Continuation of "Gone with the Wind"

Chapter 31 Selling the Lumber Mill

The spring of 1874 came, and there was no spring cold that Jack was worried about or the sandstorm that Will was worried about.After the first spring rain, the grain seeds were sown smoothly.Looking at the busy figure on the red soil, Scarlett's mood also ushered in spring.

It's just that spring brings not only the recovery of all things, but also bad news.Scarlett looked impatiently through the letters in her room.All kinds of boring advertisements, and there are still people who have the cheek to borrow money from her. Do you think her place is an almshouse?What else, isn't there one worth reading?Why, Aunt Pitt sent a letter, begging her to move back, and the Yankees and free niggers came to town again, and she was frightened.Why is Aunt Pete still so timid, isn't she reassured enough to have India as a company?She is notorious, what is she going back to do?Besides, there were Uncle Peter and Uncle Henry.Thinking of Uncle Henry, her hand found a letter from him.Rhett kept part of his promise, partly because he only continued to send money to the house on Peachtree Street, but did not give her the fifty thousand gold pieces he had promised.In fact, Scarlett didn't want it at all now, no matter how many zeros were added after it.Once she did take the money, Rhett would have every reason to disappear from her life, and she would have absolutely no chance of winning him back.She has been thinking about how to delay the arrival of that day. It is best that she can win Rhett's heart before it comes. At that time, no matter how much money Rhett has, it will be hers.God what was I thinking, I didn't want to be with Rhett this time around for the money.Forget it, let's see what Uncle Henry has to say first.

Uncle Henry never writes letters like Aunt Eulalie rambling about, and can't talk about the main topic for a long time.Scarlett saw him the first time he said that he had sold all the silver from the house on Peachtree Street and deposited it in gold coins in the bank.That's good, so you don't have to worry about the silverware turning into scrap iron, and gold coins are more reliable than anything else.But what did he say next, Atlanta's economy is in a downturn, and the profits of the two lumber mills have plummeted, almost operating at a loss.How is it possible, the lumber factory is obviously the most profitable, even if the economic downturn improves, people still have to build houses.Even Hugh?Elsing is stupid and can't manage the lumber mill well, but Johnny has always been the best at making money from prisoners, so how could he lose money?Was that damn bill so destructive, it brought the economy into recession so quickly?But Uncle Henry's letter was convincing, and said that she should come and deal with this matter in person, and he was already unable to do it alone.She couldn't just watch the lumber mills collapse like this, they were like her children.Gotta go to Atlanta at once, no matter what her reputation was, no matter what people thought of her, even if she was to get back into business with the Yankees and Carbaggers, she had to keep the lumber mill.

Scarlett Towell helped her buy a train ticket to Atlanta tomorrow, and she packed her things at Tara herself.To hell with any pretty clothes, she just needs to bring money.No, those servants brought back from Atlanta had to be brought back. God knows if Uncle Henry has cleaned up the house for her in the past few months. Maybe it will be too dirty to live in. She doesn't want to live with Aunt Pete.She was fine, but looking at India's cold face made her feel uncomfortable, and she had no time to quarrel with her now.

Now that the servant went back with her, she changed her mind and asked the maid to pack all the beautiful clothes into the box.If she couldn't make money from decent southern people, she'd have to deal with the Yankees all over again, and what if she didn't dress nicely?But what would people say?She wasn't afraid of other people's pointing fingers, but thought of what Rhett would do to her if he found out about it, and if he used this as an excuse to divorce her, what was the use of how much money she made?

"It's such a nuisance, if it wasn't a big deal before. Rhett doesn't care about my business, and he can always give me advice." Scarlett thought, "But now our relationship is just getting better." He wants to be his gentleman again. People's opinions are too important to him. If he is talked about because of my relationship, maybe he will really sue for divorce in a moment of anger. If you want to do it without hurting him It's too difficult to make money in business with fragile decency, what should I do?"

After thinking about it, Scarlett felt that it was more important to keep the business first.After all, Rhett is not from Atlanta, so he shouldn't care too much about those people's opinions.His own reputation in Charleston is not bad, so that should help.Or take Jack away by herself and tell the people of Atlanta that this is a child she adopted out of good intentions, and in order to raise him, she has to do business with the northerners?No, how much does it cost to raise a child?This lie is too bad.Besides, if others recognized his northern accent, the consequences would be disastrous.It's useless to imagine all kinds of possibilities here. In short, go to Atlanta to see the situation first, and then decide what to do.

I still have Tara.Think about it.Her powers are back.Tara had resumed production, and when all the grain and cotton were ripe it could be sold for a fortune.Now the factories in the north are in urgent need of textile raw materials, and the reconstruction in the south has not been completed, and they can even be sold to foreigners, so sales are not a problem.When she was rich, she wouldn't have to curse the Yankees in her heart while doing business with them and at the same time put up with Southerners pointing her fingers.He can also wholeheartedly help Rhett achieve his wish of being a gentleman, and completely stop the mouths of those southerners who like to meddle in other people's business.

