It wasn't an apple that hit Newton.

Roy repeated this novel idea, sounding somewhat curious.

Incidentally, there are many ways to call steamed buns. Li Cheng chose the term "steamed bread," which literally means steamed bread. He believes this is the easiest to understand and the most appropriate term.

"What steamed bun? Where is it? I don't know where it is."

Upon hearing about food they had never tried before, Annie's eyes lit up like a husky smelling a delicious aroma.

Seeing that the girl was about to degenerate from a primate into a canine, Li Cheng couldn't help but glance at her sideways: "You're always out early and back late, and you spend your spare time training cats to fetch towels. You'd be lucky to know."

"I leave early and come home late because I have a proper job, okay?"

Speaking of this, Annie straightened her back, feeling very proud that she had managed to support herself while realizing her life's value.

However, this state only lasted for a moment, and then she suddenly remembered something and her tone became excited: "By the way, Li Cheng, how much rent do you think would be appropriate for me to pay per month if I live at your place?"

"......rent?"

Li Cheng was a little confused by the girl's erratic thinking: "Why are you bringing this up? Do you think I need your rent?"

"It's not a matter of good or bad, it's a matter of attitude."

Annie shook her head, her attitude resolute: "If I were just visiting, of course I wouldn't need to pay rent, but I'm seriously planning to stay for a while, so I have to pay rent—and this gives me a real sense of living independently, earning my own money and paying my own rent..."

The second half of your sentence is probably what you really think!

Li Cheng's lips twitched. Ignoring this idiot who had suddenly come up with this idea, he turned to Roy and said, "How about it? Want to stay for dinner? I can even have your former boss's daughter bring you breakfast—Annie, don't yell. Didn't you say you had to pay rent? This is your rent."

Roy, sitting across from him, was completely stunned. He felt that his boss's daily life was quite colorful, and he was a little out of touch with it.

After thinking for a moment, he felt that Li Cheng's invitation was quite sincere, so he nodded and said, "Alright then, I'll take my leave."

!!!

Upon hearing this, Annie immediately looked at Roy with utter shock, suspecting that he had only stayed because he wanted her to work as a waitress to serve him breakfast: "Roy, you can't do this! My dad treated you very well back then..."

Roy broke out in a cold sweat and had to emphasize, "But I don't accept Miss Anne serving me breakfast."

Chapter 136 Half a Month

Because Newton had also woken up, the breakfast was quite lively. Everyone was curious and gathered around the table, happily munching on steamed buns. The scene was quite spectacular; someone from later generations who didn't know better might have thought they were refugees.

Because the steamed buns smelled so good, even Elizabeth came over to smell them, only to find that the group had lost interest after munching on a lump of flour—cats are carnivores and have a very low starch digestibility.

Incidentally, the cook in charge of kneading the dough and steaming the buns was the one hired by Li Cheng, the same one whose work was almost completely taken over by Freya on weekdays.

The chef was British, but he lived in France as a child and worked there for a period of time. Later, he was robbed by pirates while at sea. The whole family he worked for was thrown into the sea to feed the fish, and he was the only one left because the pirates needed a chef. Later, the pirates were discovered by a passing British fleet and wiped out, and the chef was rescued.

This eventful and rich life experience shaped the chef's somewhat easygoing personality. He not only had no resentment about Freya taking his job, but also did his best to make steamed buns when Li Cheng asked him to.

After breakfast, Li Cheng was surprised to find that Newton, Freya, and Annie were all making preparations for leaving the house—it seemed that little Newton had been going out to look for Harley a lot lately, and he wondered what he was doing.

Seeing this, Li Cheng felt he couldn't slack off, so he simply left with Roy to check on the progress of the loom project.

The two traveled by horse-drawn carriage to the site of the factory.

The site has been rented and the basic framework has been built. What remains are the details of renovating the factory, recruiting textile workers, installing a sufficient number of looms, and dealing with raw material issues—oh right, we'll need to find some backup plans for the last raw material depending on the situation.

Li Cheng walked around the site a few times, but found that there was really nothing to see. Besides, he couldn't help the craftsmen with their work—he couldn't exactly go and move bricks himself, could he?

Speaking of bricklaying, he still remembers the process of making cement using traditional methods: grinding limestone and clay into powder, then calcining it into clinker. Grinding the clinker together with the slag left over from iron smelting creates cement.

