Grasp the farming script in the famous book

Roland met Wickham again in Meryton the next day.

At that time, Wickham was standing outside the hat shop, having a lively conversation with two young ladies in the town, and Roland didn't want to disturb him at all.

Unexpectedly, she hadn't gone far when Wickham caught up and greeted her politely.

"Congratulations, Miss Bennett, I heard that your family's participation in the construction of the 'toll road' has been finalized?"

Roland didn't hear any congratulations from Wickham's voice, but he could hear a lot of ridicule.

The other party seemed to be laughing at her: It would take a lot of effort to spend just two thousand pounds, even the dowry?

So Roland also asked back with a smile: "I heard that Mr. Wickham is also very interested in this 'toll road' project, and he must have contracted the 'toll rights' for several road sections?"

She heard the news from her uncle, Mr. Phillips: Wickham inquired about all the details of participating in the road construction, but gave up funding at the last moment.

Mr. Phillips interpreted this to mean that Mr. Wickham should not care about such a small business.

But Roland could hear a bit of "seriousness and inwardness". At this time, he asked a rhetorical question, "Mr. Long Aotian" really laughed twice, and his smile changed from courteous to indifferent.

"My funds have always been invested in the Americas, and England's investment rate of return cannot meet my requirements."

"Also, women... don't always put on a self-righteous look." Wickham stared at Roland and suggested sincerely, "Men don't appreciate women who know too much."

Roland almost couldn't hold back his laughter.Although she could barely hold it back, her smile almost overflowed from those bright beautiful eyes, making her delicate face extraordinarily beautiful.

She approached Wickham and whispered: "I really want to give you a big compliment. You are worthy of being a senior player in the plane of 'Long Aotian', and your words are deeply rooted in the essence of 'Long Aotian'."

Wickham was extremely comfortable with her flattery, took off his hat and saluted Roland: "Miss Bennett, you are too flattering."

Too much? ——It was the first time for Roland to see such an ignorant and ridiculous Long Aotian, who was still alive. He really felt that he was entertained by the other party, so he immediately saluted Wickham with a smile, and then turned and left.

Roland had just left Wickham when he saw the eldest son of his neighbor, Sir Lucas, standing across the road and staring blankly at him.

"Miss Bennett!"

The boy suddenly cried out: "My father visited you at the house today, but why did you appear in Meryton?"

Roland: ...Why can't I appear in Meryton?

However, Sir Lucas and Mrs. Lucas had not visited Longbourn for a long time since "her" friend Maria Lucas married Cousin Collins--Mrs. The Lucas family is sneering and can't speak nicely.

So why did Sir Lucas and his wife go to Longbourn specifically, or visit her by name?

Without further ado, Roland finished all her important affairs in Meryton and hurriedly set off on her way back to Longbourn before the Lucass left.

This pair of neighbor couples was entertained by Elizabeth. The housewife, Mrs. Bennett, who was supposed to entertain the guests, immediately went out of her "nervousness" when she heard that these two came to the door, and she lay on the bed and groaned.Elizabeth had no choice but to come out in person to greet the guests instead of her mother.

"So the two of you really came to see me specially?"

Roland was still astonished when he saw the Lucas couple.

But it soon became clear what happened: the Lucas couple invited Roland to go to Hunsford with them to visit Maria who was married.

Maria and Mr. Collins were married, and had both set off long ago to the parish where Mr. Collins was serving.

Before leaving, Maria kept urging Mr. Collins to invite Roland to visit her in Kent, but it was not easy to invite Roland to go alone, so she asked Sir Lucas and his wife to invite him and accompany him.

Sir Lucas originally wanted to see how his daughter was doing, so he ignored Mrs. Bennet's bad attitude and went directly to the door—but he didn't expect that Roland would happen to go to Meryton.

Fortunately, Elizabeth had a gentle attitude, and Mrs. Foden, the cook, was outstanding in her craftsmanship. She kept the Lucas couple with various refreshments until Roland came back.

Roland listened to the two explain their intentions, thought for a while, nodded and said, "I'm very happy to be invited."

