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There is a small restaurant just a short walk ahead. It's not time to eat, so it's quiet right now. Scrooge thought for a moment and said to Dorothea, "Let's go over there and sit down." ”

"Hmm." Dorothea nodded.

The group walked straight into the small restaurant, where the owner greeted them and wanted to explain to them that there was nothing to eat in the store. Pluto told him directly: "Let's borrow your place to talk about something." At the same time, he shoved a bill into the shopkeeper's hand. So the shopkeeper was silent.

Scrooge and Dorothea sat down in a window seat. Dorothea began to talk about her current situation.

"Dorothea, don't worry, I still have $4oo." After listening to Dorothea's story, Scrooge reached out and took her calloused hand, saying, "You have suffered all this time. I'm good friends with Mr. Odd and Roy, and I'm not going to leave it alone. You don't have to worry about things that shouldn't be up to you. ”

Then he turned around and said to Elizabeth, who was sitting not far away, "Elizabeth, do you have $4oo there?" ”

"Yes. But I'm afraid it's not safe to give this to this little sister now. Elizabeth said, "Now, the police system has not been fully rebuilt, and I guess the law and order is absolutely chaotic." ”

"Ah, that's right." Scrooge said, "Dorothea, when is the tax collector coming tomorrow?" Or we'll be waiting for that bastard at your house tomorrow!" ”

"Thank you. The guy said to come over at noon tomorrow. Dorothea said.

"Listen to you, the place you live in now is terrible." Scrooge said, "Why don't you go back tonight, well, let Elizabeth book a room for you, what do you think?" ”

Dorothea looked at Scrooge in surprise, then shook her head.

"Little sister, don't be surprised. Mr. MacDonald was a northerner and did not know much about the customs of the South. Elizabeth said. Then she turned to Scrooge and said, "The South is much more conservative in its customs than in the North, and girls can't live outside casually." That's going to be criticized. And Mr. MacDonald, it's rude for you to say this to a young lady. ”

"Oh," Scrooge immediately apologized to Dorothea, "you see, Dorothea, I don't care much about customs and customs, and I really don't mean to offend you. ”

"Brother Scrooge, I didn't ......" Dorothea lowered her head, not knowing what she was thinking.

Scrooge thought for a moment and said, "I'm afraid you're missing a lot of things." Or we'll go out and buy some and send them back to you together. ”

"Brother Scrooge, thank you, wait for next year, when the harvest in the manor is ready, I will return it to you." Dorothea said.

"What's there to thank for that?" "If we were in a different situation, Mr. Odd and Roy would have come to my aid, wouldn't they?" ”

"Hmm." Dorothea didn't say anything more.

……

"Oh my God!" Scrooge yelled, "Dorothea, you live in a place like this? How can you live in a place like this? ”

Looking at the shelter with a broken roof that was ventilated on all sides, Scrooge was so surprised and sympathetic that tears glistened to the corners of his eyes.

"And it's so unsafe here." Scrooge looked around and said, "There's not even a door in this room." Otherwise, Elizabeth, I will trouble you and Dorothea to stay in the house tonight, and Pluto and I will stay outside. We brought a lot of stuff with us today, and a lot of people saw it, and I was worried that there would be security problems. ”

"Brother Scrooge, no need. We can protect ourselves. Dorothea said.

"I'm all here in the south, and I have to let Dorothea protect yourself, then the word goes out, and I don't have the face to see anyone." Scrooge smiled and said, "And it's warm in the south, and camping is nothing for us men." Well, it's actually interesting to see the stars and the moon while sleeping, isn't it? ”

In fact, someone did have their eyes on the large pile of things that Scrooge sent back to Dorothea, but there were more than a dozen heavily armed selected Blackwater bodyguards guarding it, so the night passed peacefully.

The next day, Dorothea, as the owner, took Scrooge around the manor. While the others helped with some of the things they brought back yesterday.

"It's a big manor." Ascending a hill on the manor with tall magnolia trees, Scrooge said to Dorothea.

"Well, we employed more than a hundred people on the estate, and just like that, we still have a third of our land fallow. But now, there are only four of us, and none of us have ever done farm work, so we only grow this little wheat. At the mention of the comparison between the past and the present, Dorothea did not feel sad. But she quickly picked herself up again, and said to Scrooge, and to herself, "Well, now that the war is over, and by the next year I will be able to hire more workers, and put the farm in order, and the cotton will grow all over the fields again, and when the harvest time comes, the cotton will be piled up as high as a mountain......

