Continuation of "Gone with the Wind"

Chapter 37 Jack the Landlord

"What did you say? He paid for that piece of land from you. What are you kidding?" After hearing Will's words, Scarlett was so excited that she almost jumped up from the dining chair, and the table knife in her hand kept shaking. It seems that if you accidentally throw it out, it will become a murder weapon.

"It's true, Scarlett, I don't need to lie to you." Will looked at her worriedly, "Calm down first. The money was handed over to me by him, not a lot. I also asked Where did he get it? He gave me a bunch of newspapers with his articles on them. I don’t know how they are written, but there are a lot of them. He said that the money was the royalties he earned.”

Scarlett still had an unbelievable look on her face. Will saw that she hadn't convinced her, so he got up and went to the children's dining room to call Jack who was eating, and asked him to show Scarlett the evidence written in black and white.Jack undisguisedly showed a look of displeasure because he was not trusted, but he still reluctantly went back to his small room to take out the results of his hard work for inspection.His expression made Scarlett feel very uncomfortable. What did he think of himself as a tenant who didn't pay for the boarding house, and how dare he lose his temper with the landlord?But she also felt that since she came back this time, Jack's attitude towards her was not the same as before.He was as polite as ever to her, but the deference was gone, the low brow and pleasing eyes of the past were hardly noticeable, and now he looked as if he considered himself a member of Tara, with various silent behavior and calm from time to time. However, the well-founded words and the expression that no longer concealed showed resistance to her.What is he trying to do, to rebel?For some reason, thinking of this made her feel a little uncomfortable, as if she was very reluctant to let Jack out of her control.That's strange, didn't she always think he was a burden before, and wished that he would stay as far away from her as possible?

A stack of not-thin newspapers was brought, and when Jack handed it over to her, Scarlett moved slowly.Because of the excessive force, some were torn and scattered on the ground.Jack's face became ugly, as if his clothes were torn, and Scarlett even felt that even if his arm was torn, he would not look more sad than this time.Rhett who was beside him picked them up carefully, but didn't hand them to her, but sat on the dining chair and read them.Scarlett couldn't take it anymore after a quick glance. She had never been interested in these inexplicable prints.So she ordered Jack to find out the article with his name on it. Anyway, she is not interested in the content, she just needs to see the author's name to make her feel at ease.Jack took it and pointed her to the articles with his name on them one by one.Some of them used pseudonyms. Scarlett didn't know it when she saw it, but the signature of "Tara" warmed her heart. Jack really regarded Tara as his home.Most of the signatures were the name "Jack O'Hara Butler" she had given him when she adopted him. Scarlett suddenly thought of Rhett's reaction when she saw this name, would she be moved?She didn't bother to see where Jack's finger was pointing, and turned her head to see what Rhett's expression had changed.Damn it, why didn't she use more force to tear the crack bigger just now, now she can't see anything clearly except the curvature of the corners of his mouth that is raised from time to time.No, he was smiling, not the mocking, downturned mouth she was familiar with, but the smile of genuine admiration.Great, at least Jack's articles caught his attention. She didn't know what name was signed in those pages, but I hope it was "Jack? O'Hara? Butler", "Tara" is useless .

"I didn't expect your writing to be so good." After reading a page, Rhett put down the newspaper, all the smiles and admiration in his eyes were directed at Jack, and he didn't spill a little in Scarlett's direction at all. "This one is about growing medicinal herbs by yourself. It's even more exciting than what you told me this morning." Scarlett looked at his unwavering eyes with dissatisfaction, so he might as well smile to himself.But to be honest, he looks much better when he smiles without irony than when he is teasing.However, how could "Captain Butler" be so interested in what happened in the field? Doesn't he miss the time when he broke through the blockade?

"You have won the award." Jack was excited that someone finally appreciated his article, but he still behaved politely and modestly, "Actually, you still have two newspapers in your hand, and there is an author who wrote a better article than me. A lot. He wrote a serial, a beautiful story. That one, he wrote Chapter 1, and he left a pseudonym, 'Twelve Oaks'."

Scarlett was sitting well on the chair, but she almost fell down when she heard Jack's words.She felt something hit her head hard, like a moon that had suddenly deviated from its orbit.After she regained consciousness, Rhett's face had been covered by his newspaper again, and Scarlett could only see the corners of his mouth returning to her most familiar downward curve, and then the obvious Charleston's dragging voice resounded through her voice. In her ear, she really wanted to stretch out her hand and strangle Jack, who was completely confused and still laughing, to death: "This is a story that actually happened. I have infinite regret, sadness, pain, helplessness, and redemption. I describe it with my own clumsy pen. Because of my weakness and selfishness, I lost the only wife I ever loved in this life, and destroyed the happiness of being close to the only good friend. Everything is caused by me, but I I have no power to stop it, I can only record all this in its original form, I only hope that the world will not repeat my mistakes, reject what should not belong to me, and cherish the happiness that I have. Everything is gone with the wind, like ashes. The Confederacy, like an unrepeatable elegance, like Twelve Oaks crumbling to dust. No one else may remember them, but none who lived through them will forget them. I'm pregnant with I recall them with endless nostalgia, and hope with a faint hope that someone can rebuild them and rebuild the beauty in my heart. My dream has woken up, and people braver than me have started a new life, but I still hope that they will not forget the past. They belong only to you, all the people who have entered the new world from the old age. Memories cannot be forgotten, because they will not be forgotten, so they will not be given up..." Rhett's voice became serious as he read, Until it gradually becomes inaudible.Scarlett couldn't understand what he meant, but she could tell the change in his mood from the change in his voice, and hoped Ashley's inexplicable article wouldn't offend him.What is wrong with Ashley? He insists on writing something and drags her into it. This guy who can only dream all his life can do nothing but recall his dreams. He might as well die in his dreams up.And Jack, does he know the seriousness of the situation? He still has a smile on his face.Write an article and write it, and you have to be happy if someone reads it; if you are happy, you are happy, and you can recommend anything better; if you recommend it, you recommend it, and I recommend Ashley’s.Rhett was right, he was a gift from God, a punishment from a gift.

