It wasn't an apple that hit Newton.

......

Back to the present.

Susie told Li Cheng her guess and asked if it was correct. Li Cheng was silent for a full three minutes before saying to Susie with a look of admiration, "You really are a genius."

According to her logic, Annie must be a werewolf in disguise, always energetic and wandering around, eating more than anyone else, and most importantly, she's a bit silly, probably an Arctic wolf whose ancestors had slept with huskies.

"I guessed right?"

Susie first showed surprise and a hint of barely perceptible smugness, then a little fear: "Who does Newton usually drink blood from? Could she drink mine? Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen her drink blood before, or is it always at night...?"

Li Cheng interrupted, "No, what I mean is that your ability to fill in the blanks is the strongest I've ever seen in my life, a genius among geniuses... Speaking of which, I used to know a girl who didn't like to speak like a human being. If there's a chance, I can introduce you to her. With your ability to fill in the blanks, the two of you would definitely become a match made in heaven."

Susie: ?

"So Newton wasn't a vampire?" she asked tentatively.

"Of course not, the sharp point is from the tiger's teeth biting, although if you bite harder, you can really draw blood... Okay, let's not talk about this stuff, it makes my arm hurt just thinking about it."

Li Cheng shook his head, as if trying to shake away some unbearable memories: "Forget it, I'll look for it for you, but I'm not sure I can find it for you."

Chapter 172 Lurengar's Little Plan

Let's move back a little bit.

Newton's room.

A tan-haired adult woman stood outside the door, her right hand hovering about three centimeters from the door, seemingly hesitating whether to knock.

Her name was Lurengar, and although she was mentioned only twice in the previous text, she was indeed Newton's unfortunate butler, responsible for handling territorial affairs for the irresponsible Newton.

With Li Cheng's arrival, the economic situation in the previously impoverished Newton territory improved, and the thriving scene brought by the coal stove gradually made the butler realize... that he seemed to have been sidelined?

It's a bit ridiculous to use the word "abandoned" to describe the steward, but Lurengar had been in charge of all the economic affairs of the territory. He couldn't be called a good manager (the land was directly rented to farmers). He was just mediocre. His only achievement was that he didn't mess things up.

But when Newton returned this time, a man named Li Cheng came with him and took over all the affairs of the territory without saying a word, and Newton didn't even object.

Lurengar was suddenly free, and Freya had been managing the castle's internal affairs and daily expenses so well that she had no way to get involved.

That wouldn't be so bad; she could just do some minor, trivial tasks. But the problem was that besides bringing one of his own people (Susie), Li Cheng had also promoted some others from below, leaving her with absolutely no room to get involved.

Seeing that even the few remaining small matters were being taken care of, and that his workday consisted almost entirely of shouting to the villagers, Lu Renjia was getting anxious.

Suddenly going from a steward managing all the affairs of a territory to a mere messenger, who could stand that? And if she's not of any use, who knows if the lord will still hire her? What if he fires her outright?

Having been voluntarily dismissed, and given her 'good' performance over the years, it's unlikely anyone outside would hire her.

Lurengar is already in his early thirties, and because of his job as a butler, he hasn't found a suitable marriage partner. If he loses his butler job this time, he probably won't be able to find any decent human men again...

With this in mind, Lurengar made up his mind and knocked on the door.

Knock knock knock—

"Come in."

After receiving permission, Lurengard pushed open the door and saw Newton sitting on a soft stool, writing and drawing on sheets of draft paper.

When Newton saw that the person who came was actually the butler, he blinked in confusion (which shows how irresponsible she usually is, even seeing the butler is a surprise). He didn't understand why she thought of looking for him today, since Li Cheng was in charge of all the affairs of the territory.

Before she could speak, Lurengar made a resolute expression and said first, "My lord, please allow me to resign."

That's right, her idea was to play the victim, to resign before the lord dismissed her. This would surely persuade her to stay, and then she could conveniently reveal her miserable situation...

Although neither Li Cheng nor Newton were the type to actively drive her away, and she was simply creating trouble for herself and adding to her role in the drama, it was understandable from Lu Renjia's perspective—better safe than sorry.

"You're resigning?"

