[Titanic] I can't help myself

After enjoying a time-consuming lunch, we moved to a small living room in Xiangyang for tea.Rose seemed very active, she kept talking non-stop, telling me everything that happened after I left home, the official affairs of the manor, including what happened on the land farm and the factory.

A portion of the farm and factory workers left to join the army, either voluntarily or by conscription.Fortunately, my land has a relatively high degree of mechanization, which did not have a great impact on production, and the gap in factory workers was quickly filled.This year because of the war, despite the state's control, food prices have risen, which has greatly increased our income.

Now the country is encouraging everyone to join the army, and the spirit of patriotism is high. Almost all nobles can't help but let all their children serve the country as much as possible, and they are still encouraging their employees, tenants and servants to join the army.It has almost become a competition, and everyone wants to show their love for the country by recruiting more soldiers.They do this by keeping jobs for those who enlist, continuing to pay them after they leave, and even promising to take care of their families.

The mother excused that the master of the manor was not there, and that she was a widowed woman with insufficient energy and did not participate in the conscription contest.She didn't even want me to go to war, so she couldn't be bothered to encourage others to join the army.The Bookett family's small population is recognized by the upper class. We lost two relatives within a few years.It's also because we spend a lot of money on health care and charity.

"Henry, do you think the war will be over before Christmas this year?" Rose asked, "It's getting harder and harder to recruit people. If the war continues, we may not be able to hire people to work in factories or farm the land." gone."

I unconsciously stroked the back of Carl's hand with my thumb back and forth. Hearing her question, I was taken aback for a moment before I realized it, and said with a smile, "I'm really surprised that you asked me this question. I thought you would fully support all Young and middle-aged people go to the army and accuse us of only knowing how to benefit ourselves when the country is facing crisis."

"Oh, come on, Henry." Rose laughed, "a man's life is his own, and no one has the right to ask him to give up his life. Those who are willing to go to the battlefield are certainly respectable, but those who don't want to go, and they shouldn't Get blamed. Besides, those politicians describe this war as a war of defense, but God knows who benefits in the end. I have never supported wars."

"Shocking." I laughed. "Are you really Rose?"

"Please, stop making fun of me, Henry." Rose glared at me, "I haven't spent these two years in vain. Besides, making more money is good for everyone. We can More jobs for those who haven't yet fought, including women, and support for hospitals to treat soldiers who have been wounded serving our country."

"So, you ended up becoming vulgar people like us?" I joked.

"I just see the world more clearly. I still have a lot of unrealistic wishes, which are not decent for nobles." Rose looked at me with her chin raised, her eyes sparkling with vigor, "Yes Well, you haven't come back to my question yet. When do you think the war will end? The newspapers are always exaggerating. Since you defeated the German army at the Marne River, they have vowed to guarantee that all the Germans will be wiped out by Christmas. Hurry home. Is this true?"

"It's impossible." I lowered my eyes, looked at the steaming teacup on the small table in front of me, and sighed: "We have been deadlocked in the trenches on the Swiss border, no one can move forward, and the hope of victory is slim .And the victory on the Marne was also very accidental, the enemy made a very stupid mistake, if it were not for this, Paris would have fallen."

"Then when will all this end?" Mother interjected, eagerly leaning over to my side.

"I don't know." I leaned over and held my mother's hand, and smiled as easily as possible, "But no matter what, you don't need to worry about me. Even in a dangerous battlefield, I always stay in the safest place." place." As I spoke, I turned to look at Carl beside me, and held his hand tightly, "You too, I'm very safe, so don't worry too much."

"How can I not be worried, every day I hear that a child of a certain family who is about your age has been seriously injured or died." The mother said a little excitedly.

"Oh, Mom." I sat down and hugged her shoulders, "Actually the biggest problem I encountered on the battlefield was the terrible environment, poor food, and poor sleep at night. I learned too much Slow down, Major General Mosley is going crazy." I said in a coquettish and complaining tone, as if I had just traveled abroad with my relatives under harsh conditions for a few months.

"Better act stupid, Henry." My mother said, touching my face distressedly, and I reassured her a little by saying this, "Behave too well and they will send you to the most dangerous place. Patrick I said to find a way to transfer you to a safe place, but I don’t know when it will be realized.”

"I think it should be soon." I said with a smile.

