It wasn't an apple that hit Newton.

Li Cheng shouted, "Do you think you can succeed just because I give you money? Think about it, if the two of us went together with a thousand pounds and started from scratch, who would succeed?"

Annie thought for a moment: "It should be you?"

Li Cheng nodded: "That's right, but what if you erase my memories?"

Annie's eyes widened, and she seemed to understand something: "I get it, Li Cheng, you mean... that reading more books will make you stronger?"

"The answer... is wrong!"

Li Cheng shook his head, sighed with regret, and looked disappointed: "It's all about cheating! Only by cheating can you become stronger! How many people don't study these days? Talent, intelligence, willpower... these are all basic requirements to become a top expert."

Annie looked completely bewildered: "What? Cheating?"

Li Cheng nodded: "Yes, cheating. The more powerful a person is, the more ruthless their cheating becomes. Before, I didn't cheat hard enough, so I couldn't do anything right. Whenever I tried to do something, there were always a lot of unexpected events, and I haven't accomplished anything in half a year."

Annie recalled Li Cheng's experience: "But I think you've been pretty amazing these past six months."

Li Cheng sighed: "You don't understand, those were the resources I started with as a newbie, and they're gone once they're used up."

Annie couldn't understand what Li Cheng was talking about, so she refocused her attention on the drawings on the table: "So what exactly is this you drew? It looks weird, kind of like a stove, but the opening is too small."

Li Cheng stopped keeping him in suspense: "A coal stove, a stove for burning coal."

Upon hearing that it was a coal-fired stove, Annie lost most of her interest: "Pshaw, I thought it was something else."

At this time, coal was mainly used as household fuel rather than for industrial purposes, and the black smoke and strange smell it released when burned made it unpopular. The British government, which deeply resented the black smoke from coal, even ordered a ban on burning coal near London.

However, steelmaking requires a lot of fuel, and using firewood means cutting down trees for wartime resources... In short, coal is essential. Before steelmaking, Li Cheng planned to take over the coal business in a reasonable way through coal furnaces and hire blacksmiths.

Li Cheng chuckled: "You wouldn't understand, would you? I also have a matching honeycomb pattern..."

Before he could even begin to talk about the promising future of coal, Susie rushed in, shouting, "Something terrible has happened, Li Cheng! A woman I don't know is arguing with Newton!"

During this time, Li Cheng also told her his real name, so Susie started calling him Li Cheng... No problem.

what?

Li Cheng was startled upon hearing this. He thought to himself, "Is there anyone in Newton's territory who dares to argue with Newton? Even I have toned it down a lot, okay?"

Hearing her friend arguing with someone, Anne immediately jumped half a step forward, indignantly saying, "Where is she? Where is she? I'm coming over to help Newton argue!"

......

When Li Cheng and his group arrived downstairs and entered the living room, they saw Newton confronting another person.

The man slightly raised his head: "Oh ho ho, I heard you came back looking dejected a few days ago. Did you finally get fired from the school?"

"Dalena, can't you understand human language?"

Newton flew into a rage, shouting, "I've said it countless times! I've already graduated! I'm back to manage the territory!"

"Managing territory?"

The woman called Darlene glanced down at Newton: "You, running a territory? Oh, hehehe..."

Darlene is a red-haired woman wearing a gorgeous red dress, adorned with lace and ribbons on the cuffs and collar, and the skirt is layered and piled up. The overall effect is striking and eye-catching.

However, the first thing anyone notices when they see her is her chest; their first reaction is that it's big, really big.

Although I haven't measured it precisely, it's at least a D cup, and that's only because the long skirt reduces the curves.

This woman with exaggerated breasts, coupled with her tall figure and striking red dress, completely overwhelmed Newton in terms of presence... No, it can't be called overwhelmed, it's a massacre, a massacre by a professional boxer in a primary school taekwondo competition.

It's true that without comparison, there is no harm.

Pitiful, lamentable, tragic...

While Li Cheng was still in shock, Annie, who was standing next to him, suddenly widened her eyes when she saw the scene of the two of them facing off in the living room.

'This...this is a chance to perform!'

An irrepressible desire surged within her, and Susie walked quickly and steadily toward the woman named Darlene.

All of this happened in an instant, so fast that Li Cheng had no time to stop it. By the time he came to his senses, she had already begun her performance. Annie stepped between the two and announced loudly:

“I can attest that Sir Isaac Newton was right.”

"Ok?"

Darlena narrowed her eyes, as if sizing up the brown-haired girl who had suddenly appeared before her.

At this moment, the rigorous training she had received from morning till night at the Shakespeare Theatre, the meticulous guidance of director Therese (?), and Li Cheng's "An Actor Prepares" all came to mind simultaneously, allowing her to naturally make the most suitable performance.

Her appearance was completely different from usual; she was solemn, dignified, and meticulous. Standing there, she resembled the oldest clock tower in London, making even complete strangers take her seriously at first glance.

Faced with this, Darlene's attitude also turned serious: "May I ask who you are...?"

Anne Stoller.

Every subtle shift in Anne's eyes, every contraction of her facial muscles, was a display of superb acting. Perhaps not perfect, but more than enough to fool Darlene in front of her.

"The vice president of the London Merchants' Guild, a shareholder of Richmond Bank, an investor in Anne's Soap Factory, and a founder of the Textile Guild. He's here to discuss cooperation with Sir Isaac Newton and is currently conducting on-site inspections."

???

What the hell is this idiot doing?

Li Cheng finally realized what was happening and stared at Annie, who was spouting off titles incoherently, with a look of utter disbelief.

Newton stared blankly at her friend, completely bewildered as she had never witnessed Anne's (pseudo) actor mode before.

