she didn't need to go to the countryside.

But because Grace didn't give up the opportunity to enlist with Henry, Summer, against her parents' wishes and advice, gave up the chance to stay in the city and volunteered to go to Tamsford Village with Henry.

For the past half month in Tamsford Village, her life still revolved around Henry.

Because life in the countryside was tough, she spent her free time thinking about how to get Henry to eat better, to have more meat and sweets, and to suffer less.

Like today, she skipped lunch, used her break time to run to the co-op to buy some pork belly and flour, then borrowed some vegetables from the villagers to make a bowl of her best spaghetti bolognese.

If she hadn't suddenly awakened, things would have gone as the novel described—Henry would have finished the spaghetti in the kitchen, given her a thumbs up for her improving cooking skills, and she would have been happy, despite being hungry, to take the dishes from him and wash them.

Thinking about this, Summer believed in the new information in her mind about seventy percent.

Regardless of how much she believed it, she knew she could no longer live as the novel's fool and had to stay away from Henry.

Perhaps another self awakened within her body, as she no longer felt the blinding infatuation when she thought of Henry.

Previously, Henry seemed to glow in her eyes, wrapped in the light of the dawn and dusk.

But now, he appeared to her in his most true and ordinary form.

A rumble of thunder rolled overhead.

Summer looked up and saw gray clouds gathering in the sky, signaling an impending storm.

It was getting late, so Summer decided to head back.

She collected her thoughts, picked up her bowl and chopsticks, and headed back to the youth center.

The river wasn't far from the youth center.

Summer walked leisurely, reaching the center in about three or four minutes.

Entering the fenced yard, she saw Cecilia and Lily gathering clothes.

Cecilia and Lily, like Summer, had come to Tamsford Village this year.

Twelve of them came in total, seven boys and five girls, all living here.

Seeing Summer enter the yard, Cecilia glanced at the bowl and chopsticks in her hand and greeted her with a smile, "Summer, where did you go? Henry was looking for you just now."

Summer smiled and responded perfunctorily, "Just went for a walk."

What happened to her just now was not something she could share with others.

As she spoke, Summer went to the hand pump to wash the dishes.

As she pumped out half a basin of water, she squatted down to wash the dishes when she noticed that her reflection in the water looked blurry, as if obscured by fog.

She thought it was due to the uneven surface of the water.

But even when the water settled, she still couldn't see her face clearly.

Previously, she hadn't paid attention to such things, but now she understood.

It wasn't the water; it was because she was a tool character with no distinct appearance.

To others, she might not look like this, but she had no memorable features.

For the past eighteen years, she had no noticeable appearance, no distinctive personality, and no presence wherever she went.

Taking a light breath.

Summer placed the bowl and chopsticks in the basin.

Shattering her blurry reflection on the water's surface.

On the other side of the yard, Cecilia and Lily were still gathering clothes.

The last piece was pushed to the end of the clothesline by someone.

The clothesline was tied high at both ends.

Cecilia and Lily were on tiptoes, trying to reach it.

Logan, the tallest of the male students, entered the yard just then.

Seeing him enter, Cecilia quickly called out, "Logan, can you help us get this piece of clothing?"

Even with a sack on his shoulder, he could easily reach it.

"No time."

Logan didn't even look at Cecilia, just walked straight into the kitchen with the sack.

"…" Cecilia's face immediately turned awkward.

Lily, standing beside her, pulled her and whispered, "Why ask him? We've been here for over half a month, don't you know what kind of person he is?"

Among the seven male students at the youth center, Logan was the least chivalrous and the most stingy.

When they first came from the town, other boys were eager to help the girls with their luggage, warm and enthusiastic, but not Logan. He didn't lift a finger, only cared for himself.

Back then, Lily thought he looked distinguished and tried to ask him for help with her luggage to get closer to him, but he bluntly said, "Don't you have hands?"

Lily was very embarrassed by him, and never asked for his help again.

For the past half month at Tamsford Village, he never helped any of the female students with anything, not even small tasks, always refusing firmly.

Summer silently watched this scene while washing the dishes by the pump.

With the new information in her mind, she now saw the people around her from a god-like perspective.

From the novel's perspective, Logan was the most frequently appearing male character.

He ran through the novel, being Henry's lifelong rival, used to highlight Henry's virtues.

Unlike Henry's passionate, heroic, and romantic nature, Logan was the complete opposite—a villain.

He was arrogant, selfish, cold, harsh, petty, and opportunistic, a person without friends, not liked by those around him.

This scene, along with his past behavior, confirmed the novel's characterization.

After half a month together, the others at the youth center didn't like Logan, seeing him as a weirdo and avoiding him unless necessary.

Logan entered the kitchen, and Summer looked away.

Her gaze swept across the yard and saw Henry entering with a sack on his shoulder.

When Henry entered, he glanced at the pump where Summer was, their eyes briefly meeting.

Summer instinctively tensed, lowered her head pretending not to see Henry, and quickly took the washed dishes into the kitchen.

Henry, puzzled, heard Lily calling him, "Henry, can you help us get this piece of clothing?"

Henry, coming back to himself, walked to the clothesline and easily took down the clothing, handing it to her, "Here."

Lily took the clothing and whispered, "This is what a man should be like, unlike some people."

Henry knew who she meant but didn't respond, patting the sack on his shoulder and smiling, "The village has distributed our food. From tomorrow, we'll be cooking for ourselves. Call the others, let's have a meeting in the kitchen."

They had been looking forward to cooking for themselves after eating with the villagers.

Cecilia and Lily were naturally happy and responded in unison, "Got it!"