[Gone With the Wind] Daughter Difficult

After that night George Bright was not seen again for a considerable period of time.

However, the fact that George Bright had an illegitimate child and pursued Miss Ella of the Butler family by means of inferior means spread to the streets through the front page news of an independent tabloid the next day. It is said that the reporters were mixed in the banquet at that time, and their editors vividly restored the scene of George Bright’s escape with outstanding writing style. In less than half a day, the newspaper was sold out and needed to be reprinted. Almost the entire Atlanta Everyone knows what George is doing. Although it is common for men to be romantic, the editor of this independent tabloid deliberately leads public opinion to the direction that George is a double-faced man, a hypocrite, and a scum who deceives women's feelings and sex. , So when the public talked about this matter, they generally expressed infinite sympathy for "Miss Mary" and "Miss Ella", and angrily accused George of being shameless.

And the people present that night were all celebrities from the political and business circles in Georgia and even the southern states, so George was completely notorious in Georgia.

Officials in the state government confirmed that George Bright had resigned from all positions in the state government.

As for his own whereabouts, it does not belong to the scope of work of the state government.

Of course, outsiders don't know, but it doesn't mean that the Butler family doesn't know the inside story.

It is said that Governor Bright was furious at his official residence that night, and Governor Bright submitted his resignation for George Bright the next day, and the resignation took effect on the same day.

On the third day, the once high-spirited George Bright had completely disappeared from the public eye.

On the day of the ball, George Bright left the ball despondently under the contempt of everyone. Later, Governor Bright sent someone to find Mary and Henry and the little gangster who corrected George Bright in the venue at that time, but in the middle There were some minor accidents. The people sent by Governor Bright failed to intercept Mary and George's illegitimate son Henry at the train station. As for the little gangster, he had long since disappeared in Atlanta. There was no reason to find out the list, and in the end the organizer punished several managements, and the matter just ended like this.

And when the public began to discuss this matter, George Bright had already been sent out of Georgia, and half a month later, George Bright was secretly sent out of the United States.Judging from the information obtained by Bonnie and Rhett, George Bright was sent to England.

Since then, the matter of George Bright has come to an end.

But the war between the Butler family and the Bright family has just begun——

Butler's vigorous actions showed his ambition and strength to Atlanta and Georgia. After learning that Butler Engineering Company had successfully acquired Atlanta Engineering Company, Butler Engineering Company's stock price rose steadily within a month, and its bonds also rose. It was sold out, and the Butler family also successfully solved the funding problem through market financing.

The cross-river bridge project is indeed a project related to the lifeline of Butler Company and future air transportation. It must be known that after completing the acquisition of the Atlanta Engineering Company and winning the management rights of Delmar-Baro-Baro Co., Ltd., the cross-river bridge will be completely eliminated. After the bridge project was acquired, the economic crisis that occurs almost every ten years began to spread in the United States. At this time, the aftermath of the last global economic crisis has not disappeared, resulting in a year-on-year decline in U.S. exports and an increase in the unemployment rate. As a result, few people can’t even afford to eat, and the problem of overcapacity in the railway industry has been detonated again. The railway industry, which lacks railway investment, has begun to show signs of regression. A large number of steel products are unsalable, which has dragged down the coal industry connected to it, and a large number of related enterprises have closed down. , causing the economic crisis to worsen. Just when the whole world was worrying about the unsalable steel, Butler Engineering Company began to use the capital obtained from the stock and bond financing before, and won the steel whose price had fallen to the bottom to start building the cross-river project. The bridge project, and an abundance of cheap labor also allowed Butler Engineering to keep costs to a minimum.

Therefore, in the context of the economic crisis, Butler Engineering Company also became one of the most profitable subsidiaries of the Butler family in the next few years.

Of course, after the completion of the follow-up bridge, the transportation of the Birmingham River has entered the right track, not only connecting the city of Forrest and Grisville County, but also Franklin County on the border between Atlanta and Georgia. To be precise, it is in Franklin County gold mines.

Of course, these are all for later.

Let's turn our attention back to the present.

It is said that after Rhett completed a beautiful counterattack on the day of the ball, reversing the ownership of the winning project, the two families of Butler and Brett had a series of vicious fights.

