It wasn't an apple that hit Newton.

Li Cheng's lips twitched, and he turned back, slowly saying, "It's not impossible—"

"Stop keeping me in suspense!" Annie shouted urgently, then clasped her hands together and pleaded with Li Cheng across from her, "You have to help me! If I don't finish my homework, my tutor will punish me by making me copy books again! I really don't want to copy books anymore!"

Considering that this girl named Annie seemed easy to fool and appeared to have a good relationship with Newton, Li Cheng decided to help her... but not unconditionally; even if it was a free gift, he had to give her something in return.

So he casually said, "Okay, in exchange, I'll ask you a few questions."

Anne eagerly agreed, "Ask away, I'll tell you everything I know."

"Straightforward..." Li Cheng didn't waste any time and went straight to the point: "That fat guy from before, your dad called him Chairman Carter, which chairman is he?"

After racking her brains for a while, Anne replied, "I think he was the president of the Merchants' Guild, but I can't remember."

Businessmen's Association President?

I've heard of textile guilds and dyeing guilds, but this is the first time I've heard of a merchants' guild. It sounds like something out of a video game. Guilds are usually organizations where workers unite to protect their rights. It's good enough if these merchants don't exploit others, but forming a guild to protect their rights? Is that reasonable? Is that reasonable?

Li Cheng asked in confusion, "There are organizations like merchant guilds? Wouldn't such guilds be meddling too much?"

Anne: "I'm not too sure either, but they don't seem to care about the specifics, they just want to create a guild."

What else could he ask? There didn't seem to be anything he wanted to ask... Li Cheng pondered for a moment, then suddenly blurted out, "What's your bra size?"

"...What is bra size?"

Annie scratched her head, clearly lacking the relevant knowledge.

There was no product called a bra at that time, and that's why Li Cheng dared to ask for fun.

"Nothing, just asking."

Li Cheng chuckled to brush it off, then said, "Alright, one last question: do you know what your dad and that businessman chairman were talking about just now?"

"How would I know? They won't tell me what they're talking about, and I'm too lazy to listen anyway," Annie replied impatiently. "Okay, I'm done answering, now it's your turn! I'm telling you, Isaac is watching, so you can't go back on your word!"

It's just an assignment, what could I possibly do wrong...?

Li Cheng said, "Don't worry, let me tell you, this is very simple. After all, you're being asked to investigate alone, and it was a last-minute decision. I guess your advisor didn't have high hopes; he was just giving you something to do."

Anne gritted her teeth and said, "That guy does nothing but give me trouble all day long, and he even has the nerve to make things difficult for me."

"But your advisor probably forgot."

Li Cheng tapped the table with his index finger to bring the topic back on track: "With such a large epidemic, the municipal government must have reports prepared by professional doctors. So you don't need to go door-to-door to investigate at all. Just ask someone to copy a copy from the municipal government tomorrow. This kind of report isn't a secret."

After saying that, he slowly took another sip of tea, looking just like a seventy-year-old man.

Anne waited patiently for a while, but when nothing came of it, she asked in confusion, "What happened next? That's it?"

Li Cheng shrugged: "That's all. Isn't that enough?"

Anne deflated immediately, slumping back into her chair: "Tch, it's that simple, how come I didn't think of that before?"

Many methods sound simple, but that's only because they work backwards. In reality, many people might not even be able to come up with them at first—especially in areas they're not good at, where ignoring some clues is perfectly normal.

Too lazy to explain, I've already asked all the questions... Li Cheng took another sip of tea; this tea tasted better than Newton's.

However, this method has a potential drawback: Annie's mentor may have seen the reports that the doctors submitted to the city government. If Annie doesn't think things through and simply copies them, it will definitely lead to tragedy.

"I'd better not say anything. It's too much trouble for me to change it..." Li Cheng glanced at Annie, who was still very excited, and gave up on reminding her.

Chapter Fourteen: I Guessed the Beginning

After dinner.

Having solved her homework problem, a relaxed Annie dragged Newton to play tennis.

Indoor tennis already existed during this era. The racket faces were made of sheepskin, and the ball was also leather-faced and made quite large for easy hitting. However, there were no common rules at this time; it was mostly played individually, with friends simply having fun.

Li Cheng doesn't know how to play tennis, so he stood aside and watched the two of them play.

Anne had already changed into a comfortable long-sleeved shirt and trousers for exercise, and her brown hair was simply tied back, making her look dashing and spirited. Her demeanor was completely different from the brainless and rude woman she had been before.

However, Li Cheng noticed that Annie looked very unhappy after she realized she couldn't roll up her sleeves halfway.

Li Cheng secretly shook his head, lamenting the limitations of feudal-era women's clothing, which could not perfectly showcase the beauty of women's bodies. He wished he could personally design a short-sleeved shirt and hot pants, hand it to her, and shout, "Heroine, please change into this outfit and don't mind me!"

However, in another sense, appreciating the little rabbit bouncing around without a bra is also a unique sight... Li Cheng nodded silently again.

After the ball games continued for a period of time.

"Catch!"

Annie swung her racket and hit a beautiful shot, the ball tracing a perfect arc in the air.

Newton, however, failed to return the beautiful shot. A wave of fatigue washed over her, and she had to use her tennis club to support herself and rest.

She gasped for breath, "Huff...huff...no, Annie, I'm really tired."

Newton, who had been reading and doing research for a long time, and with his small arms and legs, was out of breath and sweating profusely after less than half an hour of fighting, and it was clear that he couldn't go on.

