Three days later.

Noon.

Clatter clatter clatter—

On a road that was four to five meters long and of higher quality than the usual cobblestone roads, a hay cart was slowly moving in the southeast direction.

The creaking sound of the joints was like an old harmonica, singing the hardships of life.

In addition to a lot of potatoes and vegetables, there were also three men sitting at the back of the hay cart.

The leader among them was a middle-aged man, and the other two were young men. One of them had black hair and black eyes, who were little Newton, Xu Yun, and William.

After receiving seven guineas from Pastor Arlin three days ago, William's family, who had relatively abundant resources, first spent ten shillings to buy some daily necessities and food, and for the first time in a whole year, they enjoyed a big meal.

Then, after resting for a day, they found a hay cart that was heading to Lincoln City this morning.

"A county" is the second-level administrative division in England, which is divided into ceremonial counties and metropolitan counties.

In 1665, there were 27 ceremonial counties and only 4 metropolitan counties. By the 21st century, these numbers would become 34 and 6.

Lincolnshire belonged to a standard ceremonial county, with a county governor representing the British royal family but having no real power. It only had a few functions such as geographical names and coordination of local civil affairs.

The county seat of Lincolnshire was Lincoln City, a city that was very, very small in the eyes of the locals. It was so small that you might not be able to find it even if you didn't search with the prefix "England."

The hay cart continued on the road under the sun. After about half an hour, the cart driver pulled the horse to a stop.

"Gentlemen, we have arrived at Lincoln City," said the cart driver.

Xu Yun and the others looked at each other and gradually sat up.

Shaking off the potato dust on their bodies, they picked up their bags and got off the cart neatly.

Then, William took the initiative to walk to the front of the cart and took out a small piece of dried meat from his pocket.

"Mr. Weng, this piece of venison is the agreed-upon fare. Thank you for the journey," William said.

The cart driver, known as Mr. Weng, was a skinny old man with slightly dark skin. He took the dried meat from William and grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.

"Mr. William, you are too polite. Shall we meet here tonight?" Mr. Weng asked.

William nodded. "See you tonight."

After settling with the cart driver, William turned around and waved to Xu Yun and Little Newton.

"Alright, Isaac, Mr. Fat Fish, let's go into the city."

Fat Fish and Little Newton both responded and followed William towards the entrance.

In 1665 England, people who entered the city on foot did not need to pay an entrance tax. However, if you owned a house in the city, you had to pay a "hearth tax."

In addition, carts like Mr. Weng's that came from afar were not charged if they were empty, but if they carried goods, they would be stopped.

With the words "no goods allowed," you had to obediently pay.

Xu Yun and the others didn't have the trouble of paying the entrance tax, so they easily walked into Lincoln City.

The current population of the main urban area of Lincoln City was about forty to fifty thousand, which was not big in Europe at this time, but it was not small either. In Xu Yun's hometown, the Qing Dynasty's Kangxi Emperor's fourth year, the population of the two provinces combined was only a little over five hundred thousand.

Compared to the small town of Grantham, the buildings in Lincoln City were much more upscale, with landmarks such as opera houses and taverns being quite prominent.

If you observed carefully, you could occasionally see some wealthy people in luxurious clothes passing by in carriages.

In short, when you arrived at the county seat, you could somewhat feel the noble atmosphere of the seventeenth century.

Of course.

The two tallest buildings were still the clock tower and the church.

After entering the city, William looked around and led Little Newton and Xu Yun to a magnificent attic, saying, "Isaac, Mr. Fat Fish, this place is very recognizable. Let's meet here in three hours, okay?"

Xu Yun and Little Newton nodded in agreement. "No problem, Uncle William."

Then the three of them separated.

William came to Lincoln City this time to buy sugar. Although they had already entrusted the production of tomato sauce to Pastor Arlin, William and the others couldn't really leave no room for themselves. Making some tomato sauce just in case was the best choice.