Bright took advantage of the economic crisis to pass a series of restrictive policies to continuously curb the development of Butler Company in Georgia. However, due to the foresight of Butler Company, the business has long since expanded to the Midwest of the United States and Europe, so there is no business outside Georgia. Affected, Bonnie and Rhett took the opportunity to point out to their families and persuade them to expand their business to the north.

When Butler's company was under the greatest pressure, Rhett even almost persuaded Scarlett to leave Atlanta. Of course, they did not leave Atlanta in the end, but Butler's business has expanded to the north and entered New York smoothly.

We must know that New York has become the financial center of the United States at this time, and it is also vaguely replacing London as the new world financial center. It is especially important for Butler Company to enter early and take the lead.

Speaking of which, Governor Bright indirectly helped Butler a lot, because before that, the expansion of Butler's company was opposed by some southern aristocratic shareholders. Even if Scarlett was willing to deal with northerners, she still had a The purebred southerners are not willing to transfer too much business to the north.

Because in a way, it’s a betrayal of the South—even if they expand into the Midwest, there aren’t as many traditional Southerners who have a problem with that.

And everything that Governor Bright did just gave Reed such an excellent opportunity.

Reid once jokingly said that he wondered if Governor Bright would be so angry that he vomited blood again after he found out.

But even if Governor Bright really vomited blood, they couldn't figure it out.

Of course, the Butler Company has not always been suppressed by Governor Bright. Reid and Bonnie found out evidence of Bright’s corruption and fraud through private investigations. The two sides also engaged in a tug-of-war that lasted for half a year. , because Governor Bright has a wide network of contacts and resources, so that Butler Company has been unable to catch him and his henchmen. At this time, the economic crisis broke out, Georgia's economy plummeted, workers continued to strike, and people's lives After falling to the bottom, things began to turn around, and after the gaffe became more and more serious, the state government could not bear the pressure and was forced to borrow money from the bank. At this time, a key witness—Bright's confidant The defection made the suspicion of corruption even worse. In the end, the Democratic Party could not resist the pressure from the public and let Governor Bright resign as the end.

Although one's personal strength is very important in one's political career, luck is also the key. The competition is no less intense than the competition in business, so when Bright falls, there will naturally be a rising political star to replace him.

In just two years, Governor Bright's career has gone to the wrong road. As for whether Bright can make a comeback, it doesn't matter. Butler's company, thanks to its strong assets, has stood firm in the economic crisis. Mergers and acquisitions Some bankrupt companies are gradually expanding, and there is a faint tendency to become a monopoly.

The business kingdom envisioned by Bonnie has also successfully started the real first step in her steady plan.

And Bonnie is about to celebrate her 16th birthday.

In world history, 1885 is not a special year.

The world is still not completely out of the economic crisis, but the economy has indeed begun to pick up, which is a good sign.

At the age of 16, it means that Bonnie has become a real big girl.

And, you can get married.

When it comes to getting married, Bonnie is actually in no rush.

For her, the age of 16 is youth and youth, and life has not gone through one-fifth of it. Isn't it early?

What's more, although she has been in this world for many years, she still never thought that she would really get married so early.

In fact, none of the "older youths" in their family are married yet.

Wade is 24 years old this year. He successfully obtained a doctorate in law from Cambridge last year. He talked about the first love in his life when he was studying for a doctorate in England. The one who inherited the title, there was an insurmountable gap between the two in terms of status. What was more troublesome was that after graduation, Wade returned to the United States to enter the family business and became a consultant to the legal team. People are separated.According to Wade himself, the two did not break up. They were talking about a long-distance relationship. Their loyalty to each other depends entirely on self-consciousness. Under the "curiosity" of his family, Wade said that he handled it well. He also quite enjoys this kind of life. Wade doesn't have too much pressure, but his girlfriend has pressure from the family. As for whether this relationship will end without a problem due to pressure, or is it driven by pressure? The next flowering and fruiting is still unknown at this time.

Ella is 20 years old this year. After the "George" battle, she has become more confident. Originally, her emotional intelligence was not high, but now she is devoted to her favorite fashion business. With the support of Bonnie, she opened A custom fashion shop named after her own name "Ella Kennedy" has completely become the head of the group "If there are suitors, they should be invisible".

