Chapter 4 Chapter 3 Marilla Surprised

As soon as Marshall pushed open the door, Marilla rushed up to meet him.However, when she saw a girl who was dressed too short, shabby, with long braids of red hair, and dressed strangely, with joy shining in her eyes, standing in front of her, she couldn't help but stop. "Brother, who is this? Where's the boy?" "There are no boys, only this one," replied Marshall, lifting his chin at the girl.Only then did he realize that he hadn't found out what her name was yet. "No boy? Isn't that right?" Marilla refused to let go. "Didn't you tell Mrs. Svensa to bring a boy? And sent a message."

"Anyway, there is no boy. The lady brought this child. I asked the station master specifically. In the end, I had to bring her back. No matter where or how I made a mistake, I couldn't leave the station at the train station. Let’s get to the bottom of it.” "That's too bad!" During the fierce quarrel between the two, the child looked at the two of them alternately and listened silently at the same time. The joy on her face just now had gone to nowhere, and she seemed to understand the reason for the quarrel between the two.So, she casually threw the bag on the ground.Clenching her little hands tightly, she took a step forward and shouted loudly.

"You don't want me, don't you! Just because I'm not a boy, don't you want me? I already have a bad feeling. No one who really wants to take me in has passed. I think of everything It's so beautiful, but it can't last long. Now, I know that none of you are interested in me. If you don't want me, what should I do? I, I'm going to cry!" The child sat down all of a sudden. On the chair beside him, he threw his head on the table and burst into tears. Marshall and Marilla look at me, I look at you, I don't know how to end it.No way, in the end, Marilla acted as a good old man.

"Okay, okay, don't cry, okay?" "No, I'm going to cry!" When the child raised his head, his face was covered with tears from crying, and his lips were still trembling. "Aunt Swensa saw me as an orphan and wanted to find a home for me, so I came here with great difficulty. If people in the orphanage heard that I was sent back because I was not a boy, what would they think, Lian Sven Aunt Sa will feel bad when she finds out. This is the biggest tragedy in my life!" A smile appeared on Marilla's face, that smile was extremely unnatural, as if it had been rusted since it hadn't appeared for a long time.But no matter what, the stern expression just now began to soften.

"Don't cry, why don't you let me go tonight? Let's talk about it later, you live here first. May I have your name? " The child hesitated for a moment. "Could you call me Cordelia?" the girl said, puffing out her chest. "Cordelia? Is that your name?" "Well, no, it's not my name. But I'd be glad if you called it that. What an elegant name." "What the hell is going on? If Cordelia isn't your real name, what's your real name?" "Annie Jerry." The girl lowered her head and said reluctantly: "Please, just call me Cordelia. Anyway, it's just a temporary name, so it doesn't matter anyway. Right? The name Anne is not romantic at all."

"Romantic names will surprise people!" Marilla retorted mercilessly. "The name Annie sounds simple and honest. It's a decent name, isn't it? There's nothing to be ashamed of." "Oh, I'm not ashamed, I just like the name Cordelia." Anne further explained, "I always think I'm called Cordelia, and I've been called it that way lately. When I was younger, I used to be called Aldian. But if you have to be called Anne, please use Anne with an 'E'." "Isn't it just the spelling of letters? Can you spell it anyway? Why, am I wrong?" Marilla, who was holding a teapot in her hand, had an unnatural smile on her face.

"Of course it's not right..." Annie wanted to continue explaining. "Understood, well, Anne, can you tell me what went wrong, we told Mrs Sventha we wanted to adopt a boy, and there weren't any boys in the orphanage?" "Yes, there are many, but Mrs. Svensa clearly said that she wanted a girl about 11 years old. The dormitory housekeeper asked me if I would like to come. Of course I would. I was so happy all night last night. Didn't sleep well." Speaking of this, Annie blamed Marshall: "You don't want to adopt a girl, why didn't you tell me at the station? If I figured it out then, I wouldn't come to the house. I wouldn't Now that I have seen the 'White Road of Joy' and 'Bibo Lake', I won't have the pain I have now."

"What are you talking about?" Marilla asked, staring at Marshall in surprise. "Well, that's what she said on the way." Marshall whispered evasively, "I'll bring the horse in, and I'll have dinner when I get back." "Didn't Mrs. Svensa bring anyone else out of the orphanage besides you?" Marilla continued to ask as soon as Marshall left. "My aunt has adopted a child named Lily John. Lily is only five years old this year. She is very beautiful and has brown hair. If I have brown hair and a more beautiful face, would you like to adopt me?"

"No, we want a boy who can do Marshall's farm work and help, not a girl. Come on, get your hat and bag and put them on the table in the front hall." Annie lifted her bag and hat listlessly like a deflated rubber ball.Did what Marilla said. At this time, Marshall came back, and the three of them came to the dinner table and began to eat.Annie really had no appetite, so she just touched the butter bread lightly.His eyes stared straight at the candied apples in the glass bowl next to the plate, and he was in a daze. "Why don't you eat anything?" Marilla asked puzzledly, and at the same time looked at Anne with embarrassment.