The train took Scarlett and the servants to Atlanta.She left only one handmaiden named Abby, and sent most of the men to tidy up the house on Peachtree Street.She rushed to Uncle Henry's and found that the situation was more serious than she expected.The orders of the two timber factories have been greatly reduced, and piles of high-quality timber are piled up in the warehouse and no one cares about them, they can only wait to be eaten by moths.Her grocery store and bar are also rarely visited by people, so they can only struggle to maintain.Uncle Henry rarely showed a embarrassed look, stroked his big belly, and told Scarlett that he had tried his best, but there was no way to recover.The economic environment in the entire south is not good, and he can't help it.Scarlett heard that he wanted to shirk responsibility, but was too lazy to say it, so she gave him a step down and canceled the commission.Do it yourself.Uncle Henry was eager to get rid of this hot potato, and immediately settled everything in his office.When Scarlett was about to leave, he reminded her out of guilt and kindness, and advised her to sell the timber factory and start other businesses.Scarlett agreed casually and didn't take it seriously.

The situation in the lumber mill was even worse than what Uncle Henry had hewed to her. Seeing piles of high-quality lumber piled up pitifully in the warehouse like abandoned children, she almost despaired.Johnny wrung blood and sweat out of prisoners, but no one bought them, not even if they were made of gold.She simply fired Johnny and dismissed all the prisoners. Seeing their dull and numb expressions made her upset.The other factory was not as good as this one, and Hugh resigned voluntarily.Unable to hire suitable people, Scarlett had no choice but to run between two timber factories alone.

It has been like this for several weeks, and the situation has not improved at all.Even Scarlett's courage dwindled with each passing day, as she had been attacked while driving.She wanted to hire someone who could drive her car, but right now people in the whole city of Atlanta are avoiding her like the plague. The danger of drowning in saliva to take the job?Scarlett didn't care what people said, but other people weren't as good at water as she was.After Uncle Peter was humiliated by the Yankee woman, he stopped driving for her, not to mention his back ailments from time to time, even if he wanted to drive, he was unable to do so.Scarlett even missed that fierce one-legged Archie, but unfortunately he was also sent away by Mei Li because of herself.

"I can't go on like this anymore, I must find a way." Scarlett thought, "there are only two ways, either quickly hire someone to help me drive the car, and then hire someone to help me run the factory, so that I can keep myself safe. I’m so tired. I’m afraid I’ll turn into an old woman in the wind and rain every day. If Rhett sees me, I’m sure I won’t be able to recognize him—it’s okay if I don’t—if he recognizes me, It's okay to be laughed at by him, and he has more reasons for divorce. But where to find it? Or, as Uncle Henry said, sell the lumber mill while it's not losing too much money. But who would buy it? If The entire southern economy is in a downturn, how can it be sold?"

She built the timber factory by herself, and she was naturally reluctant to destroy her hard work, but it was not an option to see it half-dead, so Scarlett finally made up her mind and published the news that she was going to sell the timber factory in the newspaper.She doesn't have much hope for this method of peddling. There are as many advertisements in newspapers as there are lice on a mangy dog. Not only are there many, but the most important thing is that they are annoying. Seeing so many selling factories, land, and antiques , and even the news of the ancestral property, I am afraid that none of the decent people in the whole south is happy.But she has no better way.However, in order to attract attention, she still took some measures: instead of borrowing Rhett's name, she boldly printed her own name "Scarlett? O'Hara? Butler" on it. Everyone was taken aback, after all, it is rare for a woman to come forward and ask for an advertisement in a newspaper.Even if they have it, they are nothing more than selling some of their private houses in the name of their husbands for some money to spend.Each of them is like a thief for fear that others will find out, and they dare not even leave their own names. Instead, they write "contact Mr. XX's wife" at the end inconspicuously.But this woman was too bold. Not only did she leave her real name, but she also deliberately stated in the advertisement that the timber factory was run by her alone.It was out of the ordinary for a woman to start a lumber factory and sell it for a marked price.However, this was exactly what Scarlett wanted.

Scarlett sat alone in the big house on Peachtree Street, waiting anxiously for the buyer.The ad has been out for days, but not a single person has come.Scarlett was not a patient person, and unless she was doing something she really wanted to do, she would complain of boredom within three minutes.Now that she had to hand over the lumber factory she had worked so hard to build-or sell it cheap-she was naturally full of reluctance.

"If no one comes after today, I won't sell it. Even if it falls into my hand, I'll be unlucky." Scarlett couldn't help clenching her fists.Then she saw Abby come in and tell her that there was a lady waiting for her in the reception room, who said she was very interested in her lumber factory and wanted to have a good talk with her.What Scarlett had just made up her mind evaporated again.She quickly asked Abby to tidy her clothes for her, and quickly put on her makeup. She dressed herself like a girl on a date for the first time. She was very excited, even the word "Mrs." Didn't care.It didn't even occur to her that there would be other women interested in running a lumber mill besides her.