Although Little Niu's sleeping habits are really not great, his snoring is as loud as a buzzing in your ear.
But perhaps due to the exhaustion from a day of hard work, Xu Yun eventually fell into a drowsy sleep.
The night passed without incident.
.........
Not sure how much time had passed, a sudden burst of birdsong came from outside the window.
Xu Yun lazily opened his eyes, scratched his messy hair, stretched, yawned, and thus woke up.
Currently, as the British Peninsula had reached winter, the morning air was extremely damp and cold. Xu Yun breathed out, and a mist soon appeared in front of him.
Then he suddenly thought of something, turned his head to look to his right.
Only to see that Little Niu's bed was empty; clearly, the master had been awake for quite some time.
At this time, the sky was slightly bright, roughly estimating it was around six thirty to seven in the morning at most.
At home, some late-night writers might just be getting to bed to rest at this time.
Then Xu Yun clasped his hands, breathed on them, rubbed his face vigorously, and quickly slipped out of the covers— All workers know that in winter, to escape the confinement of a warm blanket, you must do so swiftly and decisively before it notices.
After tidying up his clothes a bit, Xu Yun gently opened the bedroom door, peeking his head out to look.
Sure enough.
At this moment, Little Niu was sitting at the desk outside with his head down, writing furiously as if calculating something.
Upon hearing the sound of the bedroom door, Little Niu lifted his head and gestured with his chin towards the teatable at the entrance:
"There's bread on the table, just one piece. Have breakfast, rest a bit, and then go inspect the orchard."
After speaking, Little Niu hesitated for a moment, then changed his mind before Xu Yun could reply:
"Never mind, today is your first day at this job, I'll guide you through the process first, and you can do it alone starting tomorrow."
Xu Yun nodded:
"Understood, Mr. Newton."
Then he glanced at Little Niu, still writing, and continued:
"Mr. Newton, I'd like to go out to fetch some water to moisten my throat; it feels dry after sleeping all night."
This time Little Niu didn't speak, but softly hummed in response.
Given the permission, a mysterious spark passed in Xu Yun's eyes; he took a wooden cup he had carved the day before and stepped outside.
By the side of the garden house, there was a slightly old water jar, seemingly Uncle William's handiwork from years past, positioned outside the line of sight of the window behind Little Niu.
Leisurely, Xu Yun approached the water jar, scooped water with the wooden cup without minding the cold, and poured it directly into his mouth.
He gargled with a glug, glug sound.
One has to say, in the context before the 19th century, Huaxia's mainstream cultural habits were much better than Europe's.
For instance, in ancient Huaxia, even without toothbrushes, there were many ways to cleanse oneself.
As recorded in the "Book of Rites", it mentions the practice of "rinsing after the first crowing of the rooster", with common cleanliness supplies including alcohol, vinegar, salt water, and tea.
Alcohol, vinegar, and salt water have sterilizing effects, while tea is rich in fluoride.
Fluoride not only helps prevent cavities but also cleanses the mouth, providing tooth protection.
Later, well-known items like willow twigs and pig bristles emerged, considered the early prototypes of the toothbrush.
In contrast, ancient Europe was different; they mostly did not brush their teeth or bathe— especially the British.
Even nowadays, many British people still do not have the habit of brushing their teeth, resulting in ongoing oral health issues in the UK.
Of course.
This mainly relates to their political and cultural background, which we won't delve into here.
From a modern perspective, Xu Yun respects some customs if they don't have adverse effects, but he couldn't abide by not brushing his teeth or washing his face.
Therefore, he seized every opportunity to keep himself as clean as possible.
If possible, correcting Little Niu's and William's habits was also necessary.
Even though there's no direct evidence in later generations linking their longevity with not bathing or brushing their teeth, adjusting these habits can't hurt — who wouldn't want to live a few months longer?
After a simple mouth rinse, Xu Yun wet his hands a bit with cold water.
With a few pats on his face, the cool sensation permeated his skin, refreshing him instantly.
Finished with his washing, Xu Yun didn't hurry back but instead looked up at the sky.
"Tsk tsk, not a cloud in the sky and the sun shining brightly, a perfect day for fishing."
Xu Yun rubbed his hands together and chose a spot in the corner where sunlight and shadow evenly split.
He took off his 900-degree glasses and then...
Did nothing, just perked his ears to carefully listen for any commotion at the garden house entrance.
...
Meanwhile, inside the house.
At this moment, Little Niu was quickly calculating on paper:
"(A+B)m/n = (P+PQ)m/n = Pm/n ＋(m/n)·AQ＋[(m-n)/2n]·BQ）＋[(m-2n)/3n]＋[(m-3n)/4n]＋....."
"Hmm... If I write it as e^(n*ln(1+1/n)), using L'Hôpital's rule for 0/0 to turn it into 1..... Damn, still not right!"
With the pen tip's pause, Little Niu frustratedly ruffled his hair.
His cheeks puffed as he let out a sigh.
At this time yesterday, he encountered Xu Yun descending from the sky, leading to a series of subsequent events.
This was nothing special, just a coincidence, easy to dismiss once explained.
However, the scene of Xu Yun's fall overlapped faintly with a previous question Little Niu had pondered:
Why do unsupported objects fall down instead of rising?
Of course.
This question's origin predates yesterday; Little Niu wasn't the first to ponder this.
But Xu Yun's arrival deepened the question's imprint on Little Niu's mind.
Unlike others.
Concerning this mysterious 'force,' Little Niu already had an entry point, which was Kepler's Three Laws.
According to Kepler's Laws, all planets in the Solar System orbit the Sun in elliptical paths.
So, many, including Little Niu, speculated that there must be some kind of connection between the Inverse Square Law and Kepler's Laws.
The issue is that linking the two requires a non-existent mathematical tool— which Little Niu termed the Fluxion Technique, a method for deriving the relationship between known flows and computing their fluxions along with their inverse operations.
Currently, Little Niu had completed a small part of his derivation but got stuck simplifying the binomial (P+PQ)^m/n.
It was his sixth attempt to simplify the binomial, but he still couldn't expand it into a straightforward series.
If he couldn't overcome this hurdle, how could he begin unraveling that mysterious 'force'?
So, for the moment, Little Niu was a bit anxious, and his mind began wandering:
In a few hours, he had to head to Uncle William's house...
How he longed to see Lisa...
He wondered how much grain was left in uncle's house, especially now with Fat Fish needing supplies too...
Wait!
With a realization, Little Niu quickly turned his head:
Where's Fat Fish?
It had been over half an hour since he went out for water, surely he should be back by now — he couldn't have gone all the way to the Thames River, right?
Considering the living expenses the Eastern man negotiated, Little Niu couldn't sit still.
He quickly set down his pen and hurried out.
Creak—
Pushing open the door, Little Niu headed straight for the water jar as usual.
Unexpectedly, as he rounded the corner, he saw Xu Yun squatting in an Asian crouch on the ground, holding his glasses in one hand.
Seeing Xu Yun wasn't in any mishap and even appeared to be idling, Little Niu's fiery temper surged instantly:
"FU....."
But before the word escaped, he swallowed it back forcefully.
Stopping him was not the censorship system of some website, but...
Behind Xu Yun, on the shadowy corner of the wall, there was a small but distinctly visible...
Rainbow light!