As for Bonnie and Kevin, one thinks they are too young, and the other is really too young. Marriage issues are intentionally or unintentionally ignored.

From this point of view, the Butler family is really free in terms of marriage.

The family spent Bonnie's birthday in Atlanta last year.

At that time, Xiao Bo, who was far away on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, came back from Vienna and spent a month back and forth to celebrate Bonnie's birthday. Even though the relationship between the two had not been formally confirmed, Bonnie did not show any resistance , so the parents of both sides tacitly agree that they will become a couple.And Bonnie, it seems, probably probably should also acquiesce to this.

But this year's birthday, Xiao Bo couldn't spend it with Bonnie.

One day two months before Bonnie's birthday, Bonnie received a notification from Kevin saying that Xiaobo had received a letter, so at noon that day, Bonnie rushed home from the company, but what she saw was Xiaobo's apology letter.

Kevin is already 12 years old, and he has begun to show the tall and slender features of the Butler family. His height has already surpassed Bonnie, and even challenged Wade. It is just around the corner that he will surpass Wade.

Because he was deliberately raised by Bonnie since he was a child, Rhett and Scarlett deliberately indulged, so the little guy appeared to be gentle and polite, but in fact he had a bad stomach. You must know that when Bonnie and Rhett were planning to deal with the Brett family, they both Kevin was on the spot without any scruples. Under such influence, it was impossible for Kevin to be naive.

Don't talk about Kevin, even Christine was spoiled by Kevin.

But Christine's favorite is her future sister-in-law Bonnie, so Kevin is often at a disadvantage.

Again, boys really have no place in the Butler family.

Kevin can also tease the rare and shy Bonnie when Bonnie receives a small letter from Bonny.

Of course, he also admired Xiao Bo very much, and even learned the piano because of Xiao Bo. However, the little guy who has no musical talent can only be ruthlessly crushed by Christine's musical attainments, and then falls into the wind.

In fact, not only Bonnie was excited about Xiaobo's letter, but Kevin was also very happy, so he notified Bonnie early to let him come back.

"How, how, brother Xiaobo, what did you say? Did he mean that he will come back to celebrate your birthday in two months?" Kevin said impatiently.

Bonnie shook her head helplessly. Kevin is a guy who doesn't know anything about it. He used to be young, but now he has entered puberty, and he likes to spy on her and Xiaobo's sex.

Bonnie reached out to open the letter and read it. Xiaobo's apology was at the top, so Bonnie saw it at a glance. Xiaobo said that because he was going to prepare a heavyweight concert, he could not come back to celebrate Bonnie's birthday.

"He won't come back this year." Bonnie said to Kevin without raising her head.

Christine is not here today, but she guesses that she and Aunt Melanie have already received a letter from Xiao Bo, and also know that Xiao Bo will not come back this year.

"What?" Although Bonnie said lightly, Kevin was extremely shocked.

"It's because he's going to prepare for a concert this year, and there's no way he can come back."

It is impossible to say that Bonnie's mood has not been affected in the slightest. She is also looking forward to Xiaobo's letter, and if there is no accident, after this letter is sent, Xiaobo will almost leave.

However, there is no way around this. Xiaobo has been studying in Vienna for about eight years. The first six years laid the foundation. In the past two years, Xiaobo has become more and more busy.

This is naturally a good thing for Xiaobo.

Xiaobo's development in Vienna has been smooth with the support of various world music masters. His fame has begun to rise, and now he is short of an opportunity to show his musical talent to the world.

And this heavyweight recital was an opportunity carefully prepared for him by his teacher, John Stroust Jr.

It is also the best opportunity.

"Really?" Kevin asked again, hoping that Bonnie was joking.

"Really." Bonnie poked Kevin's smooth forehead with her slender, white fingers, "I'm not unhappy at all. Why do you look sadder than me? Could it be that you fell in love with Xiaobo?"

Kevin: "...can a man love a man?"

Bonnie: Could she have opened up a whole new world for Kevin?

"Why not?" Isn't that gay?However, she does not oppose homosexuality, but it does not mean that this era will tolerate homosexuality.

"Huh?" Kevin looked at Bonnie in shock, "You mean... there is love between men?"

Bonnie rubbed her chin: "It's a bit strange to say that, but since a man can fall in love with a woman, why can't he fall in love with a man? And a woman can love a man, why can't she fall in love with a woman? Not all Is it human?"

