Chapter 148

Summer hesitated for a moment, caught between greeting him and pretending not to recognize him. 

Before she could react, Logan spoke up, "A day without seeing me, and you don't recognize me anymore?"

Hearing this, Summer quickly smiled, taking out the review notes from her desk and handing them to him, "I haven't finished copying them yet. Here, you can review them."

Sitting to Summer's right, Jenny stretched her neck curiously to see what was happening. 

Once Summer and Logan finished talking, Jenny asked softly, "Who's that?"

Summer didn't lower her voice. She introduced confidently, "Oh, this is Logan, my classmate from the time I spent working in the countryside."

Then, she introduced Jenny to Logan, "This is my current colleague, Jenny."

Jenny politely greeted Logan, "Hello."

Logan simply responded, "Hello."

Jenny noticed Logan's distant attitude and didn't pursue the conversation further.

Soon, the teacher entered the classroom, and everyone focused their attention on the lecture.

Three hours later, as class ended, everyone yawned and packed up their bags. Logan, being quick, left early, while Summer and Jenny took their time. They headed out in different directions after leaving the classroom.

As Summer walked alone towards the bike shed, she suddenly recalled Logan's mention of the local troublemaker from the night before, and a sense of fear crept in. 

Her heart racing, she quickened her pace, almost breaking into a run. 

Just as she reached the bike shed, her anxiety dissipated. 

There, besides her bike, was Logan.

Seeing him, she slowed down and walked steadily to her bicycle, unlocking it as she said, "Are you hitching a ride on my bike again?"

Logan replied, "Yes."

Summer unlocked her bike and secured the lock onto the frame. 

Logan handed her his bag, mounted his bike, and said, "Tonight's hitching fee."

Curious, Summer glanced at the bag, then quickly got on her bike. 

As Logan rode onto the main road, Summer unzipped the bag and found it filled with various snacks. 

A bag full of expensive treats.

Stunned, she asked, "You didn't...buy these just for me, did you?"

Logan, still riding, responded, "No, they're from my family."

Intrigued, Summer couldn't hold back her curiosity. This was something she had wondered about for a long time, even back in the countryside, but had never asked. 

After a moment's hesitation, she cautiously asked, "Don't you dislike sweets?"

Logan replied calmly, "Yes, otherwise, how could I afford the hitching fee?"

Still curious, Summer pressed on, "Doesn't your family know you don't eat sweets?"

Logan's tone remained unchanged, "They do."

At least the person giving him these snacks knew.

This piqued Summer's curiosity even more, so she continued, "What does that mean? They spend a lot on these treats that you don't eat. Are they trying to show they care or not?"

Logan fell silent.

Summer assumed he didn't want to talk about it and quickly added, "I'm just asking out of curiosity. You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

Logan had never shared his story with anyone, so he found it difficult to open up. 

Riding in silence for a moment, he finally spoke in an even more detached tone, "Simple. She wants others to think she cares about me but doesn't really want to see me happy."

Summer guessed he was talking about his stepmother.

She probed further, "Who?"

Logan replied, "Stepmother."

Summer hadn't expected such a straightforward answer and was momentarily stunned.

Logan continued, "My mom died when I was very young. My dad remarried her, and they had a son whom they doted on. I loved sweets as a kid, so she bought me lots of them, even spending the household money. It affected our family's finances, and I ended up with two bad teeth. When my dad found out, he was furious, hit me, and punished me by not allowing me to eat for three days. The pain from those teeth lasted for days, and I eventually stopped eating sweets."

Originally, Mason hadn't paid much attention to him. 

But after this incident, Mason grew to dislike him even more.

After Mason's outburst, Helen stopped buying him many sweets.

Especially after Lucas was born, good things at home rarely came his way.

However, during special occasions, Helen would still buy sweets for him, buying less when the family's finances were tight and more when Mason's career improved, just to show she was a good stepmother.

Summer was silent for a long time, shocked that Logan's aversion to sweets stemmed from such an incident.

Knowing Logan didn't need anyone's pity, she took a deep breath and said in an exasperated tone, "She deliberately made you dislike sweets and continues to buy them to irritate you. If it were me, I'd throw the snacks in her face."

Logan responded, "That would just show she succeeded in provoking me. She'd shed a few tears, and I'd get scolded for being ungrateful and gain nothing. I might as well keep the snacks."

Summer thought about it and agreed.

She asked, "Is your stepmother quite cunning?"

Logan laughed, "It's just that my dad doesn't care about me."

If Mason had cared for him even a little, things wouldn't have been this way.

Though Logan spoke lightly, Summer still felt a heavy sadness, wanting to sigh deeply.

But she held back, and they soon arrived at the alley entrance.

Logan stopped his bike, and Summer jumped off the back.

Logan took the bag from her, hung it on his handlebars, handed her the bike, and put the review notes back into her bag, saying, "Go home. See you tomorrow."

Summer hesitated, "These snacks..."

Logan cut her off, "I said they're for the hitching fee. They're good stuff. I don't eat them, and you shouldn't waste them. Don't be silly."

Summer quickly retorted, "You're the silly one."

Logan chuckled, "You've been pretending to be nice to me all this time, haven't you?"

Summer didn't respond, quickly saying "Goodbye," and pushing her bike into the alley.