The heroine of the healing department is very rigid [Pride and Prejudice]

Thompson clearly failed to understand what Mary was saying.

"I mean, we could sell the design to Heathcliff. Not only would we have the capital, but we could get him to import the bamboo for us."

Thompson still didn't understand, with a daze written all over his face.

"He is a businessman who has traveled all over the world." Mary said dryly, "He must have more knowledge than us, so if he is willing to buy this blueprint, it proves that this design is probably useful."

"Of course, he could resell it to someone else for a higher price. But if he's a smart guy, he'll experiment with us first, and then bring it to London when he's sure the setup works."

Thompson finally got it.

Mary poured herself a big sip of tea—she didn't drink any water this morning—and continued, "But before that, we have to talk to Emily, after all, this blueprint belongs to her. "

Hearing this, Thompson's face fell down again. He already knew that Emily was that cunning woman.It's a nightmare to do business with this kind of person.

"I can go talk to her." Mary volunteered.

Emily was certainly not a philanthropist, or even a businessman, but, as Thompson said, she was a greedy and cunning woman.

"You want to do business with me?" Emily put down the apple pie in her hand, her eyes widened in surprise.

She didn't expect that women in this era would dare to come out to discuss business. Shouldn't they all be men's accessories?

"It's good for you," Mary said, "teaching me well."

"After these fire-fighting bags are made, the whole of London will benefit, and you will become very famous. Maybe the king will receive you in the palace."

Emily was a little moved.

She originally only wanted to marry Darcy to be a rich wife, but if she could meet the king and become famous from then on, that would be a great thing.

Darcy?What is Darcy?If she could know a royal family, she might be a countess in the future.

"In this case, why should I go to negotiate with you? I can go directly to London, and I believe that the wealthy businessmen there will have a pleasant cooperation."

Although she was heartbroken, Ai Mier didn't show it. Instead, she pretended to be indifferent, deliberately teasing people.

"Of course you can do that." Mary didn't like that, she had already figured out how to deal with this situation on the way here, so she showed a more cunning smile.

"But do you have travel expenses? Even if you have travel expenses, if these fire extinguishing bags fail to function after they are made, will your investors let you go?"

Emily was silent.Her brother Collins, who was worthless, left £20 before he left.Mr. Bennet gave her a little pocket money every month, but the sum of the money was not enough for a month.

And the 300 pounds earned from selling bread were also "donated", so now she has almost no money.

What's more, she only drew those drawings based on some vague memories from history class, but there is no guarantee that they will be effective.

In case of an accident, those investors had to sell her as a maid.But it was different in Hertford. Even if these inventions did not work, there was barely a Bennet family behind them, and she believed that Mr. Bennet would not put her in danger.

"Then how much are you going to pay for my idea?" Ai Mier asked, planning to take this opportunity to earn a lot of patent fees.

"Thompson knows that you are selling food at high prices in the disaster area." Mary didn't answer her, but changed the topic, "Do you know that this is illegal?"

Ai Mier was slightly taken aback. Although there have been many people who made a fortune in disasters since ancient times, it's not like she didn't think that doing so would violate the law.But in this era of aristocratic privileges and domineering, she thought that there would be no such laws.

"Thompson originally wanted to take you to court, but I stopped him. He promised that as long as you would provide these drawings free of charge, he would give up the prosecution and tell the villagers that you are a generous and wise young lady. ’ Mary said nonsense solemnly.

After getting along with her some time ago, she found that Ai Mier was greedy for money, afraid of death, and knew nothing about the law, so she made up such a lie to confuse others.

Sure enough, Ai Mier became nervous when she heard this. She rubbed the hem of her skirt and gritted her teeth.In the end, I had to compromise again, bit the bullet and agreed to be a philanthropist once again.

She was so nervous that she completely forgot about Thompson's lack of evidence, and she was also worried that someone else would follow the clues and discover the secret of space.After all, Bennet's house doesn't have a warehouse, so it's suspicious that she took out so much food out of thin air.

