It wasn't an apple that hit Newton.

They have a good relationship?

Smith's heart skipped a beat, thinking, "How come I didn't know?" Agnes also looked at Li Cheng with a strange expression, wondering if he had an upset stomach. What kind of close relationship did the two of them have?

Ignoring their expressions, Li Cheng continued, "Well, I met Miss Agnes in the Chamber of Commerce corridor. She seemed to be escaping from the male servants' pursuit, running frantically down the corridor. She bumped into my back with a thud and scolded me for not moving aside... Hehe, it was quite amusing."

He essentially tattled on someone, but he didn't tell the whole story; he didn't mention the toilet incident afterwards—that was a case of killing three hundred enemies but losing a thousand of his own.

Escaped the male servant's pursuit...

Now it was Smith's turn to turn pale. He calmly glanced at Agnes, making alarm bells ring in his daughter's mind, before turning to Li Cheng to apologize: "I'm sorry, my upbringing was not strict enough, and you had to see this."

Li Cheng waved his hand and said generously, "It's okay, kids are full of energy and it's normal for them to love to play. Don't blame her."

? !

Agnes, who had been feeling uneasy, was instantly shocked upon hearing these words. She looked at Li Cheng in disbelief, astonished that this jinx who had brought her bad luck from the start was actually speaking up for her.

For a moment, she felt a pang of guilt, realizing she had been too petty, actually considering getting him drunk as revenge...

Li Cheng glanced at the impulsive, emotional child out of the corner of his eye and continued, "But that's precisely why we need to channel our energy in the right direction—here's what I'll do: I know a few brilliant professors at Cambridge University who know some math problems that can stimulate the mind. I'll send them to you when I get back, so Miss Agnes can practice them more often."

Upon hearing that the question was set by a Cambridge University professor, Smith was intrigued and asked, "What kind of math problem is so challenging?"

Li Cheng gave a friendly smile: "The Olympic Games."

"The Olympic Games..."

Smith immediately thought it sounded sophisticated; it was practically quoting classical texts, considering the Olympics hadn't been held for thousands of years.

So, under Agnes's gaze, which seemed to be directed at her as if she were her father's killer, Li Cheng had a friendly chat with Smith about the amazing aspects of the Olympic Games, such as developing creative thinking, cultivating a scientific mind, and enhancing calculation and logic abilities.

Smith, like a parent being misled by a training institution for the first time, nodded repeatedly, wishing he could immediately buy ten or eight sets of Olympiad competition questions, and if possible, have Li Cheng personally tutor him.

Agnes immediately shrieked, "I don't want him to be my tutor!!!"

"Ahem, I also feel that I'm not really suitable."

Li Cheng quickly followed suit and politely declined—what a joke, he had no time to tutor a brat.

Under Smith's regretful gaze, Li Cheng began to talk about the purpose of his trip, trying to find out the information from yesterday.

“President Smith, I accidentally drank a bit too much yesterday, so my memory is a bit hazy,” Li Cheng asked tentatively. “Do you know what His Highness did afterwards? Was there anything unusual, especially after I left?”

"Feel sorry."

Smith shook his head, looking apologetic. "His Highness said he didn't need my special hospitality, so I was busy entertaining the other guests in the hall. Besides, I was always very busy when the party ended, especially since the number of guests that day far exceeded my expectations. I didn't have time to observe His Highness's condition."

"If you have forgotten anything, you can ask His Highness directly."

It seems Smith didn't know anything either, and Veronica didn't leave any explanation, otherwise he probably would have brought it up after I asked the question.

After hearing this, Li Cheng looked thoughtful.

Regardless of whether it actually happened or not, Veronica's actions can be considered a cooling-off period, giving both parties a chance to calm down and think things through, and preventing impulsive actions from causing more serious consequences.

Li Cheng immediately recognized this as insightful, saying that he had done the same thing with Lavoisier.

At first, Lavoisier seemed to still care, but after such a long period of cold treatment, she's now not even replying to his own letters. The effect is remarkable—she must have completely given up now, and the two sides will soon be able to resume a friendly superior-subordinate relationship.

