Grasp the farming script in the famous book

Around the New Year, Roland has become very familiar with the elderly Mr. Philip Munro.

She knew he owned a small ranch in New Jersey with two horses, four cows, and a flock of sheep.In order to grow some of my favorite crops without being eaten and trampled by livestock, I would consider whether to build a roof garden altogether.

For the time being, he lives alone in the ranch. Although he enjoys loneliness, he also hopes that there is someone who can occasionally communicate and talk about interesting things around him.

His writing style reveals that he is well-educated and has a keen sense of emotion between words - the only time Roland wrote him a letter when he was in a bad mood, and in his reply he asked how she was doing, Has the troubled matter been resolved.

Roland: Well, it's a little warm.

She wrote to him before Christmas and sent her polite greetings to his family and friends.

He also sent greetings, and told Roland in the letter that his lover had been separated from him for a while, and according to his estimation, he would be able to reunite with her soon.

Roland was happy for Mr. Munro, and thought about the image of Philip and his lover—grandpa and grandma with silver hair.For some reason she always felt that Philip should be older than she was.

Gradually, she began to find that it was really pleasant to chat with the old gentleman by letter.He chooses words and makes sentences concisely, but he can always speak to her heart.It was quite interesting to communicate with him even about daily trifles.

Even Beth was aware of this situation, and the letters between New York and New Jersey became more and more frequent, sometimes every two or three days.When Beth came into the attic with a stack of letters, she would hold up one of them and say, "A letter from old Mr. Munro."

Honest cherub Beth never joked like Meg or Amy did, with a playful uptick: "It's a letter from so-and-so!"

She just reminded her sister very honestly: an important letter has arrived.

So Beth could immediately take comfort in Roland's bright smile.

——These letters are indeed important.

Before the arrival of spring, a thick stack of letters from New Jersey had already accumulated in front of the window of the small attic.

It has become Roland's habit to receive one or two letters from Mr. Munro every week.

She stacked these letters in chronological order, and then bound them with cotton thread, just like the rejection letters received from various editors, and would read them from time to time.Reading letters always puts her in a good mood—

"Miss Roland, winter is about to pass. I have already built a small vegetable garden according to your instructions, and I am waiting for the spring breeze to come again, and the tender shoots will come out of the ground. At that time, I plan to follow your suggestion to plant Some fast-growing green vegetables..."

"In winter in New Jersey, there is a lack of fruits and vegetables. My mouth is slightly sore, and my hands and feet are dry and peeling. My neighbor David said that I was the same as those sailors who sailed in the vast ocean, because I ate less fruits and vegetables."

"Oh, Miss Roland, I forgot to introduce to you. David is the pharmacist in the town. Every time he recommends me various healing potions, they are very expensive. But I always feel that those tablets in small bottles , not as attractive as those green, crisp vegetables that grow from the ground, or fruits hanging on the branches..."

"My God, Miss Rowland, I have your package from New York!"

"I couldn't believe my eyes - what did I see, in a transparent glass bottle, there were apples soaked in sugar water?"

“Incredulous, I carefully opened these glass bottles — you have a really tight cap. And then I literally smelled apples.”

"These are real, real, sliced ​​apples...To hell with David and his potions!"

"Miss Roland, you actually wrote to ask me if I like the taste of these apples!"

"At the end of the long winter, when the apples, oranges and cabbages stored in the cellar last autumn have long since been used up, you ask me if I like the taste of apples?"

"Following the instructions in your letter, I finished enjoying your gift within two days. The pulp is slightly sweet, full of water, and has a soft taste. It is very suitable for enjoying on cakes or scones."

"I was pleasantly surprised by the sugar water left in the bottle, once concentrated in a pot, they make excellent apple-flavored syrup

. "

"...you call it a glass jar?"

"I agree with you. Canning seems to be a good way to preserve fresh food. I would like to ask, is it not complicated to make?"

"I finally understand what you mean—it turns out that the culprit of food spoilage is actually tiny bacteria that we can't see, and they can be eliminated by high-temperature steam?"

"Then I agree with you, Miss Roland. The production of cans is obviously suitable for professional factories, not for families..."