Sir Lucas burst out laughing, clapping his wife's hand happily.

Mrs. Lucas asked Elizabeth: "Miss Elizabeth, would you like to go together to see the scenery of Kent?"

Obviously, Mrs. Lucas felt that Roland was too young to know the world, and Maria in her family was not very old. She hoped to have a gentle and mature sister to accompany the two of them to live in Hunsford for a while.

Elizabeth, thoughtful, courteous, friendly and sensible, was just the right person.

Elizabeth: "Me?"

She didn't expect that the topic would eventually come back to herself.

Elizabeth bowed her head and thought for a moment, then turned to look at Roland.Seeing Roland's provocative appearance, Elizabeth nodded immediately: "Thank you both for the invitation, it's a great honor."

It was soon agreed that Sir Lucas would send a car to pick up the two ladies as soon as Easter was over, and they would go to Hunsford together.

After Sir Lucas and his wife left, although Mrs. Bennet was still full of displeasure, she could not change the decision of Roland and Elizabeth.

Roland immediately got busy: before she left, she had to hand over all the farming work in Longborn to a trustworthy person.

Truffle season is drawing to a close.With the arrival of spring, flowers and out-of-season vegetables can also take a break.The main businesses here in Longborn are vegetable gardening and three-yellow chicken breeding.In addition, the villagers of Longborn are busy with "crop rotation" and may need some guidance.

Roland entrusted these tasks to reliable people, and specially made a batch of "farming cards" about "crop rotation", distributed them, and presented a set to Mr. Fletcher, a trainee priest, asking him to give them in his spare time The villagers explained and explained.

Mr. Fletcher gladly accepted the order.

"Are these paintings all from your handwriting?" Mr. Fletcher looked at the exquisite and elegant paintings on the "farming card" and asked with appreciation.

"No, no, no," Roland quickly shook his head in denial, "This is the work of my fourth sister Catherine."

"Catherine" was Kitty's first name, and Roland didn't dare to use his sister's nickname rashly in front of outsiders.

And Kitty's paintings on the farming card are indeed very exquisite - she uses charcoal as a base draft, draws with quill pen and ink, and only uses lines to draw the seedlings, flowers and mature plants of the crops vividly, and the lines are beautiful and unique. aesthetically pleasing.

"Very vivid," Mr. Fletcher flipped through the cards one by one, praised and praised, and mentioned again, "The text on the cards is also very well written, concise and easy to understand, better than last time..."

Mr. Fletcher realized something, shut up quickly, and stopped talking.

Roland knew what he wanted to say: the words on the "Farming Card" this time were edited by Mary. They don't ask for more literary talent, but they want to be accurate, plain and easy to understand... and there are no misspelled words.

Mary has helped her avoid a lot of spelling mistakes.

Roland's psychological endurance is very good, commonly known as "thick-skinned", in front of Mr. Fletcher, he bragged about the strength of the two sisters.

The trainee pastor listened to Roland boasting, nodded with a smile, and listened very seriously.Finally he suggested:

"Miss Bennett, have you considered making engravings of Lingjie's paintings, so that it is easy to reproduce and print, and there is no need for Lingjie to repeatedly draw one by one."

--this is a good idea!

Roland suddenly became energetic and asked Mr. Fletcher to introduce a familiar plate maker.

Mr. Fletcher did not disappoint her, and really gave her an address—in London.He even wrote a letter and handed it to Roland, asking her to bring it to the pattern maker.

"Great. I'm visiting friends in Kent this time, and I'm going to stop in London."

The plan of Roland and his party was as follows: set off from Hertfordshire, stop in London, visit Uncle Gardner's family, and take a look at Jane who was not going well; then set off for Hunsford.

"Mr. Fletcher, thank you very much."

Roland saluted the trainee priest solemnly, and Mr. Fletcher also solemnly returned the gift. Please rest assured that Roland will guide the tenant farmers to farm according to the "farming card".

Roland couldn't help but think to himself: This person is really different——

Mr. Collins is so sour, and Mr. Fletcher is so enlightened and friendly.They are still just trainee priests.

