American TV series: Starting with exploiting young Sheldon

As she kept thinking about the girl's incident, she gradually began to question the existence of God.

In her mind, if God truly exists, He would never do such a cruel thing to His believers on Thanksgiving.

As evening fell, Connie's grandmother, who had prepared a lavish meal, called out to her daughter, Mary, who was still contemplating life in front of the monument in the yard: "Mary, it's time for the family dinner!"

Feeling the cheerful atmosphere at home, I thought of the couple who were grieving the loss of their daughter.

In that instant, Mary's faith in God wavered.

Since God could not protect his believers, all she was doing now was meaningless. Dejected, Mary kicked down the monument she had painstakingly erected and stormed into her house.

Looking at his wife, who was sitting at the table radiating a somber mood, George spoke up, "Mary, it's time for our pre-dinner prayers."

“No, he doesn’t deserve our gratitude,” Mary said angrily.

George was quite unaccustomed to his wife's change. After a pause, he still smiled and said, "Okay, let me skip the prayer and start eating."

Then, to liven things up, he raised his glass and continued, "Thank you, Connie, for preparing such a delicious meal for us!"

Thanksgiving dinner is all about the atmosphere.

So, regardless of whether it was juice or beer in front of them, everyone raised their glasses. Even Mary, who looked unhappy, picked up her beer glass.

After a round of thanks, Grandma Connie smiled and invited everyone to try her special roast meat and turkey...

……

Although Mary had a cold expression throughout the Thanksgiving dinner, the atmosphere at the table was still very warm thanks to Grandma Connie and George's efforts to lighten the mood.

And this dinner took a long time to finish.

After Mike and Connie's grandmother left, Mary also took the children and her husband, who was almost drunk, back to their respective rooms.

After clearing away the dishes, Mary took a bottle of beer from the refrigerator, went to the living room alone, and settled into the sofa.

Clearly, she hasn't gotten over what happened with the girl.

"Mom~"

While Mary was drinking alone, Sheldon came up to her.

"Shelly, why aren't you asleep yet?" Mary asked, sitting up from the sofa.

"I noticed you seem unhappy today..." Young Sheldon thought of comforting words: "I want to tell you, I love you~"

Hearing her youngest son's heartfelt confession, Mary felt much better. She stood up, hugged him, and said, "I love you too~"

After a long while, Mary, having calmed down, said, "Alright, Shelley. You should go to sleep."

Then, she took her youngest son back to his room and covered him with a blanket.

Seeing her youngest son asleep, Mary finally smiled. The gloom in her heart seemed to have mostly disappeared.

God has already given her such a happy family, what more could she ask for?

The next day, when Mary arrived at the church, she seemed to remember the girl again.

Reverting to her old ways, she sought out Pastor Jeff and asked, "Is God truly merciful?"

"Of course, everything we enjoy now is a gift from God..."

Although he didn't know Mary's current situation, Pastor Jeff still gave her a positive answer.

Then, before Mary could ask any further questions, Pastor Jeff continued, "By the way, Mary, the church's investigator is currently unavailable, so I'd like you to fill in for him. I'll give you an extra hundred dollars a week, what do you think?"

"Really?" Mary was overjoyed to hear that she had a more important job and a significant pay raise. A happy expression immediately appeared on her face.

Previously, her job was simply to be Pastor Jeff's personal assistant, a very monotonous and boring job.

Besides preparing coffee for the pastor every day, I also help him organize his documents.

At most, she would file taxes for the church once a month. And she even delegated the task of filing taxes to her clever youngest son.

Therefore, Mary's previous job at the church was both very easy and very boring.

But now the investigator's new job is different. As a semi-welfare institution, the church also has the task of taking care of the elderly living alone and left-behind children in the surrounding area.

This work directly helps others, which is very meaningful to Mary, who is still feeling somewhat lost at the moment.

"By the way, on our care list, there's an elderly man who retired from the Second Rank. I've heard he has a very eccentric personality, so you should be careful..." Pastor Jeff specifically instructed.

According to the information, this old man had no children or friends, and was also a poor man with an eccentric personality, which made him very difficult to deal with.

“It’s okay, leave it to me!” Mary said with great enthusiasm.

Then, she followed the address on the document and found the old man's house.

As soon as Mary entered, she smelled a strange, indescribable odor permeating the room. Moreover, the small room was filled with all sorts of garbage and clutter.

"Hello, is anyone home?" Mary called out into the room after finding a spot among the clutter.

After a long while, an elderly man in a wheelchair emerged from the inner room. He stared at Mary with hostility and asked, "Who are you?"

The old man looked very old, his face covered with age spots, but his eyes remained bright and fierce.

“I’m a church staff member, I’m here to help you…” Mary said, forcing a smile despite her discomfort.

"The church has changed staff again? You look a bit more pleasing to the eye than the previous people." The old man's hoarse, low voice was still unsettling. However, after learning Mary's identity, his gaze wasn't as frightening as before.

“Yes, I’ll be taking care of you for a while.” Mary asked tentatively, “Is there anything I can help you with?”

"Are you blind?" The old man looked around the messy room, his meaning clear.

"I'll help you tidy up right away~" Mary didn't say much and immediately started tidying up the room.

On the other side, the old man stared at Mary for a few moments, then turned his wheelchair and went back to the back.

More than two hours later, Mary, her forehead beaded with sweat, finally finished tidying up the room.

The sunlight streaming into the clean and tidy little house brought a touch of life to the home.