Anne sighed. "It's over! I've fallen into the abyss of despair. Imagine when you fall into despair, can you eat?" "What despair are you in? I didn't say anything," Marilla replied. "Really, not caught? Then, can't I imagine it?" "Forget it." "You won't understand no matter how I explain it. It's so annoying. As soon as I want to eat, my throat seems to be blocked like hell, and my stomach is so distended that I can't swallow anything. Such a delicious chocolate toffee I don't have a good taste. "Two years ago, I ate a piece of chocolate toffee, which was delicious. Since then, I have dreamed of getting a lot of chocolate toffee several times, but I always wake up from the dream as soon as I put it in my mouth. Please don't push me too hard, everything on the table is very delicious, but I just can't eat any of it."

"Ah, I'm so tired." Marshall, who had been silent since coming from the barn, interrupted at this moment, "I'd better let me have a rest first." Marilla ignored him, she was thinking about how to settle Annie.I thought there would be a boy, so I prepared a recliner in the room next to the kitchen, and made the room clean and tidy.But I didn't expect a girl to come, how can I let the girl sleep there.Apart from the living room, the only thing that can sleep is the east wing upstairs. Marilla lit a candle, said "Come with me" to Anne, and guided Anne, who was drooping her head, to look into the room.Annie also took the hat and bag that were on the table in the main hall into her hand. The two walked through the tidy hall, went up to the second floor, and entered the east wing.The narrow east wing was tidied up even more, but it was unavoidably dark and cold and desolate.Marilla put the candles on a triangular table, and began to spread the quilt for Anne. "Do you have pajamas?" Annie nodded and said, "I brought two pieces, which were made for me by the housekeeper of the orphanage dormitory, and they fit perfectly. Because the items in the orphanage are always insufficient, everything is tight.The orphanage I was in was like that.I hate skinny pajamas so much, it would be nice to have one with a long hem and a wave ruffle. But dreams belong to dreams, and I am content with such a short one. " "Hurry up and put on your pajamas. I'll come get the candles in a while. I don't worry about letting you blow out the candles. It would be bad if it caused a fire." Anne looked around the room as soon as Marilla had gone out.The walls in the room were whitewashed, without any decorations. Seeing that the walls were empty, Anne felt so empty in her heart, as if she couldn't figure out what to do.The floor was made of very ordinary materials, and in the center was a woven carpet that Anne had never seen before.In one corner of the room, there was a long old-fashioned wooden bed.The four legs of the bed were low, round, and dark in color.In the other corner stood a triangular table.There is a velvet needle bag on top.Looking up, it is a small quadrangular mirror hanging on the wall.On the window between the table and the bed, there is a curtain made of silvery white plush cloth, and in front of it is the washbasin. The room was filled with an indescribably cold atmosphere.Anne was so frightened that her bones were trembling.Sobbing, she hurriedly took off her clothes, put on tight pajamas that were too short, and jumped onto the bed.Then he buried his face deeply in the pillow, pulled off the quilt abruptly, and covered himself from head to toe. When Marilla came to get the candles, she saw Anne's clothes lying on the ground.However, judging from the messy appearance of the quilt on the bed, Anne was still in the room.Marilla lifted Anne's clothes one by one, put them neatly on a chair, and took the candle and went to the bed. "Good night." Marilla said in a blunt but not cold tone. Annie suddenly poked her head out from under the quilt, and complained: "You still say good night, tonight is the most restless and irritable night in my life, you know?" After complaining, Annie covered the quilt again. Marilla came slowly into the kitchen and began to wash the dishes.Marilla couldn't stand a kitchen that was even slightly dirty. Marshall was smoking his pipe thoughtfully.Although Marshall seldom smoked, at this time he wanted to smoke anyway.One can imagine how painful it would be if people didn't have a way to vent at such a time.Marilla pretended not to see all this. "It was absolutely unexpected." Marilla said angrily. "It just happened because I didn't go and entrusted someone else to go. Mrs. Svensa must have misunderstood it. Anyway, tomorrow, or You, or I, must go to Mrs. Svensa to make it clear, and the child will have to be sent back." "Well, well then," echoed Marshall less enthusiastically, "seems to be the way to go. But that being said, Marilla, the kid was a very, very sweet child. She thought so Stay, but we have to send her back, don't you think she is a bit pitiful?" Even if Marshall said he wanted to stand on his head now, Marilla would not have been so frightened. "Brother, you never mean to keep her in our house, do you?" "No, no, you are right." Marshall immediately made another 180-degree turn.He couldn't stand being pressed by Marilla. "No, I didn't intend to keep her. Of course, what use is that child? But maybe we will be useful to her." Marshall said suddenly. "Is my brother under the spell of that child? I can already see that, you want to adopt that child, right?" "Oh, I don't know why, but I always think that kid is very interesting." Marshall also became stubborn. "Walk all the way back from the train station, she has been chatting with me..." "Yes, she seems to be very eloquent. I can tell that at a glance. But it can't be counted. Her strengths, I don't like children with broken mouths, so I can't take her in, even if I take her in, she is not the type I like. There is something in this child that people can't figure out, it's really annoying Anyway, no, let her go back to me honestly! Just can't stay, the farm work, let's hire a French boy to help, this girl is not here to chat with us! " "Okay, okay, since you, Marilla, have made up your mind, let's do this! I'm going to sleep." Marshall stood up, packed his pipe, and went back to his room. After packing up the dishes, Marilla also frowned dissatisfiedly and returned to her room. In the east wing room on the second floor, Annie, full of longing for a new life, full of grievances and pain, shed tears and fell asleep at some point.