It wasn't an apple that hit Newton.

"Hmm... let Louise sleep for another ten minutes."

Sleepy.jpg

Seeing that calling out to him was useless, Li Cheng freed up one arm and tried a more interesting way to wake him up.

Pinch the cheek, rub the earlobe, touch the hair...

Strange sensations spread throughout her body, and Louise opened her eyes wide, looking at Li Cheng, who had disturbed her sleep, with a hint of annoyance. It wasn't that she didn't want him to touch her, but if possible, she shouldn't do it when she was still very sleepy.

However, Li Cheng did not stop and continued to enjoy himself.

While teasing the proud Miss Newton is fun, Miss Louise, who doesn't resist at all and obediently lets you play with her, touch her, hug her, and kiss her, is also very fun.

Especially after playing the game of touching and pinching for a while, when the girl's cheeks are flushed with a faint blush of shyness, but her eyes are still full of affection as she looks at you, that feeling of knowing unmistakably that someone likes you is truly captivating, making you want to lean in and kiss her.

However, today's game will obviously end at the first step.

Boom!Boom!Boom!

Accompanied by loud knocking, Annie's boisterous voice came from outside: "How long are you going to sleep? Some girl named Fei came to the door asking why you stood her up yesterday... Wait, why is the door locked? Li Cheng, what are you doing sneaking around in there???"

Holy crap, I forgot about that!

Li Cheng was immediately alarmed, not only because he had been caught, but also because he remembered that he seemed to have... stood that cross-dresser up yesterday.

Because he had recently visited most of the famous people in France and offered some minor suggestions in their professional fields, they all found it very helpful and wanted to talk to him again. They contacted Phillips to arrange another meeting.

He didn't want to go, after all, he only wanted to meet her to satisfy his curiosity, and after he had his fun, well... ugh, anyway, considering the cross-dresser's feelings, he reluctantly agreed to some of the invitations.

By the way, the first day we agreed on was yesterday...

It really wasn't intentional, I just forgot by accident and that's why I stood them up, really.

"He's awake! He's coming right away!"

While answering with a headache, Li Cheng quickly jumped off the bed, then carried Louise to the wardrobe as fast as he could, opened the door and put the girl inside, saying with a slight apology, "Stay in there for a while, I'll call you later before you come out."

"Ah."

Louise responded softly, then hugged her knees tightly, curling up among a pile of clothes like a red ball of fur.

After doing all this, Li Cheng quickly put on his pants and opened the door.

"Hey, Li Cheng, why are you locking the door?" Annie asked suspiciously, sticking her head into the room. "You're not secretly doing something to betray Newton, are you?"

Even Newton himself said he didn't want her to cause trouble for Li Cheng.

But as her best friend, she felt that although she couldn't agree to help directly, since that would be too perverse, she still had an obligation to supervise him. At least she had to give this scumbag some psychological intimidation, just like how caregivers in nursing homes are less likely to bully elderly people with children.

"It's not normal to lock the door when you sleep."

Li Cheng spoke with righteous indignation, as if locking the door when sleeping was an age-old rule.

Annie ignored him, sniffing the air as she recalled her night hiding in the cupboard, muttering, "It doesn't seem to have any strange smell..."

"Ok?"

Li Cheng was a little surprised: "You know about this?!"

He then looked Annie up and down with a shocked expression, as if he had discovered that his second uncle's teddy bear had raped the neighbor's Alaskan Malamute.

Annie grinned at him: "So what if I knew? Did it bother you?"

After baring her teeth, she grabbed Li Cheng and tried to run to the living room, asking, "By the way, who is Phillips? What does he want with you so early in the morning? You didn't do something to Newton, did you?"

"He's just a French friend!"

Suspected of having an affair with a cross-dresser, Li Cheng felt his dignity was insulted. He emphasized, "Can't people trust each other a little more? We've known each other for so long, can't you stop suspecting me of betraying Newton just because I see a woman? Have some confidence, okay?"

Anne curled her lip in disdain, seemingly wanting to say something, but recalling Newton's secret instructions, she ultimately held back.

The two walked to the living room.

By this time, Phillips had been waiting for some time, and since Newton had not yet gotten up, Lavoisier was temporarily in charge of receiving him.

The two seemed to be talking about something, but upon seeing Li Cheng appear, Phillips adjusted his collar slightly and said to him in a slightly resentful tone, "Designer, I waited for you all night yesterday, it was so long~"

Today, Phillips is dressed as a woman, wearing a pretty light blue dress, her golden hair is tied back with a hair crown, and there's a padded pad hidden in her underwear. Anyone who doesn't know the truth would think she's a beautiful young girl.

These words were spoken by her in this tone...

Li Cheng's lips twitched. He knew that his act of standing him up had angered this cross-dresser, who had deliberately dressed as a woman to create some family conflict for him.

Chapter 371 The Miscalculation and Oblivion

as predicted.

After the cross-dresser deliberately said some suggestive words, Lavoisier's scarlet eyes flashed several times. After quickly confirming that Phillips was good-looking, he gave Li Cheng a somewhat incredulous look—"You have so many women at home, and you're still looking for women outside!"

He wouldn't even say a word to me! You big jerk!

...It's a misunderstanding!

Li Cheng really wanted to sigh to the heavens and answer, "There really isn't one."

Annie reacted even more fiercely. She clenched her fists, glared at Li Cheng, and almost couldn't help but rush into his face: "What the hell have you done to offend Newton this time?"

Wait, again?

Despite his busy schedule, Li Cheng still keenly noticed the word "again" and instantly began brainstorming...

