Chapter 176 Extraordinary

Poverty is the most appropriate way to describe Bella's family. Since the malicious persecution, the days of improvement are gone. In addition to Bella's death, the most important thing left is the increasingly oppressive theocracy and the money transactions between the nobles, which have left me and Tenaia with an indelible nightmare.

There was nothing left at home to properly deal with Dr. Bella's body. With the consent of the old woman Prasvia, I wrapped him in his bedding. There was nothing good to bury him with. The only thing I could take away was the few herbs that had not been destroyed. As for the destruction of the herbs, that was what Dr. Bella meant after he came out. All his clinical treatment notes were also destroyed and burned. I couldn't understand why Dr. Bella refused to leave them behind, as this was such a valuable asset for this era. However, I learned from the old woman Prasvia that after Dr. Bella came out, he was like brainwashed, firmly believing that what he did was heresy, and more than once claimed that this was a betrayal against God's will and was wrong from the beginning. So he had to burn them, leaving nothing in the world, otherwise the villains would kill a successor who had learned these heresies in the name of God.

So simply put, religion won. Even though the victory was not glorious, it at least allowed this still young religion to gain more popularity. After all, this was an era of religion, not medicine and science.

"Okay!" I sighed. I originally thought that even if others didn't believe, I would believe, and others didn't learn, I would learn. If I could get Dr. Bella's surgical medicine, then there would be a chance, I mean if there was a chance, I would make a big difference on the front line, but now it's impossible, but I can understand and respect Dr. Bella's decision. "Then, let me take care of the mother and daughter in the future!" I said, and put a simple cross that I had woven. Dr. Bella is a staunch Catholic, so I hope that after he goes to heaven, God will not treat him unfairly and will not let his faith waver.

I kept my word. I had to take on the responsibility of a man for Tenaia, who was almost helpless. The first and foremost thing was how to support such a family of three.

As the saying goes, a penny does not make a hero, which is true. There are thousands of jobs that can make money, but making big money requires a knack. Otherwise, it is not a problem to support yourself by selling physical work. The problem is how to support Tenaia and the old woman Prasvia.

I was impatient for a job, so I went out to look for one on the first day. The job I was most interested in was that craftsman who made the most noise in the city. I didn't have the skills to be the craftsman's assistant, and I couldn't get paid as an apprentice. This forced me to give up, so I went back without getting anything on the first day. How could this stop me? You know, I spent half a month looking for my first job after graduating from college. I was not convinced, so I thought of growing grapes, yes, wine grapes. It's not that the Romans like wine, and their veins are all diluted wine pulp, so growing grapes must have a market. So I ran to the grape fields outside the city. The grape fields stretched for hundreds of meters and you couldn't see the end at a glance. There were slaves who came from nowhere busy in the fields. It turned out that wine grapes were high-end products that only nobles could grow. A poor man like me, even if I sold myself, I couldn't get a decent piece of land, let alone grow grapes.

The phrase "high aspirations but low skills" is the most appropriate to describe me now. I have a shadow in my heart for this type of work. I still feel upset about Xiaoya's departure. It's not that I blame her for being ruthless, forgetting the vows we made, and not having the patience to accompany me on my comeback. Instead, I am concerned about why I lost my job, which formed a chain reaction and eventually led to my failure. I can't understand why God always makes me feel deeply that good fortune never comes alone and misfortune never comes alone when he targets me, and I put myself in her shoes and experience it and regard it as the truth.

"Is this fate?" I couldn't help but smile bitterly. If they couldn't find a job, both mother and daughter would starve. They became increasingly haggard because they didn't even have the money to buy fish. They couldn't even pick up rotten vegetable leaves in the market when they went out. If this continued, they would only be reunited with Bella in heaven!

I deeply believe that letting a woman go hungry is a slap in the face of a man, so I had to bite the bullet and go out again. On a new day, I walked out of the room and looked left and right at the two ends of the road. The road to the north leads to the center of the town and the land to the north, while the road to the south is the ocean and leads to the dock, which is the busiest place. After a few days of sun evaporation, the mud on this road is no longer too serious. The poor people coming and going are all ragged, whether adults or children. Although their clothes are shabby, they are well-nourished. This is often inseparable from the fact that Genoa is close to the ocean. The fish in the sea are inexhaustible for them. Naturally, the price is not too high. Even if you don’t have money to buy, you can go out to sea by yourself. If you can’t catch big fish, just some small fish near the coast are a delicacy when you go home. You don’t have to starve, and naturally you won’t be malnourished.

Near the sea, the sea breeze blew directly over my face from the other end of the street. I looked up at the coast at the end of the street and the distant horizon. The sea water and the sky were the same color. It was true. The green ocean gradually turned into blue in the distance, and there was only an inconspicuous dotted line separating it from the distant sky.

"Then go and have a look there. There must be a good job there."

Well, it's decided. I said to myself, "Come on!" Then I set foot on the road to the pier that I had never walked on in the past few days.

The street was not long, and it took only two or three minutes to walk to a low-lying open space that could be called a port. The sun was shining brightly here, and the surroundings were empty. Because of the goods being transported back and forth, it was much wider than the street behind. There were busy people coming and going, including civilians, fishermen, and slaves. They were busy with their own affairs on the dock, and I stood at the edge, feeling like I had a chance to relax even though I was depressed.

I encouraged my lung capacity and took a deep breath of the ocean. The damp and salty sea breeze instantly filled my lungs. There were a lot of people here, so it was noisy. Another cargo ship had arrived at the dock, and the workers who had been waiting at the dock for a long time were eager to try and hurry up to work.

"Here I come!" I rubbed my hands, eager to try. Yes, I was desperate and had to do this hard labor that I had never wanted to do! In this era, temporary workers like me were in short supply, so I talked to the supervisor at the dock, registered, and became a formal worker, earning fifty copper coins a day.

I considered myself to be in good health, since my military background had given me a good foundation. However, I could handle the heavy barreled cargo for half a day, but I could not handle it for a whole day until evening.

Fortunately, the merchant on the cargo ship was a kind man. After we received our wages, he gave us twenty more Fuli copper coins.

Holding the heavy purse, I couldn't help but smile bitterly, because I had never seen so many copper coins when I joined the army. Moreover, due to the failed economic reform, the inflation in Rome was several times higher than that of a hundred years ago. In this era, the denarius silver coin could hardly be considered a basic unit, not to mention the worthless forli.

"Forget it, it's money after all!" I weighed the purse. I was exhausted after a whole day's work, and the soreness in my muscles was unbearable. Let's go home, I told myself silently in my heart, at least let Tenaia and the other two know that I can make money. Although it's not much, with income, life will definitely get better! At least in a few months I can go out and no longer have to suffer! When I got home, the mother and daughter saw the Fuli copper coins in my hand, and a long-lost smile appeared on their haggard faces. Yes, I saw hope in their eyes, at least there is hope for the days to come.

(End of this chapter)