Returning to this situation, after some cooling-off period, Veronica and I should be able to act as if nothing happened and continue interacting in the same way as before, at most with a tiny bit of discomfort in our hearts.

As for the plan to smelt steel and manufacture guns, Li Cheng didn't say anything before because he felt it was still far from being realized. But now that all the old secrets have been revealed, he can be more honest about it. Anyway, there's no fundamental conflict between the two sides... well, probably.

"Domineering Love" will likely need a sequel, and updates will probably have to be more frequent, since Veroni already guessed she was the prototype... This is a bit annoying, adding unnecessary workload, but there's no other way, maybe we should just leave it unfinished...

"In short, this matter should just be left as it is, and neither side seems to intend to pursue it further."

After a rational analysis, Li Cheng made this judgment.

Although he should be considered a victim in a certain sense, well... the fact that he was able to be delivered to Annie's house intact without any permanent marks shows that Veronica's recovery skills were quite good...

Chapter 198 The Tiger Doesn't Show Its Power

As dinner time approached, Smith invited Li Cheng to stay for dinner. After briefly comparing the food at Annie's house in his mind and realizing that it was incomparable, Li Cheng accepted without hesitation.

The atmosphere at the dinner table was pleasant. Eating with fewer people like this is much more enjoyable than a banquet, and both host and guests had a great time.

But just as dinner was drawing to a close, Smith pulled out a small, strangely familiar glass bottle from somewhere, shook it, and asked Li Cheng, "Good wine from France, want some?"

Why is it this wretched Fruit of Life again? When will this ever end?

Li Cheng shuddered involuntarily and waved his hand, saying, "No need, I drank quite a bit yesterday, so let's skip it today."

Smith didn't urge anyone to drink; he simply poured only one-fifth of the amber liquid into his glass, looking very cautious.

Pshaw, dare you chug it straight from the bottle?

Li Cheng inwardly felt a slight disdain for his actions.

Just when Li Cheng thought Smith was going to drink it all in one gulp, since it was only a fifth of a glass, Smith unexpectedly picked up the water pitcher and started gulping water into the glass.

???

Seeing his actions, Li Cheng was dumbfounded: "What are you doing?"

I've heard of mixing different kinds of alcohol together to make cocktails, and I've also heard of people adding Sprite to wine. But this is the first time I've ever seen someone add water to their own drink. Even if you're stingy, this is not the way to be stingy.

"Oh? Mr. Banana doesn't know?"

Smith paused in his pouring of water and began to explain, "The fruit of life has a very high alcohol content. If you drink it straight, most people would probably get drunk after three cups. Therefore, it is usually diluted with water according to personal taste—this is common knowledge among people who drink regularly."

Li Cheng: "......"

Okay, I'm just an idiot with no common sense, and so is Veronica.

Although he was unclear about the specific reasons, Li Cheng guessed that it was the same principle as Coca-Cola.

Transporting finished Coca-Cola is an extremely unprofitable business, so the Coca-Cola Company only produces Coca-Cola concentrate, which is then transported to processing plants around the world to be diluted with water and finally made into Coca-Cola.

High-concentration spirits have the advantages of small volume and resistance to spoilage, so the Fruit of Life wine is transported and stored in this way, but you have to dilute it with water before drinking.

"Okay, no dilution is fine, but you're responsible for the consequences..." What the hell?! This is a total rip-off! Can't you at least put a label on it saying "Remember to dilute before drinking"?! Normally, you can tell something's wrong with a spirit as soon as you taste it, but with this fruity lousy liquor, you only realize it when you're drunk!

After being given some basic information about spirits, Li Cheng's originally pleasant meal turned into a depressed mood.

With the same expression on his face was Agnes, who was venting her frustration by spitting out fried shrimp with a fork. Suddenly having to learn another Olympic competition for no reason, no one would be in a good mood.

And so, under Smith's questioning gaze, the two of them finished their dinner in a rather dejected manner.

By this time, Li Cheng had already whiled away the afternoon at Chairman Smith's house and had dinner. He had no intention of staying any longer and planned to return to Anne's little house to make do with sleeping on the floor for the night, and then return to Newton's territory the next day after getting a full rest.

------

The next day.

Newton's territory.

The castle welcomed a guest today, something that hadn't happened in a long time.

