It wasn't an apple that hit Newton.

"It's hard to reason with a damned devil," Li Cheng sighed, "You'll regret this."

"Do you threaten me?"

When Hook heard this, it sounded like a threat at first glance. She frowned and stared intently at Li Cheng for a while. Then, as if she suddenly understood something, her eyes gradually sharpened. "I see... I understand."

Li Cheng asked, puzzled, "What do you understand?"

Hook stared intently at Li Cheng, a smile gradually appearing on his lips: "I understand—you've also taken a liking to Phillips, which is why you've repeatedly advised me to give up."

Li Cheng: "...?"

You don't understand anything! Who the hell wants to steal your crossdresser?!

That said, Hooker really is just like Newton once said—a woman with a screw loose! That time, the little one didn't embellish the story with personal biases; instead, she gave a truly objective evaluation of someone!

"Since you've also fallen in love with Miss Phillips."

Hook continued the previous topic, her gaze gradually becoming serious: "Then we're rivals in love, and I won't back down. You should be prepared."

Rival my ass! Mentally prepared my ass! A female ketamine wants to pursue a male ketamine, and she actually considers me a rival? What kind of ridiculous plot is this?!

"No, actually I didn't at all..."

Li Cheng had absolutely no desire to be this pathetic love rival. He'd leave the male ketone to the female ketone to pursue slowly; his XP system was perfectly normal.

Hook interrupted directly, saying, "But don't worry, life is life, and I won't let personal feelings interfere with my work. Our partnership will not be affected."

Chapter 275 Waves and Particles

Looking at Hook, whose eyes were inexplicably filled with competitive desire, Li Cheng shrugged helplessly: "Fine, have fun—but I have to emphasize beforehand that your pursuit is very likely to fail, but that's not your fault..."

Although Phillips was a cross-dresser, Li Cheng couldn't determine his orientation during their brief meeting. He could only give Hook a heads-up, hoping that if he accidentally discovered what was under Phillips's skirt, he would remain calm...

"So confident?"

However, Li Cheng's precaution was taken as a victory declaration, and Hook coldly accepted it: "Heh, don't think you've got this in the bag. I also know a lot of ways to make women happy..."

Shut up! None of your methods will work on Phillips at all! It's as ridiculous as stuffing Peking duck into a KFC original recipe chicken bucket—it's utterly pointless!

Li Cheng was almost in tears.

But he still couldn't just watch Hook pursue Phillips, mainly because he was worried that if she accidentally discovered the truth, she would be furious and take it out on him, which would be very unfair.

Moreover, purely in terms of his role, as the vice president of the Royal Society and an outstanding painter, Hooke was not only an excellent fashion designer himself, but also knew quite a few big names in Paris, which could significantly accelerate his progress in becoming a fashion star.

"Vice President Hu Ke."

With this in mind, Li Cheng had no choice but to consider another approach and try to make a dirty deal with Hook: "I've heard that you've also been researching light recently?"

"also?"

Hook frowned slightly: "I wonder if the principal has made another new discovery?"

As the vice president of the Royal Society, she had naturally read the two textbooks that Cambridge University required its students to study. Although she disliked Newton for personal reasons, which led to some doubts about the "Foundations of Mechanics" itself, it did not prevent Li Cheng from establishing an impression of a scientist in her mind.

"Yes, in fact, I did study light privately some time ago out of interest."

Recalling the experiments Hooke had conducted in history, Li Cheng said to the plate, "Moreover, from the thin film of mica, I discovered an interesting inference—an inference about the form of light."

Historically, Hooke's achievements were mainly concentrated in mechanics and optics, but much of the content in mechanics has been omitted from Li Cheng's textbook "Fundamentals of Mechanics," including Hooke's discoveries. Therefore, we can only start with optics, specifically the most popular area.

What exactly is light? Particle or wave?

Although in the 21st century, the wave-particle duality of light is a scientific fact that even high school students can talk about.

But in the hundreds of years of history, countless scientists have debated whether light is a particle or a wave.

