Chapter 53 Kitten Fishing
◎A little white cat quietly passed through the crowd and disappeared behind a wooden barrel not far away.◎
The maid followed the wizard's instructions and gently closed the wooden door, shrouding the spacious bedroom in darkness.
The bed was hidden by heavy curtains, and the only sound was the crunching of chewing apples.
Crunch, crunch, crunch, this young lady keeps eating. Does she believe it or not?
The wizard stole a glance at the pink and white figure behind the curtain and rubbed the crystal ball on the table with his withered hands.
The crystal ball was stained and covered with ginger-colored pits and flaws, but the wizard's expression was very focused, as if he could see past lives and present lives, and even a future lottery draw, from inside.
She murmured, "I saw... a wisp of smoke."
The crackling stopped, and the figure inside sat up straight. "Tell me more clearly, what's behind the smoke?"
"Hmm, hmm..." The wizard shook his head in a pretentiously profound manner. "It's not enough, it's not enough. Fate is unpredictable. You need to offer me..."
"You're still talking and you want to pay first? Goodbye~" The person inside leaned back on the pillow and began to eat bread again. It was breakfast time after all, and the aroma of barbecue permeated the curtains, making people's appetites flutter.
Oh my goodness! They say Melia of the Mualla family is incredibly wealthy, so why doesn't she play by the rules? She has the money to support so many servants and build schools in Rome, but she doesn't have the money to express her piety.
You have no money and don't believe, why do you look for so many wizards? You think they are fat sheep.
The wizard choked and continued to rub the crystal ball with his fingers, producing a suspicious mist. "Hmm, I can see... your figure. There's a bright glow behind you. It must be a blessing from some god."
Nonsense, who doesn't know that Melia is a favored one? Turn left to the Temple of the Goddess of Wisdom.
The person inside laughed. "What else? Can I see anything specific? It would be best if there was a letter telling me what difficulties I've encountered recently and how to solve them."
"This... fate is unpredictable." The wizard dared not say more. This business was all about playing tricks on people. When communicating with the poor, he could use threats and force them. He told them that if there was a disaster, they must spend money to ward it off.
If you encounter a wealthy family that you don't trust in the first place...if you speak too harshly, the servants' sticks will be very strong.
"Okay, okay, don't be so unpredictable, Annie. Give her a meal, two meat dishes and one vegetable dish."
"Yes." A slave girl in linen clothes walked out from behind the curtain and pointed outside, signaling the wizard to follow her out for dinner. This was an unwritten rule. If the master did not believe the wizard's words, he would only provide a meal, not letting her come in vain.
The wizard gritted her teeth, not knowing whether to leave or not. If she wasn't really afraid of the power behind this great tycoon, she would have rolled on the ground and cursed loudly.
Ani raised her hand and patted her shoulder: "Okay, don't make trouble in front of the master."
A pearl rolled down and landed on the wizard's lap. The wizard put the pearl into her sleeve and walked away, looking back every few steps. No matter how thoughtful her expression was, the person behind the curtain did not speak to keep her.
Melia watched the wizard walk out of the door and stretched lazily. "Really? Another fake."
The Rose Queen clearly mentioned the fairy's blessing, so she couldn't just sit there and wait for death. Unfortunately, she had consulted a bunch of lesser-known wizards, but none of them could figure out what was going on. It looked like she would have to put it on hold for now.
Ani stepped back onto the carpet silently: "Master, there's something going on at the mine."
"I know." Melia lazily flipped through the book in her mind. "There are seven of Sura's spies in there."
"Yes... Master, how do you know there are seven? Our people only found three..."
Annie lowered her head in shame, and her master smiled without saying a word: Because Shadow Rome marked the number of residents.
There are a total of 50 miners, 75 handymen, plus Miranda, Misha and Millie, which makes a total of 127 people. It says residents: 120, but there are 7 spies.
"Master, since there are still four spies, should we take them out?"
"No need. Compared to those~how are the food stores in Greece doing?" Melia waved her hand and joked. She was still hoping that this group of people would tell Sura: there are a lot of money and stupid people, come quickly!
"Business is very good." Annie nodded vigorously, and the little girl next to her immediately presented the account.
These accounts were all copies, written on newly made paper and marked with Arabic numerals: the paper pages tore easily, but were much lighter than the original cowhide and sheepskin.
When I was checking the accounts a while ago, I was really overwhelmed by the pile of slate boards covered with Roman numerals.
Contrary to Melia's previous understanding, Rome and the Greek capitals had already had professional food stores. However, unlike the small restaurants of later generations, they mainly sold ingredients and side dishes, such as bread and sausages.
The most important thing for a sandwich chain is location. Muala's original properties were all located near major transportation routes, so honestly, they could make money selling anything. Even if the stores sat idle for a decade or two, they could still beat inflation by selling them during peacetime.
With Melia's guidance, the chefs successfully replicated sauces similar to mayonnaise and ketchup, including sweet fig jam and grape jam.
With the help of the mill, the cost of both black and white bread was reduced a lot, making it difficult for local food merchants to engage in price wars. Some people even went to sandwich shops specifically to buy cheap bread.
