American TV series: Starting with exploiting young Sheldon

She couldn't understand why her daughter had made such a big decision on her own without consulting her.

"What happened, Grandma Connie?" Seeing that she looked completely exhausted upon returning, Mike poured her a glass of water and asked with concern, "Does Mary not believe that stocks can make money? Actually, I can list out my financial statements for the past few months and give her a look..."

Stocks are still a relatively new industry, and it's understandable that people who don't understand them might have a sense of distrust.

“It’s not about stocks,” Grandma Connie interrupted Mike, “It’s about Mary, she had an abortion…”

Connie's grandmother, who was feeling down, wanted to confide in someone. So she told them everything she had heard.

"How could this happen?" Mike hadn't expected Mary to be so decisive this time.

"Forget it, let's not talk about it. Grandma's tired, she's going to rest now." Thinking about this upsetting matter, Connie's grandma felt exhausted.

With that, she got up and walked towards the room. Reaching the door, she turned back and added, "Oh, and let's just let this go. Don't mention it at the Cooper's house again."

"Understood~" Mike nodded knowingly.

Sensitive issues like these, which concern family members, can easily cause family conflicts.

……

That night, however, even George, who was usually cheerful and optimistic, couldn't sleep.

In the following days, feeling depressed, he started going out early and returning late, often missing family dinners.

Friday arrived, and even Missy noticed her father's unusual behavior over the past few days.

At dinner time, seeing that her father was absent again, she cautiously asked, "Mom~ Does Daddy not want us anymore?"

Upon hearing the little girl's innocent words, several pairs of eyes simultaneously turned to Mary.

Children who are more innocent and simple-minded are generally more sensitive to changes in the atmosphere at home.

Even Sheldon, who usually doesn't pay much attention to these kinds of things, could tell that there was something wrong between his parents.

“No, that’s not true…” Mary forced a smile and reassured the children, “Your father is just busy with work lately, he’ll be fine in a while.”

Children are simple-minded, sensitive, and easily deceived.

Sure enough, the Cooper children were all relieved after hearing their mother's explanation.

Only Sheldon Jr. looked somewhat puzzled.

As far as he knew, the sporting goods store where his father worked had fixed working hours every day, and there was no possibility of working overtime.

Come to think of it, who would go out to buy sports equipment late at night for no reason?

However, trusting his mother, young Sheldon didn't think much of it.

On the other side, after hearing Mary's explanation, Connie's grandmother gave her a deep look, shook her head slightly, and said nothing more.

Coincidentally, George returned home reeking of alcohol right after dinner at Cooper's house.

"Go back to your room and rest!" Mary hurriedly sent the children away, then pulled her husband aside and questioned, "What's wrong with you?"

George, already quite drunk, said nonchalantly, "Dell gave me such a big raise, is it a problem if I go have a drink with him?"

He was very unhappy about the decision his wife had made on her own.

Moreover, George had thought about it seriously that night when he couldn't sleep. He realized that his wife might have made that decision because he wasn't earning enough money.

Realizing that the responsibility might very well lie with him made George feel very frustrated and humiliated.

So, feeling depressed, he could only go outside to drown his sorrows in alcohol.

Of course, a large part of the reason was that he didn't want to come back and face his wife, who had become a stranger to him.

“Even if Dell gave you a raise, you shouldn’t have been drinking so much with him.” Mary knew perfectly well why her husband had become like this.

After scolding the other person, she didn't mention the alcohol again, but changed the subject, saying, "The church is preparing for Christmas activities, and I'll be very busy this weekend. So, I'll leave Missy and the others in your care for the next two days."

Because the church's Halloween event was a great success, Pastor Jeff entrusted Mary with planning this year's Christmas event as well.

“Go ask Connie if she has time to take care of Missy and the others…” George shook his groggy head and said, “I have to work overtime at the store this weekend. I have to live up to the raise Dell gave me.”

"Why? I only gave you a raise of 100 per week, and now I have to make you work overtime on weekends..." Mary said indignantly.

George used to earn $350 a week working five days, but now his weekly wage has increased to $450, but he has to work seven days.

Based on hourly wages, this is no different from not getting a raise at all.

So Mary's point of view was correct. Just as she was about to argue with her husband again, she found that he had already started snoring.

……

Weekend at Regina's house.

After another week of practice, the girls were able to coordinate well and sing the new song.

However, when it comes to musical instruments, apart from Karen who plays the drums, the other three girls' instrumental skills are not up to par.

Especially Regina, the "Queen Bee," who, after all this time, still hasn't even mastered the basics of guitar.

"We'll talk about the instrument playing later. Let's go to the recording studio and record the demo first," Mike instructed after understanding the girls' situation.

There are dedicated musicians in the recording studio to create the background music.

Once the master tape is released, we can simply have the girls practice pretend playing along with the background music.

Anyway, the school's Christmas party is all about the atmosphere, and doesn't require that much professional expertise.

Chapter 194 Christmas Party

With the help of Regina's mother, Asher, the instrumental version of "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" was prepared by a professional musician beforehand.

On Saturday afternoon, Mike accompanied the girls from the "Devil Body Group" to the recording studio to record a song.

With the help of a sound engineer, the girls' new song was completed by evening.

Regina's family listened to Christmas songs on the record player, and all of them had satisfied expressions on their faces.

"This song is really good; it could be released as a Christmas single." With a broader perspective, Ai Xue gave a fair evaluation after listening to the new song.

To be honest, she was somewhat surprised by Mike's musical talent.

Aisha never imagined that the seemingly playful creative process would actually result in such a high-quality Christmas song produced by Mike and the others.

