It wasn't an apple that hit Newton.

Li Cheng continued with his keen interest in gossip: "Besides that, doesn't he have any flaws?"

"No, apart from his age, he's too perfect."

Mrs. Hudson first shook her head confidently, then hesitated and said, "Well, if I had to say, I heard that this wealthy gentleman has a fourteen-year-old daughter, but I didn't see her this time."

“How can this be a drawback? Isn’t this exactly your opportunity?” Li Cheng said.

"How so?" Mrs. Hudson asked.

"Let me explain slowly."

The cunning strategist Li Cheng immediately offered his opinion, always eager for a good show: "You know, a fourteen-year-old girl is in her adolescence, the most rebellious and love-starved age. Besides, her mother has passed away. You can use this as a breakthrough!"

Mrs. Hudson seemed to understand something.

Li Cheng continued, "Find out her hobbies, find opportunities to get close to her, spend more time with her, take her shopping, buy her some small toys and trinkets... If you can win the favor of a wealthy man's daughter and gain a place in her heart that can replace a family member, wouldn't the wealthy man's impression of you skyrocket?"

Mrs. Hudson's eyes widened.

Li Cheng concluded, "At the very least, you can use meeting the rich man's daughter as an excuse to reasonably increase the time you spend with him, make your presence felt more, and who knows, feelings might develop over time?"

Mrs. Hudson: ?!

After hearing this final analysis, Mrs. Hudson looked as if she had been struck by lightning, and stood there stunned, giving up on thinking.

After a moment, she finally recovered and said with excitement, "What a great idea! Mr. Orenki, you're a genius! How come I never thought of that!"

Chapter 277 The Reason for Reassurance

After satisfying his gossip cravings, Li Cheng leisurely returned to his courtyard.

The advertisements have been taken down, and it's estimated that no more customers will come. His focus is gradually shifting to designing clothes for prominent people—with Hook's assistance, this shouldn't be a problem; she seems like a reliable person.

After thinking it over, Li Cheng decided to go and meet his father-in-law.

Lavoisier's father was a lawyer, and the family was not well-off. They mainly relied on the support of their maternal grandparents who ran a meat business. Her mother died unexpectedly when she was a child... Uh, another single-parent family.

Li Cheng had become somewhat numb to similar situations, so after the initial surprise, he quickly returned to normal.

Although on the surface the high mortality rate of the parents of those around him might have led to suspicions that Li Cheng changed his name to Edogawa Doyle, in reality, in the 17th century with its poor medical conditions, it was already difficult for a person to simply survive to adulthood. A simple cold, an accidental scratch... there were too many possibilities that could cost a person their life.

Adulthood does not mean one can die peacefully in old age. For example, for women, the first childbirth is another test, and the chances of losing a mother (not an insult) are much higher than in the 21st century.

By the way, the saying "big hips make childbirth easier" is a summary of life experience by the working masses. Women with big hips can often have an easy natural birth... Well, in this respect, Veronica is very reassuring.

Anyway... Tomorrow I'll conceal my identity and visit this cheap father-in-law.

After booking his itinerary for tomorrow, Li Cheng had to go to the backyard to boil water by himself because the maid who did the chores had taken leave. After taking a nice hot bath, he drifted off to sleep peacefully.

......

The next day.

After a quick wash, Li Cheng began to eat.

Breakfast was prepared by Mrs. Hudson, who made even a simple fried egg with great skill. He finished his portion in no time, and then Mrs. Hudson came to collect the dishes.

"Excuse me, is the designer here?"

However, just as Mrs. Hudson arrived, someone stood at the open door and called out to her—the voice sounded familiar. Li Cheng realized that it was Wolong, one of the Wolong and Fengchu duo from yesterday, who had appeared at the door.

However, the purpose of the three visits to the thatched cottage was to invite Zhuge Liang to come out of seclusion, so why did Zhuge Liang take the initiative to come to the door?

Li Cheng inwardly cursed, stood up and walked to the door, saying in a businesslike tone, "Miss Phillips, may I ask what brings you here? If it's about the dress, then it won't be finished so quickly. Please be patient and wait a few more days."

Phillips was dressed quite casually today, wearing only a simple white top and a black long skirt, with her golden hair simply tied into a ponytail, giving the impression of an ordinary girl going out... at least that's how it appeared to unsuspecting people.

Mrs. Hudson glanced at it briefly and was about to leave when she suddenly sniffed: "It smells like tulips."

The familiar scent reminded her of the perfume Li Cheng had worn yesterday at noon. However, she didn't point it out. Instead, she gave Li Cheng a very ambiguous smile and then decisively and quickly left the scene.

What are you laughing at?! Don't give me that weird "I know everything" look. You actually know nothing at all!

Li Cheng glared fiercely at the departing landlord.

“I know that even if you don’t say it, Mr. Designer.”

Phillips completely ignored Mrs. Hudson and began to defend himself: "I am not a sheltered young lady without any common sense. At least I know that clothes are sewn by a tailor stitch by stitch."

You're not even a proper lady, and what's so great about knowing such common knowledge...? Li Cheng shrugged: "Okay, so what are you doing here? Visiting?"

"Huh, is that okay?"

Phillips seemed quite surprised.

"No, I have a scheduled event today," Li Cheng quickly replied.

Phillips said regretfully, "I'm really sorry, it might take up a little of the designer's time."

So what exactly is it?

Li Cheng pressed for an answer.

"Oh dear, you really forgot."

Phillips sighed, placing his hand on his thigh, causing it to protrude forward relative to his upper body: "Dagger, oh dagger, Mr. Designer, you haven't forgotten about this, have you?"

