Arthur cast a glance at Summer when she came in before answering Leonardo, "Yes, but it's not safe."
Leonardo looked over his shoulder at Summer and said nothing.
In the next few days, it was still raining, and the road was still in bad condition. As a result, even if the
county sent technicians for the electrical circuit and telecom signals, they couldn't reach here.
Leonardo and Summer could only stay at Arthur's.
Since it was raining, Arthur didn't have to work on the farm. He always held a pipe and sat on a rocking
chair at the gate, watching the rain outside. Occasionally, he would have the cat in his arms.
The vegetables they ate every day were freshly picked from the land.
Since Summer and Leonardo were staying at Arthur's, they naturally shouldered the responsibility of
picking vegetables and cooking.
But Summer still couldn't handle the fire. So in most cases, Arthur made the fire, Summer cooked, and
Leonardo washed the dishes after the meal.
One morning, Summer woke up and listened for the sound of rain.
After a while, she turned to Leonardo. "It's not raining."
Leonardo was lying flat on his back beside her. With his eyes closed, he seemed to be asleep. But
Summer knew he had been a light sleeper these past few days. Moreover, judging from his tightly
knitted eyebrows, it was obvious he was awake.
As expected, a few seconds later, the man beside her opened his eyes and replied in a hoarse voice,
"Okay."
Hearing his word, Summer sat up and moved to the other side of the bed. She got out of bed and put
on her coat before walking towards the door.
She was used to it these days. Every day when she got up, she moved to where his feet were and got
out of bed.
Summer went downstairs, opened the door, and walked out.
The house was built on a hill, with a small open space in front of the door for exercise and a forest
ahead.
Now the forest was shrouded in mist.
It was going to be sunny after a long rain and a sudden mist.
Once it cleared up, the electrical circuits and signal towers would be repaired. There would be people
coming to fix the road, and Carl and the others would be able to find them as soon as possible.
They were leaving.
It had only been few days, but in retrospect, it seemed like a long time had passed.
Summer looked down at the black plastic slippers on her feet. The slippers were a little too large for
her, revealing part of her fair instep.
Mud spattered onto the corners of her trousers as she took a few paces in the mud with her slippers.
"Young lady, bring me a basket."
Arthur yelled.
Summer followed the direction of the sound and found Arthur standing in the green vegetable garden
and waving his dirt-covered hand at her.
It was a little far, and Summer did not know what he was doing. She raised her voice as she replied,
"Okay, right away."
Summer walked over with the basket on her back and saw Arthur was squatting in the middle of the
land and pulling something out from a pile of newly dug soil.
"Arthur, what are you doing?"
The soil was soaked from days of rain. Summer rolled up her trousers to her knees and lumbered over
step by step.
The soil was too sticky, and Summer's slippers were covered with a thick layer of mud.
When she reached Arthur, her slippers were covered with mud and became very heavy.
Arthur wiped the mud off his hand and delivered round stuff over to Summer. He chuckled, "Do you
recognize this thing?"
Summer stared at it for a few seconds before confirming, "It's sweet potatoes."
He looked surprised, "You know it too?"
"Yeah. I bought it in the supermarket, but I haven't seen sweet potatoes freshly dug out from the soil."
As Summer spoke, she squatted down curiously and picked one up.
After observing it for a long time, she bit her lips and said, "It's a little small."
"I was just trying to dig up a few. If it's ripe, I can bring some home. We'll take these back and make
sweet potato porridge." With that, he put the sweet potatoes into the basket.
Summer helped him collected them up.
Finally, there was a smooth-skinned sweet potato. Arthur peeled it with a knife and handed it to
Summer. "Try it. The nice-looking one always tastes sweet and crisp."
Summer took a bite. It was indeed sweet and crisp.
"Is it sweet?"
"Yes, very."
Summer carried the basket for Arthur and walked behind him while Arthur was leading with a sickle in
his hand. The two chatted casually along the way back.
When they were about to reach the door, Summer shouted to the house. "Leonardo, we bring back
some sweet potatoes!"
Summer's words echoed in the air, but there wasn't any response from Leonardo.
Summer muttered to herself, "He's not up yet?"
As she was wondering, she walked back with Arthur.
When they were at the door, she found that someone else seemed to be in the house.
Summer's mind went blank for a short moment, and the look on her face slowly turned aloof.
It must be Carl and others.
Arthur narrowed his eyes and looked into the room, "Someone's coming?"
"It should be our friend." Summer pursed her lips and said faintly.
Arthur was also surprised. It took a few seconds for him to come to his mind. He reached out and took
over the basket she was carrying. "You should go to meet them. I'll make the sweet potato porridge."
Summer turned around and saw Arthur stooping his back and carrying the basket to the kitchen.
Summer went to the living room.
There were no windows in the room. When she came in, due to the sudden change of light, she was
unable to see the people inside for a while.
Summer stepped forward and finally got a clear look at who were inside.
Leonardo was sitting on a wooden chair, and the man sitting opposite him was not Carl!
As soon as Summer came in, both of them turned to look at her.
Leonardo was expressionless. His eyes were deep and revealed none of his thoughts.
As for the other man, he smiled at Summer and called her, "Summer."
Summer couldn't hide the surprise on her face. "Stanley... Bates, why... are you here?"
Right, the man sitting opposite Leonardo was Stanley.
Summer had learned from Leonardo that Carl had come to look for Jessica. She had been thinking that
the first person to come should be Carl, but Tim had a better chance to be the first to get here.
Although Leonardo did not bring Tim over this time, for Summer, Tim was an omnipotent assistant. He
was so resourceful that there was nothing he could not achieve.
She had never expected Stanley would be the first to be here.
"Of course I'm here to find you." Stanley smiled frankly as if he knew Summer was trapped and was
here only for her.
Stanley said it lightly, but Summer's heart sank.
Apart from Leonardo, she did not tell anyone, including Stanley, about her coming to Jessica.
She couldn't deny that Stanley was capable, but it was impossible to find her in such a short time
without knowing her itinerary.
"Of course I'm here to find you." Stanley smiled frankly as if he knew Summer was trapped and was
here only for her.
Stanley said it lightly, but Summer's heart sank.
Apart from Leonardo, she did not tell anyone, including Stanley, about her coming to Jessica.
She couldn't deny that Stanley was capable, but it was impossible to find her in such a short time
without knowing her itinerary.
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