It wasn't an apple that hit Newton.

He urged with great interest, "Go on, tell me."

"Ah."

Hook nodded and slowly said, "First, she has to be a woman; second, she has to look to my liking..."

"..."

Li Cheng interrupted expressionlessly, "Alright, you don't need to say anymore."

Putting looks aside, the first thing that matters is that the man she likes is a woman. Isn't that called futa?

As for this person who firmly believes in his distorted values, even spanning centuries, and who imagines helping others in a twisted way, Li Cheng has completely given up on communicating with him and trying to persuade him, just as an atheist can never persuade a theist, even if the theist is right.

Li Cheng gave up.

"Cough cough."

After such a long and rambling speech expounding distorted values, Hook cleared his throat and asked in a slightly hoarse voice, "After saying so much, I'm suddenly a little thirsty. Do you have anything to drink?"

Is black tea acceptable?

Li Cheng asked with a kind smile.

“Okay.” Hook smiled faintly, seemingly quite satisfied. “I really like black tea.”

*Beep*, intelligence update: Hook likes black tea. Perhaps this could be used as a starting point to add sleeping pills to high-quality black tea... *Crack!* What kind of weird alert is this?! Who the hell would prepare sleeping black tea?!

Chapter 298 Eromangh Hook A. Teacher

Because of his momentary rudeness, Li Cheng had no choice but to go to the kitchen to boil water and make tea.

Compared to green tea, the biggest difference between black tea and green tea, apart from the tea variety, lies in the processing method. Black tea, after additional fermentation, has a milder astringent taste and is more suitable for drinking with milk, honey, sugar, etc.

Incidentally, the original reason for adding milk to black tea was simply to save money; milk is much cheaper than tea leaves...

So here's the question: what should you add when brewing black tea?

A. Tea

B. Hot water

C. Milk

D. A white powder with a slight sleep-inducing effect.

Li Cheng decisively chose option A or B. He neither added milk to the black tea to save money, nor did he add any strange things to make a drowsy black tea. He simply boiled water, brewed tea leaves, and made a pot of light red liquid.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

Li Cheng said this as he handed out the tea.

Hook took the tea set and glanced down at it. He noticed that it was just some low-grade local porcelain cups and sighed, "It's one thing that it's been drunk by a man, but it's even made of inferior local porcelain."

"Will you drink from this cup or not?"

Li Cheng said indifferently.

"This is just a rare, well-intentioned reminder. Aren't you afraid that the cups will shatter one day if you use these cheap porcelain cups to brew tea?"

Hook shook his head, seemingly too lazy to explain, and said, "Never mind, I'll bring a set next time I visit."

Li Cheng was a little surprised by the unexpected politeness and said, "Thank you very much."

"You're welcome," Hook said very solemnly. "I just hope you will keep the tea set I gave you safe and not give it to any man. It doesn't matter if it's for a woman. Just remember that."

It didn't seem like a difficult requirement, but after a moment of contemplation, Li Cheng suddenly realized a crucial issue.

He asked slowly, "Um, do I count as a man?"

Hook glanced at him strangely out of the corner of his eye: "You're asking me?"

?

So you mean I can't use it either?

Li Cheng's face immediately darkened: "Then why don't you give me a tea set that I can't use?"

"Well, mainly because I drink black tea every afternoon, so I'm giving you a tea set so it will be convenient for me to visit you."

Hook added, "Also, don't even think about using it secretly. I can tell if a tea set has been used by a man. If I find out, I'll just have to smash it and buy another set when I visit again."

I don't believe you! You're such a piece of trash who can't even tell a crossdresser apart! And I bet this British woman has never even seen a man before, so you wouldn't be able to tell even if I put some weird liquid in a tea set!

Li Cheng was speechless at this request. He retorted, "Aren't you afraid I'll deliberately take a couple of sips and make you smash the teaware?"

Hook said casually, "If you don't mind the hassle of cleaning the floor, then I don't mind."

After exchanging a few casual words, the black tea was no longer as scalding hot as before. Hook picked up the saucer and teacup with his left hand, then extended his pale, slightly sickly right hand and elegantly brought it to his lips, taking small sips.

Watching Hook drink the small cup of pale red liquid little by little, Li Cheng suddenly became a little curious. If this cup really was a sleeping tea, would Hook notice anything unusual when he touched her while she was asleep and unconscious?

I really want to sit in this controlled experiment if I have the chance...

After finishing her simple afternoon tea, Hook continued her comic book project, while Li Cheng busied himself with his work on the other side.

Although the goal of contacting Philippe was achieved, since I had nothing better to do anyway, I might as well take the opportunity to explore the French market.

France lacked the conditions for large-scale sheep farming, so clothing was mainly made of linen and other fabrics. In addition, due to Louis XIV's tariff protection policy, he imposed high tariffs on cotton and woolen textiles from England. Therefore, it was much more cost-effective to set up factories directly in France than by sea. The only problem was how to prevent the nobles and officials from exploiting them.

Finding a local French nobleman to join them would be the easiest solution, but the problem is that Li Cheng is hesitant about whether to approach Phillips. Although it would better align their interests, as the saying goes, don't put all your eggs in one basket, and he also doesn't want to encounter a situation where he needs to wear women's clothing again in the future...

However, according to the information I got from Mrs. Hudson, it seems that Earl Anderson came to Paris to start a new business in France. Surely we won't run into each other this time?

Whatever, I'm used to it anyway.

How to draw a nude human body in the style of comics...

Just as Li Cheng was caught in a deep dilemma, a muttered remark made him perk up.