"Miss, I happen to know a businessman who owns a factory in Brooklyn, George Quentin. Recommended to you, he is very conscientious and responsible."

"Conscience and a sense of responsibility are necessary for the production of edible goods. Here is his address..."

"Miss Roland, I have received your letter. I am very glad that you have contacted Mr. Quentin. I wish you a smooth cooperation..."

"What, you are about to leave New York and return to your hometown?"

Holding the letterhead, Roland could already imagine the shocked expression on the letter writer's face.

"Then I dare say that New York is about to lose a pearl of beauty and wisdom. Please wait, I saw it, I saw you left me a new address. Then I can continue to communicate with you in the days to come." You corresponded? That's great..."

"Miss Roland, I am very, very honored for this."

Roland smiled, gently put down the letter in his hand, and met Beth's eyes.

Beth knew that her sister had always had such a "pen pal", and she was used to it.

Roland asked Beth: "Have you decided? Are you really not going back to see Mom and Dad with me?"

Beth nodded with a smile.

As the temperature rises day by day, the ice melts, and spring is about to return to the earth, Roland decides to leave New York temporarily and go home.

Several things she needs to accomplish in New York have been done:

She brought Beth to see the bigger world and helped the always shy sister build up her self-confidence;

She met with Mr. Dashwood and established a contribution channel with "Volcano Weekly", even if

In the future, "Volcano Weekly" still does not accept her manuscripts by mail, and she can also ask her friends in New York to pass them to Mr. Dashwood for her.Believe that the other party should not refuse again;

The other is the production of canned food.

Roland didn't plan to produce cans himself.The production of cans requires industrialized specialized institutions to achieve the purpose of high-temperature sterilization through steam sterilization technology, and the cans are strictly sealed to prolong the storage time.

Roland was recommended by Mr. Munro, met Mr. Quentin, a Brooklyn businessman, and exchanged canning techniques.Roland gave the other party some "pointing" and agreed on the method and scope of cooperation——

Roland and her fruit farmer friends will have the opportunity to provide a large amount of fruits and vegetables to Mr. Quentin.

Roland's thoughts are consistent with Philip Munro's statement in the letter: canning is not only a commodity, but also an important way to preserve food (especially perishable fruits and vegetables).

Over the years, Roland's fruit growers and pen pals have all experienced seasonal price fluctuations - at the turn of summer and autumn, a large number of fruits are on the market at the same time, but the price has dropped to the lowest level, and sometimes "fruit prices hurt farmers".

But when the fruit is the most expensive, the branches in the orchard are empty, because this is not the season for fruit and vegetable production at all.

Nowadays, the front-end technology of canning is mature. As long as it can be industrialized, it is equivalent to adding another huge sales channel for fruit farmers in the peak season of fruit ripening.These fruits are made into canned fruits, which will be able to add more delicious food to people's tables in seasons when fruits and vegetables are lacking, so as to make people healthy physically and mentally.

Therefore, Roland was extremely satisfied with her trip to New York.

Now she must keep her promise and go back to tend Aunt March's orchard.Although New York is good, she is a person who cannot live without the land after all.

Who knew that Beth had the courage to make such a decision: to stay in New York.

Today's Elizabeth March is already a well-known piano teacher.She specializes in teaching children, no matter how naughty children are in her hands, they can gradually develop an interest in music.

Because of this, many middle-class families in New York tried their best to inquire about Beth's teaching arrangements, and wanted to sign up for their children. The road to music.

which leads to beth

Her time was so full that she couldn't even take care of the children in the Kirk family's big house.For the sake of Beth's future, Mrs. Kirk could only reluctantly part with her, and asked her governess to take over Beth's work.

Roland looked at the girl in front of her - Beth had grown a lot taller, almost as tall as Roland.Her long, silky blond hair was neatly combed into a long braid behind her head, and a pair of aqua blue eyes were quietly looking at Roland.

This seemed to be the same gentle and shy Beth who was usually quiet.But the girl has now fully adjusted to life in New York and has grown into a strong, confident young lady.