"Really? Mom~" Regina asked in surprise, "Is this song really good enough to be released as a single?"

Although "Queen Bee" also thought the new song she sang was very good, she didn't have a clear understanding of just how good it was.

But how could she, at that age when she was full of fantasies, resist the temptation of fame?

Not to mention, Regina is, at heart, a person who loves the limelight.

Meanwhile, the other three girls with stunning figures also turned their attention to the conversation between the "Queen Bee" and her mother.

Clearly, they couldn't resist the temptation of fame either.

“Of course it can be released,” Aisha said confidently. “If you’d like, I can help you promote the song around Christmas.”

Despite Ai Xue's seemingly idle demeanor, promoting a new song is not difficult for her thanks to her husband's connections.

"I do!" Upon hearing that there was a real chance of releasing this new song, Regina immediately agreed with great joy.

Then, she turned to the other three members of the "Devil Body Group" and asked, "What do you think of my mother's suggestion?"

The three girls naturally had no objection to their work being appreciated by more people.

Seeing that the members of the "Devilish Figures Group" had reached a consensus, Regina looked at Mike and asked, "Mike, what are your thoughts?"

Strictly speaking, Mike, who wrote both the lyrics and the music, has the most say in how the song should be handled.

“Of course I have no objection,” Mike replied immediately.

“Great, leave the distribution to me. Now, you can discuss the revenue sharing issue.” Ai Xue showed her reliable side.

Then, she happily said, "You guys go ahead with your work, I'll go prepare dinner for you, and we'll have a proper celebration later."

After saying that, Aisha hurriedly left the room to prepare a celebratory dinner.

In the music room, the girls who hadn't yet been corrupted by money didn't seem to care much about the income from their songs.

In the end, it was Mike who suggested that the song's revenue be split equally among the five of them.

As for the future, if the song becomes popular and generates commercial revenue, we'll discuss that later.

The girls, who had little concept of money, immediately agreed to Mike's proposal.

……

Sunday arrived, and Ai Xue, full of energy to promote her new song, dragged along the "Devil Body Group" and Mike to shoot a set of posters specifically for the song.

Normally, creator Mike wouldn't need to shoot promotional posters. But since he's so handsome, Aisha obviously wouldn't let such a good promotional opportunity pass her by.

After a morning of shooting, the promotional posters were successfully photographed. Thus, the promotion of the new song officially began.

Of course, the rest of the song promotion work didn't really require Mike and the others to worry about; all the operations were left to the enthusiastic Ash.

The importance of Christmas in the West is no less than that of the Spring Festival in the East.

As Christmas approaches, the festive atmosphere in the town of Deford grows stronger, with all sorts of colorful lights hanging in the streets and Christmas trees, Santa Claus, reindeer and other decorations displayed at the entrances of shopping malls.

With Christmas approaching, the school has given students plenty of free time.

The afternoon group exercise time was canceled, and instead, the various small teams gathered together to rehearse their performances for the Christmas party.

On Thursday afternoon, in a small, private classroom, several girls from the "Devil Body Group" were energetically playing their instruments to the background music of their new song.

"Regina, after training for so long, why are your guitar playing movements and gestures still so rusty?" After one round of practice, Mike pointed out "Queen Bee's" mistake separately.

Given the girls' musical abilities, Mike had already lowered his expectations to the bare minimum.

The girls only need to pretend to play along with the music.

Even with such low requirements, Regina still couldn't meet the standards.

"I've been training hard, maybe the guitar just isn't for me," Regina said, sounding a little aggrieved.

In order to make a name for herself, she has indeed been practicing very seriously during this period.

Mike had noticed her efforts over that period. However, the results were not ideal; it seemed Regina truly lacked talent in performing.

Since things have come to this point, there's no point in blaming the other party anymore.

Mike thought for a moment and said, "I didn't think this through before. Here's what we'll do, Regina, you can change your instrument to a handbell. When you perform at the party tomorrow night, you'll be the lead singer, and you can just use the handbell as decoration."

As the lead singer of a band, sometimes it can be very easy; all you need is a microphone.

“Handbells? That’s easy…” Regina put down her guitar, picked up a string of beach-style handbells from the side, and jingled them cheerfully twice.

During this period, she has been unable to keep up with the progress of the other team members, and the "Queen Bee" is under a lot of pressure.

Now, she doesn't need to play the guitar, yet she can occupy the most eye-catching center position as the lead singer.

This unique treatment pleased the "Queen Bee" very much.

"Mike, will you be on stage with us tomorrow?" Greta asked with concern.

This girl, who was usually quiet, realized that the group's live performance needed someone who could act as the closing act.

This role should have been played by Karen, who plays the drums.

Karen's musicality is slightly better than the other girls in the group. However, she's clearly not up to the task of controlling the rhythm of the performance and acting as the headliner.

"Tomorrow I'll be performing on stage with you as the keyboardist," Mike said, having already prepared himself for the occasion.

“Great~”

The girls cheered when they heard Mike's promise.

The girls had a clear understanding of Michael's musical talent.

With his addition, the girls in the Devil Body Group are even more confident for tomorrow's Christmas performance.

"Alright, while we still have time, let's practice a few more times together," Mike said, sitting down at the keyboard and reminding the girls who were having a great time.

Tomorrow is Christmas, so the actual time available for everyone to rehearse is not that much.

With Mike's keyboard joining in, the girls, no longer having to worry about being out of tune, found their rehearsals much smoother.

By the time school ended, their joint performance had become quite impressive. It was more than enough to be used for the school's Christmas performance.

Before disbanding, Mike gathered the girls together, raised his hand in encouragement, and said, "Wishing us a great success in tomorrow's performance!"

"success!!!"