Why add "again" here? Setting aside the possibility of a simple slip of the tongue, did Anne discover something? But he and Anne rarely live together, so the chances of her finding out are slim. The only possibility is Louise this morning, but Louise was safely huddled in the closet before...

Unable to figure it out for a moment, he decided to go back and ask again, or at least resolve the current family conflict first.

Ignoring Anne's angry glare, Li Cheng cleared his throat and said, "Ahem, Miss Phillips, I apologize for not being able to attend His Highness's invitation on time yesterday. Please convey my apologies. I swear it was just an accident... Finally, let's not make jokes like this; it's easy to cause misunderstandings."

He was experienced with these kinds of events, and he explained them very clearly and concisely.

"Haha, so heartless? So quick to adopt this businesslike attitude."

Phillips, however, didn't seem to have any intention of letting him off so easily. Instead, she looked at him with a mournful expression, as if addressing a heartless ex-boyfriend, and said, "You pounced on me the first time we met and even touched under my skirt... Now you're tired of me and want to act like we're nothing..."

Normally, no one would believe such an outrageous statement. After all, although Li Cheng has been labeled as a womanizer, he wouldn't pounce on a girl on the first meeting.

Unfortunately, Li Cheng has a low level of trust in this area.

Seeing that things were getting out of hand, Li Cheng knew he had no choice but to work overtime. So, he secretly raised three fingers from an angle that only Phillips could see, meaning that he could see three more guests and that he guaranteed they would find it very rewarding.

Phillips pursed his lips and shook his head gently with a smile.

Li Cheng frowned, and the number of fingers he held out became five—this was his bottom line. Chatting with a few grown men and making them feel both entertained and knowledgeable was definitely a thankless task.

Phillips' eyes lit up, seemingly a little tempted, but he still gently shook his head.

That's way too greedy!

Li Cheng then shook his head, indicating that he was quitting and didn't care what anyone did.

Phillips' smile only grew wider. She stood up from her seat, lifted her skirt, and carefully walked to Li Cheng's side. Under his wary gaze, she bowed to him and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Designer, I won't let you suffer any losses."

"How so?" Li Cheng countered.

"Come closer, I'll tell you quietly." Phillipston paused, then added, "You might regret it if you don't listen."

Li Cheng felt that this cross-dresser had some ill intentions. He wanted to whisper to him in front of everyone, which was obviously an attempt to put him in a bad position. However, it seemed that although the guy liked to play pranks, he would not lie in this situation, so he took a few steps closer.

Phillips smiled slightly and whispered in someone's ear:

"Next week... I'm going to... sneak in..."

As Li Cheng listened, the expression on his face gradually changed from doubt to shock and anticipation, and finally... his expression calmed down again, but he couldn't hide the smile on his lips.

"How about these conditions?"

“No problem, I’ve got it covered,” Li Cheng replied decisively.

"Shall we go?"

"go!"

A dirty deal has been struck.

Li Cheng immediately and decisively strode out the door with Phillips to act as a chat partner for Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, François de La Rochefoucauld, Jean Racine, Jean de La Fontaine, and others, and he had to make sure they enjoyed the conversation and felt they had gained a lot.

However, "chatting companions" isn't quite accurate, since they hoped to see Li Cheng again. To be more precise, it's more like a "charity dinner" from their previous life, where they were selling their dining opportunities.

This is no problem for him.

However, considering the time constraints, after spending the entire morning seeing off the satisfied gentleman, Li Cheng finally ended his chat service and returned home feeling utterly bored.

It was lunchtime, but the girls all seemed to have gone out, so he was the only one left.

Seeing this, Li Cheng quickly washed his hands and sat down to enjoy his portion of roast pigeon. But just as he was about to cut into the pigeon's wing, a thought flashed through his mind, and he vaguely felt that something was amiss, as if he had forgotten something.

What have I forgotten...?

Li Cheng subconsciously scanned the restaurant and began checking each seat one by one.

Newton, Anne, Lavoisier, Susie, Agnes, Louise... and so on, Louise?

Oh right, he seemed to have hidden Louise in the closet this morning and told her not to come out, but then he got distracted by Phillips's matter and went out to chat with him, forgetting to call her out... Damn, he just stood up the cross-dresser yesterday, and now he's accidentally stood up Louise again!

Li Cheng stared at the fragrant roasted pigeon on the plate, feeling a pang of unease.

But even though he stood her up, it's already noon. Although he didn't call Louise out, she probably couldn't hold back any longer and crawled out on her own. It's impossible that she's just been stupidly squatting in the closet until now, right?

Li Cheng thought to himself.

If it were anyone else, they would definitely get restless and climb out of the closet themselves, so there's no need to worry.

But then he thought about Louise's adorable, slightly silly nature and how the little girl almost unconditionally obeyed his instructions, and he suddenly couldn't sit still.

Hey, hey, hey, it couldn't have really been sitting in the closet all this time, could it?

Li Cheng, somewhat distracted, put down his knife and fork and stopped a passing French maid, asking, "Hey you... have you seen Louise? She's a little red-haired girl, very cute."

"Miss Louise?"

The maid put the bucket of water she was carrying on the ground, wiped her hands on her apron, stood there for a moment and thought for a moment, then simply shook her head: "I don't think I saw it today. Do you need me to look for it for you?"

Chapter 372 The Last Lunch Mistake

"Fuck you!"

Li Cheng immediately swore, it was unclear who he was cursing, perhaps he was cursing himself.

He didn't care about the meal anymore. Seeing the maid's surprised look, he kicked the stool aside and left the dining room as fast as he could. He ran all the way to his room, pushed open the door, and stood in the old-fashioned, dark black wardrobe with natural tree grain patterns.