This thing doesn't really require any technical skill; you can just memorize it and copy it... but the problem is that the basic conditions are insufficient.

The main step is calcination, which involves calcining limestone and clay together at a very high temperature. This temperature needs to reach over 1500 degrees Celsius and be maintained for a sufficient amount of time.

This is far more difficult than simply burning quicklime. It's not that it's impossible to force some out, but the cost would go up immediately. What good would that little bit of cement do after all that effort?

Furthermore, even if it were built, without steel reinforcement, cement can only serve as an adhesive and cannot be used to build city walls or dams at all.

By the way, although Rome used cement to create concrete buildings that have stood strong for thousands of years, they used extremely fine powdered volcanic ash, which is not only unreplicable but also sets very, very slowly... but it's barely enough, so stop messing around with it.

Actually, Li Cheng was more concerned about the ether situation than the progress at the textile factory.

Because the so-called Industrial Revolution is actually a very long process. Putting aside his basically marginalized tech tree approach, even if everything goes smoothly and there is strong government support, industrialization is destined to be a long and arduous road.

This cannot be achieved simply by producing a few new machines, building a few factories, and setting up assembly lines. It requires a complete transformation of the entire country, from the inside out, from social customs to lifestyles, with people being the most crucial element.

Driving farmers away from the land by using the method of "sheep eating people" is only the first step. For those illiterate farmers who have been taken from their land and driven to the city, transforming them into qualified workers is extremely difficult. They are completely unable to adapt to factory life and will try every means to be reckless, lazy, and disregard safe production processes. Changing them will take at least thirty years—that is, the time of an entire generation. This is something that cannot be skipped.

Therefore, compared to other things, Li Cheng was more concerned about some smaller things that could significantly change the current state of their lives.

For example, with ether, at least you won't feel pain when you get a tooth pulled, right?

------

Time flies, and half a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

During this period, Lavoisier compiled experimental data related to ether, wrote a paper and successfully published it, which emphasized the idea that ether could be used in surgery, and even included the corresponding production process.

Initially, this didn't attract much attention outside of chemists, although a few surgeons and dentists began tentative trials, mostly with satisfactory results. However, this was still in its early stages, and it was estimated that it would take at least six months before it could be widely adopted.

Li Cheng began preparations to build a larger lead chamber, as the demand for sulfuric acid would only increase. Of course, he didn't need to do it personally; Lavoisier and Joan were already very familiar with the specific structure and could take turns supervising the construction.

As for Roy, everything proceeded as usual, following Li Cheng's instructions. After receiving the goods, he secretly sent someone to anonymously report to the government, and then did nothing further.

Anne continued her early mornings and late nights, working at the theater under the alias of an actress named Zhuyu. Occasionally, she would take a day off, and in her spare time, she would tirelessly train Elizabeth to master the skills required for dogs, such as fetching towels, guarding the door, and shaking hands... God knows why she wanted to teach a cat these things.

Newton has been drawing less lately, which is a good thing. To be honest, her style of drawing is too early for humankind.

In contrast, this little one started taking Freya to Harley's house every few days, always looking busy, though it was unclear what she was up to.

Finally, one day, Li Cheng couldn't resist his curiosity and asked, pretending to be casual:

What have you been busy with these past few days?

Newton had already changed into his going-out attire, a simple white dress.

Hearing Li Cheng's question, she proudly raised her head, her golden hair fluttering in the air: "Do you want to know?"

Li Cheng answered very honestly, "A little."

“Well, I can tell you.” Newton crossed his arms and nodded seriously. “Then come with me, and you’ll find out.”

Li Cheng was puzzled by Newton's suspense, but since he had nothing else to do and going with this little kid wouldn't be a problem, he readily agreed.

Chapter 137 Absurd Ways of Dying

Upon learning that Li Cheng was going to Halley's house with Newton, Freya smiled and said, "I'd like to learn from Chef Clark how to knead dough better, so you can take care of Miss Newton today."

Li Cheng confidently assured him, "Don't worry, I will take good care of Newton."

In the past, bread was always bought ready-made, but steamed buns were really hard to find outside and had to be made fresh every day. So Freya began to learn the new skill of kneading dough. Speaking of which, Chef Clark was even willing to teach this. It's obvious that he's teaching his apprentice so much that the master is bored out of his mind.

Newton was a little unhappy, not because she didn't want to go with Li Cheng, but because she hoped the three of them could go together. Now Freya said she wanted to stay home and knead dough, which meant there would be one less person.

