American TV series: Starting with exploiting young Sheldon

"It's good that you know the gap." Ms. Sharon ignored Kevin's antics and said seriously, "Since your talent can't compare to his, you need to work harder..."

These words, seemingly directed at Kevin, were actually a sharing of life experiences with the other members of the math Olympiad team.

After all, talent is something others can't envy. For ordinary people, hard work is the only way to reap rewards.

……

Meanwhile, Mary, returning home from the church, had a worried look on her face.

The reason for this situation is that she noticed her period was more than half a month late.

Aside from pregnancy, this has never happened before.

Feeling uneasy, Mary immediately went to find Grandma Connie.

After hearing her story, Grandma Connie asked, "Do you think it's possible that you're going through menopause?"

“I’m in a real hurry, so don’t joke around.” Mary, who was only in her early thirties, glared at her mother.

"Okay~" Seeing her daughter's serious expression, Grandma Connie also put away her joking mind and asked seriously, "Did you tell George about this?"

“I hadn’t even thought about it that way before…” Mary said, shaking her head.

“Okay, let me calculate.” The more experienced Grandma Connie calculated the days and then asked, “Around Halloween, when you and George were being intimate, did you use protection?”

“It seems there was one time when it didn’t.” Mary’s expression became complicated.

Upon hearing her daughter's answer, Connie's grandmother knew that the other woman was probably pregnant. So she suggested, "Let's go buy a pregnancy test and see what's going on."

Connie's grandmother couldn't help but take this matter seriously.

"That's the only way," Mary replied, her feelings complicated.

Chapter 192 The Child (Continued)

Mary, who is in her thirties, would definitely be considered an older pregnant woman if she were to become pregnant.

Feeling a little embarrassed, she asked Connie's grandmother to go to the department store counter and buy her a pregnancy test kit.

……

Not long after, Mary, with an even more complicated expression, came out of the bathroom.

"How is it, Mary? Is it there or not?" Grandma Connie asked cautiously.

Despite her seemingly carefree lifestyle, Grandma Connie, a native of Texas, actually has a strong sense of family.

Upon hearing the question, Mary, with mixed feelings, did not speak but instead handed over the pregnancy test kit.

After confirming several times that there were two red lines on the tool, Grandma Connie excitedly rushed forward and hugged her daughter, saying, "That's wonderful, Mary. When are you going to tell them this good news?"

In the grandmother's eyes, it was a happy thing to have another little life added to the family.

However, compared to her happy appearance, Mary remained in a daze.

"What's wrong, Mary?" Connie's grandmother noticed that her daughter was acting strangely.

“Let’s not tell Shelley and the others about this yet…” Mary said, coming back to her senses. “I want to discuss it with George first.”

"What are you really thinking?" Grandma Connie had a bad feeling.

Seeing her mother's increasingly serious expression, Mary thought for a moment and said, "I've only just settled into my job at the church. If I have the baby, I might lose my job again. Besides, Shirley is still young and needs a lot of care. I'm afraid I won't be able to manage another child..."

The Cooper family's situation is indeed not optimistic. If Mary loses her job at the church, George's salary alone will not be enough to support the entire family.

Moreover, taking care of four children at the same time was indeed a huge burden for Mary.

“If it’s a matter of money, I can ask Mike for help. His stocks have been doing well lately…” Connie’s grandmother sensed that her daughter was considering aborting the child and subtly advised, “If you’re worried about having too many children to take care of, I’m still quite healthy and should be able to help.”

Seeing her mother's concerned expression, Mary hesitated for a long time before finally saying, "Let's see. I still want to discuss it with George first."

"Alright." Seeing her daughter's insistence, Connie's grandmother didn't say anything more. In the end, she could only remind her, "If you have any problems, you can come to me anytime. We're family."

……

As evening fell, Mike, having finished a day at school, noticed that the atmosphere at the Cooper family's dining table was a bit strange.

Mary, who is usually strict with her children, acted as if she didn't even see little George spilling food all over the table.

On the other side, Connie's grandmother, who kept casting concerned glances at her daughter, also seemed to be behaving strangely.

After dinner, Mike had just returned home when Grandma Connie called him over.

“Mike, there’s something I want to ask you,” Grandma Connie said.

"Please speak." Seeing the other person's somewhat troubled expression, Mike also became serious.

During this time, he received a lot of care from Connie's grandmother and had long regarded her as family.

If the other party is in any difficulty, Mike wouldn't mind helping out within his ability.

"Um, I wanted to ask, are stocks really that profitable?" Grandma Connie asked somewhat awkwardly.

As the saying goes, even family members should keep clear accounts. When it comes to money matters, even the cheerful and outgoing Grandma Connie feels a little embarrassed to bring it up.

"It's really easy to make money in the stock market right now," Mike said frankly.

Now is the era of America's economic boom. As long as you seize the opportunity, even a pig can fly.

The same applies to the stock market.

Moreover, Mike had previously had the idea of ​​bringing Connie's grandmother and the Cooper family along to make money.

So he continued, "Grandma Connie, if you want to buy stocks, I can give you some advice. I guarantee you won't lose money."