“邦妮，你的想法好奇怪啊。”凯文像是发现了新大陆地朝着邦妮眨眨眼，“爸爸会揍你的吧？男人和男人怎么可能谈恋爱。”还有女人什么的？

Bonnie: "..." Has she been taught a lesson?

"It's unbelievable to think about it." Kevin said, "Don't tell your father and mother about your thoughts, or they will definitely be scared to death."

"Do you think I'm wrong?" Bonnie teased him deliberately.

"I don't know," Kevin said confusedly, "I think love is that I want to spend my whole life with a girl and get married, just like my father and mother, I'm sure I don't want to spend my whole life with Brother Xiaobo, or I will be more happy to help you spend your whole life with Brother Xiaobo. Also, I really can't accept that two men or two women will be together, I don't think my parents will accept it."

Are you a guy who doesn't think it's a big deal when you watch the excitement?Bonnie thought dumbfounded.

But it's too early to instill such thoughts in him now, it's rare for Bonnie to feel so guilty.

"I think you must be stimulated by brother Xiaobo not coming back, so you have such a weird idea."

Well, she really doesn't feel guilty at all.

"Bonnie, this letter is so long, Brother Xiaobo must have said a lot, hurry up and continue."

Bonnie: "..."

Of course, the little blogger didn't come back, but the gift had already been delivered ahead of time.

This gift was sent along with the letter to Melanie's family, and Christine personally brought it to Bonnie, the handwritten manuscript of Xiaobo's first opera composed and written by himself.

The story of the opera is not complicated. It mainly tells about a young man who has been secretly in love with a girl for many years, because the girl has been turning a blind eye to him. The determined young man tried his best to get the girl's attention. A romantic story of a married couple.Although the plot is a bit old-fashioned, the music is novel and interesting, and Xiaobo's musical talent is fully displayed in the soundtrack.

The reason why Xiaobo asked Christine to bring the gift is because only Christine can play the music inside on the violin. Christine fulfilled her mission and let the Butler family, Melanie and Ash Lidu is immersed in Xiaobo's music world.

Even Ella said that after hearing these songs, she began to have new inspirations. She always returns to the studio regardless of other people when she is inspired, so everyone has become accustomed to it.

Bonnie didn't know what other people's impressions of these songs were. After listening to them, her first feeling was: people have the urge to fall in love.

"Christine, you can't hear enough, play it again!" Kevin was the first to raise his hand.

Although Christine was a little excited, in order to complete the mission entrusted to her by Xiao Bo, she had been practicing before, and she was physically exhausted. Now she gave Kevin a direct look, "There is a piano score, didn't you Have you ever studied the piano? Let’s talk about it yourself?” Unless Bonnie said she wanted to listen, she would definitely play for her again immediately.

Bonnie noticed the crystal beads of sweat on the girl's forehead and the tip of her nose. She took out a silk flower handkerchief and handed it to the girl: "Christine, you are sweating profusely. Take a break and ignore Kevin."

Kevin pursed his lips, but he still stretched out his hand and poured a cup of flower tea for Christine, and then said happily: "Thank you for your hard work, you play so well, Christine, you are really great!! !"

Christine found the scented tea in his hand, took a small sip, and took another sip, only then did she feel that the lost water in her body had been replenished.

"So, this year, Bonnie's birthday Xiaobo didn't have time to come back, so I sent this gift to Bonnie?" Scarlett asked with a little regret.

"That's right." Bonnie said very calmly, "Little Bo's concert is the most important thing, this is a good opportunity for him to become famous in the world, his birthday comes every year, but there are people who have such an opportunity Once in a lifetime."

☆

Manhattan, New York.

Half a day ago, Bonnie and Abraham's train had just arrived at the station, and they were already at the headquarters of Butler Company in New York.

"You seem to be working hard recently." Abraham, who entered the office with another document, couldn't help but said.

"Huh?" Bonnie looked down at the file, "Are you complaining to me that you're traveling with me again?"