Seeing that the goal has been achieved, Mary stood up in satisfaction. She admitted that she had used a shady trick in this negotiation, but she was not guilty.

No matter who you face, you have to use whatever method.This is a truth not found in the Bible.

With Emily's consent, the next step is to discuss investment with Heathcliff.This task is naturally completed by Thompson.

Heathcliff is a pure businessman, so he must love profit.So Thompson quickly got the investment, which made Mary more convinced that the things on the drawings were useful.

The so-called cause must have effect, it is not without reason that Heathcliff can change from a poor and white "inferior" to a wealthy businessman envied by everyone.He acted very fast, and he got the bamboo tube in less than two months.

Of course not through imports, if it is imported, at least until next Christmas to see these bamboos.It is said that he bought it from a baron living in London for three times the price.The baron had always been fond of things from Asia and Africa, so it was not difficult to find some bamboo tubes.

Thompson invited the best craftsmen to make drawings and fire leather bags according to the drawings.He originally thought that these drawings were very clear, but once it came to actual operation, there would always be some big and small problems.

For example, how thin the bamboo should be peeled, and what kind of leather should be used for the water bag, cowhide or pigskin?

In order to make these leather bag fire extinguishers as soon as possible, Thompson invited the most outstanding craftsmen in the vicinity, each of whom has rich experience and great achievements.

These are good things, but because they each insist that their ideas are correct and are unwilling to try other people's solutions, the production progress has slowed down.

Thompson began to lose his hair again, and Heathcliff agreed that if he could not make these fire extinguishers within three months, he would withdraw his investment, and Thompson needed to return 1000 pounds.

Sure enough, this is the real profiteer.Emily sighed after hearing the news.

The work of rebuilding the village is proceeding in an orderly manner, the villagers who lost their houses have found temporary shelters, and there is no shortage of doctors and nurses.But Mary still didn't come home.

Though she misses her family terribly, she would rather sleep on the church stairs when she thinks of Ms. Gray's dead face.So Mary unconscionably handed over the work of monitoring Emily to Elizabeth, and she stayed in the disaster area to help the villagers clean up their houses, and occasionally went to see the progress of the fire extinguisher.Regrettably, nine times out of ten you will find craftsmen quarreling.

But today is different.

With one hand propped on the table, Heathcliff pointed at the blueprints with a charcoal pencil in the other hand, muttering some rare words such as toughness, pressure, and capacity.

All the craftsmen surrounded him, listening carefully with their ears open.Mary listened for a long time around them, but she didn't quite understand.I only know that Heathcliff is re-explaining the contents of these papers to them, and it seems that some modifications have been made.

"You really know a lot." Mary sighed sincerely when the craftsmen started to get busy again.

"This is not a place for women." Heathcliff rarely took a look at Mary. He suddenly found that the girl had lost a lot of weight, her skin had turned slightly dark, and her knuckles were covered with bruises of all sizes. mouth.

"I'm here to deliver the bread, and I didn't cause trouble." Mary was a little upset, but she was always proud, so she didn't allow anyone to look down on her.

During the days when the village was being rebuilt, the men who looked down on her had gradually changed their views. Only this Heathcliff still insisted on talking about gender.

Heathcliff couldn't help but glanced at Mary again, and then found a small scar on the palm of her hand.He suddenly remembered that Mary seemed to have come to the disaster area the day after she recovered from her illness.

Stupid girl.

Hearing that there was bread, the craftsmen's attention was immediately diverted. They surrounded Mary and waited for the meal.A red-skinned young man came up first, took a piece of bread from the basket, but did not rush away, but half leaned on the table and began to talk to Mary.

He babbled on about carpentry and card games, and sometimes complimented Mary on her looks.Out of basic politeness, Mary always had a decent smile on her face. In fact, she was not interested in these topics, nor did she like being compared to a peach.