Mike, with his long-term vision, never even considered worrying about money.

Therefore, in his view, anything that can be solved with money is not a big problem.

Seeing that Mike didn't treat her like an outsider, Grandma Connie smiled and said, "It's not that I want to buy stocks, it's actually Mary..."

Then, she told her the truth about Mary's pregnancy.

Once Mike learned the truth, he understood why Grandma Connie and Mary had acted so strangely at dinner.

So he smiled and promised, "If Mary wants to buy stocks, I can also give her advice."

The stock market is booming, and Mike doesn't mind having a few more people make money with him.

He even offered a helping hand to Dennis, the guardian in the small town of Minnesota.

"That's wonderful! I'll tell Mary the news tomorrow." Grandma Connie smiled with relief, as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

She actually knew a little about how Mike made money in the stock market.

……

Inside the Cooper family's room, George and his wife were.

After thinking for a moment, Mary went to her husband and confessed, "I'm pregnant."

"What?" George, who was about to go to sleep, didn't react for a moment.

“I have it, it might be from Halloween,” Mary said in detail.

"Wait a minute~" George was stunned when he suddenly heard this good news.

After processing the information, he hugged his wife with delight and said, "That's wonderful! Little George and the others will be so happy to hear this. They'll soon have a lovely little brother or sister..."

Seeing her husband's incomparably happy expression, Mary remained silent for a while, then repeated what she had told Connie's grandmother.

However, in George's view, what his wife was worried about was not a big problem.

“I’ll talk to Dale tomorrow and ask him to give me a raise.” After thinking it over, George said, “You can continue to be a full-time housewife from now on, and I’ll take care of earning money to support the family…”

To be honest, George has a bit of a macho streak, which makes him willing to take on the burden of supporting his family.

Mary was not happy even though she heard her husband's comforting words.

She thought a lot that night: her work at the church, raising her children, her family's financial situation, and so on.

All of this caused Mary great distress.

Finally, after seeing her family off the next day, Mary did not go to church, but went to the hospital alone.

A fetus that is about one month old has not yet fully developed, so terminating it is not a big deal.

……

That evening, at the Cooper family's dinner table.

George, unaware of what his wife had been doing behind his back, was still basking in joy.

He already spoke with the owner of the sporting goods store, Dell, about a raise today, and also shared that his wife is pregnant.

Given George's excellent work performance, Dell's boss was very understanding and gave him an extra $100 a week.

Everything seems to be moving in a good direction.

"Mike, you go back first," Grandma Connie said after dinner. "I'm going to talk to Mary about the stocks."

"OK~" Mike waved his hand and left Cooper's house first.

Meanwhile, Connie's grandmother, who remained behind, headed towards George and his wife's room.

Coincidentally, a conversation was also taking place in George and his wife's room at that time.

"I have something to tell you..." x2

The couple spoke at the same time, one with a smile on his face and the other looking nervous.

Chapter 193 Strange

"You go first~" George, still in a happy mood, displayed excellent gentlemanly manners.

“To avoid burdening my family, I had an abortion…” Mary began calmly, but her voice trailed off as she spoke.

As a Christian, she had just lamented the loss of another believer's daughter, and now she herself had taken the life of a young child.

This made her feel somewhat guilty.

"This..." George's happy expression disappeared after he clearly heard what his wife said.

He looked up at his wife's familiar face, his ears wide with disbelief.

Just then, Connie's grandmother, who had just arrived outside the door to knock, also heard her daughter's words.

The hand that was knocking on the door paused...

After letting out a long sigh, Connie's grandmother turned and left with a complicated expression.

However, feeling somewhat dazed, she accidentally bumped into a chair in the aisle as she left, making a loud noise.

"Missie, go back to sleep. Now~"

Inside the room, George, unsure how to react, heard the commotion outside and shouted loudly, as if to vent all his frustration.

Missy, who had previously played in the hallway at night, was inexplicably blamed for Connie's grandmother's misdeeds.

After a short while, the hallway fell silent, and George calmed down a bit. He looked at his wife and asked, "Why?"

Now that things had come to this, he just wanted to hear with his own ears what explanation his wife had to offer.

The two had already discussed it yesterday, and George had clearly expressed that he wanted the child.

“There’s no reason why.” Mary shook her head and said calmly, “Isn’t this better?”

In Mary's view, having a child was her personal matter. Now, considering the sake of her family, she's choosing to abort the child, making a greater sacrifice on her part.

The more she thought about it, the more sense it made.

And that seems to be true. Without the burden, Mary kept her job at the church, and George was no longer under so much financial pressure.

In addition, George's weekly wage has increased.

The couple now earns a combined weekly wage of 800 US dollars, which is much higher than George's highest salary when he was on the rugby team.

Based on this calculation, the Cooper family's life seems to be getting better and better.

Looking at his wife's calm demeanor, George felt as if she were a complete stranger.

Then, having lost the desire to communicate, he turned his back and lay down on the boat.

Meanwhile, Connie's grandmother, who had secretly left Cooper's house, curled up on the sofa as soon as she got back to her own home.