Miss Eugenie Grandet

The flat vineyard stretches as far as the eye can see.Grape picking is coming to an end, and now, the old Franck and Cornoyer are leading the workers to do the final finishing work in the field-never let a grape be left in the field, this is Flois Fon The tradition of the manor.

Grandet wore his chestnut shell-coloured priest hat that hadn't been changed since 1810, and the brim of the hat was pushed down so low that it not only covered his wrinkled forehead, but also almost blocked his eyes.He was standing behind him through the gap in the brim of his hat, quietly looking at the young man standing in front of him with dark eyes that others could not understand, as if he was evaluating the other person's outfit from head to toe, or , How many Napoleon gold coins is he worth?

The wind in the field was a bit strong, and the voice of Cornovaille talking to the workers was blown over intermittently.After a while, the other party remained motionless, as if immersed in his own thoughts.

If the general Napoleon from Paris just now hadn't said that he had important matters to discuss, he would never be interested in wasting time taking him to this vineyard of his own.With this skill, he might as well clean up his own vineyard.But now that he's here, he can take a deep breath and see what he wants to say.

Sure enough, the Parisian finally turned around, smiled at Grandet, and called him "Father" as the Saumur people used to call him.

Old Grandet remained calm, and only let out a faint murmur from his nostrils.

"I don't know if you remember that," he went on, in a respectful manner, "one time, right around here, I came to speak to your daughter, and you showed up and, almost shot Hit me."

In fact, when he came to the door and spoke the first sentence, old Grandet's ears, which were sharper than a hound, were called out of memory, and, with his voice, he immediately remembered that person.But now, he looked very surprised, and said in a terrified voice: "It's you... If... If I knew it at that time, how could I take a gun to... beat you ? Are you... are you okay?"

After he finished speaking, he deliberately pushed up the brim of his hat, looked him up and down with a concerned look, and finally, his eyes fell on one side of his cheek.

Just at the corner of his left eye, there was a scar, as if a piece of flesh had been cut off - this flaw made this handsome face no longer perfect, but it was not necessarily a bad thing.At least, people who meet for the first time will no longer easily make subjective judgments that the other party is a playboy based on this overly beautiful face.

Grandet then became even more disturbed: "First... sir, you came here today, no... you don't want to settle accounts with me, because... because the scar on your face was caused by me in the past?"

Philip laughed dumbfounded, touched the corners of his eyes, and hurriedly comforted the country old man who seemed to be frightened.

"You misunderstood! This is my injury on the battlefield."

The old man seemed relieved.

"So, what do you want to talk to me about?"

After he finished asking, he stared carefully at the young man across from him.The abnormality of the other party was quickly discovered.

He seemed a little restless, with his eyes wandering, and, in order to conceal his emotion, he began to pace back and forth—a shrewd person is always good at observing the details that the other party shows inadvertently, and from these details The mood of the other party at the moment.

And Grandet is a master in this area.

The favorite of Napoleon from Paris, he has something to ask of himself.

Although it is not clear what he wants from himself.But this recognition made the old man more determined.

"Cough cough!"

Seeing that the other party still didn't speak, Grandet coughed twice, looked at the workers who were working in the distance, and pretended to leave, "The countryside is different from the city. I heard that you people in the city don't do anything. Wandering around. If any countryman dares to leave his work in the field and talk about useless gossip, then he must not want to live a good life..."

"Please wait a moment! I have something to say!"

Philip hurriedly called to him, "Father Grandet, I am here for your daughter Eugenie Grandet."

"My Eugenie!"

Grandet was too surprised, he stopped abruptly, turned his head and stared suspiciously at the other party - this time it was definitely not an act.

"Yes!" said Philip quickly, as if with sudden courage, "the fact is that I fell in love with your daughter a long time ago. I wished she would become my wife. But I am sorry that before I asked her After confessing, she ruthlessly rejected me. You can laugh at me for being sentimental, but my feeling tells me that she is not as ruthless as she appears—at least, if it is not for the pity that came from her at the beginning, I don’t know what I am now Where is she going? The more ruthless she is to me now, the more intense the fire of love for her that ignites in my heart..."