Newton scrutinized Lurengar for a moment, but quickly lost interest, turning his head back towards the table. "Oh, then resign." — While he wouldn't kick him out, it wasn't appropriate to stop him from leaving, was it?

Newton generously agreed to Lurengar's request, and silently considered whether he should pay the housekeeper a higher salary later, even though she had been quite useless in recent years, she had at least done the job for so long.

Lurengar: ? ? ?

Why wasn't there a single attempt to persuade me to stay? All the prepared remarks I made were completely useless!

Seeing that this charade was about to become real and he was going to be kicked out, Lurengar quickly changed his tune, saying, "I was just joking. I came to discuss something else with the lord."

"Are you kidding me?"

Newton sounded somewhat disappointed.

"So they're already thinking of getting rid of me..." Seeing this, Lu Renjia strengthened her resolve. She coughed twice and changed the subject, saying, "Mainly, I think the lord seems to... well, trust that man named Li Cheng a lot, so he leaves all the affairs of the territory to him to decide, and you don't interfere at all—I think this has a considerable hidden danger, so I took the liberty of coming to you to discuss it."

Newton glanced at Lurengar and said somewhat displeasedly, "Li Cheng has done a great job. We've made a lot of money, and the territory is much more lively than before."

"That's true, but aren't you being too unguarded with him?"

Lurengar's eyes flashed with a sharp light: "Lord, you must not be careless. You know, men with money and power will definitely turn bad. If you do nothing, he will completely control the territory. Then one day he will think you are in the way and kick you aside..."

Newton was furious. She jumped off her chair and stood on tiptoe, shouting excitedly, "He dares!"

"It's not a question of whether you dare or not, but whether you can," Lurengar said with the smug look of a strategist. "You always need to be prepared, right? You desperately need someone to help you do that..."

"You mean to say you?"

Newton sensed Lurengar's intention, and her brow furrowed. "But you haven't been doing very well these past few years, have you?"

Although she didn't know how to manage the territory, she could at least tell that Lurengar was doing a poor job, and she always regretted hiring such an incompetent person. If she weren't focused on academics, Newton felt she could have done it herself.

"While I'm not very good at governing my territory, I'm an expert in this area! I can spot any clue!"

For the sake of his career prospects, Lu Renjia, who had been single for over 30 years, confidently assured me: "My lord, please entrust this to me. I promise to keep a close eye on the actions of that Li Cheng and report any unusual behavior immediately!"

------

Back to Li Cheng's side.

Having promised to find the lost item, the first step was to go to Susie's room to check on things and see how it had gone missing. So the two left Li Cheng's room and headed down the corridor to Susie's room.

At this moment, a furtive black figure appeared at the end of the corridor. It was Lurengar, who had just been promoted from butler to Newton's personal bodyguard (or perhaps more accurately, the Military Intelligence Bureau 9). Of course, she was still the butler on the surface, which was a good way to conceal her identity.

Watching the two figures leave, she whispered, "A man and a woman alone in a room for so long, and I even heard them saying 'please'... I knew something was up between them. Who brings a female attendant along? I'll remember that."

Maid A, who happened to pass by: What is Butler Lurengar doing?

Maid B: I don't know, but let's not ask too much. I heard from older people that women who are still unmarried in their 30s are prone to being paranoid.

Maid A: How scary, I hope I don't do that?

Maid B: As long as you don't have such high expectations as her, it shouldn't be a problem.

......

Li Cheng was completely unaware that he was being targeted and reported on; he was still helping to handle cases of missing pebbles and twigs.

This was Li Cheng's first time entering Susie's room since arriving in Newton's territory. As soon as he entered, he found the room to be very tidy. The table and chairs were all in their places, the quilt was folded into a single piece and placed at the head of the bed, the pillow was folded on top of the quilt, and the set of pajamas to be changed into after the evening shower was placed on top of the pillow.

"It's cleaned up quite well."

Li Cheng nodded in praise.

Susie chuckled a little sheepishly: "When I was still in the village, I was the one who tidied up all the things in the house—although we didn't have much stuff back then, we didn't have much to do in our spare time."

Although Li Cheng's room was tidy, that was because a maid cleaned it for him. If he were to clean it himself, he could barely keep the room looking presentable.