In the 17th century, if Newton was a clear-cut supporter of the particle theory, then Hooke was a staunch supporter of the wave theory—supported by a series of conclusions deduced from the phenomenon of light interference.

"The form of light?"

Hooke was naturally interested in this question that countless scientists had debated without reaching a conclusion, and he was also very interested in what kind of answer Li Cheng could give.

She replied noncommittally, "What do you think it is?"

"I believe light is a wave."

Li Cheng didn't beat around the bush and spoke directly.

During this period, Hooke had not yet voiced her inner thought that light was a wave. After all, she had just completed "Micrographs" the year before last, and last year she devoted herself to mechanics (and was busy becoming friends with Halley). She did not have the energy to study optics, nor had she conducted mica sheet experiments.

Therefore, Li Cheng, who was already a well-known figure in the scientific community, gave Hooke a strong boost by clearly and directly supporting the wave theory.

—Incidentally, when he was at home, Li Cheng always firmly supported the particle theory advocated by Newton.

Seeing the look of agreement flash in Hook's eyes, Li Cheng knew he was about halfway there, so he said, "I have some experimental data and conclusions that support the wave theory, which haven't been published yet. If Vice President Hook doesn't mind, you can take them for reference..."

"Then... wait a minute?"

Although he almost agreed in one go, Hook sensed something was off. He felt this windfall was too good to be true; these two were not related, so why would they get such a good deal?

After thinking it over for a moment, she frowned deeply and looked at Li Cheng: "Are you planning to bribe me?"

"How can you call it bribery? It was just a simple academic exchange."

Li Cheng gave a simple, honest smile: "Do you remember those two textbooks I co-authored? If you'd like, you're welcome to refer to and use the research findings yourself; whether you're credited or not doesn't matter..."

Hook seemed to grasp something, and said with a half-smile, "Like Isaac Newton's 'Foundations of Mechanics'?"

“Yes, just like Isaac Newton’s book… cough cough cough.” Li Cheng coughed violently twice, then changed his words, “That was Newton’s own research and discovery. I only provided a tiny bit of help to speed up her process.”

"I don't care what you have to do with that blond dwarf whose painting skills and taste are just as terrible."

Hook first insulted Niu, then said, "But if you're hoping to get me to give up on pursuing Phillips in this simple way, then I can only say... impossible."

After all, she was confident that she could accomplish these tasks herself.

“I told you, I have no interest in Phillips,” Li Cheng explained, utterly speechless. “I just hope that this way our cooperation can proceed more smoothly, and that you, Miss Hook, will put in a little more effort.”

And in case he finds out Phillips is a cute girl with a big dick, he won't hold a grudge against me... he silently added to himself.

"That's all?" Hook asked, somewhat doubtful.

"That's all."

Li Cheng smiled and extended his right hand in a handshake gesture: "Then, shall we have a pleasant cooperation?"

After hesitating for a moment, Hook extended her long, slender, and skillfully white hand, awkwardly shaking hands with Li Cheng. Afterward, she quickly withdrew her hand and wiped it on the sleeve of her other hand, as if she had touched something very dirty.

???

Li Cheng's lips twitched, but he tried his best to pretend he didn't see it.

"I rarely shake hands with men."

For the sake of the experimental data, Hook coldly explained: "I have an innate aversion to physical contact with men; touching the affected areas makes me feel like I have a rash."

Chapter 276 Even a little girl would be fine

She is born with an aversion to physical contact with men, and the areas touched will feel as uncomfortable as if she has a rash.

Li Cheng squinted silently after hearing this, deeply suspicious of the matter.

After all, from a scientific point of view, there is no essential difference in the composition of male and female skin. Simple physical contact cannot distinguish the gender of the person touching the skin, so there is no way to talk about diseases such as allergies. For example, didn't your own father hold you when you were a child?

Therefore, if Hooker wasn't lying, then it can only be a mental illness...emmmm, a mental illness...

Li Cheng fell into deep thought, and Dr. Li came into his mind.