She was a woman in her twenties with the same long blonde hair and bright blue eyes as Newton. However, unlike Newton, this woman had two long, straight legs, a pair of firm breasts that even a thick sweater couldn't hide, and a mature feminine aura between her brows.

Aside from their different appearances, he's practically a Newton plus version.

The man, nicknamed "Newton Plus," stopped a maid carrying a wooden tub who was hurrying by and politely asked, "Excuse me, does Ms. Newton live here?"

"Ms. Newton...you're looking for the lord, aren't you?"

The maid paused for a moment before responding, "The lord does indeed reside here, but you are...?"

Upon learning that Newton did indeed live there, the Newton Plus version smiled and replied, "I am Deedley Davidson of the University of Lincoln—if you may, please inform her that an admirer of hers has come to see me."

"Miss Dideri David, is that right?"

The maid nodded, hurriedly turned around while carrying the wooden tub, and headed towards the interior of the castle.

However, she didn't go directly to Newton, but instead went to Freya first—after all, Newton was quite reliable when it came to unreliability, and informing Freya in the meantime was a safer option.

Unfortunately, she couldn't find it, so she had to turn to the next-ranking steward, Lurengar.

Upon learning of this, the steward, Lurengar, instructed the maid to arrange for the other party to wait in the hall, and then hurriedly went to the living room to inform Newton—finally, she had a chance to prove herself; last time, she had been severely reprimanded by Newton for conveying inaccurate information.

"General!"

At this moment, Newton was idly playing chess with herself. Even someone as passionate about studying the world as she was would get tired and couldn't possibly do research all year round.

Unfortunately, this kind of ambidextrous game was only enjoyed by men, so Miss Newton quickly got bored.

"I'm so bored."

Newton tossed the queen piece aside, narrowed his eyes, and idly rested half his face on the table, making a slightly comical expression: "Why hasn't that idiot Li Cheng come back yet? Wasn't he supposed to be back the next day? I hope he hasn't caused any more trouble..."

Just as she was talking to herself, the butler, Lurengar, came in to report.

"Miss Newton, a guest claiming to be your admirer has arrived!"

Newton was in a state of utter boredom... well, bored to the point of being [beep] itch. Upon hearing that one of her admirers had come to visit, she wasn't impatient at all; on the contrary, she was rather pleased.

"Who?"

Newton was instantly invigorated and straightened his back.

"The other party identified herself as Dideri David."

Butler Lurengar felt that this information did not reflect his value, so he added a couple of embellishments: "This person claims to admire you very much, and the fact that she came all the way from Lincoln University to the castle is enough to show her sincerity—I think this is a great opportunity for you to expand your network!"

"Yes, you're right. I'll go see her now."

Newton nodded excitedly. She didn't care about connections or anything like that; she just wanted to find something to do and enjoy the admiring glances from others.

......

Newton's castle was built in the mid-16th century, just after the chaotic Middle Ages. At that time, the castle's owner, perhaps influenced by someone's slander that a lord must have his own castle, impulsively built a small castle instead of a comfortable palace or villa.

Although the castle's owner regretted it halfway through construction, feeling that castles were not meant for human habitation, he began to work hard to make modifications to make them more habitable. However, it still fell short of a palace and retained many of the castle's unique structural features, such as interrogation rooms and prisons.

In the renovated hall, Dideri waited expectantly.

Before leaving London, Newton completed a first draft, part of which had been edited and published by Halley. Deedley, who was in Lincoln at the time, was fortunate enough to read a portion of it and quickly developed a strong admiration for Newton.

After learning by chance through various channels that Newton had actually returned to Lincoln, she was overjoyed and couldn't wait to visit him, just to see her idol.

Actually, this kind of thing is quite common. Not to mention anything else, after Hooke published "Micrographia", countless people wanted to visit him.

However, Newton's residence was relatively low-key and not many people knew about it. Moreover, her works were not as vivid and illustrative as "Micrographs," which could be understood by people who had never read books. Instead, they belonged to the category of works with a higher barrier to entry.

Dideri was one of those who could understand, and after waiting for about ten minutes, she saw a little girl walking straight towards her.

"You must be Deedley?"