Looking at Dorothea, who was indulging in fantasies about the future, Scrooge suddenly felt that it would be a little too cruel for him to break it immediately. But after thinking about it, he said to Dorothea anyway:

"Dorothea, as far as I've learned, I don't think your plan will come to fruition."

"What?" Dorothea was taken aback, she turned and looked at Scrooge with wide eyes, "But before the war, Dad had been doing this, and we did a good job after we exchanged slaves for free workers?" ”

"Dorothea, it's not that simple." Scrooge explained to her, "In the pre-war period, Mississippi policies were in the service of plantations, and the federal government was not going to be too drastic. But this is no longer the case, and the Provisional Government of Mississippi was directly appointed by the federal government. One of their policies was based on the will of the Federation. In the North, there is such an opinion that is very influential. They believe that the key to the outbreak of civil war in the United States lies in the difference between the economic modes of the North and the South. The policy requirements of the plantation economy and the industrial economy are different, or even opposite. It is a good policy for the industrial-dominated North, but not for the South, which is dominated by plantations. So, I know that some people in Lincoln's cabinet proposed that in order to avoid another civil war in the future, the South must be forced to adopt a northern-style industrial-based economic model, and the plantation economy must be completely destroyed. The $4oo land tax you mentioned yesterday I think is a signal that the federal government must have figured out a similar tax to completely destroy the plantations in the South. So, I think ......"

"What?" The news came as a bolt from the blue for Dorothea. Her fantasies, her father's deathbed instructions to her, were all shattered by this thunderbolt. Her face was pale, her body shook, and if it hadn't been for Scrooge taking a step forward and holding her against her chest, she would have fallen to the ground.

"Scrooge, what should I do? My mind is in chaos, what should I do. Dorothea muttered. Most women are like this, even if they actually have a very good decision-making themselves, but if there is a man to rely on for them, they will immediately put their decision-making aside and hope for men who don't know whether they are reliable or not.

"It's okay, baby, it's okay. Don't forget, I'm just a businessman. I can teach you how to keep Mr. Odd's manor safe. Scrooge wrapped his arms around Dorothea, lowered his head, and whispered softly in his ear.

"Thank you, Scrooge, I wouldn't know if it weren't for you......" Dorothea turned to Scrooge, who was so close to Scrooge's face that Scrooge could see the reflection of his own face in her big blue eyes. Scrooge looked at Dorothea's delicate face, and his sparkling eyes didn't feel a little stupid.

Dorothea also turned her head to see that Scrooge's face was so close to her, and she couldn't help but be a little startled, but Scrooge's arms wrapped around her, and the warm breath exhaled from Scrooge's nose gently blew on her face, which made her a little intoxicated, and she suddenly felt that she had something to rely on, as if she didn't have to worry about anything. At this time, her current Scrooge's face seemed to be getting closer and closer to her.

"What to do? What if he ...... What to do? Dorothea couldn't figure out what to do, so she simply closed her eyes like an ostrich.

Dorothea closed her eyes, no doubt a tacit approval or even an encouragement. Scrooge immediately lowered his head and kissed her delicate little mouth. Dorothea shook her head slightly, as if trying to break free from his light kiss, but her movements were very slight, and such an amplitude was certainly not enough. Her little mouth was also tightly closed, but Scrooge used his nimble tongue to constantly try to pry her small mouth open. Dorothea felt as if she had been enchanted, and she had no strength in her body, not even the strength to clench her teeth, and soon her little mouth opened weakly.

"Miss Dorothea, Miss Dorothea, someone is looking for you!" Lady Stephen's shouts could be heard in the distance. Dorothea was shocked, and suddenly escaped from Scot's arms, and she first responded: "Lady Stephen, I'll be here soon!" Then he turned his head, made a vicious appearance, glared at Scrooge, and said, "Brother Scrooge is a bad fellow, a big pervert!" Then he lowered his blushing face sharply, turned around, and ran down the hill. Dorothea, who blushed with shame, must not have imagined that in her life, only these two sentences of her various evaluations of Scrooge were the most correct.