"I pay you to work, not to talk here." Heathcliff suddenly turned back from the door, with a dark cloud hanging on his face.He was tall and seemed to have a natural intimidating force. When the craftsmen saw him approaching, they dispersed angrily.

"As I said, this is not a place for women to come." Heathcliff looked unhappy, and his tall figure cast a shadow in the small room.

Mary was shrouded in this shadow, and felt that he was blocking the light and the way.But these are not the worst, the worst is yet to come.

"Your father entrusted me to tell you to let you go home as soon as possible. He said that your class has fallen too far, and your teacher is very angry."

"I'm not going back." Mary almost jumped up. She didn't hate studying, but she definitely didn't like studying with Ms. Gray.

"My governess is an old crow possessed by a demon."

Heathcliff suddenly turned his head to look at Mary, and there seemed to be a little smile in those cloudy black eyes.

An illusion, it must be an illusion.

After all, Mary had to go back to Bennet Manor, after all, it was her home, and she couldn't stop going home because of Ms. Gray.

It's just that Mr. Bennet didn't know what was going on, and he actually entrusted Heathcliff to take her home.This incident was undoubtedly a torture for both of them. Heathcliff rode on the horse with a black face, and followed Mary's little white horse like a prisoner.

Although Mary didn't want to see Ms. Gray, she was very happy to be home, so she ignored the feeling that Heathcliff was staring at her like a light on her back.

But on the first day back home, she had a big fight with Emily.To say it was a quarrel is a euphemism, because if the cook and Elizabeth hadn't stopped them, they would have started fighting long ago.

The reason for the quarrel was simple. Emily turned Mary's bedroom into a pig's nest, and she didn't apologize.

Prior to this, Mary had been telling herself that she had lived two lifetimes, and she was already 22 years old in her last life, so she couldn't argue with a 15-year-old girl like Emily, so she endured it.

Although there are maids in Bennet's family, they are only responsible for the hygiene of public areas and never set foot in the girls' private space.

So, Ai Mier threw the clothes on the floor, she picked them up, Ai Mier spilled the juice on the quilt, and she took it to wash.But this time Mary couldn't take it anymore.

That morning, she opened the bedroom door happily, only to find that the room was full of clothes, clean and dirty mixed together, a few plates stained with jam were piled up on the desk, and the chair was full of biscuit crumbs.

"are you a pig?"

Mary left behind all the little lady manners she barely learned, and angrily picked up Emily who was still lying in bed.The physical work these past few months had given her a lot of strength, so Ai Mier was thrown to the ground before she could open her eyes.

"You're hurting me!" Emily screamed, and ran into the living room with her nightgown in hand. Mary threw her hat on the ground and chased after her, determined to make Emily look good today.

When Ms. Gray saw this scene, she almost fainted from anger. She kept making the sign of the cross on her chest, and swore to God that this rude girl was hopeless.

"She turned my bedroom into a pigsty." Mary's hands were pinched behind the back by the cook - if she didn't do this, Emily would be thrown out of the window - she also screamed at the top of her voice .

Mrs. Gray ignored Mary. She ate a lot of bread and butter and red wine that Emily gave her these days. As the Bordeaux red wine accumulated in her stomach, the "justice" in her mind was also drowned.

So, she immediately stood in front of Emily, condemned Mary for her lack of tolerance, and emphasized that she would go to hell if she did so.

"Miss Mary, bear with me, my wife has been suffering from neuralgia recently." The cook persuaded her in a low voice, and tightened her hand again.

"I will never let you go easily." Mary put down her harsh words angrily, shook off the cook's hand, tucked the hem of the shawl back into her belt, and rushed out of the house indignantly.She ran very fast, and in a moment she lost Elizabeth who was chasing after her.

It's so unfair, it's obviously Ai Mier's fault, but it made her back down.Mary wandered aimlessly in the pasture, angrily kicking away the stones at her feet, but instead made her toes hurt for a long time.

