[Gone with the Wind] Back to the beginning

When Scarlett came out of the dark corner and could no longer feel the worried and anxious eyes behind her, she took a deep breath.In front of her eyes was a brothel that was flashy and noisy, smelling of powder and alcohol, and she finally stepped out of this step.

In the palm of her hand, the note written by Rhett to Bell was tightly clutched by her, perhaps already wet by her cold sweat.This note would let Bell understand their situation, and then the woman named Watling would help them--Scarlett knew she had to, and she pulled the hood down a little more, making sure to cover her whole face, Although it is somewhat self-explanatory.

Among all the people, only because she is a woman, she will not be suspected by the Ku Klux Klan, so she has the ability to do this.Others, including Rhett Butler, will be suspect after tonight.Since the Yankees were to be convinced that they had spent the past few hours in the brothel, neither of them could be seen entering through the gate now.And even if Scarlett's hood is knocked off, at worst, she is pretending to come to a brothel to catch a rape-oh, hell, she doesn't want to discuss who is being caught right now.It may lose face and reputation, but as long as everyone is alive, it is better than everything.She can't let tonight be in a worse situation than her previous life because of her participation - oh damn why didn't Rhett Butler bring the back door key tonight! — so fortunately, she came.

Clutching the folded note tightly, Scarlett looked up at the bright and colorful signboard of the brothel, and finally mustered up the courage to walk in with her head held high, as if she was heading for her own battlefield.

Oncoming are flashy, scantily clad women, talking and laughing loudly, uttering vulgar words, and smelling of cheap perfume.The white thighs and breasts are exposed, squeezing back and forth against the guests.Scarlett frowned, restraining her physical nausea, pushed everyone away, and walked in recklessly.Although the face cannot be seen in the black cloak, but the figure can still be recognized as a girl, coupled with the rampant posture, everyone here regards Scarlett as someone who is here to catch rape, so no one can laugh at most. Come up and stop.Scarlett felt her heart pounding when she walked in such a place. She rushed to the bar counter and said rudely to the young woman sitting behind who was posing, "I'm looking for Belle Watling."

The woman stroked the feather on the hat and said indifferently, "She's busy."

Scarlett suppressed her anger: "I'm in a hurry, I'm—" She stopped abruptly.

But the woman misunderstood, she looked at her contemptuously:

"Ah, ah." The woman at the bar said, "Which gentleman's wife are you? It's none of Bell's business! I don't like men and blame the store owner. What's the matter? But it's also strange, if you don't ask about your man, it's not your business." Grab the lady boss directly..."

"You're enough!" Scarlett was angry and anxious, remembering to lower her voice, "I have something urgent——Butler, Rhett Butler, he has something he wants me to pass on to Watling in private, let him She's coming over—you know Butler, don't you? He's a shareholder here, too."

The woman muttered a few more words. Scarlett didn't hear what she said clearly, but she knew it was not a good thing, so she could only watch her get up slowly and swayed upstairs with a lazy mouth. Called: "Bell! Bell!" Unfortunately, no one answered.

It must have been the hardest 5 minutes of Scarlett's life.She stayed in a brothel, standing by the bar!The music here is deafening, the customers are drinking and carousing with the prostitutes in their arms, and the vulgar and explicit words can't stop slipping into their ears.Scarlett couldn't figure out how she wasn't mad.Now she was sure Belle Watling was not doing anything serious upstairs!It takes so long, don't just put on clothes!she thought sharply.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs, and Scarlett raised her head unbearably.Finally, the woman came down with Bell.Watling walked in front, and his pace was obviously in a hurry, at least faster than the one behind.She wisely kept silent in the hall, said "Follow me" directly to Scarlett, and quickly led her into an empty box.Turning his head, Bell asked, "Where is Rhett? What does he want you to say?"

Scarlett snorted, but didn't care about her attitude.She quickly handed the note that was almost crumpled into a ball to Bell, and explained everything just now with a straight face while the other party was looking at it.At first, Bell glanced at Scarlett with a half-smile when he saw the sweat stains on the note, but after hearing her briefly say what happened just now, his expression became anxious.

"So they're right there by the back door?" Bell asked, and before she could reply, said, "Come with me."

Then she almost didn't care whether Scarlett was following, worried, and walked around the hall at the fastest unobtrusive speed, and quickly came to the back door that was rarely seen.There are guests on the way who tease her and she doesn't respond.Bell closed the doors leading to this side from the living room, and then immediately opened the back door—a dozen silent figures in the darkness stood there holding their horses, and Bell gasped.

"Are you crazy, Rhett?" she said anxiously, "to do something like this..."

But Rhett had passed her and had Scarlett in his arms.

