It wasn't an apple that hit Newton.

Chapter 52 Even when slacking off, timing is crucial.

The principal's office has only one person.

After bidding farewell to Lavoisier, Li Cheng carefully opened the gold-edged envelope on the table.

Inside was a letter written on high-quality stationery. Although Li Cheng couldn't recognize the handwriting, the short sentences looked elegant and rhythmic, completely different from the scribbles he had received before.

While the handwriting is pleasing to the eye, the actual content of the letter is quite brief.

Li Cheng concentrated and watched carefully.

The first part is about Li Cheng's reaction to the church's plundering of the victory. Veronica replied that she had heard about it and took corresponding countermeasures.

In the latter part, Veronica found Li Cheng's suggestion that "the government should hire people to promote the message among the citizens" very interesting. After supplementing Li Cheng's ideas, she further consulted Li Cheng's opinion in the letter.

In short, it was fairly standard, and at least Li Cheng's suggestion piqued Veronica's interest.

To Li Cheng's surprise, Veronica made no mention whatsoever of 'his friend's' new book. Logically, there should have been at least a polite compliment, but it was nowhere to be found in the letter.

"Is it just not to my taste? Maybe I should try a different style..."

After a moment's thought, Li Cheng quickly put this trivial matter aside.

He then composed himself, glanced at the sky, and, feeling it was about time, stood up, locked the door, and headed towards the teaching building.

For convenience, he planned to hitch a ride in Annie's carriage. However, when he arrived at the classroom, he couldn't find Annie. After asking around, he learned that Annie hadn't returned since going to the professor's office that afternoon.

"I hope I don't get arrested again. I told you I'm not reliable..." Li Cheng was speechless and helpless. After asking the other party for the exact location of the other party's supervisor's office, he walked towards the office building.

......

Anne's mentor was named Mitchell, a middle-aged man who was neither bald nor greasy, and maintained a relatively good physique, making him look ten years younger than he actually was.

What enabled him to do all this was the heart of an old scoundrel.

When Li Cheng found the office where the other party was, Professor Mitchell was leisurely watering the pansies on the windowsill, looking relaxed and carefree—pansies are the most common wildflowers in Europe, so they are extremely easy to grow.

On his desk were several popular novels borrowed from the library, one of which was none other than Tristan and Iser, which Li Cheng had borrowed from the library.

Anne sat at a small wooden table next to her, gritting her teeth, holding a quill pen, and writing furiously on the white paper in her scrawled handwriting—she had been asked many questions by Mitchell that day and hadn't been able to answer them, so she was sentenced to copy the textbook to deepen her memory.

This feels like picking up a kid from school... Li Cheng thought to himself.

He stood at the door for a while, like a parent, and when he saw that neither of them was paying attention to him, he knocked on the open office door next to him.

Knock knock knock—

Annie looked up instantly, and upon recognizing Li Cheng, her eyes shone brightly as if she had seen a savior, her expression seeming to say, "Help me."

"Hello, Professor Mitchell."

Ignoring her pleading gaze, Li Cheng asked Mitchell, who was also looking over, "What mistake did Annie make?"

Upon hearing this, Annie immediately adopted a fierce and angry expression.

Li Cheng guessed that she was saying, 'Whose side are you on?'

Mitchell didn't answer the question directly. He first slowly placed the kettle on the windowsill next to him, and then looked at Li Cheng with a puzzled expression again, asking, "Are you Annie's... friend?"

"Ok?"

Li Cheng was taken aback. He asked in return, "You don't recognize me?"

If he remembered correctly, Anne's tutor, Mitchell, was a professor at Trinity College, teaching physics and humanities, and he should have been invited by him to attend the meeting today.

Mitchell didn't know Li Cheng. Although he had received an invitation, he suddenly felt like slacking off today, so he pretended to have a stomachache and didn't go.

Hearing Li Cheng say this, Mitchell became a little more serious and carefully examined Li Cheng from head to toe... but still couldn't recognize him.

"Sorry, I really don't remember who you are."

Mitchell admitted it very honestly.

Good heavens, they actually dared to stand me up... Li Cheng confirmed his guess, and his gaze towards the middle-aged professor instantly turned hostile.

He said bluntly, "You didn't come to the meeting today, did you?"

? !

How did he know I didn't go?

Mitchell was startled. After a moment's thought, he combined the young man's physical features with the widely circulated image and instantly understood the key.

—Jesus above, I got caught slacking off by my boss!

Mitchell's forehead was immediately covered in sweat. He had heard from the professor sitting across from him that the principal was a ruthless person who could fire people without hesitation. Was he about to lose this respectable and easy job?

“Sir Principal, I can explain.”

In a moment of panic, Mitchell blurted out, "I haven't been feeling well for the past few days, I have some... um, diarrhea, that's why I didn't attend the meeting, it's definitely not because I'm disrespectful to you."

Li Cheng ignored his explanation and instead turned his questioning gaze to Annie.

While Mitchell wasn't looking, Anne quickly and firmly shook her head, her expression indignant—this guy has diarrhea my foot! She hadn't seen him go to the toilet all afternoon, and he's almost healthier than her!

