It wasn't an apple that hit Newton.

Li Cheng himself found this unbelievable.

When he first transmigrated, he was worried that he would gradually forget his modern knowledge as time went by, so he tried his best to write everything down in a notebook, spending almost all his time writing things down.

But after a few days, Li Cheng was surprised to find that he hadn't forgotten anything at all; the knowledge he had previously memorized could still be clearly recalled...

When Li Cheng met Lavoisier and heard him state his name, information about Lavoisier's life quickly came to mind, including his family name, birth year, and research findings.

Why is this happening? Is this help from that 'person'? But what is the purpose of doing so? What does the other party want him to do?

Li Cheng thought of many things in an instant, but he suppressed them for the time being—no matter what, he had more important things to do right now.

--------

Closer to home.

After hearing Li Cheng's statement, Lavoisier nodded noncommittally, neither believing nor disbelieving. Her face remained expressionless.

That's it? Shouldn't you have expressed some gratitude so I could continue the conversation...? Li Cheng was momentarily speechless, thinking to himself that this was really difficult to have a conversation with.

Fortunately, Lavoisier still expressed his gratitude, and the awkwardness didn't continue.

"Mr. Li," she said, bowing slightly to Li Cheng with her hands clasped in front of her, her voice barely rising and falling, "thank you very much for your help."

"Don't thank me, it was all my own idea."

Although he couldn't quite detect any gratitude in his voice, Li Cheng breathed a sigh of relief.

He wasn't going to beat around the bush and went straight to the point: "Could you tell me what's going on? I'm not a librarian, but maybe I can help you."

"can."

Lavoisier lowered his head, seemingly organizing his thoughts.

After a moment, she raised her head and slowly uttered four words: "Do you have money?"

Holy crap, this is way too realistic... A certain man who is currently living off a woman is having a terrible toothache.

Although he believed he could make money quickly, a distant source of income couldn't quench an immediate thirst. He couldn't very well tell people, "I'm a time traveler from another world, and all I need now is an initial investment. I'll repay you double once I make money," could he? Was that reasonable? Was that reasonable? Was that reasonable?

...Wait a minute, maybe we can actually fool a few idiots. After all, in my past life, some people even believed that Qin Shi Huang could be resurrected.

Li Cheng finally shook his head honestly: "Not for the time being."

Lavoisier then shook his head as well: "Then you can't help me."

"but......"

Li Cheng paused, pondering whether to paint a rosy picture of his future or to try to be realistic and get the other party to tell the truth first.

However, he remembered the poor boy named Moore who had been tricked into investing his living expenses, and thought that although Lavoisier was not good-looking, he might also be a master of empty promises, so the two masters of empty promises should not compete with each other.

Li Cheng tactfully stated, "Some assistance is not necessarily monetary."

Lavoisier remained stubborn: "But only money can help me with my problem."

"Look, here's the problem."

Li Cheng appealed to his emotions and reasoned with him: "I am willing to help you, and you need help, but you don't explain the ins and outs of the matter, you only say you want money. How can I know what kind of predicament you are in, and judge whether I can help you?"

"If that doesn't convince you, let's look at it from another angle. Although I don't have money right now, perhaps I have a way to make you rich?"

Lavoisier paused for a second or two, seemingly analyzing Li Cheng's words.

"You've somewhat convinced me."

She raised her head, looked deeply at Li Cheng with her bright red eyes, and said, "Then I'll just tell you briefly."

Li Cheng smiled slightly: "I'm all ears... but the library isn't a good place to chat. Shall we find somewhere to talk slowly?"

--------

Many students were taking a leisurely stroll beside the artificial lake on campus.

The two found a stone table and sat facing each other.

This time, Lavoisier spoke first, asking, "What would you like to hear?"

Li Cheng thought for a moment and said, "Could you tell me about your 'epoch-making experiment' first? I'm very curious."

Lavoisier lowered his head to organize his thoughts, then looked up at Li Cheng: "Let me ask you first, do you know about 'phlogiston'?"

Phosphate science?

Li Cheng was taken aback, because if he remembered correctly, this was a theory that only became popular in the 18th century. The gist of it was that all changes related to combustion were processes of absorbing or releasing phlogiston.

This is all messed up... Li Cheng nodded: "I know."

"Then I don't need to explain."

Lavoisier appeared much more relaxed and continued, "Do you believe in phlogiston?"

Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier is famous for proposing the oxidation theory. He recognized and named oxygen and hydrogen, and opposed the phlogiston theory... Li Cheng had already reviewed Lavoisier's life in his mind, and without hesitation, he said, "I don't believe it."

Yes, many people believe that...

Lavoisier stopped mid-sentence, staring blankly at Li Cheng, her lips slightly parted.

"Is it strange? You don't believe it either."

Li Cheng raised an eyebrow and looked back at Lavoisier.

"I don't believe it because..."

Lavoisier gave up halfway through her sentence, biting her lower lip in frustration. "I can't tell if you genuinely don't believe it, or if you're just saying you don't believe it to agree with me."