"Is there anything else I need to do?" Mary, who had been busy for a while, looked at the clean and tidy room and felt a great sense of accomplishment.

"I haven't taken a bath in a long time," the old man said dryly.

He didn't seem to want to thank Mary for cleaning the room so thoroughly.

"You want me to help you take a bath?" Mary asked, both surprised and embarrassed.

However, the old man did not answer Mary's question. His sharp eyes fixed on Mary once again.

"Okay, I understand." Perhaps out of sympathy, Mary agreed to the request.

Moreover, she did indeed smell an unpleasant odor coming from in front of the other person. Clearly, the old man wasn't lying.

More than an hour later, the elderly man, after washing up and changing into clean clothes, sat back in his wheelchair.

"If you have nothing else, I'll be going now." It was already afternoon, and Mary, who had been busy for most of the day, hadn't received a single word of thanks from the other party.

Therefore, feeling somewhat dissatisfied, she didn't want to stay in this place any longer.

"Wait a minute!" the old man called to Mary, and ordered, "Go and get me the box on top of the wardrobe."

Mary, who was about to leave, patiently took a small tin box from the top of the wardrobe and handed it to the old man.

The box was opened, revealing a gold medal inside. The old man stroked it carefully, as if lost in memories.

"Can I go now?" Mary asked when the other person remained silent for a while.

"You can go now," the old man said without even looking up.

As Mary reached the door, she heard the old man say again, "If I die, please keep this medal safe for me..."

Upon hearing the word "death," Mary stopped and looked back, only to find the old man had already gone back into the inner room.

"What a weirdo~" Mary shook her head and walked towards her house.

During dinner at the Cooper family's house, Mary shared the old man's story with everyone.

Seeing his wife return to her former self, George smiled and said, "You are now an angel."

Mary did something truly commendable today.

Chapter 184 Research Group

Another day has come, and after Mary once again visits the two kind-hearted, lonely elderly people, it is noon.

Just as she was about to leave work, she suddenly thought of the eccentric old man from yesterday.

"I wonder if that guy is in a better mood today..." As far as Mary knew, the old man didn't have a single friend.

She thought to herself: Perhaps no one but herself will visit him.

Perhaps it was because helping others gave Mary a sense of accomplishment. Or perhaps it was an overflowing sense of compassion; after a moment's thought, she turned and walked towards the old man.

"Hello~ Are you home..." Mary called out several times from outside the door, but no one answered.

Considering the elderly person's limited mobility, or perhaps hearing impairment...

Mary skillfully pushed open the door and went inside. The room looked exactly as it had been cleaned yesterday.

Beside the window, the old man placed his medals on his chest with both hands, his eyes closed as if he were basking in the sun.

"What a strange person, never even answers when he's home," Mary muttered to herself before going to the window.

Bathed in sunlight, the old man, with his eyes closed, looked very kind.

'This guy isn't so annoying when he's not talking...' Mary thought to herself, then noticed that the other person was wearing very thin clothes.

It's already late November, and although the sun is out at midday, the temperature isn't very high.

Fearing that the elderly person might catch a cold, Mary found a blanket in the room and wanted to cover them with it.

While covering the old man with a blanket, she accidentally touched his icy cold hand.

Mary, sensing something was wrong, carefully nudged the old man's arm and found that his entire body was stiff.

“This…” Mary couldn’t believe it. He was perfectly fine yesterday, and he’s dead today.

With her mind blank, she checked the other person's nose again.

Once she confirmed that the other person had indeed passed away, Mary immediately called the church for help.

Not long after, Pastor Jeff arrived at the old man's house with several church support staff.

"Are you alright?" Pastor Jeff asked with concern as he approached the distraught Mary.

"N-nothing..." Mary shook her head slightly, her voice sounding a little hoarse.

Having personally witnessed the passing of a life, she doesn't look like she's alright now.

“He’s over eighty years old this year, and it’s not a bad thing that he’s come to the Lord’s embrace…” Pastor Jeff comforted Mary for a few words, and then said, “You rest for a while, I’ll take care of the rest.”

……

Half an hour later, as the old man, covered in a white sheet, was pushed past her, Mary still found it hard to accept that a life had been lost.

In particular, she had contact with the other party yesterday.

“He passed away peacefully…” Pastor Jeff came to Mary again and said, “You did a good job this time.”

"Actually, I didn't do anything..." Mary, having calmed down, felt a pang of guilt as she realized that her attitude toward the old man yesterday hadn't been very good.

“Don’t be modest. I can see that you did a better job than the previous investigators.” Reverend Jeff acknowledged Mary’s work based on the freshly cleaned room and the elderly woman’s freshly groomed appearance.

Seeing that the other person was still in low spirits, Pastor Jeff continued, "I'll grant you a few days off so you can go home and get some rest. I'll find someone else to do the investigator's job."

“No, I’m fine.” Mary regained her composure and said seriously, “I want to continue doing this job.”

Thinking that she might be able to help more people, Mary declined Pastor Jeff's offer.

At that moment, she seemed to have found the meaning of life.

In the following days, the rest of the Cooper family also noticed the change in Mary's mental state.

This change also restored the harmonious and congenial atmosphere in the Cooper family to its former state.

……

It's early December, another weekend.

At the University of Texas, Professor John and Dr. Linklater's research project was finally approved.

Mike, Peggy, and Sheldon were also invited to join the research project as assistants.

The assistant's job is very simple: serving tea and water to researchers, organizing documents, and other tedious tasks.