So she reached out and pulled on Lafreya's apron, looked up and said, "Li Cheng is too clumsy, he can't take care of people like you."

Li Cheng: "?"

Freya reached out her right hand and gently patted Newton's head: "I think Mr. Li Cheng can take good care of you."

Seeing this scene resembling a mother entrusting her daughter with a parting gift, Li Cheng couldn't help but complain, "It's just going to a friend's house for a day, why does it sound so serious..."

Newton had already been persuaded by Freya, but Li Cheng's interruption changed her mind again: "No, I have to go and call Anne. I'm worried about her."

"No way! That idiot will only embarrass himself outside..." Li Cheng quickly stopped Newton: "Wait a minute, don't call Annie."

Why can't I call her Annie?

Newton looked at Li Cheng with some suspicion. From her perspective, Anne's image had not yet degenerated into that of a primate. At most, she was just a little more boisterous and talkative than before, but she was still a pretty reliable friend.

Li Cheng immediately hesitated for a moment: "Um... don't you think it's a bit inappropriate to bring Annie along?"

This made Newton even more suspicious: "Is there something wrong? Are you hiding something from me?"

Li Cheng was both amused and exasperated by the suspicious little boy: "What purpose could I possibly have? I'm just curious and wanted to go take a look. Didn't you just promise me that?"

However, with her preconceived notions, Newton found Li Cheng increasingly suspicious. After making several comparisons in her mind, she thought of the book "Domineering Love" she had read recently, and recalled her past experiences of kissing Li Cheng and being spanked on his lap. Her face flushed red.

"Alright, let's hurry up and go, don't waste any more time."

Li Cheng had no idea that Newton had imagined so many things. As he spoke, he tried to grab her hand.

Although Newton kept saying she wasn't a child, her hands were small and soft, like holding a marshmallow, which made Li Cheng subconsciously squeeze them a little longer.

What was originally just a casual gesture with a touch of intimacy startled Newton.

"do not want!"

She broke free from Li Cheng's hand and ran outside with her short legs, shouting, "You big pervert, you're definitely trying to bully me outside! I'm going to call Annie to come with me!"

???

"What's wrong with me? What's gotten into me...?" Li Cheng stared blankly as Newton ran off, not understanding what had happened.

Freya glanced at Li Cheng with a subtle look in her eyes: "If you hadn't interrupted, none of this would have happened." — She was implying that Li Cheng was too talkative.

Li Cheng awkwardly spread his hands: "It's not my fault, the atmosphere between you guys was really strange just now."

......

Since he was rejected by Newton, Li Cheng figured he had nothing else to do, so he decided to watch Freya learn how to make steamed buns.

kitchen.

Chef Clark and Freya stood facing each other at a table, each with a dough ball in front of them, and both had very serious expressions.

"The most important thing in kneading dough is controlling the amount of water."

The chef had experience making bread and was also adept at making steamed buns. At this moment, he was verbally explaining Freya's corresponding kneading techniques while kneading the dough in front of him as a demonstration: "Try it more, and you'll gradually get the hang of it."

"Understood, Chef Clark."

Freya has a serious attitude towards learning and responds respectfully. She is an excellent student, the kind that would make Newton and Anne feel ashamed—one a poor student and the other a troublemaker, both of whom would be a headache to deal with.

However, Freya also has a problem: after she, this good student, finishes her studies, there is a chance that her teacher will lose his job... Li Cheng glanced at Chef Clark, who was earnestly teaching him how to knead dough, and felt a pang of sympathy.

That said, Freya is actually a very outstanding person. In modern society, someone with her strong learning ability, patience, and wide range of interests would have no problem studying and getting into university following a standard procedure. But in this society, she can only work as a maid from a young age.

She was lucky to have a master like Newton who treated her like family. If she had encountered a more monstrous one... cough cough, stop.

Li Cheng once asked Freya this question about maids and received the following answer.

"I am not as clever as Miss Newton, who could spend an entire day studying those formulas and equations; nor do I have as many novel ideas and the ability to put them into practice as you do."

"Being Miss Newton's maid, like this, suits me quite well. Besides, if I were to have some free time, I wouldn't know what to do."

This answer surprised Li Cheng, but it seemed quite reasonable. In fact, many people in his previous life didn't have much of a goal in life, and they didn't know what to do after get off work if they didn't have their phones or computers.