It wasn't an apple that hit Newton.

"Ah."

Therese responded, but seeing Li Cheng staring intently at the bread she was holding, she frowned and mumbled, "This is my breakfast, I can't share it with you."

Who's going to share your breakfast? Besides, do you think I need to share even a loaf of bread?

Li Cheng's lips twitched: "I've already eaten."

Perhaps realizing that it was inconvenient to talk while holding the bread in her mouth, Therese finally took her hand out of her pocket and removed the leather black gloves she was wearing, leaving her bare hands to hold the bread.

At the same time, she muttered to herself, "Wearing gloves is quite awkward. I really don't know if that guy feels uncomfortable wearing gloves all day. But black leather gloves can definitely add some fun. Hmm, I'll write that down."

Li Cheng pretended not to hear it. Putting aside the fact that someone was being subtly dissed, the word "sentiment" at the end was very inappropriate to respond to.

"Oh, you're here again today?"

Therese finally managed to say something normal, but it was clearly just a polite remark to Li Cheng before she turned to Annie and asked, "You're here early today, not the last one."

"hey-hey."

Annie chuckled awkwardly, then said without any hesitation, "I used to live far away, but now I live at Li Cheng's house, which is closer to here."

Upon hearing her words, Li Cheng felt a sudden wave of dizziness, as if he were about to have a stroke—was this something he could just say so carelessly? What if others misunderstood?

"What? You're all living together now?"

Therese was so shocked she almost dropped her bread. She stared at Li Cheng with an utterly horrified expression: "What exactly did you do to Zhuyu in the locker room that day? I only waited three minutes! Only three minutes!"

Damn it, you deliberately didn't tell me the locker room lock was broken that day! Besides, who only lasts three minutes?! Don't look down on me!

"..."

Li Cheng composed himself, then mentally rehearsed his words before stating clearly, "1. Zhu Yu was only staying at my house temporarily due to special circumstances, and our rooms are separated by Mount Alpheus. 2. Nothing happened that day—how dare you bring that up!"

Speaking of which, Annie's pseudonym sounds really awkward; I almost mispronounced it.

"cut."

The source of all evil, Therese, showed no remorse whatsoever. She turned to Anne and asked, "How many minutes can he last?"

"What, a few minutes?"

Anne asked with great confusion, which shows that although she is a bit silly and has been getting increasingly out of control lately, she is still a pure and good girl.

Therese replied, "Well..."

Li Cheng was determined to protect what little normalness Annie had left. Before Therese could speak, he said, "Ignore her. Just pretend she farted—by the way, let me tell you a saying from my hometown: a loud fart doesn't smell bad, and a stinky fart doesn't sound loud, so you didn't smell it."

"How can you talk like that?"

Therese pointed to the ground with great dissatisfaction: "Do you know whose territory this is? Do you believe that I can give the order and seven or eight armored men will come and pin you to the ground and teach you a lesson in turn?"

Li Cheng actually believed it. Although the armor might be questionable, the big man was real, and he was even posing and stretching his muscles not far away. The scene was simply too beautiful to look at up close.

So he changed to a more consultative tone and said, "Ahem, Miss Therese, Zhuyu's father still hopes that Zhuyu can become a lady, which is every father's wish."

Hearing Li Cheng's polite tone, Therese also became a bit more serious. Although the half-eaten piece of bread in her hand slightly spoiled the atmosphere, it wasn't a big deal.

"Don't just stand there, go and do your own thing."

She first shooed Annie away, who couldn't even stand still, and after Annie ran off like a madwoman, Therese said to Li Cheng very seriously, "Although it's not appropriate for me to say this—has he considered having another child?"

"Cough cough cough..."

Li Cheng was choked and coughed violently.

While that makes sense, it's a bit too direct—thankfully Annie isn't here, otherwise she would definitely make a scene if she heard it.

“No,” Li Cheng said tactfully, “but at least in some aspects… I hope you can still exercise a little more restraint.”

To be honest, he was very worried about this perverted dramatist who controlled little boys. Annie was already like this, and if she learned Teresa's weird fantasies, she really should be considered for a complete overhaul.

Therese waved her hand dismissively: "Don't worry, don't worry, I know what I'm doing—otherwise, do you think Little Cornelian Chrysanthemum wouldn't know what it means to not last three minutes?"

Hearing Therese bring it up again, Li Cheng finally couldn't hold back any longer: "Who said I can't last three minutes?"

"Oh? Then prove it?"

Therese's bright red lips curled into a slightly provocative smile.

Hehe, didn't you reveal your true nature as a purist at our first meeting?

Li Cheng remained unmoved: "Let's not talk about that. I came here today to meet someone..."

"You're here because of Veronica's matter, right?"

Therese interrupted.

Li Cheng was a little surprised: "You know that too?"

"Of course, I'm her only friend who says whatever she wants."

Therese replied with a hint of smugness, then patted Li Cheng on the shoulder in an old-fashioned manner:

"Work hard, young people have a bright future—although Veronica likes to put on airs all day and often has a lot of outlandish and unrealistic ideas that I find ridiculous, she has a very good conscience."

Chapter 122 The King Returns

Although Spencer is in his 30s, he is well-maintained and full of energy, looking like a young man.

He wasn't a local, but an Austro-Hungarian who mainly dealt in plantations in the Spanish colonies of the Americas, such as cotton. He had been living in London for the past two years—you can imagine how chaotic that list of countries is; you have no idea what he's been doing traveling all over the world.

Li Cheng thought the meeting would be troublesome, but to his surprise, this guy was actually a fan of Annie!

He only learned this fact when Annie took him to meet Spründen. Upon seeing Annie dressed as a man, Spründen excitedly exclaimed in somewhat broken English, "Miss Zhuyu! You've finally agreed to see me!" Li Cheng was completely dumbfounded.