If it weren't for the pressure on local shops to make a living, the price of bread could be lowered further.
The meat filling was easy to make: sausage, egg, and mixed meat pies. The meat fillings in the Roman city area were all provided by their own estates, so the cost was extremely low. The vegetables were a bit more difficult, and only cabbage was suitable.
Ani considered it over and over again, and finally leaned back on the pillow: "Master, aren't the contracts you offer to those shop owners too generous?"
[Shopkeeper] is the official term, but the shop actually belongs to Melia. She selected some brave and careful people from the slaves and sent them out to work. She called those people "shopkeepers."
Not only did they give them a full 20% of the usual profits, but they also specifically told them that if they worked for fifteen years, they could redeem themselves for free and receive a generous pension so that they could go home and open a small shop!
"Ani, this is a necessary reward. I don't want to hear that the food in the store is deadly." Melia raised her head and smiled confidently. "Besides, the school has just opened, and those who go in have to work hard. You keep busy, I'm going to catch up on some sleep first~ Yawn."
Ani nodded in agreement, but a question still crossed her mind: Even though these were just the first few stores and a few store managers, the profits being given up weren't huge. The owner had even specifically stated that future store managers would be selected from outstanding students at the school, but she still felt like she was missing something.
Why was the master so generous, and why—she began to silently accept and get used to this generosity.
Ani put away the account book and retreated with the maid. Amidst her anticipation, she also felt a tinge of fear: if she had to follow a new master in the future, she would definitely not be able to be a good slave.
…
A woman in a long robe walked through Xicheng District. The autumn wind was getting colder day by day. She couldn't help but wrap her sleeves tightly and hugged the basket in her arms with her arms. The basket was full of bread.
"Hey, which store did you go to buy things from today?"
Μàη
A huge puddle of water splashed down from the building, nearly splashing onto the woman. Fortunately, Xicheng District had dug a new sewage canal, which extended outward, allowing the dirty water to flow along the grooves and into the cracks in the rocks.
"Yes, they're still selling it over there. The chef said there's more flour, more than what was baked the day before yesterday." The woman covered the basket with her headscarf and stepped forward.
"Hey, wait a minute, there's a fabric store across the street, owned by Miss Melia." The woman upstairs leaned out halfway. "The prices are a lot cheaper. It's cold in winter, don't forget to buy some."
"Really? Thank you." The woman ran and crossed the fork in the road in a few steps.
Seeing the crowd queuing in front of her, she ran faster and faster, almost getting her slippers stuck in the ditch.
Luckily, someone helped her get to the end of the line. Rubbing her knees, she whispered to the person in front of her, "I heard they have cheap fabrics for sale. How much is it?"
Making clothes is a very troublesome job. Although every household has someone who can weave, unless they keep many slaves, they have to spend a lot of time spinning and weaving.
Spinning requires shaking the spindle to produce a fine thread. How much thread is needed to make a piece of linen? Who can count it? A piece of linen the length of a finger requires more than a hundred threads.
"Yes, there really is." The person in front lowered his voice: "It's the cloth sold by Miss Melia. It's very delicate. I guess they bought a new batch of skilled slaves..."
Originally, a discount of one or two copper coins on a piece of cloth was not a big discount, but the texture of these cloths was so delicate and firm that even people who didn't know the quality of cloth would like it when they touched it.
"What a skillful slave! Miss Melia has struck gold!" the man at the front of the line said with great delight, "Master Muala left behind such a large area that we all thought it was barren, but now the gold has flowed into the lake!"
"Really?!" The people in the queue were already bored, so they immediately raised their heads and listened carefully.
"Of course it's true. Why would I lie to you? Otherwise, Miss Melia would have lost a lot of money selling so much cheap bread and cheap cloth."
The man stamped his foot, and the people around him nodded: "Yes, that's no wonder. It turns out that these shops were opened to subsidize the poor because of the gold mines they dug up."
Alas, ever since Miss Melia was favored by Minerva, her heart has become better and better. We no longer see her driving her carriage and hitting people at random.
A little white cat quietly passed through the crowd and disappeared behind a wooden barrel not far away.
…
Damn it, I slept too much in the morning, and I can't sleep at night! Next time, I'll use a human body to patrol the store. It's a bit slow, but at least it won't affect my nighttime investigation.
Woohoo, what’s the point of falling asleep now?
The little white cat jumped out of the grass angrily. It was already dawn, the moonlight was dimming, and the sun would soon come on stage.
She meowed as she stepped over the weeds and into the garden. She was stunned: "Why is it the palace again? Before I went to bed, wasn't I planning on going to Sulla's or any other senator's house to gather intelligence?"
"Your Highness Elena, I'm glad you accepted my invitation."
What's going on? Someone's calling Elena?! The little white cat scurried into the bushes and crept to the ground. She looked up and breathed a sigh of relief: "It's Antonio! Are they here so early to practice swordplay in the garden?"
Antonio and Elena sat opposite each other at the stone table. He stood up solemnly and extended his right hand to Elena: "Please accept my proposal."
The author has something to say:
Thanks to Siye, Luomuxiaoxiaoxia, and Boyan for their irrigation~
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