We sat and chatted together until we fell asleep at night.When I changed clothes tiredly and got into the quilt, Carl picked me up and put me on his body.

"Are you scared?" He whispered into my ear.

He was vague, but I knew he was referring to the front.The calmness and indifference I had maintained in front of my mother was instantly shattered.

"I'm terrified," I replied, almost in a whisper. "Those dead soldiers... I knew a lot of them... They were all my classmates... We had classes in one place, we had dinner together, We drank afternoon tea together, and in the blink of an eye, they... fell to pieces on the battlefield... The second son of the Reed family, he lost his eyes on the first day..."

Then, I started to cry again.Carl pressed my head on his chest, turned over, turned me sideways and half-pressed me under his body, and patted my back lightly.

"Cry, it's okay, I won't tell others." He kissed my forehead and said, "I know you have suffered a lot, come on, cry it all..."

My vacation is not long, I can only stay at home for four days, and I have other things to deal with.I need to have a look at the financial affairs of the family, and I also need to sign the planting plan for next year and the development plan of the factory.We've canceled the hunt, but Christmas has to go on, even if I'm away.

Rose had a new idea. She strongly suggested that I hire women to be workers and tenant farmers. In view of the fact that if the war continues, there will be fewer and fewer young and middle-aged men who can be hired, and the wages will be higher and higher.

Mother reprimanded her that this idea was extremely unrealistic and very shameful. She would rather give those women free money than be ridiculed and blamed by others.Carl was a little vacillating. Although he felt that this was indeed a suggestion worth considering, hiring women to do rough work was still a bit beyond his ability to bear.It depends on my attitude now.

Hiring women to do men's work is not a psychological barrier to me, I'm just worried about what it will do to our reputations.

After thinking about it for a minute, I replied: "Let's see how critical the situation will be. If we really fight for a few months and then stop the war, then we will ruin our reputation because of temporary difficulties." It's really not worth it, but if the fight continues... one day women will have to come out to work, after all, they have to support themselves and their children."

Jack has been a little silent these days. It seems that the castle, his mother who is always on top, and the rigid life here have put him under a lot of pressure.He was originally still studying painting in the United States, but Rose suggested that he stay in the United States and come back by himself.But he was worried that his wife would return to war-torn Europe alone, so he dropped everything and followed.This made his mother's attitude towards him a little bit better, but she still didn't want to take the initiative to talk to him.

He also helped a lot during this time.He used to do odd jobs everywhere, no matter the factory, the farmland or the farm, he stayed for a while, so he got along well with the hired workers.Rose asked him to help manage the farm, and he was very conscientious.It's just that some of them don't quite adapt to their status as managers.

I am very grateful for what he has done for Rose and us, but he said that this is what he should do, and hinted that I must go home safely, so that he can persuade Rose to go back to the United States with him at ease.

In these four days, Carl and I have hardly been apart for a minute, making full use of every alone time and making up for everything we missed when we were apart.

The night before the farewell was almost crazy. We didn't stop exhausted until the early morning, and we collapsed under the quilt with our bodies entangled.

"When will you be transferred to another place?" He bit my neck and asked softly, "I asked several times, and every time you found a topic and changed it. This time you have to answer positively and clearly I."

My hand that was stroking his back stopped immediately, and Carl quickly caught me, stood up, and stared seriously into my eyes: "Is this very difficult?" ? You have to tell me the truth."

I avoided his gaze a little, just stared at his Adam's apple: "Of course not..."

"Look at me Henry." He cupped my face and forced me to meet his gaze, "Tell me, when will you be transferred to a safe place, is there a big hope for this matter, or a little hope nothing?"

I blinked, forced a smile, stroked his hair, and said, "I don't know, I'll ask Uncle Patrick."

"Viscount Stuart wrote to your mother, but I intercepted it." He said word by word, "He said he could transfer you at Christmas, but you asked him to wait. Why? .”

The author has something to say: JJ is so speechless, the button for previewing the copywriting is not displayed, and he does not respond to messages sent to the administrator

The school’s pre-reporting system can be called cheating. It requires uploading two photos within one month, one with a blue background and one with a white background. The personal information that must be filled out includes family property and income. How much money has anything to do with my schooling? The most deceitful thing is to take the student handbook, and if you fail six times, you will have to hand it over to the Academic Affairs Office. . . .Simply crazy