Chapter 20

After returning from Central Park, life quickly returned to its usual monotony.

John naturally wouldn't mention what had happened that day, and old Hunterlal seemed to have developed a case of amnesia, but he became even more supportive of John's experiments. Whenever his grandson asked for something, Hunterlal would instruct the butler Hans to buy it without even asking the price. As a result, the cost of all the materials finally broke the impressive mark of one thousand dollars after a few more weeks!

One thousand dollars was a significant amount.

After all, in an era where the average daily income was less than one dollar, even with an extremely generous employer like Hunterlal, Hans's annual income was only about four or five hundred dollars!

But even after spending such a large sum, Mr. Hunterlal did not hesitate at all.

"Ah..."

One morning in February, when the butler received another batch of materials, he couldn't help but sigh deeply. In the eyes of this loyal butler, young Master John's so-called experiments were nothing more than a waste of money. Edison was a famous inventor whose reputation soared after the grand electric light exhibition. If even such a person couldn't solve the problem, what could a child like John do?

It was just the recklessness of a young person...

But despite his thoughts, as a conscientious butler, Hans quickly discarded his secret resentment towards his master and immediately went upstairs to knock on the laboratory door.

"Oh, more new materials have arrived?"

When he saw the box in Hans's hands, a glint of joy flashed in John's eyes, and he said cheerfully.

"Yes, sir."

Hans walked into the room and carefully placed the box on the table, then glanced around the somewhat dimly lit room.

It was very clean and tidy.

Originally, Hans had imagined that since John was always making a racket with his experiments, the room should be a mess. But to his surprise, everything was neatly arranged, and both the floor and the table were spotless, with no signs of disorder at all!

The most noticeable things were the rows of light bulbs on the table.

They were noticeable because out of the approximately thirty light bulbs, three were currently lit, just like the ones Hans had seen in West Orange not long ago! Moreover, for some reason, one of the bulbs seemed much brighter than those he had seen in New Jersey!

"Is it because the curtains on one wall are drawn?"

Hans hesitated, glancing at the curtains beside him, and couldn't help but lick his lips.

Since the young master started his experiments, Hans only had the chance to come in and take a look when delivering materials. He still remembered how shocked he was the first time he saw a lit light bulb in the room! Even after hearing John's explanation, he knew that making light bulbs wasn't particularly difficult, and he understood that John's light bulbs might not be as good as Mr. Edison's invention. But just thinking about his age...

"Huh?"

While he was lost in thought, Hans suddenly noticed something strange, something he hadn't seen the last time he was here.

A small, black box.

At first glance, the small box was connected to a lit light bulb with a wire, seemingly a battery. But what puzzled Hans was that this battery was quite different from the two familiar sulfuric acid batteries he knew. It was much smaller in size, and...

"Mr. Alber, there's a letter for you to sign!"

Before Hans could take a closer look at this new gadget, the maid Lina's voice suddenly called from downstairs. According to the Hunterlal family's rules, only the master and the butler Hans were allowed to sign for letters, so the maid, seeing the postman, had to call out loudly.

Smiling apologetically at John, Hans hurried downstairs.

John closed the door, his face immediately relaxing. He didn't even bother with the box he had been eager to open just a moment ago and sat back in his chair, contentedly. The materials he had bought this time were for making another battery, but not a traditional sulfuric acid battery. It was a completely new gadget, just like the one Hans had seen earlier!

But there was no rush now.

He had already decided to announce the successful discovery of a new filament material in ten days, ending this boring period. He had plenty of time to use up the remaining materials.

"Knock, knock."

Just as John picked up the book he had been reading and was about to spend a leisurely afternoon, the door was knocked on again.

Opening the door with some confusion, he was not surprised to see the butler Hans again.

"Sir, you have a letter!"

Hans bowed slightly and handed him a white envelope.

"Emma again?"

Seeing the sender's name on the envelope, John couldn't help but pat his forehead and sigh.

Hans's eyebrows twitched slightly, as if trying to suppress a smile, and he said softly, "Sir, do you need me to bring you paper and pen?"

"No, I have them in my room."

Shaking his head with a wry smile, John opened the letter.

"Very well, sir. I'll come back in half an hour to collect your reply."

Nodding slightly, Hans turned and went downstairs. For a moment, the honest and loyal butler's lips curled into a silent smile, unseen by John.

Since the incident in Central Park, Emma seemed to have suddenly changed her attitude towards John and had started a persistent correspondence with him. What troubled John was that the little girl almost wrote a letter every other day, spending a few cents to have it delivered. If he didn't reply on the same day or the next, another letter would surely arrive, but with a much less friendly tone.

Fortunately, the two families lived close to each other; otherwise, the cost of sending letters would have been considerable.

Emma's letters covered a wide range of topics, most commonly the progress of the electric light experiments and some difficult Latin questions. If it were just these, John wouldn't mind spending a few minutes each day to satisfy the little girl's curiosity and thirst for knowledge. But what worried him was that as their relationship grew closer, Emma's letters had started to reveal some unsettling things...

"...John, I just read a quote from Mrs. Ulson, and you must hear it! 'My existence, my primary role is not as a wife or a mother, but as a woman. I have the right to exist as a woman.' What a profound declaration..."

Seeing the main content of today's letter, John was speechless. Although he wasn't sure who Mrs. Ulson was, he understood the implications of her words.

"This girl, always causing trouble for me!"

Patting the letter on the table, John couldn't help but sigh.

John couldn't imagine how Mr. Stone, as conservative as old Hunterlal, would react if he saw this letter. He also doubted whether Mr. Stone would storm over and beat him, the one who had led his daughter away from the path of a "virtuous wife and mother," if he knew they were discussing such "blasphemous" topics.

"Damn it!"

Thinking about this, John couldn't help but grab a pen and start writing a reply to Emma with gritted teeth: "Dear Emma, I am very pleased to receive your letter again, but I must admit that I feel a bit uneasy after reading it..."

He wrote the entire letter in one breath, sealed it with his wax seal, and then let out a sigh of relief, leaning back in his chair. He didn't care about the inevitable trend of women's independence or the historical tide; that was decades away, and what did it have to do with him?

Avoiding trouble, especially other people's trouble, was the most important thing!

After finishing the letter to Emma, it took John a while to calm down. He had intended to continue reading, but seeing the object on the floor, he had an idea and grabbed the pen again, starting another letter: "Dear Joshua, I apologize for writing to you so boldly..."

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