"Sigh, this is boring. It's so rare to find someone to play ball with."

Anne slung her racket over her shoulder, looking regretful, as if she had only just warmed up: "Then you should rest for a bit, we'll play again later."

Mr. Stoller wanted his daughter to grow up to be a lady, so he forbade Anne from playing tennis with men. However, none of the maids in the house knew how to play tennis, so Anne only had the opportunity to play for a while when a few friends came to visit.

Li Cheng understood Mr. Stoller's desire for his daughter to succeed, but looking at Annie, who was now aimlessly jumping around on the court out of boredom, resembling a hyperactive monkey, he still felt that this was an impossible goal.

"It's really, really not going to work."

Newton was already severely overworked; he had been sustained only by his excitement, and now that he had stopped, he was starting to tremble.

Her face was covered in sweat. She tried to wipe it with her hands, but her palms were also soaked with sweat, making the more she wiped, the more smudged her face became.

"Oh well, forget it then." Annie was disappointed, but there was nothing she could do.

“Oh, right,” Newton said to his friend, remembering something, “I brought something called a shuttlecock, it’s really fun. You can borrow it for a while, I really can’t play anymore.”

After saying this, Newton put down his racket and went to the room to get a shuttlecock for Annie.

Shuttlecock originated in the Han Dynasty and flourished in the Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Sui and Tang Dynasties. As for why it appeared in Newton's hands... Li Cheng said he would take responsibility for this matter.

He wasn't sure how long the plague in London would last, so to solidify his position as a kept man, he set a short-term goal of winning Newton's favor. He then started tinkering with these kinds of gadgets, spending all his time dragging Newton around the yard...

Li Cheng didn't regret it; he was just surprised that Newton had brought this to London.

Newton had already left, and Anne, who was idly wandering around the room, suddenly noticed Li Cheng, who was doing nothing beside her.

Her eyes lit up instantly, like a hunter spotting its prey, and she raised her racket towards Li Cheng: "Li Cheng, will you play tennis with me?"

Li Cheng waved his hand: "No, no."

"This is very simple, I can teach you."

Anne was in high spirits... No, we need to use a different idiom.

Annie seemed very interested, and she urged Li Cheng, "Be a man! Come on, grab that racket on the ground, let's have a game, and you'll get it in one game."

I didn't even want to play halftime; I'm exhausted from traveling these past few days... Li Cheng looked towards the door, hoping for a savior to arrive.

The room wasn't far from here, so the savior Newton arrived just in time as expected—even though she wasn't riding on a colorful cloud, had short legs, and didn't know martial arts.

whoosh-

As Newton appeared, a brightly colored shuttlecock traced a beautiful parabola through the air and struck Li Cheng squarely on the forehead.

"what!"

Li Cheng covered his forehead, his mind filled with question marks.

Mind reading?

Annie asked the question that had been bothering Li Cheng: "Why did you smash it?"

"This is to make up for what happened before."

Newton, hands on his hips, glared at Li Cheng and said angrily, "When we were playing ball before, were you staring at Annie's chest the whole time?"

Li Chenghan, he was clearly watching very discreetly, okay?

Annie didn't really care about being seen, since she wasn't exposed anyway. She was more concerned about picking up the piece of metal with a tuft of chicken feathers tied to it and examining it curiously in her palm.

"What is this? Is it played like tennis?"

“This isn’t for hitting,” Newton explained to his friend. “It’s called a shuttlecock, and you play it by kicking it upwards with your foot… Let me show you.”

She also took a shuttlecock, threw it up into the air, and then tried to kick it.

Unfortunately, she had only recently started playing shuttlecock and was clumsy. After kicking it twice, the shuttlecock flew to the side and landed right next to Li Cheng.

It's time to salvage some dignity... Li Cheng picked up the shuttlecock and laughed, "Let me demonstrate."

As he spoke, he deliberately tossed the shuttlecock forward, then walked over to catch it and started kicking it... Although his movements weren't exactly skillful, he still managed to kick it thirteen times in one go with good accuracy.

"Nine, ten, eleven, amazing!" Newton's voice suddenly came from behind.

"Hmph, how about that..." Upon hearing this, Li Cheng snatched the shuttlecock back in mid-air and turned around to see the admiring expressions on Newton's and the others' faces.

"Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen."

However, as Li Cheng stopped, Newton continued counting, but the object seemed to be incorrect.

Oh, he's counting for Annie... Wait, Annie?

Li Cheng was shocked.

It turns out that after a short period of familiarization, Annie actually mastered the skill of kicking the shuttlecock immediately.

At this moment, she was swinging her long, slender legs, playing the shuttlecock with such skill that it was as if she were doing it for the first time.

Li Cheng: ?

"Annie, is this really your first time playing shuttlecock?" Newton didn't hold back his praise for his friend. "I feel like I could never be as good as you in my entire life."

"Haha, it's not that strong, this one is simpler."

Anne feigned modesty for a moment, then suddenly exerted her strength, kicking the shuttlecock to the roof with a side kick. Then, without even looking, she raised her hand and caught the rebounding shuttlecock out of thin air.

After completing this smooth and effortless operation, Annie looked at Li Cheng and slightly raised her left eyebrow.

Li Cheng: ? ? ?

Newton: Starry-eyed ★daze

I'm so tired... I'm going back to take a shower and go to sleep. I'm going to Cambridge tomorrow, so I need to get some rest beforehand.

Li Cheng tossed the shuttlecock aside with little interest, put his hands in his pockets, and walked out the door.