It wasn't an apple that hit Newton.

"I expect to have several large dedicated laboratories for my potential research," Li Cheng added. "And there are plenty of empty rooms, so I can purchase a lot of experimental equipment without worrying about where to put it."

Ok?

Newton's ears twitched noticeably.

Seeing this, Li Cheng added, "There will also be a dedicated art studio, and many servants will be hired to pose people as models."

"...Since you want me to go so badly."

Newton put down his knife and fork, frowned, and said with a serious expression, "Then I'll reluctantly agree."

------

Joyce, the butler, was familiar with London and quickly found several suitable villas.

So over the next few days, Li Cheng, led by Newton, went to conduct on-site inspections, with Newton following along the whole time, as if he were checking out his future living environment.

73 High Street.

Rows of straight oak trees line both sides of the street. This third-ranked villa has a reasonable layout, a clean lawn, exquisite furniture, and many rooms. The stables at the back also look very sturdy. Moreover, it is located on the High Street, where many London associations and organizations choose to open nearby, making it very convenient to do business.

"Mr. Li Cheng."

Midway through the inspection, Joyce leaned close to Li Cheng and whispered, "May I ask about your exact relationship with Miss Newton?"

After a moment of contemplation, Li Cheng said, "...I can't give you a definite answer right now because I can't be sure if I'll do anything dangerous in the future that might involve her, which makes me hesitant."

He glanced at Newton, who was consulting about the structural strength of the house (why was she asking that? Was she planning to do some experiments that might demolish the house???), and continued answering.

"You may not understand, or you may think I'm exaggerating or mentally unstable, but for me, life is not such a precious thing."

Joyce did find it a little hard to understand, but his good professionalism prevented him from showing any shock. Instead, he attributed it to the possible strange religious beliefs of the Great Yan Dynasty.

“I understand,” he nodded.

"Well, don't be so serious, I'm just giving you a heads-up." Li Cheng shrugged and said casually, "Who knows? Maybe I'll suddenly change my mind and decide to settle down and live a peaceful life—by the way, Joyce, are you married?"

“I have a son who is already married.”

Joyce replied.

Why the hell did I bring this up? The atmosphere suddenly became a little awkward... Li Cheng's lips twitched: "Let's not talk about this anymore—I just received a banquet invitation this morning, do you have any suggestions for the preparations?"

"There's a lot to prepare, such as a special dress, etiquette for the banquet..."

Joyce paused for a moment and said, "But could you tell me first which gentleman invited me?"

"Earl Anderson".

Li Cheng read the name with a rather annoyed expression: "His daughter Louise's birthday party is at the end of this month. I had a little... misunderstanding with him before."

“I originally wanted to refuse, but Princess Veronica sent someone to tell me that it was something she had mentioned to Earl Anderson before, and told me not to worry too much, and just to let me experience the atmosphere of a banquet held among nobles on the sidelines.”

There were some things that were neither necessary nor appropriate to keep from the housekeeper, so Li Cheng roughly explained the cause and effect of the incident to Joyce. Yes, that's right, it was the incident where he kidnapped Anderson's daughter for almost a week.

Upon hearing this, Joyce's butler couldn't help but show a somewhat surprised expression.

He originally thought that Li Cheng had relied on his eloquence and a bit of luck to reform the soap business, attract investment, and eventually establish the soap factory. Although young, promising, and with a bright future, he was still a newcomer with little experience in London, which is why he wanted to hire an experienced butler.

As it turns out, Li Cheng had actually managed to get involved with important figures like the Earl and the Princess, and had even quietly accomplished such a significant feat.

Earl… Joyce recalled his knowledge: “If you intend to integrate into high society, you must be fully prepared to behave gracefully and appropriately at banquets. You will have a very tough time in the coming period.”

"You need to brush up on the topics London gentlemen like to talk about, such as painting, music, philosophy, and drama; you need to practice dancing so that you don't step on your female companion's toes."

“I have no intention of integrating into the upper-class circles of the ‘aristocrats’.”

