"Aunt Beatrix," Jenny asked while drinking the soup loudly, "do you think Noah is better than Ulysses, or is Ulysses better than Noah?" "Jenny, I said don't pick food from the tip of the spoon." Beatrice ignored Jenny's question. "I can't pick noodles off the spoon." "Ruth can." Jenny glanced at the twin sisters sitting opposite, pretending to manipulate the thin noodles in the spoon. "Her tongue sucks better than mine." "You see, Aunt Beatrice has the face of a very expensive cat," Ruth whispered to Jenny, and glanced at her aunt out of the corner of her eye.

Beati privately felt that this description was quite appropriate, but hoped that when Ruth said this, she would not have any weird thoughts in her mind. "Okay, what do you think, who is the best?" Jenny returned to the original question, she is like this, whenever there is a problem, she has to get to the bottom of it. "You should say who is more powerful." Ruth corrected Jenny's words. "Noah is better or Ulysses is better? Simon, who do you think is better?" "Ulysses is amazing." The elder brother said, but his eyes were still fixed on the newspaper.

Bitui muttered in her heart, Simon is Simon.The kid can pepper the soup while reading the race list and listen to the conversation. "How do you say it? Simon, why Ulysses?" "He doesn't have such a good weather forecast as Noah to provide him with news." "Oh, don't talk too far." Bitui couldn't help but interjected. "Simon, bar mitzvah is a bit like a wedding, isn't it?" It was Ruth who asked this time. "It's better than a wedding in general." "Really" "You can stay at your bar mitzvah and dance late into the night, but not at your wedding."

"I'm going to stay and dance late at my wedding." "I don't care about you." My God, Bicui couldn't help sighing, other people's families always chat when they eat, but I really don't know how they mediate these back and forth—maybe I'm not strict enough with them. She looked at the three heads hanging down at dinner, and the vacant seat belonging to Ailian, and she still wondered whether she had treated these children badly.Would her brother Bill and sister-in-law Nora be satisfied with her discipline of their children? If, by a miracle, they could walk into this home alive, young and good-looking and happy as they were when they died, would they say : "Ah, by the way, this is what we pictured in our minds, and even Jenny's virtue can't be wrong."

When Bicui's eyes glanced at Jenny, she couldn't help smiling knowingly. The twin sisters are more than nine years old and almost ten years old, and they look exactly alike.To say that they look exactly the same can only be said technically.In fact, apart from the same appearance, the two sisters have completely different personalities.Both of them have straight flaxen hair, thin faces, and fair skin. When they look at you, they both have a hint of provocation.But that's where their similarities end.Jenny wore dirty breeches and a baggy woolen jacket.She didn't even need to look in the mirror when she combed her hair, and it was pulled up casually and held in a faded barrette.Her eyes have a bit of astigmatism, so it is inevitable to wear a pair of glasses with horn rims in front of "important people".Usually the glasses were tucked into the back pocket of her breeches.

Over the years, countless times, she would lie down, sit down, or lean on something at once, crushing her good spectacles.Every time she broke her glasses, she had to pay out of pocket money to fix them, so poor Jenny was always on the verge of bankruptcy.When she went to the pastor's house to attend classes, she always rode a white pony named "Sizhuzi" to and fro. The short legs were spread out on both sides of Sizhuzi's body, like two straws. Over time, the four-poster became a means of transport rather than a horse for riding, so it didn't mind at all even though Jenny ravaged its broad back like a feather bed.

Ruth, on the contrary, wore a pink cotton dress that had been immaculate and tidy from the time she rode her little bicycle to the pastor's house early in the morning for her lessons. Her hands were clean, her nails were perfect, and she had found a piece of pink ribbon somewhere, and tied her hair up on both sides, and ended it with a butterfly on top of her head. Eight years, Bicui pondered.In the past eight years, she has devoted herself to running, planning and planning for this family.In six weeks, her supervisory responsibilities here will come to an end.In just over a month, Simon will be twenty-one years old, and he will inherit his mother's inheritance, and this difficult time will be over.The Asybe family never made a lot of money, but when her brother was alive, he was able to keep the family business called "Lecht"-including the house and the three surrounding farms-in good shape; , his sudden death made life difficult for these eight years.However, Beetui made up her mind from the very beginning to keep the property for her brother well. Until today, she can finally hand it over to his son unscathed next month.For eight years, they have not owed any debts, and even though their lawyer-Mr. Sandow of Ke Shi Nuo Law Firm-has agreed to assist if necessary, the property has always maintained a self-sufficient state.

Over her nephew's head, Beetui could see a long row of white railings at the racetrack to the south, and the old horse "Ruiqin" Tail hair that shines in the sun.It was the horses that saved them.Raising horses was originally her brother's hobby, but after his death, it became a timely rain to support his family's economy.Over the years, despite illnesses, injuries, etc., these horses have been bringing a lot of money to their family.Income is always more than expenditure.Seeing that her brother's batch of stallions seemed to be able to make some money, Bicui bought another batch of ponies for children to ride on. This made the verdant grassland a lot more lively.Ailian trained some not-so-good horses into so-called "safe mounts for your lady", and sold them for a lot of money.Now that the neighboring house has been converted into a school, Ailian helps the school train students to ride horses, charging a lot per hour.

