Yulia was sitting silently in the bare wheat field, she had even harvested this year's wheat in advance, and it seemed that if she had completed a year, that is, a forty Tallent debt that would not have been paid off in a month, she would either die of starvation this winter, or secretly sell her manor to escape from renting an apartment to avoid debts, and even be sued as a slave because of her debts. Her estate was bleak, not to mention livestock and house slaves, even potted plants and dining tables of some value had been carried away, and Yulia sat on the ridges, nibbling on fishmeal pancakes, her hair fluttering in the wind like ripe wheat.

In the fish pond on the other side of the ridge, only Habaruka was still holding a harpoon, hoping to fork fresh fish inside, but this was basically a delusion, and there were no fingerlings in this fish pond three years ago.

Seeing this scene, Calabis was also a little sad in his heart, so he jumped off his horse and prepared to say hello to Yulia, but who thought that as soon as Yulia saw him, she hurriedly stuffed the pancake into her mouth, and ran to the manor, Calabis shouted that our debt can be discussed, who thought that Yulia would run faster when she heard this, this girl was quite strong, and she closed the manor door to a person with a bang, and Habaruka was so anxious that she jumped outside, shouting Mistress You can't sell me anymore.

"There's nothing wrong with selling it to me, at least I can give you a few dozen dinars a day." After Calabis had finished speaking, he climbed up the wall of the courtyard with three strokes of his hand, and jumped in, and then Yulia shouted inside, and in a short time Calabis opened the gate and let Habaruka in, and the mistress of the manor fled to the altar at the end of the cloister on both sides, and then the male creditor crossed the cistern and the verandah in a majestic manner, and approached the altar where Yulia was.

As a result, Yulia was ready to climb up the stairway of the building. Calabis stopped her. "We can talk. Dear Yulia. Emily. Ms. Leadaeus. ”

"There's nothing to talk about, I can't afford to pay off my debts." When Yulia finished speaking, she was about to go upstairs, when she remembered that the stairs of her house had also been taken away by the creditor, and that she had gone downstairs with a rope this morning, so she could only retreat in a panic, and re-approach the altar dedicated to King Numa, on which there was also a statue of Aeneas tied with wool. and a small bronze statue of a she-wolf nurturing the Romulus brothers.

"Listen, woman!" Calabis didn't bother to use the honorific title anymore, "I've come from afar, you should chop some wood and raise a fire to cook for me." ”

"How do you want to get in debt? I'm going to chop wood. After Yulia finished speaking, she ran downstairs in the backyard and began to raise her axe to chop wood.

"I can pay off all your debts now, but if you sell me the estate, I'll give you five more Talentes, and you can live in peace in a fancy apartment in Rome. Put a small loan shark or something. Calabis coughed twice and sat down on the pyre.

"No, I can't. I want to revive the Li Bida family. Yulia wiped the sweat from her forehead, not knowing whether she was tired or panicked, but she said firmly.

"I've investigated, and your ex-husband was just a local knight in Sardinia, and he was killed in the maritime trade. Otherwise, give me the name of Lybidaeus, and the ring of King Numa, and I will give you another hundred Talents, and I will take on the responsibility of reviving this family. Calabis was a good follower, and he wanted to negotiate terms with Yulia so that both parties would be happy.

"No, the surname can't be given to outsiders." Yulia picked up Chai He and walked to the stove.

"Well, then, we can make a false marriage, I am no longer a slave, I will immediately find a doctor to remove this left ear piercing, and go to the Roman legions as a lieutenant, or even as a magistrate in Far Spain, and in a few years I will be able to run for the post of court, and then I will draw a poverty lot, and go to a remote and narrow province to be a governor, and after the age of forty I will start running for consulship, so that the surname of Lybidaeus will continue to flourish. And you, Yulia, you will stay in the Ophilenu Manor, continue to be your mistress, I will not be stingy in terms of monetary gifts, the manor and the lintel will be revitalized, you don't even have to have children, and the two of us will be free, how about it. ”

"No, I don't like you." Yulia began to pull out the last remaining wheat flour and other food from the clay pot, and began to get busy on the stove.

"Come on, I don't like your cooking, it's comparable to the dark cuisine of Britain, but it's good that you Romans haven't seen it yet!" Calabis hated this little widow a little, and shouted: "I have made it very clear, you are in Sardinia, I am in Rome, you need my money, I need your door, isn't it very good for everyone to cooperate?" ”

Julia brushed the light yellow hair on her forehead and said, "Don't think of me as one of those women in the city of Rome, I just need to weave, give birth to children, and cook on the stove, and it is the family tradition to be diligent and simple." As soon as the question was touched, the little widow's words increased.

Calabis couldn't take it any longer, so he went to the loom, pointed to the strips of cloth that Yulia had woven, and asked, "What kind of pattern is this?" ”

"Iris."

"Yes! Iris? I thought it was an iron anchor made from a single iron ingot! It's still one by one, and it's lively in this dress, but I hope you don't have a phobia of intensity. Calabis raised his hand and said in a loud sarcastic voice, then he went to the stove again, pointed to the contents of the pot and asked, "What are you doing to treat me?" Yulia's amber eyes looked inside, then pulled her hair, and said vaguely, "Barley porridge, put some peppercorns in it." ”

He couldn't help but think of such a heart-wrenching dish as "pickled pepper and peach", and now there was only one left, and Yulia had not yet shown the ability to have children, but Calabis did have a feeling of "defeated", he waved his hand, and said, "Okay, let's figure out your debts now - are you familiar with the merchant ships in Sardinia?" ”

"Familiar, my second bankruptcy was planted in their hands."

"Look at you, you still have to worry about the lintels of the nobles, and they are all personally involved in usury and maritime trade." Calabis continued to sarcastically empty the stove, and Julia protested that it was my food, but Calabis ignored her, and went straight to the clay pot rack in the kitchen, took out some pickled apples and olives, and said to Yulia, Is there any small poultry in the manor?

"Nope."

"I've got some snails." At this time, Habaruka raised his hand, "That kind of big snail from Africa." ”

"Oh." Calabis followed him to a large clay urn in the shade behind the house, and put his hand into it, the inner walls of which were covered with smears of grape juice and wheat flour, and snails crawling about—Habaruka had done a good job, and the manor should have been left to him long ago. (To be continued......)