Old Grandet had been listening indifferently, but when he heard this, he couldn't help it and shivered.

"Holy Mother!" imitating the mantra of the old woman and Nanon when encountering shocking events, Grandet also yelled like this, as if this was the only way to express his shock and discomfort at the moment.

"Listen, what is he talking about..."

When the yelling was over, he muttered in a low voice and said something like this.

Philip heard disapproving murmurs from his father, but it didn't affect his mood in the slightest.

"Father Grandet, let me tell you all. Just three months ago, when Mademoiselle Grandet was in Paris for a short stay, I tried to confess my love to her again, hoping to get her mercy again. , but the ending is still the same. She rejected me with a decisive attitude. However, it was that rejection that regained my lost confidence. If my guess is correct, Miss Grandet once Has she ever been hurt? Since she herself would never tell me, I would like to ask for your help - you are her father and must know her very well. I decided to visit you three months ago But at that time, because the situation in the empire was not yet stable, the plan had to be postponed. Just half a month ago, a treaty on a new order in Europe was agreed in Vienna—it can be said that if there are no major changes, this The stability of the new order can be guaranteed in the future. So now, I am here to win your daughter's heart."

After hearing what he said, old Grandet showed a surprised and even disgusted expression.

"Injury? Young man, how do you come to such strange conclusions?" She can't even look at any of them! Who can do her any harm!"

Philip looked puzzled.But soon, he smiled.

"Then I was wrong! This is better! Then there is only one thing left. Do you think I am worthy of your daughter? If I have the honor to have your help, I will be very grateful."

For the first time in his life, Grandet began to face up to his daughter's marriage.

This is indeed a serious matter.

Although President Crochet and the son of the Grassins family have always been pursuing Eugenie, and almost all the Saumurs also believe that Miss Grandet's husband's surname must be the second choice in these two families in the future. One, but in old Grandet's heart, he never thought of marrying his daughter to any of them—once his daughter gets married, it means that part of his own property will be divided, which for him Said, it is simply a pain in the flesh!So in his previous life, even when he was about to die, he never remembered to find a husband for his daughter. What he never forgot was to let his daughter keep the family business for him, so that he could give an account to him when he went "over there".

But now, in front of his eyes, suddenly appeared a real young man who wanted to marry his daughter.

No matter how high his status is and how powerful he is, even if he is Napoleon himself, if he wants to marry his daughter to divide his property, don't even think about it!

He immediately returned to his old and confused appearance, his waist slumped, and his tongue grew bigger when he spoke.

"You...what are you talking about? Want...want to marry my daughter? You probably don't...don't know, I...although my family has such...a vineyard, but...but the land is poor, I'm just a The poor boss who has been growing... grapes all his life! Our family really has no money! My daughter has nothing to marry... the dowry..."

"If I can marry Miss Grandet, not only will I not want any of her property, but I will immediately sign a legal document to transfer all the property under my name to my wife."

Old Grandet stopped and quietly pricked up his ears.

"You... what property do you have?"

"I'm very ashamed, I don't have much money. But in Montebello, I have a fief, which is not very big, with an area of ​​about [-] hectares."

Old Grand was taken aback.

In the past, the area of ​​his vineyard was 130 hectares, and later he bought a [-]-hectare forest land, and then, this Floisfon estate, [-] hectares.

Now, in his eyes, this hotheaded young man who seemed a bit stupid and ridiculous, said that he would transfer a piece of land with an area of ​​[-] hectares to his wife...

Equivalent to 25 Flois Fon estates!

Old Cooper's heart skipped a beat.

"Mr. Lana, I see that you are wearing less clothes. Don't you feel cold? The wind here is strong enough!"

His expression remained motionless, but he rubbed his hands together and breathed out his mouth to express that he suddenly felt cold, "Let's go back and sit down. Eugenie may have returned by now."