Susie was even more confused and lost. In her brief memory, Annie was a girl with no brains, whose IQ was probably on par with hers or even lower. Now, seeing this, she thought... "So you were just pretending all along. Was I the only useless one?"

As for Darlena, although she had never been to London and couldn't immediately tell the difference between the real and the fake, her instincts told her something was off.

There are two main points: first, no matter how serious and earnest Anne is, she is still a beautiful girl, so her persuasiveness is naturally weaker; second, Darlene simply doesn't believe that there's anything to cooperate with in Newton's poor territory.

Anne seemed to sense Darlene's confusion and said, "I'm here to discuss with Sir Newton the promotion of the flying shuttle loom. You've probably heard that the textile guild has been established in London, and they're determined to expand production lines throughout the country. Lincolnshire, bordering the North Sea to the east, Norfolk to the southeast, and Cambridgeshire to the south, is an excellent transportation hub. Sir Newton's lands are relatively unsuitable for growing crops, so hiring local..."

Darlena was stunned by the professional tone of the machine, but she had heard of the flying shuttle loom before, and thanks to it, the price of cloth on the market had dropped considerably.

Li Cheng stroked his chin: 'Did this idiot just repeat all the boasting I did at home? I only told Roy about the textile guild before I left, and she's already forcefully integrated it?'

Even Newton looked at Li Cheng with skepticism, wondering why she had never heard of this.

Of course I haven't heard of that! Anne is completely talking nonsense. The production capacity in London alone is far from being fully developed. Who would invest in building a factory in this remote and impoverished place? Only an outsider like Darlene could be fooled!

At this point, Anne concluded in a serious tone, "So, Ms. Darlene, do you have any further questions? I would be happy to answer them for a beautiful lady."

She seems to have adopted a male character, which is why her tone of voice is a bit strange.

Darlena had no more questions. She turned and glared at Newton fiercely, saying, "Hmph, you got lucky!" Then she turned and stormed off with the two male servants who had come with her.

As everyone watched the red figure gradually disappear into the distance, Newton finally had a chance to speak.

"What happened?"

Her big blue eyes were full of confusion: "I don't know anything about what you were just talking about."

Anne, still reeling, gave Newton a forced smile: "Don't worry, Sir Newton, this is a low-risk, high-reward business. Now let's continue discussing the next step..."

Snapped!

Li Cheng stepped forward and smacked her on the back of the head: "That's enough, you're fooling your own people."

Anne covered the back of her head and yelled, "Why did you hit me? Didn't I just win the argument for Newton?"

Li Cheng: "...That's true, I just accidentally did it."

"fake."

Newton then realized what was happening and looked completely bewildered.

It's fake... Susie breathed a long sigh of relief; she had almost lost all hope in life.

Li Cheng waved his hand: "Let's not talk about that now. Who was that big... cough cough, very rude guy just now?"

Upon hearing this question, Newton stamped his foot in annoyance: "Who else could it be? It's that lord from the neighborhood I mentioned to you last time. She clearly doesn't know anything about managing her territory. Yet she often comes over to mock me every now and then, just because she has a coal mine in her territory and her land is more fertile than mine."

Li Cheng was taken aback: "She's that lord from nearby, the one with the coal mine in her territory?"

Newton asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

"nothing."

Li Cheng thought about the coal stove blueprints lying on the table in the room, and his lips twitched: "It just looks like I'll have to visit her another day."

Chapter 162 The Despicable City Fools

"It seems I'll have to visit her another day."

Li Cheng said with a hint of annoyance, and then asked Newton, "Do you know anything else about her? Like what she likes or dislikes, how well she manages her territory, or anything like that?"

Upon hearing that Li Cheng not only intended to personally visit Darlene but also inquire about her more specific situation, Annie frowned, sensing that things were not so simple.

She nudged Li Cheng with her elbow and said maliciously, "Li Cheng, are you bewitched by that woman's breasts? Although she's a little bigger than Newton, that kind of woman dresses so gaudyly and looks stupid and vain! She can't compare to my Newton."

Li Cheng: Although I wasn't completely bewitched, it's more than just a little big! If Newton is like the barren red soil, then that Darlene is like the black soil of Northeast China, their fertility is on a completely different level!

Although I've never tried it, I've heard that rice grown in authentic black soil is so good you could eat two bowls without any side dishes. To put it another way, it's like having just a chest... cough cough, stop right there.

Susie's eyes also flashed, and she muttered to herself, "He did seem to be staring at that part of his body the whole time, and his expression was a bit blank."

Li Cheng: Damn it, you bastard, you actually betrayed me!

"what?"

Hearing the two of them stirring things up, Newton immediately exploded, jumping up like an angry little beast and saying, "Li Cheng, let me tell you, if you dare to go to that woman, don't ever come back!"

"Calm down, calm down! Don't listen to those two talking nonsense!"

Li Cheng quickly stepped forward to reassure Newton: "I went to visit her to discuss business; it was a serious matter."

"It's business... I heard from Sister Therese that some men like to use this excuse to stay out all night. When women ask, they just say they're busy and not to overthink it..."

Anne said in a reminiscent tone.

"Shut up, you bastard!"

Li Cheng was furious, and then said to the two men, "You two go sit down by the stove, I'm going to explain to you what's going on."

......

As mentioned last time, at this time coal was mostly used for domestic fuel rather than industrial purposes, but it was not popular because of the black smoke and strange smell it released when burning.

Nevertheless, over time, coal heating has gradually become the preferred choice for ordinary people compared to the excessive logging and increasingly expensive firewood.

如果以1451-1500年为价格基数100，木柴的价格则可以说是突飞猛进。1536年，拉特兰郡拉特兰伯爵地产商的1车木炭价值3先令4便士；1586年同样的数量的1车则需要25先令，提升约7.5倍。而在1666年......额，1667年的今天，这个数字更是进一步上升。