Chapter 46: Moment

Melia shook her shoulders and meowed abruptly, "I can't accept this!"

Chirp, chirp, chirp~

In the early morning, the sound of birdsong permeates the air.

Snap!

Xiao Jiuer threw a stone, scaring the bird away.

"Xiao Jiuer, slow down, I still want to catch it." A man dressed as a hunter walked out of the woods.

Xiao Jiuer knows Mills, he is also a citizen of the Sea Area.

It's just that Mills was originally sold to be a gladiator, and everyone else thought he was dead, most likely going to be used as a sacrifice for some festival, but unexpectedly he was sold to the young lady in the end.

"Since you don't want to leave, then you can be my employees." That's what the lady said.

Room and board are provided, but daily labor is required. It is said that many teachers will be invited to teach in the future, and like the servants in the main house, they will also have to take time off to attend classes.

Except for two self-proclaimed powerful gladiators who were unwilling to be employees and would rather return to the arena to gamble their lives in the hope of becoming gladiator stars, the rest of them stayed behind trembling with fear, taking things one step at a time.

After all, the oatmeal was real, and so was the milk. Rome was so powerful now. If they returned to the Maritime Kingdom or their original city-state, who knows when they would be enslaved again, and then they wouldn't have such good luck.

Little Jiuer blinked at Minos, ran to the cowshed without saying a word, put his hands behind his back, threw the grass in his hand into the trough, and watched the cow chew the ears of corn bit by bit.

Chirp, chirp, chirp.

The little girl next door was diligently tending to a flock of chicks. Xiao Jiuer listened attentively: he didn't recognize her. The family that came with the girl didn't seem to be newly bought by the young lady, but elderly people left by the master.

Logically speaking, such slaves should be more mature and respectable. I don't know why they would live in the deserted mountains with this group of newcomers.

"I caught it!" The girl next door breathed a sigh of relief. "One, two, three, four... seven! If there were any less, it would be terrible! Ah, the hen! Phew! There's a hen missing too."

Of course, it would be terrible if there were less. Xiao Jiuer stared at the cows: "These are the ones that the young lady gave them on credit." He didn't understand why it was called "credit". Isn't it natural to let slaves take charge of raising cattle?

The cow's mouth was still, her belly a little bloated from chewing hay all night. She turned and twitched Xiao Jiu'er's arm with her tail. Xiao Jiu'er went around to the back and put the pot on the ground to collect the milk.

The cow was still very young and would fetch a good price in his hometown, at least more than the two half-grown boys. Human flesh wasn't tasty, and young people had big appetites. Cows were better; they could help plow the fields, and their meat was delicious.

The warm milk quickly filled half of the earthenware jar, and Xiao Jiuer picked up the jar and walked out quickly.

The sky was already bright, and the rooster with a colorful tail stood on the fence, crowing arrogantly - the entire stone house manor was shrouded in morning light.

"Come, give me the milk." The lady standing in front of the stove wiped her face. Xiao Jiuer glanced at the curved horns on her head and handed over the pottery jar.

The old lady took the pottery jar and filled every small pottery bowl on the table.

She put down the empty can and wiped her forehead with emotion: "Wait a minute, the eggs haven't been picked up yet."

"good."

Xiao Jiuer agreed quickly, but walked towards the hillside: the mountain was covered with dark spines, and strong workers were planting seeds one by one around the top of the mountain.

These, like the communal stove, milk, and eggs, were the young lady's instructions.

The lady said that the land here is not fertile enough, so we have to plant legumes, such as lupine, in the first season.

Some people bravely raised objections, after all, now is the best time to grow wheat.

However, the young lady convinced them with just one sentence.

"Don't worry. This season's beans are my gift to you. No matter how many beans there are, just eat them yourself. The bean stalks can also be used to fertilize the soil and feed the cattle."

Huh~ Xiao Jiuer climbed up the stone with great effort and looked at the big tree in the shape of an arch not far away: occasionally there would be people carrying boxes coming in and out of the arch, those were the real miners.

Is this mountain really that big? Mining, raising chickens, and farming...

"Xiao Jiuer, the eggs are ready—"

As the old lady shouted, the little doubt disappeared in the wind.

Never mind, a lady is a lady, and that's enough.

…

Pardos put down the carving knife and nodded with satisfaction.

He stepped back to admire the pattern of the spinning machine he had carved. Although the appearance given by Melia was vague, the concept was still clear: let the spindles be combined into a spinning wheel, and then assemble the spindles vertically to rotate multiple spindles at the same time.

The force that drives the spindle can be human power, water power, or even what she mentioned - electricity.

With a snap, the slab fell to the ground.

