American TV series: Starting with exploiting young Sheldon

If the nine girls in front of him weren't pretty, Mike wouldn't have been so forgiving.

Of course, this may also be related to Mike's original intention in forming the dance troupe. It was just a spur-of-the-moment thing, so there's no need to take it so seriously.

On the other side, the nine girls who had received the boss's "approval" looked much more relaxed. After saying goodbye to Mike, they walked down the rooftop together.

“Christmas is coming soon, how about we go out and buy some gifts, and also check out Caroline’s coffee shop?” Mike got up, walked to the glass rooftop, and suggested after gazing at the distant scenery for a while.

With Christmas just over a week away, it's time to prepare Christmas gifts.

Grandma Connie, Professor John, the Cooper family, the Sean family...

Even Mia and Peggy, who are far away in Genovia, need to prepare gifts.

"Want to go shopping? I have no objection~" Lina happily raised both hands in agreement.

She'd been quite busy with Jesse all year, so she was very happy to finally have some free time to spend with Mike.

"Then, let's go!" Mike took Lina's hand and called over the cold-faced woman, Nidi.

The three drove towards Fifth Commercial Street.

It is clear that the overall economic downturn this year has impacted the upcoming Christmas season.

At this time of year, the streets are filled with Santa Claus, Christmas trees, ribbons, and festive decorations, creating a festive atmosphere.

But this year, there are far fewer things on the streets used to create a festive atmosphere.

Even in a commercial district like Fifth Avenue, things seem a bit "quiet" these days. The pedestrians all seem to be preoccupied, and the usual laughter and joy are gone.

This situation left Mike, who had finally managed to go out for a stroll, somewhat disappointed.

Fortunately, Lina was there with me.

Girls seem to have a natural enthusiasm for shopping, especially when shopping with someone they like.

Lina, whose enthusiasm remained high throughout the trip, chattered away and pulled Mike along, visiting almost every gift shop on Fifth Avenue.

Wool gloves...socks...scarves...

Crystal crafts... Santa Claus figurines...

These things became the girl's goals.

After one round, the car's trunk was almost full of gift boxes.

"It's snowing...it's snowing..."

When Mike and his two companions came out of a gift shop again, snowflakes began to fall from the sky.

The sound of children cheering echoed through the street.

These carefree laughs added a touch of joy to the upcoming Christmas season.

"Mike, look, it's snowing!"

Lina caught a large, intact snowflake and presented it to Mike with both hands as if offering a treasure.

But the snowflakes melted from the girl's body heat before Mike could even see them.

"Oh dear, it's gone. I'll go find a bigger one..." Lina, unwilling to admit defeat, stubbornly wanted to prove herself.

As the snow fell heavier and heavier, Lina, chasing after the snowflakes, soon went wild with fun.

A series of cheerful laughs from the girl then echoed through the snow...

"Alright, don't get too cold~" Mike called out to Lina, whose face was already red from the cold, and said, "Now we can go to Caroline's shop for a while. I heard she recently hired a great pastry chef."

Caroline's coffee shop is at the end of Fifth Avenue, not too far away, perfect for a quick break.

Lina: "I want to eat cream cake..."

What girl doesn't like sweets?

After Mike reminded her, Lina also felt cold. As she sat in the car, her mind was already on the dessert.

……

On the other side, a middle-aged man dressed in thin clothes, carrying medical equipment in one hand and holding the hand of a little boy in the other, happened to pass by the end of Fifth Avenue.

As the snowflakes fell heavier and heavier from the sky, Chris Gardner took off his coat and draped it over his youngest son, feeling that today was absolutely terrible.

This middle-aged man, who originally had a happy family, invested all his savings in medical equipment six months ago.

Normally, the healthcare industry can indeed be profitable.

Unfortunately, Gardner, who was hoping to make a quick buck, ran into the Great Depression.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, he lost everything, his wife ran away, he lost his house, and all he had left was a large amount of useless medical equipment and his young son who needed care.

Even so, Gardner did not lose heart.

In the past six months, relying on his previous sales experience, he sold the medical equipment he had at extremely low prices, barely managing to support his child and himself.

However, as the weather turned colder and his medical equipment stock was about to run out, Gardner had more to consider.

Today, he had planned to sell the last piece of medical equipment he had so that he could buy warm clothes for his child and himself to get through the winter.

Just as the deal was about to be finalized, the hospital informed him that the last medical machine he had was broken.

If we can't sell the machines, we won't have money; if we don't have money, we won't have warm clothes.

In this situation, the snowfall is undoubtedly adding insult to injury for the Gardner father and son.

At this point, Gardner just wanted to find a safe haven as soon as possible so he could repair the last piece of medical equipment he had and then sell it for money.

"Chris, what's wrong?" Gardner, who was anxiously searching for a relief station, suddenly felt his son stop.

Looking back, I realized that my youngest son was standing in front of a coffee shop window, where a row of exquisite little cakes were displayed.

You can almost smell the sweet aroma of cream even from outside.

“Come on, Chris. When we get to the relief station, we’ll not only have bread to eat, but also warm rooms to rest in,” Gardner said with a hint of guilt.

My usually well-behaved and sensible son was staring at the small cakes in the shop window today, as if he were bewitched.

"Chris, we don't have money for dessert right now." Gardner, who had tried to stop his youngest son several times but failed, gradually became irritated.

"Dad, today is my fifth birthday..." Little Chris suddenly spoke up, "I don't want cake, can I just stay here and look around a little longer?"

Adults often break down in an instant.

Gardner, who had been on edge, suddenly felt a lump in his throat as he listened to his youngest son's sensible and well-behaved speech.

"I'm sorry... Chris... It's Dad's fault... for not being able to take good care of you..."

Gardner hugged his youngest son, and tears streamed down his face.