He decisively raised his head and looked towards the source of the sound, discovering that Hook seemed to have suddenly been inspired, sketching something on the paper with great speed and murmuring to himself:

"Make it even bigger, more exaggerated... It's really beautiful, although it certainly doesn't exist in reality."

? !

Li Cheng was startled upon hearing this.

Huh? Could it be that Comrade Hook has already mastered drawing h and man so quickly without a teacher, and even grasped the supreme instruction that art requires abandoning shame? You know, many of this man's masterpieces are very explicit and violent. Can he really just stand by and watch a similar masterpiece be created?

Eromango Hooker, I'm your fan!

He immediately put down what he was doing, pretended to casually stroll behind Hook, and glanced at it out of the corner of his eye. He discovered that the drawing board was not an H.man at all, but just a face from the neck up. As for the larger part mentioned earlier, it was just the eyes.

Li Cheng felt he had been deceived.

"Heh, men."

Seeing this, Hook couldn't help but curl his lips into a smile and sneered, "Do you spend all day fantasizing about these things? You can't help but let your imagination run wild just because you hear the slightest sound?"

Li Cheng couldn't help but retort, "Have you never drawn these before?"

Just as every boy has drawn cows, he couldn't believe that Hook hadn't drawn anything unrelated to that thing in all his years of painting.

Hook, however, disagreed: "Even if I were to paint, I would only paint pure and beautiful friendships and love between women."

Then you freaking go ahead and draw it! What's the point of just talking about it?

Li Cheng had gradually given up on verbal communication with this person who constantly emphasized her female identity and even seemed to be proud of it. However, he suddenly realized that if he could change his approach, the path might become much wider.

You like women, and I like women too.

Aren't we in cahoots?

So Li Cheng immediately changed his strategy slightly—don't you like pure and beautiful women, and the friendship and love between these women?

To be honest, I actually know a little bit about it too.

Like twins, upperclassmen and underclassmen, teachers and students, rich heiresses, blondes, black hair, silver hair, blue hair, green hair, brown hair, white hair, tea hair, nannies, maids, soldiers, secretaries, lolis, queens, eyepatch...

Since I'm just killing time anyway, chatting with this guy for a bit isn't a bad idea.

After all, it's rare to find someone in this era who can accept Li Cheng's advanced culture. On the contrary, Hu Ke, this highly educated and eccentric woman with ideals and aspirations, can actually keep up with his ideas and have a conversation with him.

Thinking about it, it's quite sad. To want to chat freely, I can only find such a pervert...

Thinking this, Li Cheng sat down in front of the drawing paper, planning to show off his skills and give Hook a little stab in the butt—to open his eyes. So he started by giving the twin sisters a passionate kiss.

"......This is?!"

Even the already eccentric Miss Ketone was shocked by the gentlemanly power from the 21st century. She murmured, "Mr. Fruit, you really have a eccentric talent that far exceeds my imagination."

Li Cheng felt that these words didn't sound like a compliment, and the way they addressed him was even more casual than before.

"To be honest, you've really surprised me a lot."

Hook let out a long breath, staring intently at the two girls on the drawing paper with red and blue hair, their lips intertwined, and their eyes filled with misty tears. He couldn't help but sigh, "If you were a woman, perhaps I would have been moved by your talent and couldn't help but pursue you."

Chapter 299 All-Female Salon

Friday, Narcissus Street.

In the clear morning sunlight, a four-wheeled carriage was quietly parked in front of the small courtyard that Li Cheng had rented. The carriage was exquisite and compact overall, but the brown-yellow wheels on both sides were made very large. The carriage body was painted clean white, and an intricate pumpkin pattern was painted on the outside.

Such a carriage is undoubtedly very girlish and would be perfect for picking up an innocent and naive young girl, fulfilling her fairytale princess dream.

But this was pointless and unsuitable for Li Cheng. At this moment, he was squinting, considering whether he should simply replace the coachman and sit in the front driving position, letting the coachman sit in the carriage of this ridiculously fairytale-style carriage and direct him to his destination.

This carriage was the one Phillips mentioned in her letter, the one that would take Li Cheng to the agreed-upon location—and it was easy to see from the carriage's design that she had definitely chosen it carefully; its wicked humor practically overflowed from the carriage and submerged Li Cheng's ankles.

Red Girl, right?

A pumpkin carriage, right?

Why not just send a pair of crystal shoes as well?!

Philip, the prince, barely meets the requirements, but where's the stepmother? Where are the sisters? They dared to cast the lead without even the supporting cast? Don't they know the lead actor's salary is calculated in units of entertainment, enough to hire a dozen supporting actors?! Where's the director? I'm calling "pass!"

However, to be fair, although the earliest collection of fairy tales, the Pentames, was published by an Italian in 1636, these fairy tales at that time had absolutely no fairy tale atmosphere. They were completely outrageous children's horror stories, full of blood, violence, and sex! They were even more violent than the Decameron! Such fairy tales simply could not bring laughter!

For example, in the classic Cinderella story where the girl rides in a pumpkin carriage, the stepmother's two daughters cut off one of their heels and the other of their toes, leaving their feet covered in blood as they wear glass slippers to impersonate Cinderella. However, because of their deception, they end up having their eyes pecked out by pigeons in the street and becoming beggars for the rest of their lives!

But the one who's clearly blind is the prince! He's obviously face-blind and can't tell who's pretty and who's not!

After internally ranting for a while, Li Cheng, with a "what's the worst that can happen?" attitude, resolutely boarded the fairytale-style carriage and had the driver take him to his destination.

The destination didn't seem too far away. The carriage made a couple of turns and then stopped at... well, at the entrance of Narcissus Street?

[Unethical Navigation Service.]