And to make tomato sauce, sugar was naturally an essential ingredient.

Due to different sources and transportation costs, the price of sugar varied between towns, counties, and even the capital city in England at this time. The county seat was the cheapest, and the price would fluctuate in the towns.

Moreover, the sugar William wanted to buy this time would not be less than three guineas, which was too unsafe in a small town like Grantham with only a thousand people.

The English also understood the principle of not revealing one's wealth.

As for Xu Yun and Little Newton's purpose in coming to Lincoln City, there was only one:

To find Hooke!

"The Yage Inn in the southwest of the city..."

After parting ways with William, Xu Yun and Little Newton followed the address left by Hooke and finally stopped in front of another three-story building.

The building was located in the wealthy area in the southwest of the city, and the streets were relatively clean. At least, there wouldn't be someone coming over with a bucket and splashing a puddle of oil next to you while you were walking.

At the top of the building's facade was a cross, indicating that it was a property of the church and had official origins.

Below the cross was a signboard with the Hebrew words "Yage Inn" written on it.

Read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the "pawread dot com"

"This should be it, the Yage Inn."

There were no waiters at the entrance of the inn in this era. The so-called "Dangtang" was actually only about twenty to thirty square meters. Xu Yun and Little Newton easily arrived at the front desk.

"Hello, is Robert Hooke staying here?" Little Newton asked.

The owner of the front desk was a short and fat middle-aged man with a goatee. He raised his eyelids and glanced at the two of them when he heard the question.

"Mr. Hooke? He is staying here. What business do you have with him?""We have an appointment with him, can we contact him?

Tell him that Isaac Newton, a student of Barrow, is looking for him."

The short, chubby man put down his pen and took another careful look at Xu Yun and his companion, a hint of hesitation appearing on his face.

It was noon, and without knowing whether the guest was napping, he had to weigh the potential risk of complaints - this was church property, and he was merely a slightly more powerful employee, akin to a lobby manager.

As a top hotel in Lincoln City, he had encountered many people who had learned the names of guests through certain channels, either wanting money or trying to curry favor.

After about ten seconds, the short, chubby man finally made up his mind.

He picked up a pen from the table, wrote a simple note on a piece of paper, and handed it to Little Newton:

"Barrow, and Isaac Newton, are these names written correctly?"

Little Newton took the paper, glanced at it, and nodded:

"That's correct."

The short, chubby man took back the paper, stuffed it into a small basket beside him, and shook another string.

Soon, a response came from the second floor:

Someone from above pulled the rope, slowly lifting the basket.

A moment later, there was a sound of movement from the rooftop.

Ding ding ding——

After about two or three minutes, a bell on the left side of the front desk suddenly rang.

Seeing this, the short, chubby man breathed a sigh of relief:

There were two response bells at the front desk, the left one represented agreement or permission from the guest, and the right one represented denial.

Then he looked at the ledger again and gave Little Newton and his companion a room number:

"Second floor, room 233, someone will guide you there after you go upstairs."

Xu Yun thanked the shopkeeper on behalf of Little Newton, and the two of them went up the stairs.

The stairs of the old attic were a bit shaky, giving a sense of danger.

If the Webnovel Platinum Authors Salon were held in this hotel, it would probably collapse after two or three authors walked over it.

However, the combined size of Xu Yun and Little Newton was less than that of a single ear, so the two of them easily reached the second floor.

As soon as they went upstairs, a short waiter came to greet them.

Then, under his guidance, Xu Yun and his companion followed a somewhat narrow corridor all the way to the outside of a room.

At this point, the door of the room had been unlocked from the inside, slightly ajar, and a faint smell of tobacco could be detected wafting out.

The waiter made a gesture to Xu Yun and his companion to knock on the door themselves, gave a slight bow, and then turned to leave.

After the waiter left, Little Newton stepped forward and knocked on the door:

"Mr. Hooke, this is Isaac Newton."