Li Cheng immediately understood, and his expression toward Mitchell became increasingly sinister. He couldn't help but want to make an example of him... Mitchell was that chicken.

However, considering that the other party was Annie's mentor, he decided to handle the situation more gently.

“I’m starting to doubt your work ethic. I’ll ask your colleagues and students about it. If it’s true, I’ll deduct a portion of your salary—” Li Cheng paused, “Do you have any objections?”

That would definitely mean I'd get docked my pay, but at least I wasn't fired... Mitchell breathed a sigh of relief, but said with a touch of regret, "I have no objections."

--------

"Alas--"

Leaving the office building, Annie let out a triumphant shout, then slapped Li Cheng on the shoulder hard: "Wow, Li Cheng, you're awesome! I didn't expect you to be so great. Did you see the professor's expression just now? It was so satisfying!"

"I didn't deduct his salary because of you..." Li Cheng casually asked, "What did you do that led to this penalty?"

"How would I know? It's so strange."

Annie complained, "My tutor went crazy today. As soon as I arrived, she gave me a test, and when I got even the slightest question wrong, she made me copy from the book. I copied for the entire afternoon! She wouldn't let me go anywhere except to the bathroom!"

Li Cheng couldn't help but say, "I bet you got more than a little bit wrong."

That's not the point.

Annie grew angrier as she spoke, waving her hand forcefully and saying, "He says he's reinforcing my memory, but I can tell he's just looking to get back at me! Let me tell you, if he weren't my mentor, I would have rolled up my sleeves and attacked him right then and there!"

Li Cheng thought for a moment: "Was it discovered that the paper I wrote for you was found out?"

Anne shook her head repeatedly and said, "Impossible. My supervisor didn't notice anything this time and even praised my paper."

Li Cheng was taken aback: "How did you praise me?"

Anne smiled smugly and said, "Praising me for being thoughtful and coming up with such a tricky angle to complete the paper—but is your writing really that tricky? I didn't really see it."

Li Cheng: ......

No, he definitely found out. He just doesn't expose you and deliberately finds other excuses to punish you... Li Cheng rubbed his temples and changed the subject, saying, "By the way, what's the date today?"

Anne quickly replied, "August 31st, why do you ask?"

August 31st... wait, August 31st?!

Li Cheng had only asked casually, but then he suddenly remembered something, and his expression changed.

If I remember correctly, in two days, in the early morning of September 2nd, London will be hit by one of the worst fires in its history.

Chapter 53 Summer homework is always started at the last minute

I'm fixing a bug. Due to the author's limited knowledge, Cambridge in this world was built in the suburbs of London... I know I was wrong, please don't scold me (┬＿┬).

***********

On September 2, 1666, London experienced the worst fire in its history, known as the Great Fire of London.

The Great Fire of London began on September 2nd (Julian calendar) and was not extinguished until September 5th. The fire destroyed medieval buildings within the Britannian walls and threatened Westminster, Charles II's Whitehall Palace, and many nearby slums, but was fortunately brought under control in time.

Although historical records state that only 8 people were injured or killed, it's best to just laugh it off.

A massive fire broke out in central London in the early hours of the morning, lasted for three days, destroyed tens of thousands of homes, and left tens of thousands homeless. Eight people is an absurd number.

Or to put it another way, some people may not have been counted in the headcount at all.

Furthermore, the original Great Fire of London occurred during an epidemic and played a role in eliminating rats and cutting off the spread of the plague in London. However, the plague in this world had already been brought under control earlier, so this fire was just a pure disaster.

------

Cambridge.

When Li Cheng realized that it was already August 31st, and only a day and a half left before the fire, he paused, his brows furrowing tightly.

Damn it, I almost forgot about that... he cursed under his breath.

There is no doubt that action must be taken.

Regardless, he couldn't tolerate watching a fire unfold before his eyes without doing anything to stop it.

Regardless of good or evil, this is the bottom line in people's hearts.

Unfortunately, Li Cheng only vaguely remembered that the fire was caused by a bakery forgetting to turn off its oven.

As for the bakery's specific name, location, or owner's name... well, give me a blue and white women's outfit, throw away my morals, and try to cosplay it using Baidu (the Chinese search engine)—maybe that will help me remember.

Li Cheng chuckled to himself, then took a deep breath to cool down his racing heart.

Calm down, calm down, without a doubt, this is not something that can be solved by impulsiveness... he told himself.

"What's the matter with you?"

Li Cheng's series of actions seemed so strange to onlookers that even Annie noticed something was amiss.

I almost lost my way in life... Li Cheng waved his hand and said, "It's okay—by the way, do you know how many bakeries there are in London?"

Annie was taken aback by the question. She hesitated and asked, "Hundreds of companies?"

Li Cheng smiled wryly.

Yes, there are hundreds of them. Trying to find them one by one would be incredibly difficult.

At this point, Annie realized what was happening and complained, "Hey, aren't you just messing with me by asking this? Who would remember this stuff?"

Indeed, who in their right mind would remember exactly which street the bakery that caught fire was on?

"Don't look so gloomy."