Although Gerald has always been rough, he will be delicate when it comes to his beloved eldest daughter Scarlett.

The southerners here are not as vulgar or mercenary as Xiao Mimi imagined. They live affluent and pampered lives, but their faces tanned by the sun do not appear lazy.Although they don’t value education, everyone has a skill, not a redneck as the Yankees who won in the end said.The skills that all the men here need to practice are planting good cotton, riding a good horse, good marksmanship, brisk dancing, outstanding card skills, and then courteously courteous women and politely drinking.

If this is not the inland of the United States, Xiao Mimi almost thinks that this is actually a relaxing island.

Gerald was one of the best cards players in the county, which meant a great fortune, and that was how he got his estate and his competent butler.

Today, he still intends to rely on playing cards to solve the current problem. Winning or losing depends entirely on God. If he can win this game, then Gerald can only convince himself that this is God’s will. God wants someone whose temperament is like his Scarlett married the silent young man.

Gerald couldn’t think about it anymore. Both he and Ashley felt that the words were not congenial, not to mention Scarlett, who was less educated than himself.

Fathers are not belittling their daughters, they are.

Unfortunately, he really won. In the end, the cards in his hand were arranged on the table in a combination of a straight, and he didn’t even have a single small card.

Old Wilkes still didn’t realize what winning or losing meant. He raised his hand and took a big gulp of whiskey, he laughed and wanted to touch the gold coins from his pocket, feeling that someone was too lucky today. Gerald looked at him and counted the coins. , also held up the wine glass and swallowed his throat, and then suddenly said: “I think your young man Ashley looks really good.”

The opponent’s hand that was counting the gold coins paused for a moment. It’s no wonder that old Wilkes reacted so quickly, just because if someone else praised his son, old Wilkes might really just laugh it off and not think about it at all.But Gerald’s words cannot be ignored, because he must have a lot of meaning in his attention to his son. His old neighbor has no sons, only three daughters.

Two of them are still very young, but Scarlett, the oldest, has indeed reached an embarrassing age.Discussing the marriage blatantly would make Scarlett appear inappropriate, but if her parents don’t take advantage of this time to look secretly, the girl’s youth will be lost in two years.

Old Wilkes then put down the gold coins in his hand and waited for the next one.When Gerald saw that the other party was still expecting himself to speak, he knew that this matter was in fact reasonable. It was no secret that Mrs. Wilkes liked the lady of her relatives, but it was always a man who spoke out about major matters to the outside world. To Old Will For Max, the saying that distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors has practical meaning in the south. Although Melanie’s family is not bad, how can there be any immediate benefits that the O’Hara family can provide?

Assuming that Scarlett can become Mrs. Wilkes Jr., her family’s manor can be integrated with Tara.

Old Wilkes had to admit that he liked the marvelous view of the red earth at Tara at sunset, and the urge to gallop over it.And his house and manor on the hillside are indeed far worse by more than a star.

If possible, he even wanted to borrow the housekeeper from the O’Hara family. The Wilkes family had a conservative character and hadn’t had a commendable large cotton transaction for many years.

“Scarlett is also a good girl.” Old Wilkes complimented back calmly, but as the man’s parent, he felt that he should take the initiative, so he added a funny question: “I saw at the party that day She, she has grown into a big girl all of a sudden. How old is she this year? My mind is still full of what she looked like when she was five or six years old!”

Gerald knew that the other party was encouraging things to go on, and he sighed in his heart. He really loved his wife so much that he couldn’t bear to disobey her, so he had to put Scarlett in second place.

In fact, strictly speaking, Gerald did not put his daughter in a secondary position, because what he is doing now is in line with Scarlett’s current expectations.But at the same time Gerald was very sure that Scarlett would regret it, because Ashley was not a man who could walk by her side, and he would fall far behind Scarlett’s brisk pace.The only thing Gerald is thankful for is that, as a neighbor, he can always take care of his daughter so that no big trouble will be caused.

Furthermore, if one day Scarlett is not as interested in Ashley as she is now, and the relationship between husband and wife becomes boring, Gerald is sure that his daughter can take the initiative and will never suffer a disadvantage. With the blood of brave Irishmen.

Anyway, maybe it won’t be so bad, Gerald consoled himself.

The two parents reached a tacit understanding. The difference is that Gerald fulfilled his wife’s instructions, and went back to inform his wife and daughter of the good news with half joy and half worry.The situation of old Wilkes is much more serious. Fortunately, his wife is not a talkative woman. Apart from complaining after closing the door at night, everyone in front of and behind her looks happy, because the actual Benefits can also persuade her to overcome the fetters of family affection.

After Ashley learned that he was likely to be engaged to Scarlett, he was stunned for a moment.He is no longer young this year, and he has gained some knowledge after traveling for three years. As a young man who has grown up, it is not that he has not fantasized about beautiful encounters on the road.If it is on a trip, meeting such an energetic, generous and beautiful woman as Scarlett would be a miracle like a storm in summer. There is no doubt that she will be a lovely travel companion.

