[Gone with the Wind] Back to the beginning

Scarlett is delighted by the return of Melanie and Ashley.

Ashley quickly matured after several months of experience in the north, and he can really afford the family, although there are still some bumps in some places.Knowing that they don't have much savings, Scarlett is willing to lend them money, but Meili refuses.They rented a small house on Ivy Street.

The house faces away from Aunt Pete's house, and the two backyards are connected only by a long-grown wax hedge.Mei Li took a fancy to this, and said with a smile that the closer the house, the better.Her and Ashley's new home was rebuilt on the dilapidated walls after the war. Half of the original two-story building was blown up and had to be converted into a bungalow, which was disproportionately squat.But fortunately, the lawn is spacious, green and thickly covered with clover.Roses peeped out from old broken branches, and myrtle pink and white, as if no Yankee warhorse had ever nibbled at their leaves.The fence was covered with sweet-smelling honeysuckle, and a magnolia shone white by the front steps.Two shady oaks stood before the gate.

Scarlett thinks the house is not beautiful, but Mei Li is happy that the family of three is finally reunited under the roof of her own house, and they are no longer precarious.Her, her children and her husband.So Scarlett also blessed her and was happy for her friend.

Scarlett suggested that Ashley come to work in her own shop - the Wilkes family and the Hamilton family did not have many properties in Atlanta, and the shop she rented from Mei Li was the best one.Ashley refused, of course, but Scarlett told the couple more firmly that she would not rent the shop for the next year.In short, there are still two or three months to go, Ashley might as well come here as soon as possible to familiarize himself with the business, in short, she will return it soon.So Ashley accepted the job reluctantly in the end-he did a much better job than Scarlett remembered in his previous life.Recently he was discussing with Scarlett about turning the store into a bookstore.

Indy Wilkes is back, from Macon.She and Ashley's other sister, Honey, have lived in Macon since 1864. Now that Honey is married, Indy comes to live with her elder brother and sister-in-law.I heard that she can't stand the big bastard her younger sister married, but in fact, the stupid Honey can marry a decent man, which has made everyone secretly happy.Indi is 25 years old and an old maid. She is dignified and proud on weekdays and lives like a widow.She dislikes Scarlett very much, because Stuart Tarleton, one of the sacrificed twin brothers, once courted her, but later fell under Scarlett's skirt.But Scarlett lived at Aunt Pitt's house, and she couldn't see her.The two were barely at peace.

Will and Karin came too, the family's cotton harvest was almost done in October, and they came to Atlanta to buy a home, the site had been selected months ago, with wood from Scarlett's house supervised by Tommy Wellburn Made, very affordable and strong.Scarlett welcomed the couple, who seemed to be on good terms as newlyweds.Karin always shyly held Will's arm, and Will smiled gently.With Will, Scarlett immediately went all out, took down the lumber factory that had been suppressed by her family before, took it into her own possession, and smoothly added another lumber factory to her property.She handed over the lumber factory to Will, knowing that with Will's ability, the lumber factory would be prosperous.

Now Ellen and Gerald stayed at Tara to take charge of the reconstruction, and Will, Karin, Frank, and Sue Allen came to Atlanta one after another.Among them, Frank and Su Allen intend to settle here, while Will and Karin spend half a year in Atlanta and half a year in Tara.In Scarlett's current estate, the Irishman Johnny Gagler was in charge of the first lumber mill, and Will Benting was in charge of the second—if he returned to Taras Scarlett he would take care of it himself, if he couldn't, please Tommy helps.As for Scarlett, she devoted herself to running the one remaining shop and selling lumber in the city.What bothered her was that Johnny Gagler was sometimes too assertive, cold and shrewd, a little man who wanted to hire convicts to do the work and save his wages, and Scarlett certainly couldn't agree.

"Johnny!" cried Scarlett, "of course I know it'll save me money, but I'll lose my reputation if I do it!"

A sneer appeared on the corner of Johnny Gagler's mouth: "You want fame and money at the same time, miss, isn't it such a good thing?"

"I don't need you to teach me." Scarlett lowered her face. "Anyway, this method won't work. I will pay you the money. You are not allowed to use prisoners." It's the restricted area that can't be touched.What's more, she remembered clearly how those prisoners were mistreated by Johnny-it was even more miserable than the slaves described in the Yankee book "Uncle Tom's Cabin".

"It's not that you don't know how proud free blacks are! They lie on the ground and refuse to move if they are given a little work. If you dare to move your hands, the Free People's Affairs Bureau will catch you! You said, how can you make money like this? You hired me to help you, not because of your anger!" Johnny said forcefully.

But Scarlett was tougher than him.

"I don't need you to teach me." She said firmly, "I want to open this factory to make money. I think my limited reputation is worth more than the extra money you can earn. If you are not convinced, I can't help it." .In short, the treatment I give you must be one of the best in Atlanta. If you can find a better job, you can leave. Although I am eager to make money, I still have enough money to not be in distress. In short, you are not in danger of me! "

So Johnny had to bow his head cursingly, and Scarlett finally won the war.

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Scarlett discovered that she hated the Yankees, no matter how much she pretended to be with them.

All the while, because she was selling wood to those people, Scarlett tried to be kind.But that damned Yankee lady had irritated Scarlett so thoroughly that day that she had lost her last illusion of apparent peace.