However, she had never asked Mr. Fletcher about his background, only that he was from somewhere around London, not far from Hertford, and had a familiar accent.

According to the villagers of Longbourn, Mr. Fletcher's family must be very poor-otherwise, why should this learned young man condescend to come to Longbourne as a novice priest.

After saying goodbye to his family, Roland and Elizabeth arrived in London under the care and company of Sir Lucas.

The girls first went to visit Uncle Gardiner's family, and to visit their eldest sister Jane.

Jane is sweet and demure as always, but her eyes are full of loneliness. Only those who are most familiar with her can see that she is emotionally hurt.

As soon as Elizabeth saw Jane, she took her elder sister aside and whispered.

Roland: Needless to say, Jane must not have seen Mr. Bingley yet.

Sure enough, after talking with Jane, Elizabeth came to Roland's side indignantly, sat down sullenly, and complained: "That cunning Miss Bingley..."

Roland also sighed immediately: She had expected it earlier, and it was obviously impossible for Miss Bingley to help thread the needle between Jane and Mr. Bingley.

And Jane obviously couldn't go all out, and met Mr. Bingley in any "not ladylike" way, expressing the strong emotions in her heart.

Fortunately, with Elizabeth here, there is no need for Rolando to say anything to comfort Jane.

After Roland greeted the Gardners, he took Mr. Fletcher's letter to Charing Cross Road.The master platemaker recommended by Mr. Apprentice should be there.

When he arrived at Charing Cross Road, Roland discovered that there were many publishers on this street, one close to the other.Most of the stores here are bookstores outside, selling self-published books, and there is also a reception room in the bookstore for publishers to negotiate with authors and copyright owners.

She found the place according to the address, but found that it was also a bookstore with a spacious storefront. There were many large hardcover books in the window, with gold-plated titles on the leather covers; but there were also many palm-sized pocket books. , brochures, all seem to be quite well-made.

And Mr. Skrtel, the plate maker that Mr. Fletcher directed her to find—could it be a staff member of this bookstore?

Roland pushed the door into the store, and the bell at the door made a crisp "jingle".

A young clerk greeted him enthusiastically. Roland explained his purpose and took out Mr. Fletcher's letter.He hurriedly welcomed Roland to a reception room behind the store, and served hot tea graciously, asking Roland to wait there for a while.

This is a reception room as well as an exhibition room.The bookshelves installed on the four walls are full of books.

Roland sat and waited for a while, but couldn't sit still anymore. He stood up and browsed the books on the shelves in the room.

It is an all-encompassing library, and the themes of the books seem to be carefully arranged.

From sermons and theological books, to natural sciences, humanities, and literary works, from classics to modern ones, from poetry, dramas to novels of the latest fashion, this library seems to have everything that one expects to find.

Roland looked at the reception room and smiled - Mary should be brought next time no matter what.

She casually took a book from the shelf and flipped through it, only looking at the illustrations in the book.Those illustrations should be woodblock prints, with slender and smooth lines, clear pictures and complete frames.

Roland thought to himself: Kitty's painting, if it can be printed at this level, is enough.

Just as he was thinking about it, the door of the reception room was pushed open, and a gentleman in his 40s came in, took off his hat and greeted Roland: "You are Miss Bennett from Longbourne, right?"

Roland quickly saluted and put the book in his hand on the table.

The other party greeted warmly: "I am the publisher Joseph Skrtel. Simon wrote to me, saying that you have a very good manuscript here for publication."

The Simon in his mouth naturally refers to Simon Fletcher, the apprentice priest in the small village of Longborn.

Roland: ...!

Mr. Skrtel... the publisher?

"As far as I know, Mr. Fletcher recommended me an engraver who turned the manuscript into engravings. I really don't know..."

Is there any misunderstanding in this?

"But he's right. It's really easy for me to make a plate." Mr. Skrtel spoke very humorously. "Miss Bennett, would you like to show me your manuscript first?"

Without hesitation, Roland took out the bundle of manuscripts she was carrying with her, pushed them lightly with both hands, and sent them to Mr. Skrtel.