Chapter 541 Doing Good Deeds

"Excuse me, what happened?"

Just as the Gardner father and son were embracing and crying, the coffee shop door was pushed open, and a pretty female employee came out.

"Sorry, we'll be leaving right away..." When people are poor, they lose their will to live. Gardner thought the female clerk was there to kick him out, and unconsciously adopted a humble attitude.

Little Chris, nestled in his arms, thoughtfully reached out his little hand to wipe away the tears from his father's face.

"No, no, no, that's not what I meant~" Max quickly explained, "I saw that you were dressed lightly, and it's snowing right now... Maybe you could sit in the shop for a while and wait for the snow to stop before you leave."

Max had actually noticed the down-on-their-luck father and son long ago. She had been crouching behind the shop window and had overheard their conversation.

As a girl living in a working-class neighborhood, Max could really understand Gardner's difficulties.

I just came out to strike up a conversation, intending to offer some help to this poor father and son.

As for Gardner, he didn't want to cause trouble for others.

However, the snow outside was falling heavier and heavier, and in areas like Fifth Avenue, it was difficult to find mobile relief stations.

Seeing his youngest son's face red from the cold, Gardner said gratefully, "Thank you. We'll leave when the snow lightens a bit."

Before entering the store, Gardner made a point of cleaning the snow off his youngest son's and his own feet.

Perhaps because of the snow, there were no other customers in the coffee shop.

Only one girl, dressed in the same clothes as the previous female shop assistant, was buried in her work on the table, seemingly calculating something.

"Max, have we had a guest?" Caroline, who was doing her year-end summary, looked up when she heard the noise at the door.

Caroline is both the owner and an employee of the coffee shop. She usually serves coffee to customers, while Max is in charge of desserts.

"No need, you go ahead with your work. I'll take care of these two guests." Max smiled and waved his hand, indicating that he could handle it.

“OK~” Caroline continued to do her calculations.

Although this small coffee shop has only been open for three months, the various purchase and sales details are so numerous that it's not easy to calculate them all in a short time.

Despite being a Columbia University economics graduate, Caroline's math skills are actually terrible.

Looking at the dense array of numbers in front of her, Caroline, who had been "fighting" with her head down again, soon started scratching her head again.

"Please have a seat, I'll get you some drinks to warm you up..." Max smiled and shook his head as he watched Caroline struggle with the bill, then turned around and arranged for the Gardner father and son to sit down next to him before walking behind the counter.

Before long, Max brought out a cup of black tea and a cup of warm milk and placed them in front of the Gardner father and son, along with a plate of donuts.

"We're not hungry..." Looking at the beautifully presented donuts, Gardner, who was short of money, swallowed hard and declined.

“This is afternoon tea that Caroline and I prepared for ourselves, it’s free,” Max explained with a smile.

Gardner, who clearly felt the kindness of others, did not say anything, but silently kept this warmth in his heart.

After handing a donut to his youngest son, Gardner picked one up for himself.

As the sweet donut entered his mouth, this disheartened middle-aged man felt the urge to cry again.

"Little friend, I heard you say earlier that today is your birthday, is that true?" Max didn't leave after delivering the things, but sat down next to little Chris.

"Yes, my name is Chris Topher. Today is my fifth birthday." Feeling that the older sister next to him was a kind person, little Chris revealed his information without any reservations.

"Congratulations, little Chris!" Max said cheerfully. "Did you know that every child who celebrates their birthday at our shop gets an extra birthday cake?"

Since it was Max's first time doing something like this, his performance was somewhat exaggerated.

"Really?" Little Chris's face lit up with surprise, but he quickly added, "But Dad and I didn't make any purchases at the store."

“But you are ‘guests’, aren’t you?” Max continued to fool the children.

This quickly convinced Chris that he was the lucky one.

Gardner, who had watched the whole thing from the side, wanted to speak several times, but seeing his youngest son's happy expression, he ultimately didn't open his mouth.

Then, with Chris looking on expectantly, Max went to the shop window and picked out a medium-sized cake, thoughtfully placing five small candles on it.

At the same time, a paper birthday hat was placed on the birthday boy's head.

In a warm atmosphere, Max and Gardner sang "Happy Birthday" to little Chris.

Then, the girl gave the Gardner father and son some time alone.

"What's going on over there?" Caroline, who was dizzy from doing the accounting, naturally noticed the commotion on Chris's side.

Seeing Max approaching, he asked her curiously.

Max shook his head, indicating that he didn't want to talk about this, and then said in a low voice, "I'll pay for the cake later."

"I didn't mean to blame you. I just wanted to say, why didn't you include me when you did this good deed?" Caroline, who had been distracted while doing the accounting, had actually been secretly keeping an eye on little Chris's situation the whole time.

She probably already guessed what Max had done.

She didn't know the Gardner father and son, so she didn't feel comfortable going over to join in the fun.

"Shh, I know you're a rich girl and don't care about a cake. Can we not talk about this?" Max gestured for Caroline to keep her voice down so the person in question wouldn't hear.

Only the poor can truly understand the self-esteem of the poor.

Although Caroline is not a bad person, she has not experienced much hardship and cannot understand the bitterness of ordinary people's lives.

“Okay~” Caroline stopped dwelling on the topic and pushed the ledgers she needed to organize in front of Max, saying, “Now I need your help too.”

Max was born in a poor neighborhood and didn't have many opportunities to go to school, so her math skills were only about the same as Caroline's.

However, seeing her friend's distressed expression, she still took over the job.

Yes, Max became an employee of this small shop by accident, but her personality seemed to complement Caroline's perfectly, so the two became very good friends in a very short time.

Meanwhile, after giving his youngest son a happy birthday, Gardner couldn't help but glance at Max and Caroline, who were doing the accounts.