"Ask Mrs. Kirk and Miss Norton for advice on everything, and notify Stuart and Fren when they need help."

Stuart and Fren were the two young people who laughed at the March sisters as "old hats" to their faces.Now, these two actually get along well with Beth, taking care of Beth like a younger sister.

"I'll come to New York to see you again after I've been busy for a while."

Roland looked at his sister, his eyes full of worry.

Beth gave Roland a hug, and whispered back in her ear, "Well, Jo, I've grown up! I can't bother you forever..."

Roland thought about it, and thought so.

Her responsibility is always to help Beth stand up, not tie her up in her skirt and take care of her for a lifetime.

So, Roland returned to his hometown and met the long-lost Mr. and Mrs. March, Mr. and Mrs. Meg and the twins, Mr. Lawrence... and Laurie.

During this period of time, Roland encountered some things: some things that would happen naturally, but it was difficult to make people feel happy.

During this period, she still maintained a correspondence with Mr. Philip Munro.And she found that Mr. Munro gradually became the object of her confidant.Some of the truths that she couldn't even say to Beth or Mrs. March, and she dared not confide, when she imagined facing the old gentleman she had never met, Roland was willing to let it fall on the letter paper.

It's hard!The elderly Mr. Munro still listened to the thoughts of a young girl her age.

"Mr. Munro," the tip of the pen in Roland's hand brushed down on the paper, "Your intuition is very accurate, I have indeed experienced it recently.

some things……"

"I had a 'marriage proposal', pardon the misnomer. But at the time I was really thinking: oh shit, it really came..."

"Mr. Munro, thank you very much for your comforting letter. With an elderly and mature gentleman like you explaining it, what reason do I have to immerse myself in depression and depression?"

"I feel better now. That young friend, he's better too... At least he's not doing something disappointingly stupid like people feared. And I don't need to feel guilty about it."

"I think he will go abroad for a while and not see me again. I hope he can take this opportunity to calm his mind and heal the wounds - I believe he will."

"Honestly, I've been reflecting a lot lately - did I do something wrong? The conclusion is I haven't."

"I've always believed that I don't need to apologize for 'I don't love him', and I don't need him to 'forgive' me for it."

"Everyone has the right to love or not to love, just like everyone should have the right to choose their life partner independently..."

"Mr. Munro, thank you for your urgent and express letter to comfort me. I am very grateful to you. I have disturbed you again and again with this kind of 'childish incident' between young people. Will you be so annoying? And bored?"

"Yes, I became aware of his feelings very early on, and after that, I took care to keep my distance from him."

"It was difficult sometimes because we were neighbours. All four girls in our family knew him very well and were quite close since they were young."

"Regrettably, during this period of distance, his affection for me has not been weakened by these distances, on the contrary, it seems to have been deepened."

"I reflected on why. It might be because...we're so alike."

"Our personalities are very close, we don't like to be restrained, we love freedom, we are used to making up our own minds, we are both like wild horses, we never let anyone put the bridle on us..."

“We never had to pretend we were with each other, because we were looking in a mirror—and we were

Don't be afraid to hurt each other, because you face your 'self', how can there be any overnight hatred? "

"But maybe because of this, I admit that I am somewhat attractive to him."

"He's attractive to girls too. He's handsome, he's thoughtful, he's well-bred, and of course... none of that goes for him when we're bickering and fighting... when he's just another me."

"Mr. Munro, letter received."

"Thank you for affirming me, it's great to have someone standing by my side."

"Laurie, the boy, has gone abroad. He will give me no more trouble for a while. May God bless him, and soon forget all the sorrows I have caused him."

"I never thought I did anything wrong with it."

"I have to be responsible for my feelings. I can't lie to Laurie that I love him, and I can't hypnotize myself, and I can't ask myself to love him just because he has a good family background and conditions."

"I must be worthy of the true love hidden like a treasure in my heart."

"It's perhaps the most sober insistence I've made in this life: I don't love 'my boy,' and I never will."

"Therefore it is absolutely impossible for me to marry him."

"But I still feel bad... Maybe it's because—"

"At this moment, I suddenly realized that my carefree youth is finally coming to an end."