"Teacher, please help me for a moment." Melia poked her head out from behind the door. "Can you lend me the spinning wheel blueprints? I need to contact the carpenter to make a few more~"

Of course, the simplest hand-cranked spinning machine is still the one that uses human power to drive the rotor. After all, the water-powered spinning machine requires the construction of a factory building, which is too technically difficult.

"Okay, take it first, and be careful not to drop it."

Pardos frowned. He didn't care if Melia fell down, because losing a leg or two wouldn't affect her intelligence. He was worried that his precious slate would break.

The teacher was still so determined to carve the words on the stone. Melia waved her hands helplessly, and two strong hired workers came out from behind, easily lifted the stone slab and walked out.

Anyway, the production of toilet paper is finally working. Although the initial products are just toilet paper, after a few generations of optimization, it should be able to withstand the penetration of ink and be easy to preserve.

They walked out of the stone house and the sunlight shone on the hillside.

A group of men and women in sackcloth were working hard. They drove the chickens and ducks into the woods and used axes to open up new clearings.

"…your new slave is very hardworking." Born into a prominent Greek family, Pados had seen many slaves slacking off. As long as the overseer was looking away, they would seize any opportunity to rest. Even with the harshest whipping, the slaves would delay their work as much as possible.

Melia laughed out loud: "Working hard for yourself and working hard for others are two different things. They are my employees now, and they are paid."

"Hmm." Pardos stretched out his finger and drew a few lines in the air. "If you want to build a mill, you need more help. I can ask for it, but a telescope..."

"I know, I know!" Melia covered her head. "Give me some time~ Even if I can't make an astronomical telescope, an ordinary telescope will still work~"

Snap, snap, snap.

The crisp sound of horse hooves trampling on the ground, the two men fell silent almost at the same time and looked towards the end of the road.

A knight in light armor approached from afar. He dismounted swiftly and put on a familiar smile. "Miss Melia, long time no see."

"It's been a long time since we last met. Prince, are you still in the mood to hunt with me?" Melia was a little emotional. The moment she saw him, she thought of those chaotic days.

Even though Marcus was no longer a popular figure, she was not going to make things difficult for his subordinates: after all, the friendship between the original owner and Marcus...mostly, Marcus would have to bear more.

If she were in his place, she wouldn't want to run around with a hateful idiot all day.

Toke obviously knew what was going on with his master. Fortunately, his helmet was large enough to hide his flushed face. "Ahem, His Highness said that the autumn weather is nice and crisp these days, perfect for deer hunting by the river... All of His Highness will be there."

Melia smiled knowingly: An olive branch of friendship~

As expected of Marcus, after experiencing such "minor incidents" as the cold treatment of the funeral and the temple's attack on his opponent, he was ready to reconcile. As the heir in a dominant position, he was still able to not let go of a single potentially useful pawn.

That’s amazing.

"I'm sorry, I didn't..."

"The son of the Greek consul will also be there, Lord Antonio~" Tok clenched his fists at the right time, looking very expectant.

That was the Greek Antonio! What young woman, especially the most arty Melia, would miss such an opportunity?

Antonio? That name sounds familiar.

Melia immediately opened "The Rose Princess" and almost cried out after taking a look: Who was it, isn't this the male protagonist?

Saying that the male lead is a bit of an exaggeration. After all, "Rose Princess" is a female-centered novel, and all the focus is on Elena. Of course, in order to advance the plot, there are still male leads.

The reason why the male protagonist is the male protagonist is because Antonio is the only one who has a slight possibility of "falling in love" with Elena.

He has the average appearance and height of a male protagonist in a novel, has a powerful family behind him, is gentle and loyal, generous and intelligent, a standard prince character.

Unfortunately, Antonio made one wrong move and for some reason he insisted on competing with Elena to see who was better - Elena was very moved and let "true love" go to heaven.

[Other His Highnesses are also here]

Antonio will also go

It turns out that things have come full circle, with the hero and heroine about to meet. As the supporting actress with a strong desire to survive, she should now make a safe exit, scatter flowers and wish them a happy marriage, love and hate each other, and keep the blood from flowing on her feet.

But why do I feel... a little uncomfortable?

Melia shook her shoulders and meowed abruptly, "I can't accept this!"

"ah?"

"...nothing."

She pursed her lips and put on a fake smile: "I didn't expect that Lord Antonio would be there too~ Hehehehe, I will definitely be there, I'm so looking forward to it~~"

Alas, Tok's whole body was shocked, and he and his horse disappeared on the horizon as if they were fleeing.

"Huh~ I...what's there to not accept?" Melia turned around and kicked a small stone away, imagining how it would look like when it landed on Elena's head.

Hehe~ For your future happiness, thank me for my efforts, Elena.

The author has something to say:

Thanks to Seventeen and Lei Lei under Luo Mu Xiao Xiao~

Thanks to wusuyi╮(╯_╰)╭, jgbvgyfch, and Boyan for their support~