Li Cheng replied, feeling both a bit uneasy and relieved, "My future social circle will likely consist more of businesspeople and scientists, and I don't particularly enjoy these kinds of banquets and social events."

Joyce nodded and said, "Then just remember a few simple things and change into a proper dress."

Chapter 115 "Reciting the Names of Dishes"

banquet.

Inside the hall, long tables were laden with a variety of delicious foods: roast chicken, roast goose, foie gras, roast beef, stewed mutton... the aromas were irresistible.

Li Cheng's eyes turned green with envy, and he couldn't help but drool. His Adam's apple bobbed up and down. Don't misunderstand, Li Cheng wasn't a glutton. He would never have acted so pathetically under normal circumstances.

But today is different.

Newton was extremely excited about his new home. He not only strolled around the entire garden villa with great energy, but also expressed his interest in cooking a meal himself as a celebration of moving into his new home.

Let's cook!

Newton wants to cook!

After personally confirming the news with the person involved, Li Cheng covered his eyes in anguish with his right hand.

The details are omitted for now, but in short, after nearly blowing up the kitchen, Newton successfully made a dish of lobsters that looked like they lived in a nuclear wasteland.

After Li Cheng barely finished eating, he felt unwell in his stomach on the way to Anderson's house by carriage and vomited it all by the roadside, thus achieving the feat of attending the banquet on an absolutely empty stomach.

However, banquets held among nobles were a kind of banquet where, although a lot of food was prepared, one could not eat freely for the sake of appearances. In fact, the smells and the exertion of energy would make one increasingly hungry, so one had to fill one's stomach before attending.

"I'll remember this grudge..."

Li Cheng muttered something under his breath, then picked up the plate next to him and began to eat.

He smelled the aroma of sauce and oil wafting from the tip of his nose, suppressing the urge to inhumanely destroy the pile of food in front of him, and very restrainedly picked up only a small portion and put it on his plate.

Then Li Cheng tried his best to conceal his presence, behaving like an ordinary gentleman casually savoring the food, while avoiding the gaze of passersby and slipping into a quiet corner. He then devoured the meager amount of food on his plate in one bite.

After doing all this, he casually moved to another table...

This cycle repeated itself, and although it was extremely inefficient, it at least provided some comfort to Li Cheng's stomach, which was protesting desperately.

'Once you get used to it, it even has a unique kind of fun.'

Li Cheng began to find humor in his predicament, analyzing the movements of the servants carrying trays in an attempt to find the best route. At the same time, he also pretended to be a guest gourmet, silently commenting on the quality of the food in his mind.

The roasted chicken was tender and very flavorful, but unfortunately, I only had one bite.

"The fish is a bit too salty. While it's true that salted fish is supposed to be less salty than meat, turning it into pure salted fish is a bit much... Sigh, if only I had a bowl of white rice right now. Unfortunately, rice is so expensive here, and the chef is treating it as a side dish rather than a main course; he just sprinkles it into the soup and stews it together."

However, things did not go as planned.

Even though Li Cheng was being so low-key and discreet, the two still noticed his frequent movements between the long dining tables. One of them simply smiled knowingly, but the other was quite oblivious.

"Heh, look at that country bumpkin, he looks like he's never eaten before."

A young man dressed in a formal suit with cyan as the main color and purple as the secondary color spoke to the person next to him.

His name was Paul Cole, and he was trying to start a conversation with Li Cheng, intending to show off the exotic cuisine he had tasted in order to strike up a conversation with a strange noble lady—this lady in a black dress whose name he did not know had a unique and mysterious aura, like a delicate orchid quietly blooming in the dead of night, beautiful and fragile, who attracted his attention at first glance.

Cole's favorite thing to do was to destroy delicate flowers—but considering that this was a banquet hosted by Earl Anderson, he wanted to first use his superior flirting skills.

?

As Cole's attempt to strike up a conversation reached the ears of the woman he wanted to talk to, it also made its way through the crowd to Li Cheng, whose hearing was excellent.