But Ashley never thought that when he went home and opened the door, he would see Scarlett’s face.

This made him a little at a loss, but it was just at a loss. He would not refute his parents’ decision.He is such a person, knowing that it is wrong, knowing that he does not have such deep feelings for the other party, but he will never resist.

Before the war, Ashley and Rhett Butler were the only ones among a bunch of blind Southerners who saw the end.But even so, Ashley will still carry his guns and fight, being swept further and further away by the waves of the great era.He is by no means a waver like Rhett Butler, who is good at seizing every opportunity in the great changes. He drifts with the tide, is not necessarily happy when he is caught on the top of the waves, and is numb when he is beaten to death on the shore.

So after facing his parents’ decision, he didn’t raise the slightest objection, and only waited for Scarlett’s 16th birthday to start arranging the engagement.

Although he would occasionally think of his cousin Melanie, whom he had met several times, he was only slightly embarrassed, not guilty at all.His deep affection for Melanie was based on Melanie’s wholehearted care and warmth for him after the two got married. He never had any youthful and impulsive feelings towards women, and all his senses and attention were focused on him. It is self-pity and self-pity for one’s own future destiny.

So much so that when everyone consciously encouraged Scarlett and her future fiancé Ashley to unwind more, Ashley never paid attention to Scarlett’s real needs from the heart, nor did he take into account Scarlett’s lack of knowledge , talking about some many pessimistic arguments for themselves.

Scarlett didn’t pay attention to what he was saying, because the words that came out of Ashley’s mouth were all melodies composed of strings of beautiful notes, and it didn’t matter what he sang.

The only concern of the young fiancée was that Ashley never appeared again at O’Hara on horseback.

“Ashley, where’s your horse?” Scarlett finally did what Ellen expected, always thinking about how to be a lady to make Ashley happy: “That’s a good horse, it must be happy Spread hooves at Tara.”

Ashley smiled gently, but what he said was rejection, but he knew the consciousness of rejection: “Oh, Scarlett, I prefer to walk with you in the sun, riding a horse means sweat and smoke, not It fits your beautiful dress.”

After saying this, Scarlett was both happy and sad.

But she had a faint premonition that she couldn’t pretend for long. She hadn’t ridden a horse for more than half a year, and even Ashley couldn’t comfort her restless heart.No matter how nice the voice is, it will get tired after listening to it for a long time. Even if Ashley’s voice is like a stream flowing, it is not as good as the whistling wind at this moment.

The two were talking together, and suddenly Scarlett understood a certain sentence from Ashley. He basically said that Tara Manor was too large, and there was a large area of ​​land that was not suitable for growing cotton. Gerald That part should be disposed of, because that part is worthless.

Of course everyone knew that piece of land was worthless, but it was a place where O’Hara’s family could play and run horses. Even if they could grow cotton, they wouldn’t grow it. They were such wanton people.

When Gerald persuaded her to give up Ashley, Scarlett angrily stated that Tara Manor was not important at all, and there was no Ashley in her heart.But that was Scarlett’s angry words, and that’s how people are sometimes. The O’Haras can devalue Tara, but outsiders can’t, like the Wilkes, like Ashley.

She instinctively counterattacked: “My father won it. The whole Tara Manor is his victory monument. Even if it is a stone, we will not sell it.”

Scarlett was used to being a lady in front of Ashley, and Ashley didn’t expect her to yell at him. This was not Scarlett at all, and the two broke up unhappy.

But he decided not to meet a girl who is not even 16 years old, let her calm down for one night, and he will go to her the next day.

He actually expected Scarlett to calm down, he really saw the devil.

Xiao Mimi was woken up by Scarlett in her sleep. The girl said that she was going to ride a horse. It was so early that the sun only showed her face. Except for the black slaves in the cotton fields, no one would get up so early.

Because she was in a daze, Xiao Mimi realized that Scarlett’s horse had lost one iron shoe because Scarlett hadn’t ridden it for a long time, and she couldn’t ride it at all after Scarlett rode away.It was Gerald’s horse she was riding out now.

Most importantly, Gerald’s horse wasn’t wearing a lady’s side saddle, and Scarlett must be riding in a skirt with her legs spread out.

If someone saw it, the O’Hara family would have no need to mess around in the local area, and Mimi Xiao would almost cry.

Of course, Scarlett was seen, and she was a little flustered because she was seen, but she quickly calmed down, because the other party was Rhett Butler, who was driving the carriage on the small road at dawn, Scarlett. Li guessed that the cheap cotton purchased by an insidious businessman must be in the carriage. She noticed that the other party’s eyes fell on her skirt, and she poked her neck and said, “What are you looking at?!”

Rhett Butler shook his head at her, laughed and walked away: “I won’t say it, I will do what I say, but Miss Relative, if you are so reckless, you will not be able to get off the ground for several days.”