"How dare I?" Abraham yelled, "But you just came to New York last week, and you came again this week. I looked at the plan. It seems that you are planning to go to Philadelphia the day after tomorrow?" So what the hell is going on? What's going on?Obviously, the evaluation plan in Philadelphia could be postponed until next month, but Bonnie suddenly brought it forward. Although he is a secretary, the boss does not need to discuss things with him, but he also needs to know what the boss thinks, right?And this has never happened before.

Bonnie nodded while looking at the document, "If things go well in New York, we will go to Philadelphia the day after tomorrow. If not, we will stay in New York for a day. By the way, help me book a train to Forres next week Ticket, I'm going to see the progress of the cross-river bridge."

"what?"

"Abham," Bonnie suddenly raised her head and said, "If you can't adapt to the work characteristics of running around like this, quickly find a replacement, oh no, quickly find someone who can replace you, and train him well. , and then you can return to Dad with peace of mind."

Abraham: Actually, he wasn't complaining at all, he was just wondering why these business trips were arranged so intensively. The captain seemed to want to compress the work of these two months into one month.

Is this really no problem?

"What are you slandering me?" Bonnie looked at Mr. Secretary suspiciously.

"Captain, if I remember correctly, next month will be your 16th birthday, right?" Abham thought for a while and asked, "Do you want to arrange a vacation for yourself?"

Bonnie paused for a moment, and said in a relaxed tone, "You actually found out."

"Really?"

"Oh, I haven't told Dad yet."

Abraham: "...I see."

Bonnie smiled slightly, and continued to struggle with the documents in her hand with her head bowed.

☆

It was a month before Bonnie's birthday.

"I don't agree." In the living room, Scarlett yelled at Bonnie.

Scarlett has always doted on Bonnie, almost to the point of pampering and doting. In some respects, she is even worse than Rhett. No one in the Butler Mansion has ever seen Scarlett yelling at Bonnie like this Pass.

Not to mention Ella and Kevin, even Mama Hei was taken aback and ran out in a hurry with a broom in her hand, but Mama Hei felt relieved when she saw that Rhett was still there.

As soon as Bonnie spoke about going to Europe, Scarlett blew up. She always felt that Scarlett had misunderstood something.

Although Bonnie was yelled at by Scarlett for the first time, but Kevin was always scolded by Scarlett when he did bad things, so she was not as excited as Scarlett, but said calmly : "Mom, you misunderstood me."

"You want to go to Europe to watch Xiaobo," Scarlett said with a look on my face, "but you are not yet 16 years old, I will not allow you to go to Europe alone."

Sure enough, it was a misunderstanding.

Bonnie breathed a sigh of relief, and quickly explained to everyone: "Mom, I didn't go alone. I invited everyone in the family, including the Wilkes family, to Vienna to support Xiaobo. This concert It is so important to Xiaobo, shall we support him together?"

Scarlett: "..."

Scarlett looked at Rhett with pleading eyes.

Rhett shook his head slightly towards her, in fact, he had the consciousness that female college students would not stay with him very early on.

It's just that I didn't expect... so soon.

To be honest, he was really not ready.

"What my sister means is that she will celebrate her 16th birthday in Europe by the way. If we don't go with her, will she spend it alone with Brother Xiaobo?" Kevin pretended to understand.

Then, he was beaten up by Scarlett.

"Mom," Bonnie blinked and looked at Scarlett sadly, "Don't you want to go? This is very important to Xiaobo."

Scarlett didn't really disagree: "Mom didn't understand clearly before and blamed you by mistake, baby, did you make a temporary decision?"

Bonnie shook her head, "I started planning more than half a month ago, otherwise Dad and I wouldn't be able to leave at all."

Even if the telegraph can reduce the communication time, the amount of information that can be transmitted is not enough-there are telephones now, but the telephones used in this era have short distances and are subject to various restrictions. Even they are still at home They have installed one with the company. It is more convenient than the telegram for urgent matters, but it will take at least 50 years for overseas calls to be used. At this stage, the most convenient way for them to contact Europe is the telegram.

Scarlett's emerald green eyes fell on Rhett, and Rhett quickly clarified to show his innocence, and said to Bonnie in a sad tone: "Bonnie, you don't seem to have told your father about your decision, Dad is a little sad."

"I thought Dad knew, haven't I been on a business trip recently?" Bonnie looked at Rhett innocently.

Rhett: "..." There is always a feeling of being lazy and being discovered.