"Eileen is late after class today, isn't she?" "Did she teach the daughter of the Basler family today?" Simon asked with contempt in his tone. "Yes, it's the Basler girl." "I'm afraid that poor horse will be tossed to death today." Simon stood up and removed the soup plate, and helped bring the meat on the dining table to the table. Beatrice looked at him with strict and appreciative eyes-at least she didn't spoil Simon, which is not a matter of fact. easy.This kid Simon has his own way. Since he was young, he has been able to use an indescribable allure to make many people fall for him and let him take advantage of it.Whenever he played this little trick on others, Bitui saw it, and sometimes found it quite amusing, and she couldn't help admiring it: If she had Simon's cleverness, it was hard to guarantee that she wouldn't play it like this other people.It's just that she is always very careful not to let Simon's tricks succeed on her.

"It would be great if the coming-of-age ceremony was the same as the wedding, with bridesmaids." Ruth said while carefully flipping through the food on the plate. No one spoke at the moment. "The pastor said that Ulysses might be a nuisance at home." Jenny still didn't leave the earlier topic. "Is that so?" Bicui was quite interested in the lace news of this classical literature. "how to say? " "The vicar said he 'must have been thinking of inventing some little thing, and his wife Penelope must be glad he's not here to set her free for a while.'—the beef liver was so tender."

Ailian walked in, as usual, calmly helped herself to get some dishes from the table. "Oh!" cried Ruth. "It smells so strong of a stable!" "Ailian, you came back a bit late today." Bicui greeted her in a questioning tone. "She won't learn to ride," muttered Elaine. "She won't even be able to put on a saddle." "Maybe idiots can't ride horses," Ruth agreed. "Ruth!" Beetui yelled with an accentuated tone. "The kids in the yard aren't idiots. They're not even retarded, they just have a hard time learning." "Anyway, they act like idiots. If you act like an idiot, who can tell if you are?" No one could answer Ruth's words, and the lunch table fell silent. Ailian is like a hungry elementary school student, she just eats without squinting, and soon.Just finished lunch. Simon was counting numbers on the edge of the newspaper with a pencil. Because Ruth stole three biscuits from the biscuit tin in the vicar's house just now and ate them in the toilet, she can only gather the midgets in front of her eyes into a pile like a castle, and the gravy dripping around is just like a moat.Jenny happily enjoyed the food on the plate.Bitui looked out the window leisurely. On the other side of the far hilltop, the terrain sloped away for miles towards the coast and the dense rooftops of Westside.And this end is a relatively high valley. The strong wind on the other side of the strait cannot blow over, and it is facing the sun. Therefore, several big trees grow tall and straight, and even exude a bit of charm.This scene, in the open and bright, has a mysterious tranquility. A good estate indeed—a rich and beautiful estate. Bitui secretly hopes that Simon can continue to operate well.There had been a few times in the past when she could not help but feel -- no, not worry -- perhaps doubt.Simon's character is too multifaceted, as changeable as quicksilver, which is not the typical character of the heir to the farm.This one is called "Lechter" Among the several surrounding properties, it is the only one that has not changed owners. Bicui hopes that in the next few hundred years, their family surnamed Asybie will still live here—just like the people sitting around The dining table has a fine skeleton and a slender face like the Asybe family. "Jenny, do you have to spill the juice all over the place like this?" "Aunt Beetui, I don't like lumps of potatoes, I like soft boiled ones." "Then you should be careful to mash it into mud." When she was Jenny's age, she liked to mash potatoes herself, and it was at this table.I don't know how many people from the Asybe family sat around this table-some of them died of fever in India, some died of wounds in the Crimea, some starved to death in Queensland, and some Some died of typhoid in the Cape, and others died of cirrhosis of the liver in the Straits Settlements.But no matter what, the Asybe family has always lived in the property of Recht.They can also manage the industry well.Every once in a while, there's going to be a rogue--in the case of her cousin Howard--but for God's sake, the rogues are always the lesser, disinherited ones, even if they're profligate. , and will not endanger Recht's property. It is true that the queen never came here to dine, nor did fleeing knights take refuge here, but for three hundred years it has stood in this prairie, and it has always been a good residence for middle-class farmers.Among these three hundred years, two hundred years were lived by the Asybe family. Perhaps it is its simplicity that makes it survive like this.It has no pretense at all, and it does not pursue any vanity.The good thing about it is that it's down to earth.On the other side of the valley, the "Carlisle" manor stands proudly like a lady, but its original owners, the Ridingham family, have long since ceased to live there.The Letinghams had been squandering their wits and their wealth, and they had regarded the Carlisle property as their backer, their purse, and their ornament, but not at all as an inheritance. For hundreds of years, they have looked down on the world like peacocks: some are governors, some are adventurers, some are jesters in the court, some are prodigal sons, and some are revolutionaries. Carlisle has always been for them to do as they please. Now, all that remains are their photos.And their mansion was converted into a boarding school, where a group of spoiled children of rich families with huge savings and progressive thinking lived. Yet Recht was still home to the Asybe family.