I remember there was a line in the TV series "Detective Chinatown" that said: "A clean and odorless room means either a sissy or a gay man"—although that's an extreme view, it's true that most men don't like to tidy their rooms.

Susie cleaned up by herself, refusing the castle maids' offer to do so because she felt she couldn't get used to being served, otherwise she would feel a psychological gap if she ended up as a maid herself... Although it was almost impossible for Li Cheng to actually let her end up as a maid, she was still quite insistent.

Considering her time in London, where she not only didn't squander the allowance Li Cheng gave her but also found ways to save money, Susie seems to be the thrifty and good-natured type. Perhaps she'll become a wonderful wife and mother in the future...

Chapter 173 Thanks

Susie had just returned from the coal briquette construction site when she went back to her room and found that her things were missing again. Without even changing her clothes, she went to find Li Cheng.

Back in her room, she casually took off her oversized blue overcoat and hung it on the coat rack, then changed into a lighter, more fitted pale yellow cotton coat. It not only complemented her long brown hair but also accentuated her well-developed, rounded breasts.

From this perspective, her body is perfectly capable of being a qualified mother...

Seeing Li Cheng staring intently at her (lost in thought), Susie quickly looked down to check herself. Confirming she wasn't wearing the wrong clothes, she clutched the hem of her garment and asked, "What's wrong? Why are you staring at me?"

Li Cheng then came to his senses and quickly said, "It's nothing, it's nothing."

Susie had boldly asked to be her sugar daddy back then, but Li Cheng thought it was because she grew up in the countryside and was blinded by the allure of the world, lacking the ability to discern right from wrong. So he flatly refused. What's with him now staring at her and having all sorts of wild ideas?

Shaking his head to clear his mind of the jumbled thoughts, Li Cheng walked towards the corner where the collectibles were displayed.

It's called a collection display area, but it's really just a multi-tiered wooden shelf in the corner that doubles as a bookshelf. Since the guests' rooms can't possibly be crammed full of books, Susie used it to display her collection.

The items on the shelf were just like those I had seen in London—a jumble of things: coal briquettes, pebbles, exceptionally shiny copper coins, withered branches… but each one was neatly arranged on the shelf, treated like exquisite works of art, creating a strange sense of absurdity.

Susie excitedly introduced the coin to Li Cheng: "That copper coin was the spare change you gave me on New Year's Day. Although I shared some with my friends I've met recently, I've kept the brightest one."

Li Cheng was quite surprised: "You still kept it?"

To reduce his load, Li Cheng had discarded ninety percent of the treasures Susie had collected. Seeing her sullen, he casually handed her the change the hotel owner had given him, easily getting rid of the girl. But Susie had actually kept it until now.

"Of course, this is a gift from you, it's very meaningful!"

Susie smiled, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, but then she asked with a hint of worry, "They won't lose my things again this time, will they?"

Li Cheng rolled his eyes: "No, we don't need to rush this time, you can stay as long as you want."

Susie grabbed Li Cheng's hand excitedly and shook it up and down: "You said it yourself."

Susie's hands weren't fair and delicate; on the contrary, they were a little rough—this was inseparable from her upbringing. You can't expect a farm girl who has had to work since childhood to have smooth, tender hands.

However, such hands have another advantage: they are hot and firm, giving people a sense of security and stability.

Seeing that Susie was still dawdling, Li Cheng interrupted, "Alright, we still need to continue looking for your lost things."

Susie then let go of his hand.

Li Cheng continued to examine the shelf and noticed several empty spaces. He then asked, "Are these the things you lost?"

Susie nodded, and said indignantly, "Yes, and it disappeared several times. I don't know who did it. Once wasn't enough, they came to steal it several times."

They've come several times, and for no reason, they don't steal anything except a few branches and stones.

Is this person suffering from some serious illness? If he wants to go for a walk outside, he can have as many as he wants. Even that copper coin is worth a lot of money, okay?

Just as Li Cheng was confused, a white cat's head sneaked in, but upon seeing two people inside, it immediately retreated.

Ok?

Li Cheng frowned, realizing that something was amiss.

While it's perfectly normal for cats to roam around the house, the problem is that Elizabeth is incredibly audacious. Not only does she avoid people (except Anne), but she has even turned her back to us several times in the morning.