Her thighs were very slender; even through her black dress, their graceful and delicate contours could be seen with a gentle press.

Li Cheng withdrew his subconscious gaze and finally remembered what he had forgotten—after he snatched the dagger from Phillips yesterday, he threw it forcefully out the window just in case, but then he forgot about it.

"Bingo, Mr. Designer."

Phillips gave a thumbs-up with both hands simultaneously, a gesture of praise: "So, could you please give me back the dagger? I really liked it."

While compliments from beautiful girls usually give men a positive boost, compliments from a cross-dresser are really not making people happy at all... Li Cheng narrowed his eyes and nodded, saying, "Okay, I'll go look in the yard."

As he spoke, he walked to the window where the dagger had been thrown, following the direction he remembered. He searched carefully in the nearby courtyard, which was overgrown with weeds, but found nothing.

A little impatient, he noticed that Phillips was maintaining a well-behaved demeanor, with her hands folded in front of her lower abdomen, standing motionless to the side, and even observing his movements while he was searching with interest.

Whether it was just his imagination or not, Li Cheng felt as if she was paying special attention to the way he was sticking his butt out. A chill ran down his spine, and he exclaimed:

"Hey, don't just look, you should look for it too."

"what?"

Phillips stared in surprise, his eyes widening. "Can you really bear to see a frail young girl bending over in the grass looking for something?"

You bastard, what kind of delicate girl do you think you are? Delicate and girlish have nothing to do with each other, okay?

Seeing that she wouldn't move, Li Cheng had no choice but to continue searching alone.

Meanwhile, watching Li Cheng, who was bent over searching for a dagger, Phillips felt a strange sense of satisfaction welling up inside her, which she found very puzzling.

Is it because he already knows I'm dressed as a woman, so he doesn't need to worry about being exposed? But if that's the case, then Butler West is also one of the people who know about this...

Phillips lowered his head, his exquisitely beautiful face, indistinguishable from a woman's, lost in deep thought.

"Why?" she murmured to herself.

"Huh? What did you say?"

Li Cheng, who was busy looking for a dagger, turned his head and asked a question.

"It's nothing," Phillips said with a smile. "Keep up the good work!"

After that, and after spending a considerable amount of time, Li Cheng still came up empty-handed; the dagger seemed to have simply vanished from the courtyard.

"Hmm... I haven't found it yet," Li Cheng said thoughtfully.

“Yes, we couldn’t find it,” Phillips nodded in agreement.

"It might have been thrown too hard and bounced over the wall," Li Cheng explained.

“Very likely. The designer’s expression was quite fierce at the time, so it’s normal that he used a lot of force.” Phillips nodded in agreement.

"Anyone would be in a terrible situation in that kind of situation," Li Cheng said, indicating he wouldn't take the blame.

"Isn't it me who's in danger? Being pinned down by a thug, being groped and touched inappropriately," Phillips said thoughtfully. "Won't I be unable to get married after being treated like this...?"

Li Cheng always felt that he would lose if he responded to a question.

While chatting idly, the two of them circled around to the other side of the wall.

On the other side of the wall was a narrow path. Although the path was quite narrow, it was often used by pedestrians who liked to take shortcuts or walk along the side paths. If that obviously valuable dagger was left here, the search would basically be over.

"Have you considered getting a new dagger?" Li Cheng asked seriously, turning his head to offer his suggestion.

Chapter 278 The Ending of the Compensation Through Sex

"forget it."

Li Cheng pointed to the empty alley in the center of the wall: "I reckon your dagger was picked up by some passerby a long time ago, and it's probably already been sold and exchanged for Eriju."

Seeing that Phillips didn't answer and stood there motionless like a wooden figure, Li Cheng asked curiously, "What are you thinking about?"

“I’m thinking about how many years in prison someone should be imprisoned for robbing a nobleman’s property according to French law…” Phillips bit his lower lip, frowned, and said something very dangerous, “I can’t quite remember. If only my lawyer were here, I could ask him for his opinion directly.”

? !

Li Cheng was startled and quickly said, "Hey, hey, hey, let's be reasonable. You were the one who pulled out the dagger back then, I was acting in self-defense."

"That's not right. I was clearly acting in self-defense when I pulled out the dagger."

Phillips crossed his arms and began his analysis: "Faced with a vicious thug who had her pinned down, the delicate young girl cleverly used her wits to retrieve a dagger from its sheath for self-defense..."

I've complained about this so many times already. You're neither delicate nor girlish at all, okay?

Phillips hugged his arms tightly, feigning trembling, and said, "However, her arms, trembling with fear, were so powerless that the thug easily subdued the girl's wrists and threw the only weapon that might threaten him out the window..."

That's enough! Don't portray the scene as if I committed a crime!

Suddenly, Phillips changed the subject, and the whole story took a sharp turn: "The thug was unaware of the actual value and sentimental significance of that dagger; it was an amount that he couldn't repay even if he served the girl as her personal servant for a lifetime... In the end, the girl and the thug lived happily ever after, congratulations, congratulations."

?

Upon hearing this O. Henry-esque ending of paying with one's body, Li Cheng's expression froze: "So I have no choice?"

"How could that be? You have the full right to choose between going to court, returning the item to its rightful owner, and working hard to pay off the debt—three choices in total!"

Phillips smiled and said, "By the way, the salary I'm offering is quite high, you can consider it."

Doesn't that mean there's no choice?

First, how could we possibly win a lawsuit against this despicable local (by the way, choosing this option seems to benefit my father-in-law's business?). Second, if we return the item to its rightful owner, there are no security cameras these days, so where would we find the dagger and who picked it up?

“I choose the third option: to pay off my debts through hard work,” Li Cheng said expressionlessly.