"I'm so sorry for making you do this, honey," he murmured in her ear. "I'm so sorry—very sorry, I hope you're all right."

"I—" Scarlett couldn't speak, and she had to admit that after the experience just now, Rhett's arms made her feel much better.Although she didn't feel that she should be bought by this hug - she still stretched out her arms and hugged him. "I'm better."

Rhett kissed her ear, let her go quickly, and then smiled awkwardly at everyone.Tommy Wellborn's face was icy, the rest of the Ku Klux Klan smiled back awkwardly, and Watling looked nonchalant, as if the woman who just got angry just now was not her.She even jokingly said, "Are you done making out? Can I take you up there?"

"Thank you, Bell." Rhett said solemnly when Watling led everyone to the upstairs box.His black eyes looked at Scarlett again—under the black hood, those green eyes had a moving light.A second later, Scarlett nodded at him. The Ku Klux Klan went upstairs under the leadership of Bell, while Scarlett put on her hood and left quietly through the back door, thinking about what excuses she should make up to go out at night when she met the Yankees at the door when she came home.

Scarlett couldn't help but feel a headache when she galloped the horse through the moonlit streets and sorted out the day's experience.She rubbed her head, and finally smiled silently.Although many things have developed beyond expectations, and her relationship problems seem to be complicated, but overall, she is doing a good job, right?

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This time the Ku Klux Klan night raid ended in a dramatic way because of the intervention of Rhett, Scarlett and Bell.

Later that night, the Ku Klux Klan staged a good show at Bell Watling's brothel - in order for all clients to see how they walked down the stairs, Bell specially called in two bodyguards, Scuffling all the way with Klansmen pretending to be drunk, shoving them into the street.Uncle Henry and Grandpa Merriwether even became addicted to acting, playing crazy and foolish all the way to ensure that the people in the brothel that night were deeply impressed by the farce.

The next day, the Yankee soldiers took sullen faces and arrested the Klan suspects on the list to the military headquarters for interrogation.They also summoned Bell Watling, hoping the woman would save a name or two from the woman's mouth.As a result, as soon as Bell passed by, he counted all the people they wanted to arrest, and swore to God that these bastards all made trouble in her brothel last night and smashed two mirrors.Bell was so aggressive that he even dared to pull the collar of the Ku Klux Klansmen in the military department to ask them to pay for his mirror.It made the Yankees from being skeptical at the beginning to having to believe in the end-Jonathan and Hernans who led the incident were both dead, and they were not usually very popular.Since the group of southerners couldn't catch the handle, they had no choice but to hold their noses and put it back.

After this night, Bell Watling became famous in one battle, and his fame was completely established in Atlanta.The women were annoyed at the thought of their husbands having to accept the whore's love and being laughed at by the Yankees.On the contrary, Rhett, the men all praised him for his loyalty, and he also wanted to improve his reputation before, so the overall treatment was much better than Bell, and he could almost be called a hero.However, outside of Bell and Rhett, Scarlett became the most intimately discussed person in Atlanta social circles.

Women had hated Scarlett when her husband was still alive and dead—she had done business with the Yankees, and ended up humiliating herself, and exhausted her husband to take revenge!However, when I heard from her husband, how Scarlett came to help in the starry night, how she killed Jonathan Wilkerson with a single shot, and how she decisively saved everyone (about entering the brothel, the men tacitly kept it secret), the women's original hatred for Scarlett disappeared, and was replaced by respect that they were reluctant to admit.In any case, Scarlett killed the traitor herself—and Merry later brought up Scarlett's shooting of the Yankees at a party, which gave more weight to their point.Scarlett's business with the Yankees is just to help the southerners get the money back from the Yankees' pockets, and it's just a trick.Although the means are debatable, the heart is undoubtedly loyal-is it not loyal enough to kill a traitor and a Yankee?As a result, Scarlett's image of "brave and loyal despite her outrageous behavior" gradually became popular, and the wives were less harsh on her.Out of concern for her safety, Scarlett kept the fact that she shot twice.Therefore, most of the discussions about Scarlett in Atlanta are very secretive but ubiquitous.At the banquet, someone would come up to pay respects to Scarlett.Scarlett was surprised at the beginning, but gradually got used to it later.In fact, she was also a little surprised. Who would have thought that Scarlett would turn from a traitor in the south into a loyal soldier once she was reborn?Maybe after working so hard for so long, the wives have barely learned to look at her like a man?Scarlett was really content.

But before she is satisfied, Scarlett has one more thing to do—Tommy Wellborn is sick in bed with an arm injury during this Klan operation, and Scarlett is going to visit him today.At the same time, it was time to speak clearly between the two of them.