Rhett seems to have fallen into the beautiful old world built by Ashley. Scarlett dared not disturb him, and Jack was still standing aside. Because of Rhett's relationship, she did not dare to vent her anger on him now, so she had to correct herself. Sitting in the same position, waiting for Rhett to finish the newspaper.Just when she thought she would be bored for a long time, Jack took the initiative to pull her sleeves without fear of death.She was full of anger and had nowhere to vent, so she gave him a hard look, concentrated all the pent-up anger in her two burning green eyes, and fired them out with precision like cannonballs.Jack fully felt her resentment, but remained unmoved, still smiling decently, his black eyes were like two deep lakes, quietly sucking in all the malice, sinking to the bottom of the lake without a trace ripple.She suddenly lost the strength to look at him, and lowered her head dejectedly.Jack made it impossible for her to be angry, just as Rhett could never make her angry.He is always quiet, always responds to all changes with the same attitude, and can always easily extinguish her aggressive desires, because he will never attack, but will only build a soft barrier around himself, blocking all from her. harm.

Jack quietly handed her a newspaper and gestured for her to read it.She hadn't been interested in the matter at first, but Jack had stood there steadfastly, with the newspaper stretched out in front of her eyes, distracting her.In order to pass the time, she took it. Originally, she just wanted to glance at it casually, but she didn't expect her eyes, which only like to read fashion magazines, to be firmly attracted by the neat rows of typefaces. To say the least, I was attracted by the beauty of the things depicted in those typefaces.Her imagination has always been bad, but Jack's description seemed to put her in a huge garden, and she became a little girl who was curious about everything when she first saw the world, looking at every kind of her in amazement. The plants that have never been seen come to life in Jack's pen, and he warmly welcomes her visit.She needn't be afraid that she doesn't know what they are; Jack is the dutiful narrator.How interesting he said, "Its leaves are symmetrical and shiny green, just like a pair of forest elf's wings", "Whenever a breeze blows, the large blue petals will tremble slightly, as if they have become green." It becomes a pool of clear water disturbed by a school of swimming fish".No man compliments a woman so vividly, and no woman deserves it.Except for the thick red soil of Tara, except for the neat array of snow-like cotton above the red soil, except for the mountains and blue sky drunk by the setting sun, there is nothing that can be praised so much.It was as though Jack had been pushed open a window through which she saw for the first time a spectacle she had never noticed before.It was only then that she discovered that in addition to being sold for money, plants can also become such beautiful things.For this kind of beauty, women are naturally more sensitive than men.Rhett is right, Scarlett is a child, no matter how elegant and charming her appearance is, she will always be a little girl full of vitality and curiosity in her heart.Therefore, she is extremely strange and cherishes the things that she has not noticed before but now finally discovers.

However, the description of the properties and efficacy of the medicine that Jack wrote below was meaningless, and it was nothing to Scarlett.It's okay to remember the names of those medicines, and she's not a doctor, so she remembers what medicines treat what diseases and what to do, so she just glanced at it below, and put it down if she didn't see any beauty treatment.But the above is really well written.

The red????? Jack.He woke up earlier than her, had already watered the strange flowers and plants, had nothing to do, and put the holly leaves into his mouth—actually she didn’t understand, the exact word was the lips— She angrily asked you why you didn't sleep well in the morning and made trouble here, Jack said calmly that he didn't make trouble, he was just taking care of his own herbs.When Scarlett heard him say that the herbs were even more irritating, she yelled that she really didn't understand what was going on in your head, what was the use of these things, even Mammy couldn't cure them.As soon as she mentioned Mammy, Jack's expression became serious, and he didn't answer any more.Scarlett scolded him for a while, but she didn't think it was interesting, so she left him there alone.Although she really wanted to uproot the large area of ​​flowers and plants that bloomed so wildly, but she didn't have the energy right now.

"Good morning, Mrs. Butler. You got up very early." Rhett came out of the room, just in time to see Scarlett walking in from the outside with a sullen face, and deliberately prodded her, "You look good, and the outdoors are fresh. Air is the best beauty product."

"Don't laugh at me, Rhett." Scarlett retorted weakly, "I know I don't look good, I need to touch up my makeup. I'm not in the mood to argue with you now." "Don't you want Ashley to leave?" "Don't talk nonsense, he's gone long ago. I'm pissed at Jack. I really don't know what he's thinking, but he planted a lot of herbs in the field. I'll have to ask after Will gets up." What's the matter with him, how can he let a child mess around on the red soil?" "Maybe Jack is not messing around, he has his own way." "You don't believe it? Go and see for yourself, a large area is nothing but beautiful Nothing." "That's a good idea." His eyes lit up, and he hurried downstairs and ran out the door.Looking at his anxious back, Scarlett really didn't understand why he was so interested in a child.