That was when Scarlett came home from selling lumber, and Uncle Peter was driving for her.At this point Tommy was basically building a house, so Scarlett invited Uncle Peter to accompany him.A tall, thin woman from Maine called from the steps: "Miss O'Hara, just wanted to see you! I want to ask you something about this backward city."

Scarlett felt a surge of anger rising from her heart, and she barely restrained herself and said, "What do you want to know?"

"Ah, that's right." The Yankee woman was still smiling. "My nanny, Bridge, has gone back to the North. Since she's gone, the children have been making my head ache every day! Tell me where I can get a nanny, and I'll be there every day." I can't take it anymore!"

"That's easy," Scarlett told her. "Just get some nigger women from the country before they get taught by the Freedmen's Bureau. There's a lot of new nigger women in Atlanta these days . . . "

The Yankee lady howled with anger.

"You think I'm going to give the baby to niggers?" she yelled. "I'm looking for a decent Irish girl."

"Black people don't eat people." Scarlett said coldly, and she couldn't help but sarcastically said, "It's really strange, didn't you liberate black people? Why do you have such a view of them?"

"I'm disgusted when I see black people," said the Yankee lady in disgust. "I don't want them to touch my children—ah, you say emancipation? I didn't emancipate the black people, and I don't know what they're thinking. Anyway. , I can't trust this guy, he's a different kind!"

Scarlett understood.These Yankees, who outwardly called black men sir and respected them, secretly got together and laughed.They don't like, don't trust, don't understand black people, and don't want to understand.They were pompous and would never be able to see black people as family the way Southerners do—they didn't understand that feeling.Scarlett was angry at this ignorant woman's insult, and she thought of how Nanny's bony black palms comforted her again and again, and how Uncle Peter was reliable and loyal to protect Aunt Pete... Scarlett suddenly Noticing that Uncle Peter had been angry for a while, he sat upright, his eyes fixed on the horse's ears, and she realized that this was the most direct insult to Uncle Peter.

But the Yankee woman wasn't done yet.

I saw her pointing at Uncle Peter and laughing wantonly: "Oh, there is another old baby here... Look at this old nigger's virtue, he looks like a tortoise. Is this how you southerners deal with niggers? Hahaha !"

For a moment, the wrinkles on Uncle Peter's forehead deepened and his jaw trembled, but he pursed his lips tightly and said nothing.Scarlett felt outraged, and shouted at the woman, "Uncle Peter is our family!"

The Maine woman was stunned.She mumbled: "My family? They can't be relatives, look at how black he is..."

"Shut up." Scarlett said coldly, "Do you think he is heartless and doesn't understand you, or is he inferior and unworthy of dignity? Goodbye. Peter, let's go."

When Uncle Peter heard her words, he immediately whipped his whip and lashed the horse loudly.The horse neighed, ignoring the stunned woman and dragging the cart away quickly.Scarlett could still feel Peter sobbing and weeping in front of the car until far away.

She suddenly remembered that the attacks in her previous life and the ambushes of the Ku Klux Klan were the time when she had to drive alone after Peter was humiliated, and she suddenly felt that the clouds over her head were even worse.

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The situation in Atlanta is getting tense.

Scarlett's sense of the subtle changes in the atmosphere was heightened, almost to the point of nervous breakdown, for a while, as she drove lumber all over the city in her carriage every day.Tommy accompanied her most of the time, but couldn't dispel the fear deep in her heart.

"I'm ashamed you take such care of me," said Scarlett. "I gave you nothing."

And Tommy just increased the time to travel with her.

Tensions grew between the Yankees and the Southerners, and more soldiers patrolled the streets.Scarlett watched all this happen, helplessly.During the day, the residents of the South are immersed in various gatherings about the past.They are heartbroken that the next generation who grew up after the war have forgotten the glory and shame, and all kinds of chatter are endlessly reminiscing about the past.And Melanie was loved by these people, almost becoming the next generation center of Atlanta social circle.But at night, the activities of the Ku Klux Klan became more and more frequent. Once Scarlett went to a Yankee officer’s house to sell timber. She heard the officer complain that the KK Klan should be wiped out, and she backed out in fear.

Scarlett came to the door to warn Su Allen, telling her to look after Frank Kennedy.She remembered Frank's cold body after that Ku Klux Klan operation.Su Ailun had a big fight with her emotionally, saying that she cursed her husband, but turned around and acted coquettishly and entangled Frank more tightly than anyone else. Scarlett secretly breathed a sigh of relief and didn't care about her sister.

In fact, Scarlett knew that Will and Ashley should also be the Ku Klux Klan. Except for Rhett Butler, almost all the southern men she knew living in Atlanta were the Ku Klux Klan. It doesn't work!So the two unlucky guys who died in the actions of the Ku Klux Klan-Frank Kennedy and Tommy Wellborn became her focus. Scarlett chanted all the way every day.But to Scarlett's embarrassment is that Tommy just laughed off her almost neurotic worries, and Lian Shen reassured her that nothing would happen.Scarlett wanted to tell him that something would happen if he wasn't careful.

I hope that the changed fate will favor those people she cares about.Scarlett thought helplessly at last, and then she clenched her hand|gun firmly and swore that if there was another black attack in this life, she would kill him with a single shot, and she would not be ambushed by the Yankees in the end if the Ku Klux Klansman avenged her again!She, Scarlett O'Hara, would get through the damn thing anyway!