It was a bunch of manuscripts tied with a ribbon—in fact, it was also the "farming card" that Roland sent to the tenant farmers in Longbourne: she did not specifically separate Kitty's drawings from Mary's revised text, but wrapped them in Brought to London together, and sent to the publisher together at this moment.

She did consider that in the future, she would try to publish a collection of the content of instructing sharecroppers in Longborn to farm - but she never thought of using the set of "farming cards" in her hand to try to vote.

Therefore, Roland looked calm and confident on the surface, but in his heart, there were really fifteen buckets fetching water, and he was uneasy.

"Well……"

Mr. Skrtel read it very carefully, flipping through the pages one by one, and asked while reading: "Miss...have you verified the contents of this set of manuscripts?"

That is required! ——Roland thought to himself, these are the planting methods she tried repeatedly in the "farming plane" and verified.

But in this plane, she must tell the truth: "Part of it has been verified..."

The part about winter vegetables has been proven, the part about crop rotation has not.

"There is still a part that is being verified, and the initial effect can be seen this summer."

Mr. Skrtel let out a "hmm" and continued to look through those "farming cards" intently.

"Miss Bennett, Simon praised the content of your 'Agricultural Book' in your letter, so I have very high expectations for you——After I read it now, I am a little disappointed, thinking that it is not enough. did not meet the requirements for publication."

Roland was very calm - she never thought of publishing this.

But on the surface, she must not show timidity. Facing the disappointed Mr. Skrtel, Roland nodded and said: "This set of manuscripts is mainly designed for farmers who practice agriculture in the countryside—try as much as possible in the text. It is easy to understand and uses illustrations to convey information. This is the original intention of our sisters when they made this set of manuscripts."

"Of course, we would also like to hear the opinions of Mr. Publisher - more people can see these novel and efficient planting methods and improve the utilization rate of the field, which our sisters are happy to see."

Mr. Skrtel asked curiously: "It turns out that you and Sister Ling worked together to write the manuscript?"

Roland nodded solemnly.

Mr. Skrtel thought for a while, and put forward several suggestions on Roland's set of "Farming Cards", mainly in terms of layout, background description, bibliography and citations - different from "Farming Cards", a "farming card" "Book" needs a more rigorous structure and more substantial content.

"Thank you very much for your suggestion." Roland still insisted on his point of view to a certain extent, "I will improve it according to your suggestion and write a complete set of manuscripts; but you may also consider placing some Removable 'cards' that can be handed out to people who actually farm."

Her original intention was to guide agricultural planting, and a "classic book" that was specially collected by academics and shelved lost her original intention.

Roland said these words to express to Mr. Skrtel: She also has persistence and a bottom line when it comes to publishing books.

Mr. Skrtel thought about it for a while, and felt that it made some sense: "In this way, the farmer can guide the farmers to use the book when he buys the book—it's a good idea."

"Miss, when will you be able to finish the revision of the manuscript?" Mr. Skrtel asked Roland gently.

Roland felt ecstatic: "So, are you interested in publishing such a down-to-earth, 'practical', 'farming book' for ordinary people?"

Mr. Skrtell nodded with a smile: "My business judgment tells me: Yes, there will be a market for such a book."

Roland jumped up from the chair suddenly: "This is great!"

But she immediately calmed down: "Sir, it will take some time to make your revisions, and part of the content in the book also needs to be verified. I think that at the end of the summer, I can submit a revised and complete copy to you, reaching The manuscript you requested."

"It's a deal," Mr. Skrtel agreed to Roland's suggestion, "Miss Bennett, I look forward to the day when your revised draft will be delivered to me."

He took a pocket watch out of his coat pocket, glanced at it, and said, "Miss Bennet, I have another appointment, so I must take your leave."

Roland wisely put away all her manuscripts, held them in front of his chest, saluted and bid farewell to the publisher, turned and left the reception room.

Unexpectedly, the publisher's guests were already waiting outside the reception room, and they were a little surprised to see Roland.

"Miss Bennett—didn't expect to see you here?"

"Mr. Darcy... indeed, long time no see."