Kevin quietly gave Bonnie a thumbs up in his heart. Compared with Bonnie's skills that people had to agree with her, he couldn't even catch up with her.

After talking with her family, Bonnie went to church on Sunday and invited the Wilkes family.

Christine cheered on the spot.

She took Melanie's hand and said coquettishly: "Mom, let's go too. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for my brother. You don't want to miss his performance, right? We can still celebrate her birthday with Bonnie." Birthday."

Under the double cooperation of Bonnie and Christine, Melanie finally relented and agreed to the two girls.

☆

Once again set foot in Vienna, Rhett and Scarlett had different moods and emotions.

The last time I came was 12 years ago, when neither Beau nor Christine was born, and Bonnie was just a short-legged little boy who always ran around with Beau.

Before the last time, Reid and Scarlett were still in a cold war.

The relationship between the two has also undergone earth-shaking changes in Vienna. Therefore, both of them have a good impression of the city of Vienna.

Twelve years have passed, and Vienna has changed a lot.

The only two constants are Vienna's world-renowned music and the gurgling blue Danube under the clear sky.

Vienna is a city with its own background sound.

As soon as you set foot in Vienna, you can hear beautiful and moving notes everywhere, and the breath of music rushes to your face.

Although her elder brother has been studying in Vienna, Christine has never been to this world's top music paradise. This place is also fatal to her who is also studying music.

There was a pleasant sound of music floating in the distance, and Kevin winked at Christine: "Tina, do you want to try it? This looks very fun."

Christine hesitated, she was a little afraid of making a fool of herself in Vienna, which was full of musicians.

"You have already brought out the violin, and you still don't let me help you. Isn't that just because you want to try it?" Kevin said plausibly, "What are you afraid of? It's not that Brother Xiaobo will recognize your violin. sound?"

The two families have a very tacit understanding and did not tell Xiaobo about their coming to Vienna. They wanted to give him a surprise. Even the place where Bonnie arranged to live was far away from Xiaobo's study and life, so unless the recent period Xiao Bo, who was actively preparing for the concert, suddenly ran here in a convulsion, otherwise they really had no chance of being exposed.

"No." The girl said shyly, "I'm just afraid of losing face."

Bonnie took Christine's hand: "Music is never ashamed."

On the other side, Kevin said silently: "That's what Bonnie said to me back then, and after I mustered up the courage to learn piano, she now dislikes me ashamed, and you, you also dislike my poor piano skills, right? .”

Bonnie, Christine: "..."

Bonnie knocked on Kevin easily: "Which side are you helping?"

Kevin touched his head aggrievedly, "I just want to liven up the atmosphere, Tina is too nervous."

While the two siblings were chasing and fighting, Christine took out her violin and put it on her shoulders. Naturally, she put her chin on the chin rest.

When the first note jumped out with the friction of the bow, and scattered lightly in the surrounding flowers, trees and streams, nature seemed to give a wonderful response to the music, dancing with the wind and happily responding players.

The girl's slender fingers pressed the strings nimbly, like two siblings playing around, lively and lively, but delicately expressing their love.

At the end of the song, the three of them laughed and made a fuss on the street.

Not far away, someone was applauding, and the applause went from far to near, and the three realized that there was someone beside them.

This is incredible.

The three of them stared dumbfoundedly at the visitor.

"The violin just now is..." The visitor's eyes fell on Christine, "Little sister, did you play it?"

Kevin stuttered for a second: "Ss, ss..."

Bonnie couldn't stand it anymore: "Mr. Strauss, nice to meet you."

Strauss was taken aback for a moment, and then said, "I'm also very glad that you know me."

"Of course we know each other, not only do we know each other, but Mr. Strauss and I have also met, but Mr. may not remember me." Bonnie said with a smile, "Uncle John, long time no see, I still remember the time when I was with Xiao Bo The little girl?"

"Bonnie?" Strauss blurted out, his eyes fell on Kevin and Christine, "You must be Xiao Bo's sister, Christine, Xiao Bo mentioned to me that his only My younger sister is learning the violin. As for you, it must be Kevin, right? Xiao Bo often mentions you in front of me."

Kevin stared dumbfounded at the familiar Strauss, and asked with a blank mind: "Sir, can I call you Uncle John?"