"Make wooden plates myself?"
This request from Little Niu might seem demanding to an ordinary person, but Xu Yun barely hesitated this time and readily agreed:
"No problem, leave it to me."
Xu Yun knew very well that making wooden plates by hand was a very unique yet common phenomenon in the current era.
England in 1665 was still in the first phase of colonial expansion, and it wouldn't be until after 1689 that the national economy would see a significant rise.
Therefore, during this period, most ordinary British people were still in a destitute time where they bathed once every five months.
With a bit of sharpness, saying they're especially barbaric wouldn't be over the top.
In this era, wealthy people used plates made of pewter, which seemed quite high-end but had a fatal flaw:
Foods with high acidity could cause some lead to seep into the food, leading to lead poisoning and even death — since eating tomatoes was most likely to cause this, tomatoes were considered poisonous for the following 200 years.
People like Newton — or rather the Isaac Clan, ordinary manor owners mostly used wooden dining plates, hollowed out in the center like a bowl with a piece of wood.
These plates were often made from stale homemade bread:
Over time, the bread would become very hard, and hollowing out the center allowed it to be used for a long time.
When the bread bowl really couldn't hold anything anymore, people would grind it into powder to feed pigs.
Those without pigs would periodically collect the discarded bread and sell it when the time was right, similar to local waste paper recycling.
No choice.
In such an era of scarce productivity, the so-called manor owners were just slightly better off than ordinary people.
They were like ancient local landlords, who often had to work the land themselves, rarely ate meat, and often only had watery soup.
Of course.
The economic level of Newton's family wasn't quite that low, but as previously mentioned, the family's funds were mainly in the hands of his mother Hanna, and Newton himself remained a miserable pauper until 1669.
So Newton's request for Xu Yun to make his own utensils wasn't really disdain or maltreatment, since he did the same himself.
And just as Xu Yun's thoughts were wandering, Little Niu suddenly remembered a certain rumor about Eastern People and asked:
"By the way, Fat Fish, can you cook?"
"It's Fei Yu... never mind, Fat Fish it is."
Xu Yun sighed slightly, abandoning the idea of correcting Newton's pronunciation, while nodding:
"Of course, I can."
Xu Yun's response was full of confidence because his culinary skills were indeed quite better than the average — especially when the comparison was with seventeenth-century British cuisine.
As mentioned before.
Xu Yun had once done an exchange at Trinity College, so he had some experience with Great Britain's 'cuisine.'
As for the impression...
In the 21st century, Britain had a nickname, the culinary desert.
But many people who said British food was awful actually hadn't tasted it.
This kind of approach is obviously non-objective, wanting to assess a country's cuisine, should experience it firsthand for better authority.
And once you taste British food yourself, you'll find...
British food is really damn bad.
Honestly speaking.
The British fish and chips are indeed quite decent, Yorkshire pudding fits well with the national palate, and a proper British breakfast has no major issues, the most it could be is a taste preference, hardly dark cuisine.
But other than that, other British dishes are really hard to describe — stargazy pie is just entry-level, hellfire series genuinely ruin the three views.
So during the two years spent in Britain, Xu Yun practiced quite impressive culinary skills and even managed to charm a junior — of course, much credit should go to Teacher Wang Gang from Bilibili and his planetary engine stove.
In summary.
Relying on the culinary skills accumulated from his past life, Xu Yun finally uttered his most sincere words since his time-travel:
"Mr. Newton, to be honest, my homeland is a strong country famed for its cuisine, and I learned cooking since I was small.
Take Britain for example, it's coastal, and the cooking of nearshore and coastal creatures happens to be my specialty.
For instance, cooking lobster, simmering crab, steaming Fujian people, etc..."
Then he paused, thought of his mission, and continued to subtly hint:
"Besides cooking, I have some insights academically — I'm an assistant at the Leiden University School of Natural Sciences, quite skillful in mathematics and physics, in case you're interested, Mr. Newton..."
However, before Xu Yun could finish his words, Newton dropped his eyelids and interrupted:
"Thank you, I understand.
Alright then, Fat Fish, tomorrow I'll prepare some ingredients for you, let's see your skills then — I've read some ancient texts at the University of Cambridge, and hear Eastern cuisine is quite different from what we're accustomed to in Britain. If given the chance, I'd like to taste it.
Additionally, the maintenance of the orchard, requires at least two tours a day..."
The focus in Newton's words was entirely on Xu Yun's work, seemingly ignoring the latter half of his introduction entirely.
Xu Yun mechanically nodded his head and blinked with some confusion:
This script doesn't fit!
Under normal circumstances, shouldn't Newton be shocked upon hearing his introduction, looking at him with a gaze mixed with surprise, suspicion, and scrutiny, then toss a long-stuck problem, and after he solved it, be overjoyed and shout 'I'm not alone,' then pull him for candlelit discussions and finally rest together, waking up to find the mission accomplished?
But very quickly, Xu Yun realized the reason behind it:
The reason is none other than Newton!
Extremely proud, even dismissive of his own mentors, Newton!
He certainly heard Xu Yun's latter half sentence, and most likely wouldn't doubt it — but so what?
There's plenty of students at the University of Cambridge on par or more advanced than Newton; do you see Newton bothering with them?
In Newton's view.
Any problem he can't solve, apart from a handful of people, other people definitely can't solve either — and those handful of people are either in the Royal Society of the United Kingdom, or the Berlin Academy of Sciences, or the Paris Academic Federation, anyway, impossible to be by his side, let alone of the same age!
This is self-confidence bred arrogance, but Newton deserves such arrogance.
Newton's attitude towards others in academics is like people walking on the road wouldn't care about the ants underfoot. Locally speaking...
Chilly insects cannot speak of ice.
This is Newton, only Newton.
An unusual character, unattractive, yet dazzlingly brilliant genius!
Hence naturally, Xu Yun was virtually overlooked by Newton as an insignificant character.
Moreover, things reached this point, Xu Yun about figured his approximate status:
Somewhere between a guest and a servant lodging, needing not bow respectfully to Little Niu or others like a servant, but still needing to help with some tasks.
If Little Niu is satisfied, Xu Yun might need to also work part-time as a chef.
As for the academic aspect's entry opportunity, it may require further observation.
Opportunities surely exist, but the variables aren't small either.
In summary.
This wasn't an ideal start, and more thinking is needed to complete the task.
......