[Gone with the Wind] Back to the beginning

The Yankees were gone, leaving a mess behind.

But the gloomy Tara finally saw a glimmer of hope. Scarlett couldn't wait to count the number of remaining black slaves. Although it was far from satisfactory, the number of 17 was much better than the poor three in the previous life!

More people means more power, but also more trouble.But at this moment, Scarlett didn't mind the trouble, and she wanted to do a big job right away to repair Tara—at least restore Tara's basic functions and maintain the whole system, even if it couldn't return to the way it was before the war.

However, this caused the black slaves to complain.Most of Scarlett's black slaves were timid and vacillating, thinking that choosing Tara meant choosing more comfort.Now that the workload has doubled, it is natural to complain endlessly, and try to be as lazy as possible.They thought they could go back to the good old days, but they never imagined that the originally kind lady would shout and order black people around and be angry in private.Scarlett's reconstruction plan would have been unsustainable if it hadn't been for the loyal Sam.

However, Scarlett is a character who never hits the south wall and never looks back.In her previous life, she ordered the three most loyal black slaves. Although their concepts were rigid and sometimes stubborn, they were generally willing to help.Later, when she opened a shop and a sawmill, she held all the money as the boss, and no one gave her money except that cunning Johnny Gallagher.Now when dealing with these black people with different personalities, there really isn't much past life experience to rely on for a while.I thought that these people were willing to stay, and it was not impossible to be nice.But when Scarlett learned that the three acres of cotton fields by the river hadn't been confiscated, she completely lost her temper.

"Didn't you do the work of slaves in the ground before? You can't even do this well?"

The black slaves dawdled, looking over with reluctance.This kind of passive resistance is often the most helpless.But Scarlett finally held back her anger, and the next day she appeared on the cotton field with a basket on her back, worked silently for two hours, and then put her results where everyone could see.

Although it was unavoidable at the beginning, the experience of her previous life made her work as quickly as possible. That basket of cotton was obviously more fruitful than many lazy blacks.The young ladies have all gone to the ground in person, and the black people can no longer be lazy, otherwise it is really unreasonable.So this hurdle was so-so, and Scarlett used her actual actions to tell them that the old days are gone and everything is different.

A week after her strict demands had been enforced, the number of slaves had dropped to fourteen.In the end, the number was fixed at nine.Although Scarlett felt heartbroken for the lost population, she would never retain it. She was too busy to take the blacks to adapt to the new world one by one.She can only express the qualities she needs in a simple and rough manner, and then leave behind the ones that are really useful.She doesn't raise slackers.

Gerald, despite his complaints about his daughter's behavior, knew next to nothing about estate management.He couldn't say no to his daughter, so he accepted her daughter's arrangement, and led Polk to search for the released livestock in the woods, and gradually caught some.Scarlett also did not allow Sue Ellen and Karin to be idle, and she asked the two younger sisters to take on the responsibilities of cooking, collecting firewood, weaving and cleaning.This is much easier than picking cotton in my previous life!However, this is still a great challenge for the two Miss Jiao. Fortunately, Karin has a docile personality. Su Ailun has experienced the panic when the Yankees came, and she has a little more admiration for Scarlett that she does not want to admit. Before going to school, I studied housekeeping with Ellen, fully understood the situation at home, and reluctantly obeyed my sister's orders.Mei Li's health is not recovered yet, Scarlett firmly disagrees with her getting out of bed, and puts her, Dilsey and Maria's children under the care of the nun.However, Mei Li always secretly helps Su Ellen and Karin knit things, which makes Scarlet feel distressed and helpless.Ellen hadn't really been awake for long since she fainted on the porch. Before leaving, the Yankee army doctor said that she was too tired and would recover slowly after a good sleep.Scarlett hoped so, she did think her mother looked better.

In this way, Tara temporarily revolves around Scarlett in an unbalanced structure.Everyone knew that this would not last long, but now, at least their energy was condensed together, moving in one direction.They believe in making life better with their hands.

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Bread rolls, tortillas, omelets, ham, and fried chicken are no longer on the breakfast table, replaced by monotonous apples, sweet potatoes, peanuts, and cornmeal.Everyone's face is full of dishes, and everyone can't eat enough.Black and white eyes were staring hungrily at Scarlett, hoping she would come up with an idea.

Scarlett knew that she would never be able to satisfy everyone, let alone give in at such a time.She took the lead in eating, gulping down the steaming sweet potatoes.She nearly threw up at that familiar, nightmarish smell, the food she'd sworn never to touch again when the days got better.But she swallowed it anyway, she was very hungry, she was very hungry.

"It's not time to expose the cabin." She thought, "If you open it up and eat it, the food storage will not be enough. Letting them know that there is still a way out will ruin their self-motivation. Besides, what if someone finds out about the cabin and steals it?" It would be too bad for the grain to run away, or even inform the Yankees!"