She suddenly felt a little wronged, and her nose started to sore.I stayed in the disaster area for three full months, sleeping in the corridor of the church every day, and sometimes I couldn't even drink saliva for a day.

He returned home full of joy, only to find that his boudoir had become a pigsty, and he couldn't get angry.What kind of day is this!

If I had known earlier, I would not be coming back.The more Mary thought about it, the more wronged she became, and she even wanted to pack up and leave, but soon she realized that although she looked like a 16-year-old girl, she was actually 22 at heart, and she couldn't be willful.

Moreover, the "intruder" has not been found yet.That damned Lucifer only said to ask her to sacrifice the soul of the "invader" to him, but he didn't say how to sacrifice.Is she going to send Emily to the stake like in the Middle Ages?Even if she wanted to, she didn't have the ability.

Mary found sadly that the days when she went home were not as happy as living in the disaster area.She cursed Emily and Ms. Gray under her breath, hoping that they would break their shins on the carpet when they went down the stairs, and preferably break their teeth so they wouldn't babble out some annoying sentences.

Mary took a walk on the meadow angrily, until the sun was about to set and the mountain was still angry.The afterglow of the setting sun dyed the grass blades a hazy orange-red color, because it is coming to summer and the weather is not cold.Mary felt a little hungry, but she didn't want to go home at all, so she went to the first floor of the small hotel at the entrance of the village to buy some bagels.

Mary is no stranger to this hotel. Before Mrs. Parkinson moved, she was a frequent visitor here.But since I changed the boss here, I haven't been here again.It was only when she came here today that she realized that the changes here are not small.

When Mrs. Parkinson was here, the first floor of the hotel would sell home-cooked fare, such as challah, orange pie, sausage, and occasionally roast ribs and anisette.But now, it has completely turned into a tavern.

Unshaven, drunken bachelors slumped over tables with large bottles of whiskey in hand.Two burly men with their sleeves rolled up to their arms, bareheaded, wrestling with their arms.They yelled loudly to cheer themselves up, and the audience around them also yelled and booed.

Mary bravely took a few steps inside, and immediately regretted it, so she retreated to the door in a panic.It's a pity that it was still a step too late, a red-haired man stood in front of her, holding up a dirty glass, and wanted to buy her a drink.She goes to the left, and the man goes to the left, and she goes to the right, and the man goes to the right.Mary regretted it so much, why did she not go home in a fit of anger?

It was full of men, and Mary attracted everyone's attention as soon as she came in. They looked at her wantonly and discussed her figure and face loudly.

"Mr. Heathcliff." Mary spotted Heathcliff coming down from the second floor with sharp eyes, and immediately raised her arms to greet him, trying to attract his attention.Fortunately, she succeeded.Heathcliff hesitated for a moment, then walked over.The red-haired man saw him, like a cat seeing a mouse, and left immediately.

"I'll buy some gin for my father." Mary made up an excuse, and begged Heathcliff in her heart not to tell her father the news of her coming to the hotel.

"There's only whiskey here now," said Heathcliff.

Of course Mary knew that there was only whiskey here, so she immediately said that she had found the wrong place and was going to leave as soon as possible.

It's just that she hadn't taken a few steps when she heard regular footsteps behind her.Could it be the people in the hotel?Mary felt a wave of fear and quickened her pace, but the people behind her also quickened their pace.

On the quiet path, there were only the sound of Mary's nervous panting, and the sound of the riding boots of the man behind him stepping on the ground.Mary began to trot, and secretly regretted not riding out today.

"Miss Bennet." A familiar and indifferent voice suddenly sounded. Mary turned her head and found that the person following her was actually Heathcliff.He had no coat on, but a black double-breasted waistcoat that showed a brown shirt collar and sleeves.

