Woolsope Village is located in the north of the United Kingdom, where the commonly seen tree species in the wild are generally three types:
oak, poplar, and cherry trees.
Among them, poplar is often used as kindling in the northern countryside areas without conifer coverage due to its fast growth and low density.
This time, Little Niu is also looking for poplar, as a sort of preparation for the upcoming visit.
After heading west from their dwelling for about a few hundred meters, Little Niu and Xu Yun finally selected a short poplar tree approximately 1201 millimeters tall.
There's no need to elaborate on the tree-cutting process, after all, this isn't a fantasy novel, so there won't be any bizarre creatures like tree demons or tree spirits appearing.
A poplar tree as thick as a roll of paper stood helpless before the two grown men, eventually being cut into several pieces of wood.
The only troublesome matter during this was that Xu Yun felt a bit uncomfortable in his feet — he was wearing Little Niu's high school shoes, which were about size 40, somewhat ill-fitting for his size 42 feet.
As everyone knows, even a mere 0.5 centimeters of tightness in shoes can be a devastating blow to comfort.
Therefore, with a few twists and bends of his waist and hips, the ankle joint supporting Xu Yun's foot quickly developed a patch of red swelling due to pressure.
Seeing this, Xu Yun couldn't help but slightly shake his head — this bit of chafing wasn't much of an issue, but it reflected the numerous difficulties yet to come.
In short, the beginning was tough.
After about an hour, Little Niu and Xu Yun finally processed all the firewood they needed to prepare.
It's worth noting that Little Niu did not slack off at all during the whole process, nor did he order Xu Yun around like a servant or slave.
He wore Xu Yun's shoes but earnestly helped Xu Yun share the work, even occasionally chatting with him.
This slightly incongruous scene is somewhat a reflection of the social thoughts in 17th-century England, between the bourgeois revolution and the Glorious Revolution — that is, between 1640 and 1688.
To be more precise, it could even be seen as a conflict in legal cognition.
Of course.
Understanding is one thing; Xu Yun himself found it rather difficult to immediately connect with this train of thought.
After all, the gap between the 17th century and the 21st century isn't just nearly four hundred years in number, but a comprehensive transformation in political, economic, and cultural spheres.
Therefore, it can be foreseen that in the coming days, the clash of worldviews will continue.
On this occasion, Xu Yun and Little Niu organized two bundles of firewood, each carrying one bundle and heading eastward like shepherd boys descending the mountain.
At this moment, due to an argument with his mother, Little Niu had moved to that garden, and from the fluency of his introduction to the house, it was evidently not the first time this had happened.
Little Niu's accommodation and study are completed in the garden house, with two of the three meals a day besides breakfast solved at his uncle's home.
Indeed.
17th-century Britons often had three meals a day, and some nobles even added an afternoon tea — one of the benefits of colonial expansion, as some later scholars believe Britain completed the optimization of a new generation during this phase.
After all, the difference between bathing every three days versus every thirty is primarily superficial, but the nutritional gap between two and three meals a day could potentially impact many physiological data of future generations.
This point is actually very evident in the homeland at present:
The post-2000 generation is noticeably superior in physique compared to the post-1990 generation, especially in some southern regions, where the height of the new generation is truly shooting up.
Thus, those arguments against eating meat, eggs, and dairy are utterly foolish, their intentions reprehensible!
Returning our gaze to the original position.
Before the industrial era, the British countryside was void of noise, with only the sound of shuffling footsteps and the cries of waterfowl, giving a sense of harmony and nature.
Absent were the hustle and bustle and splendor of the city, the pale blue sky seemed to stretch endlessly to the horizon, with tranquil villages looming in the thin mist...
Xu Yun suddenly felt a pang of nostalgia.
Having grown accustomed to the urban clamor, who still remembers the country lanes?
The duo walked roughly a kilometer, and after rounding a mountain forest, a house enclosed by a fence came into view.
The house was built entirely of red bricks, with thick mortar joints, and the plinth, voussoir, lintel, coping, and window sills were made of grayish-white stone.
This house, too, was of a low-rise design, and from the triangular ridged roof, it could be judged as having an interior layout of a one-story house plus a two-story storeroom, its overall area being more than six times that of Newton's residence.
Judging from the style and layout, this should be considered a very typical 17th-century English countryside cottage.
It lacked the grandeur of the noble architecture within London City but exuded more of a lived-in feeling.
To the right of the cottage's main entrance stood a simple cattle shed, where a man was busily engaged in something.
After reaching the fence, Little Niu first laid the firewood he carried on a broken horse post.
Then, adjusting his breath, he called out to the man in the cattle shed:
"Uncle William, Uncle William, could you please open the door?"
Hearing Newton's voice, the man in the cattle shed instinctively looked up, allowing Xu Yun to see his face clearly.
This was a middle-aged man about forty-five or forty-six years old, tall in stature and with a hint of brown-black skin.
He wore a plain-colored, sleeved coat, an apron tied around his waist, and had a short haircut, quite rare for that era.
In appearance, he somewhat resembled Captain Olga — of course, he would look even more so if he were lying prone on the ground.
Little Niu was notoriously indifferent in social interactions, seeing most people as either foolish or somewhat foolish.
In Old Niu's entire life, there were only two "Williams" whom he would proactively speak to with enthusiasm:
One was the William Coin, personally minted by Old Niu in 1714.
The other was his uncle:
William Asku.
William had always liked Newton. Besides being very close by blood, he can also be counted as one of the benefactors in Little Niu's life:
William Asku graduated from the University of Cambridge, academically a senior to Newton, and if it hadn't been for his joint persuasion with Little Niu's headmaster, Stock, Hanna would never have let Little Niu attend the University of Cambridge.
It could even be said:
William's persuasion back then changed the course of the entire world.
If he hadn't persuaded Hanna back then, the founder of classical physics might have had to find another Gao Ming.
At this moment, William Asku's identity was that of a materials merchant, traveling between Italy, Spain, and France, primarily trading in cotton, linen, and pig iron.
Yet due to the rampant plague in the Netherlands and Great Britain, William's trade chain had abruptly been interrupted shortly before.
Though he still had a batch of cotton and linen materials on hand, he lacked sufficient financial reserves.
According to the records in Old Niu's letters.
Up until 1668, William's family life was somewhat difficult.
Including him, William's family consisted of six people, and the fact that he could still allow Newton to come over for meals speaks volumes about their close relationship.
.....