This made Li Cheng's eyes suddenly turn dangerous as he was about to go to the next table, causing him to change his original plan.

He silently placed the plate aside, then walked toward the source of the conversation, the young man, and gently placed his hand on his shoulder without the man noticing.

Who is it?

The young man was annoyed that someone was interrupting his conversation with the young lady, but when he turned around and saw that it was Li Cheng, whom he had used to mock him, he was slightly surprised.

He was startled by Li Cheng's sharp and unfriendly gaze, and regretted not lowering his voice a little earlier. However, with the lady he liked watching beside him, he could not admit it directly out of consideration for his pride.

Cole smiled and asked, "Is there anything I can help you with?"

Li Cheng didn't answer his question. After observing Cole carefully for a few seconds, he suddenly spoke without warning:

"Steamed lamb, steamed bear's paw, steamed deer tail, roast duck, roast chicken, roast goose, braised pork, braised duck, soy sauce chicken, cured pork, preserved pork belly, dried meat, sausage, assorted cold dishes, smoked chicken belly..."

Cole: "???"

Li Cheng's rapid recitation of the dishes, with clear pronunciation and a coherent voice, and most importantly, without repeating any of them, completely baffled the young man.

For a moment he didn't know what to do, so he just stared blankly at Li Cheng's mouth, which was opening and closing rapidly, as if he could see words popping out of it.

"Stir-fried shrimp, braised shrimp, braised pork kidneys, wow—"

Li Cheng took a breath halfway through, and then, under the young man's expectant gaze, continued his rapid-fire delivery: "Yellow heart tube, braised white eel, braised yellow eel, catfish with black bean sauce, braised carp, stewed soft-shelled turtle, stir-fried carp, stir-fried shrimp, soft-fried pork tenderloin, soft-fried chicken, assorted stuffed intestines, braised crow's feet, sesame oil rolls..."

After rattling off the long list of memories in one breath, Li Cheng paused for two seconds before leisurely asking, "Have you eaten it? You haven't, have you?"

"Forehead......"

Cole opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything.

He had eaten a few of these dishes before, but most of them were dishes he had never heard of before—if the other person hadn't recited them without any pause, he would have suspected that the other person had made them up.

Seeing this, Li Cheng chuckled in a smug tone, "Hehe, I've eaten them all~"

After saying this, he turned around without hesitation and disappeared into the bustling hall, concealing his achievements and fame.

"...Is this guy crazy?"

Looking in the direction where Li Cheng disappeared, Cole followed his heart and said this—he guessed that the young lady next to him thought the same thing, and saying this might help him establish an emotional connection with her.

"At least this lunatic has more experience than you."

Contrary to Cole's expectations, the young lady not only failed to resonate with him emotionally, but instead delivered a sarcastic remark that struck him hard on the heart: "I reckon you can't even tell the difference between all the food on this table; you're not even as good as a lunatic."

?

Cole looked at the delicate young lady in front of him with surprise, not understanding why she would mock him for no reason.

"What, did I say something wrong?"

The other person gave him a disgusted look: "Your clumsy flirting skills and filthy eyes make it obvious to me what kind of filthy thoughts are going on in your pea-sized brain. Compared to you, that guy who likes to eat is a million times better."

Chapter 116 Making Money by Selling Sex

The claim that I've eaten them all is obviously nonsense; in my past life, bear paws were a nationally protected animal.

Since he was no longer very hungry, Li Cheng decided not to continue being a gourmet and instead began to think about how to kill the time.

This is not a difficult task, because the scene is very lively, and you can pass the time just by observing people.

Earl Anderson, wanting to make a grand entrance, invited a great many guests, which meant he couldn't personally receive them all. He could only select some of the more important guests, including Princess Veronica.

Even disregarding her social status, Veronica's exquisite face, which could overshadow her magnificent evening gown and various accessories, along with her deep, lustrous brown eyes, were more than enough to make her one of the highlights of the banquet.

'Although Anderson unfortunately lost £100,000 because of this selling point.'