Thank you for your appreciation.

Instead of being reserved in the face of such enthusiasm, Anne behaved much more seriously than usual. In fact, the only reason that prevented her from meeting the audience up close was her fear of being recognized by chance.

For some reason, Li Cheng felt that Annie's response was a bit strange, like... she was still standing on a stage.

Putting everything else aside, thanks to this relationship, Li Cheng didn't even have to say much; he simply showed Veronique's letter of proof, and the two of them finalized the basis for their cooperation.

"See? I told you we knew each other, didn't I? You still didn't believe me."

Anne was very pleased with herself afterwards, as if she were just missing a tail to make it easier for her to wag her tail.

For some reason, Li Cheng suddenly thought of giving positive feedback when training pets, so he treated her to a big meal.

In the early stages, it's not about having a lot of people, but about having the right people. So, after spending some time finalizing the cooperation with this businessman from out of town, Li Cheng prepared to hand over the rest of the work to Roy, letting him handle the follow-up arrangements.

Another matter is that Li Cheng's nonsense at the banquet damaged Anderson's reputation for a short time, but it was only after Veronica stepped in, vouched for him, and clarified the misunderstanding that the matter was finally resolved.

After cleaning up Li Cheng's mess (it sounds a bit strange to say it this way), Veronica felt frustrated and made up her mind not to let Li Cheng participate in similar occasions in the future.

......

Nothing happened for a while after that—until the king returned from Scotland.

October 9th.

The bright morning sun shone on London's not-so-high city walls. Charles II, wearing a magnificent cloak, rode a tall and mighty white horse he had chosen at the races, amidst cheers, flowers, and applause from the citizens lining the streets. He laughed and waved to the crowd.

"Your Majesty..."

Li Cheng mingled among the noisy crowds on both sides of the city wall, watching. It was the first time he had witnessed such a famous historical figure appear before his eyes, and the disorienting feeling of reality intertwining with the history in his mind made him unable to help but sigh.

Some might argue that Newton is more famous, but this feminized version of Newton doesn't bring Li Cheng the slightest sense of history; in fact, she herself only has a tiny bit...

"Ah!"

Newton, who had been dragged over by Li Cheng, sneezed. She rubbed her slightly red nose and looked at someone suspiciously: "I have a feeling someone's talking about me behind my back..."

"You're mistaken. Keep watching the king," Li Cheng casually brushed it off.

"I can't see."

Newton muttered something, then began to sulk to himself—the little girl's view was completely blocked by the crowd in front of her because of her height, but she refused to be lifted or carried.

Li Cheng shrugged helplessly, then bent down and, ignoring Newton's protests, placed her on his shoulder.

"What are you doing? Didn't I say I didn't need it?"

"It's alright, it's alright, now you can see it, right?"

In fact, many people around did the same thing, with many children riding on their parents' shoulders just to witness this rare spectacle. Newton blended in without attracting the attention of others... well, probably.

Back to the team.

Not far behind Charles II was Prince Edward, who was riding alongside him. Although the young and handsome prince also smiled and responded to the crowd, he was not as enthusiastic as his father; it was more like a simple response.

Further back was Queen Catherine (a name that always reminded Li Cheng of a certain eye-catching cat-eared girl), who sat in a four-wheeled carriage. Through the open carriage window, one could vaguely see that her facial features were similar to Veronica's.

The royal procession was flanked by crowds on both sides, and at the midpoint of this passage formed by the crowd, which was the city gate of London, a richly dressed woman was ready to greet Charles II.

She had a solemn and indifferent expression, perfectly styled black curly hair, and black eyes similar to those of Charles II.

A year and a half ago, when the epidemic broke out in London and Charles II fled to Scotland, Veronica resolutely chose to stay and exercise the ruling power and control of Parliament in Charles II's stead.

When the epidemic was still raging in London, the council and the government cooperated fully with her anti-epidemic policies. Veronica was able to use some anti-epidemic experience she had learned from books and was quite fortunate to succeed, which earned her some prestige.

However, afterward, despite having no prior political experience, she tried with great enthusiasm to implement some things she had conceived but never had the opportunity to do, such as restricting the church, reforming Parliament, and transforming London. She wanted to do something further.

The result was that, instead of going smoothly, she encountered frequent obstacles, which quickly depleted the little prestige she had accumulated.

To this day, I have accomplished nothing.

'Sigh, perhaps Therese is right; I was too naive.'

Veronica looked at Charles II, who was now very close, and felt a little disappointed, even a little resentful that her father had returned so early and hadn't given her more opportunities.

'No, you can't think like that.'

To dispel this inappropriate feeling, Veronica casually glanced at the crowd on both sides of the road—and then she noticed a striking, strange group among them.

A blonde girl riding on the shoulders of a red-haired man creates a stark contrast to the surrounding children riding on their parents' heads, standing out like a crane among chickens.

Although Veronica didn't recognize the blonde girl, she did recognize the red-haired man being ridden beneath her—it was Li Cheng, the one who had been doing things she didn't know were even useful—though she would have preferred not to recognize him.

"...Why did I want to take this person as my subordinate in the first place?"

Veronica felt a strong urge to cover her face, wishing her father would arrive quickly and end the welcoming ceremony as soon as possible.

Chapter 123 It's too strange.

The lively ceremony to welcome the king continued until Charles II rode into the palace. Contrary to Li Cheng's expectations, the citizens remained enthusiastic throughout the entire process, seemingly genuinely fond of this witty king known as the 'Happy King'.

Li Cheng didn't quite understand what was so humorous about Charles II, but seeing him laughing heartily on horseback, he didn't seem like a serious person.