Melanie and Dilsey had a small bowl of milk in front of them—a treat for two nursing mothers.As a matter of fact the black-and-white cow had a hard time pulling Gerald and old Pork's nose back yesterday, she was swollen and terribly ill-tempered.It wasn't until the milk was squeezed out that it became much more docile.Melanie was embarrassed, but Dilsey knew they couldn't feed the baby without enough nutrition, so she didn't hesitate.Everyone—even Su Ailun, who was the most ungrateful in Scarlett's eyes, didn't raise any objections.Gerald, who worked so hard to catch the cow back, just smiled and boasted to everyone about his bravery.His normally ruddy face was now covered with gray stubble, which made Scarlett feel sad.

However, there is finally hope for having meat. Everyone at today's dinner table was visibly refreshed, considering the idea of ​​eating that cow.After all, most of Georgia has already fallen, and the Yankees may come to sweep up at any time, so it's hard to feel at ease if you don't eat it.However, Scarlett refused categorically, and the reason was just and righteous—Merry and Dilsey needed milk to replenish their bodies, and it would not be too late to kill the cows to eat after they ran out of milk.When everyone counted, they would have to endure the severe winter, and they lamented endlessly.Greedy saliva drools, which was unimaginable before the war.

"Pork, how many candles are there?"

Now that Tara was used to organizing the day's tasks at breakfast, Scarlett was the hostess.Although the style of handling things is completely different from that of Ellen, the black people have been convinced of her after this period of time, not to mention the loyal Polk.He replied, "Not thirty, miss."

Scarlett frowned. In fact, the result wasn't too bad. After all, the Yankees didn't rob the upstairs.She also started to think about this issue last night when she saw Karin reading the "Rosary" under the candle and felt that it was a waste and couldn't help losing her temper.Candles are used up so quickly that there is no place to replenish them now.Her cabin is not a treasure chest, only urgently needed materials for post-disaster reconstruction are eligible for storage.

"From now on, I will use rags soaked in lard as lamps, and I will never use them unless necessary." Scarlett said decisively, "By the way, the top layer is just oil. Pour some water under it, the same." Can survive."

"The saved...can you add some lard to the cooking?" Polk asked hesitantly.

Scarlett hesitated for a moment, then nodded slightly.People immediately cheered up a little, and started the next topic.

"Miss Scarlett, everyone is clamoring for hunger." Taking advantage of the good atmosphere, Maria spoke first, her expression a little uneasy, "Now there are more heavy jobs than before, but only apples and sweet potatoes to eat, The portion is not much. Many people have complaints."

Maria was frequently in and out of the room because of her sick son, and Scarlett asked her to pay attention to the emotions of black people because of her honesty and duty.At this time, nothing can go wrong, she is no longer the stubborn and domineering little girl in her previous life.She knew these niggers were far from being completely trustworthy--if it was Mom, things would be different.But how can my mother "embarrass" people like her!

"It's said that the time is different. Pork can catch pigs with Dad, what are they?" Scarlett couldn't help but stabbed.Polk's face flushed immediately, and he argued: "Miss, the butler black slave is different from the slave slave in the ground..."

"It's not time to sow seeds now." Scarlett said mercilessly, "It's really short of manpower, let alone you, even me and other ladies have to go together. You are not more delicate than the lady, right?"

Pork saw her so sad, and he kept thinking that if Miss Ellen would find a way, she wouldn't let him, a housekeeper nigger, do the same duties as a low |I went to catch pigs two days ago to accompany Master Gerald, and it was justified as running errands.He couldn't stand the fact that he was asked to do the work of a black slave.

Scarlett could tell what Pork was thinking just by looking at him.However, with so many things in front of us, we have to deal with them one by one.This issue is not yet on the agenda. In short, the most important thing is to solve the food problem.Thinking about it this way, my thinking became much clearer immediately.

"We'll have to check out the nearby estate. There might be something left of Twelve Oaks and the Mackintosh's vegetable garden." Scarlett didn't want to upset Merry by talking about Twelve Oaks, but it was over now. Face it when it happens, she went on, "Dilsey goes to the Mackintosh's and I go to Twelve Oaks. With any luck we'll find some greens and come back."

"Oh!" Polk slapped his thigh anxiously, "This is not okay! How can the lady go outside alone! Maybe there are Yankees outside, maybe there are dirty black people! It's too dangerous, this—— —”

"It's better than starving to death." Scarlett stopped back quickly, "Okay, don't talk about it. Everyone go do their own things. I hope I can bring you back something delicious tonight." No matter what. It's time to boost morale, and it's really driving people crazy like an isolated island.If she doesn't go out alone, how can she pull some food out of the cabin?

"If I get another piggy back today, Pork." Her bright piercing green eyes rolled up, "meat tonight."