Li Cheng laughed: "Just pretend I don't believe you for now."

"Ok."

Lavoisier stopped digging into the details and began to slowly recount her story.

------

Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier was born in Paris, France, and had a wonderful and carefree childhood.

Because both her parents were lawyers, they hoped their daughter would follow in their footsteps, so Lavoisier was forced to study law at the University of Paris. However, she didn't give up; in her spare time, she continued to study natural sciences, receiving a systematic education in chemistry from another tutor she knew.

However, during her studies, she developed doubts about the phlogiston theory and tried to argue with others.

Lavoisier, who stuck to his own ideas, was ostracized and could no longer gain a foothold in the scientific community at the University of Paris. So, after obtaining his law license, Lavoisier hurriedly left France for Cambridge University, which was said to embrace all new ideas.

Cambridge University didn't actually kick her out, but they didn't take her very seriously either. They just gave her a small, perfunctory course called 'New Chemistry' and appointed her as a tutor. However, they didn't allocate any funding or students for her, nor did they pay her a salary. The only thing they provided was an empty classroom.

But Lavoisier was already satisfied. In London, she supported herself by taking on legal advice and earning a living while trying to advance her experiments and prove that her theories were sound.

However, a major pandemic brought her consulting business to a near standstill. While her livelihood was not a major problem, her research lacked funding.

Lavoisier then tried to persuade people to invest in her 'groundbreaking research' in order to provide sufficient research funding...

Can we proceed with the formalities for Chapter 19?

After hearing Lavoisier's story, Li Cheng finally realized that the silver-haired woman in the difficult situation before him was indeed Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier, known as the father of modern chemistry.

There are precedents for the feminization of Lavoisier himself, and Li Cheng can accept it, so he doesn't have to worry about it. But the problem is that Lavoisier was supposed to be a person from the 18th century!

It's no wonder she faced such ostracism. In Li Cheng's previous life, phlogiston was only discovered at the end of the 17th century, but in this distorted world, it had been brought back to the beginning of the 17th century. And Lavoisier's understanding was actually more than a hundred years ahead of phlogiston...

Being half a step ahead makes you a genius; being a full step ahead makes you a madman.

You're asking about being two steps ahead? Being two steps ahead is called "hanging on the wall," that's called "time traveler"...

"That's all." Lavoisier shifted into a more comfortable sitting position. "Now do you understand why I need money?"

Li Cheng nodded: "Understood."

Scientific research costs money.

Even setting aside the cost of borrowing a lab, just purchasing the equipment and raw materials would be a considerable expense, not to mention that the college doesn't pay salaries, so we have to dedicate a lot of time to earning money...

Lavoisier, not holding out much hope, asked, "So, do you have a solution?"

Li Cheng nodded affirmatively: "I have a way."

Lavoisier said, "Oh, may I tell you?"

Lavoisier's perfunctory reply shows that she doesn't believe Li Cheng's statement at all.

Unfortunately, I'm one, two, or even three steps ahead of you... Li Cheng smiled slightly: "I think the same as you, there's no such thing as phlogiston."

“One person’s approval is not enough,” Lavoisier said noncommittally.

Li Cheng continued, "What troubles you most is proving why objects can burn, right?"

"what do you want to say in the end?"

"I once read a very interesting statement in a book."

Li Cheng said, "The author of that book believes that air is also a substance, a very complex substance, and that combustion requires a substance in the air."

As he spoke, he pointed to the surface of the artificial lake next to him, “Just like there’s urine in the lake, there are also too many gases mixed in the air, and one of these gases is necessary for combustion.”

Li Cheng continued, "I have also done some research on this, and my conclusion is that combustion is a reaction, and this reaction requires a medium called oxygen."

“That’s an interesting point,” Lavoisier asked. “But what’s the fundamental difference between this ‘oxygen’ and phlogiston?”

In fact, Lavoisier herself had already experimented with this step; she burned it in a sealed container and found that the mass remained unchanged before and after.

“There is a big difference. The phlogiston theory holds that phlogiston cannot be decomposed on its own and must be extracted with the help of air,” Li Cheng explained. “But in reality, we can extract oxygen.”

Lavoisier leaned forward, showing interest: "How do you extract it?"

In his previous life, Lavoisier obtained oxygen by heating mercuric oxide, but this method was dangerous. Mercury is highly toxic, and the mercury vapor produced by heating mercuric oxide was even more dangerous.

So from any perspective, it's not appropriate to tell the truth... Li Cheng decisively became a liar and said, "I don't know."

The answer to the truth of the world is right before our eyes, but we are about to miss it.

Lavoisier stood up reluctantly, somewhat agitated, and asked, "Didn't you read that book? What's the title?"

The book is titled "High School Chemistry," but is it possible for me to tell you?

“I have read it, but it’s been so long that I’ve forgotten the content.” Li Cheng paused, then added, “As for the title… I’ve forgotten that too.”

"how so."

It is far more cruel to give hope and then take it away than to simply be hopeless.

Devastated by the blow, Lavoisier slumped back into his seat, looking dejected, seemingly muttering something to himself.