If it truly is a mental illness, perhaps stimulation therapy could be considered—for example, posing as a kidnapper, tying her up hand and foot to a man, and locking her in a completely dark room for an hour... Or, locking her in an ice cellar, using the cold to force her to seek warmth from a man... Or, finding a man to dress in women's clothing (it seems there are readily available options), spending all day intimately with her without her noticing, and then suddenly revealing her gender one day...

In conclusion, Miss Hook, have you ever considered dedicating yourself to the cause of science?

The thought had barely crossed Li Cheng's mind when he noticed a chilling gaze fixed on him—directing from directly in front of the tall, gray-eyed Miss Hook.

Speaking of which, Hooker is indeed quite tall, probably taller than several women he knows, only slightly shorter than Li Cheng. No wonder he could mock Newton on the issue of height... wait, that argument doesn't seem to hold water, since anyone could do that.

It's a pity that, in terms of chest size, Hooke is no match for Newton; they were probably both airports contracted by the same infrastructure company.

Especially since she was quite tall, her figure appeared even more slender and thin, lacking some of the voluptuous beauty that comes with femininity. In contrast, Lavoisier's figure was just right...

"Mr. Aurunki."

The sudden call brought Li Cheng back from his wandering thoughts: "Ahem, what's the matter?"

Perhaps because he'd been alone in Paris for a while, his LSP thinking had unknowingly become more scattered. He even managed to make a whole string of associations with Hooker, which was truly shameful.

"It's not a very important thing."

The tall Miss Hook's gaze grew even colder. She leaned back against the door frame with ease and said calmly, "I just want to add that, in addition to my aversion to physical contact with men, I am also particularly sensitive to their lewd and filthy gazes."

"But just now, for some reason, I seemed to sense a similar dirty look in your eyes. It was probably just my imagination."

"..."

Li Cheng wiped away his cold sweat: "Hehe, so sensitive, Miss Hook must have a very hard time on a daily basis, right?"

"It's alright, I'm used to it."

After uttering those three words, Hook's lips curled into a disdainful smirk, as if to say, 'Ha, men.'

Hey! Where do you get the nerve to attack men like that?! Especially since you're planning to build a harem and openly declare yourself a "scumbag"! Before you start mocking men, take a look in the mirror and see what kind of person you are!

Li Cheng suppressed the urge to complain. After chatting about work for a few minutes, Hu Ke seemed to have an appointment, so he turned around and went to Xianggen Iris Street, which is also known as the fake Lily Street—but isn't this the real Lily Street?

------

After leaving Hook, Li Cheng suddenly felt a little melancholy.

In just one day, he actually managed to encounter Phillips and Hook, the two brilliant strategists, and the young strategist even vowed to cheat on Phillips and pursue the brilliant strategist. He must have been incredibly lucky.

However, considering that Hook had been twisted into a girl by the world's will and was even a female, Li Cheng felt much more at ease.

"However, will I ever be able to meet a woman in the normal sense?"

He continued to mutter casually, "It's not that I really want to get close to girls, after all, I already have a girlfriend. But isn't it a bit too much to have a cross-dressing guy whose sexual orientation is currently unclear, plus a girl who gets allergic to men?"

"Nothing else matters. In this world where everyone's worse, even a little girl is better than a cross-dresser or a female prostitute. Anyway, I've been mistaken for a lolicon for a long time..."

Lost in thought, Li Cheng unknowingly returned to No. 14 Tulip Street.

However, he didn't rush back to his house. Instead, he went to the landlord's house next door with great interest and knocked on the door to ask Mrs. Hudson about the results of her visit to the wealthy man who had just moved in across the street that day—you know, people become quite gossipy when they have nothing to do.

"He was a perfect English gentleman, impeccably dressed, well-mannered, and polite and witty in his speech."

Mrs. Hudson leaned against the door frame (I seriously suspect this is a common posture for women chatting), touching her cheek with her right hand, a smile on her lips, revealing a lovesick look: "Although he is several years older than me, I can still accept such a mature and charming middle-aged man."

Hey, you're complaining about the other person's age? How dare you?