Heathcliff stopped four steps away from Mary with no expression on his face.He always has a straight face, which is a lot like Mrs. Gray.But for some reason, Mary didn't dislike him so much.

"I have business matters to discuss with Mr. Bennet."

Talk about business?at this time?As dusk approaches, every household is cooking, and fine white particles float out of the chimney.

This is obviously not a good time to do business.But Heathcliff has always been eccentric, so it should be surprising to do something different from others.

"Then we can drop by." Mary took two steps closer to Heathcliff, signaling that they could go together, but the latter took two steps back when he saw her coming.

What a strange person.

Mary no longer asked to walk alongside Heathcliff, but walked ahead alone, not knowing his temper, nor wanting to offend his father's business partner.

Another reason is that she is now so hungry that her chest is pressed against her back, and her stomach is rumbling all the time. It is true that she is an informal person most of the time, but it is always a bit embarrassing for outsiders to hear her stomach growling.

Mary walked ahead, occasionally stopping to look back, and when she stopped, Heathcliff stopped too.But he didn't look at her, just stared aimlessly at the road ahead, and Mary followed his gaze forward, but didn't find anything worth paying attention to.

Hertford is not a very big place, but it is not easy to walk from the village entrance to Bennet Manor on two legs.

Mary was angry when she ran out, so she didn't feel the distance was long, but now she was tired and hungry, and felt that the distance was extremely long, so she walked more and more slowly.Heathcliff would follow her slowly at first, but soon lost his patience. He walked up quickly, stood in front of Mary, and asked, "Why don't you go?"

Why don't you go?

Of course it's because I can't walk anymore.

But Mary didn't want to answer this way, because even if she said it, it would be useless. Heathcliff was not a father, and she was not a little girl of four or five years old, and she couldn't be hugged by her parents just because she couldn't walk.

"I'm enjoying the scenery."

After saying this, Mary regretted it, because the surrounding area was so bare that there wasn't even a blade of grass.She felt a little embarrassed, but quickly changed her mind because something even more embarrassing happened.

"Gollum."

Mary's stomach let out a growl, which was very obvious in the empty village.

If Heathcliff had been a gentleman, he would have pretended not to have heard the voice just now, so as not to embarrass a lady, Mary prayed.

Unfortunately, Mary is not a lady, and Heathcliff just happens not to be a gentleman.

"I have no food." Heathcliff looked down at Mary, and there was no emotion in his tone.

"I know." Mary raised her eyes and quickly looked at him, then lowered her head hastily, she knew how embarrassed she was now.The broken hair on the forehead was half wet with sweat, and beads of sweat hung on the tip of the nose. Maybe the underarms were also wet. Fortunately, there was a shawl so that it would not be seen.

Heathcliff was still following Mary, keeping a distance of more than ten steps from her.I don't know how long it took before Bennet Manor finally appeared in the field of vision. The sky was getting dark. Elizabeth was standing at the door with a kerosene lamp in her hand. When she saw Mary, she ran over happily.

"Mary, where have you been? Father and Jane went to the pasture to search twice but didn't see you."

"Maybe it went astray. Father and the others are back? Heathcliff wants to discuss business with him."

Mary was starving and just wanted to go home and have dinner before telling Elizabeth about her tragic experience

"Mr. Heathcliff?" Elizabeth looked behind Mary curiously, but saw no one. "Father and Jane have both returned, but where is Mr. Heathcliff, I didn't see him."

"In" Mary turned her head, trying to point out Heathcliff to her sister, but found that there was not even a ghost behind her.

"He came back with me." Mary was a little confused. Didn't she say that she wanted to discuss business with her father?

Could it be, did Heathcliff like Elizabeth?

No wonder he came to discuss business at this time and left suddenly. It must be because he wanted to see Elizabeth, but he felt embarrassed after seeing her.

It must be so!Suddenly Mary was no longer hungry. She took her sister's arm and asked affectionately, "Izzy, what do you think of Heathcliff?"