American TV series: Starting with exploiting young Sheldon

Chapter 106 Choice

At the dinner table, before the meal was even served, the three Cooper children kept glancing at their father.

Clearly, Mary had spoken with the three of them about her father before this.

After the pre-dinner prayers, George tapped the table to draw everyone's attention and said, "I have something important to announce. I've received an offer from the Oklahoma City high school football team. They've offered me a very high salary, and I'll have great opportunities for development there..."

George confidently recounted the benefits of teaching in Oklahoma, then looked at his three children and asked, "Are you willing to support Dad's work?"

Old Texas people have a strong sense of family, and at this moment, George really wants the support and recognition of his family.

However, all three children fell silent at this moment, clearly indicating that Mary's earlier conversation with them had had an effect.

Finally, it was Sheldon Jr. who spoke first: "If you go to teach in Oklahoma, will we need to move?"

“Of course.” George smiled and reassured him, “But don’t worry, with the salary the college of Oklahoma offered me, we’ll soon be able to own our own house here again.”

However, young Sheldon paid no heed to his father's words of comfort. Like his mother, he feared his familiar routine being disrupted.

What's more, in the past six months, Sheldon has also made some rare friends here.

He knew his own personality well and knew that after changing environments, he might never meet people like Dan and Mike again who were willing to be his friends.

So Sheldon said seriously, "I don't want to leave here and live somewhere new; that would be too much trouble."

The youngest son's answer made George's confident expression freeze.

Then he heard his youngest daughter, Missy, say, "I don't want to leave the town of Deford either."

As she said this, Missy secretly glanced at the handsome Mike, clearly not wanting to part with him.

The two children are still young and cannot understand how important George's new job is to the family.

"George, what's your opinion?" George turned his attention to his eldest son.

“I…” George frowned and thought for a moment. He vaguely understood that his choice might have a significant impact on the family.

Seeing the hopeful looks in his parents' eyes, little George hesitated for a long time before shaking his head and saying, "I don't know~"

After reserving his opinion, he lowered his head in silence and stopped speaking.

Hearing her three children's answers, Mary felt a little pleased. However, to completely dissuade her husband, she pressed her advantage and said, "Mom, Mike, why don't you share your thoughts too?"

In Mary's opinion, Grandma Connie is getting old and probably doesn't want to be separated from her family, especially since she loves her beloved grandson Sheldon so much.

As for Mike, given his relationship with George, he probably wouldn't want his family to leave.

However, the truth surprised Mary.

Grandma Connie took a sip of her beer and said slowly, "This is a rare opportunity for George, and I think he should seize it. Of course, the final decision is still up to you as a family."

With her wealth of life experience, Grandma Connie could easily discern right from wrong. However, this was ultimately a Cooper family matter, and it wasn't appropriate for her to interfere too much.

This is probably the wisdom of life.

“I also think this is a great opportunity for George,” Mike said, then fell silent.

In fact, when it comes to such important issues involving other people's families, if outsiders get too involved, they are likely to end up with a thankless and exhausting outcome.

Upon hearing Connie and Mike's remarks, Mary's expression froze; this was not the answer she wanted at all.

However, she quickly regained her composure and said, "Aside from little George abstaining, the current vote is a tie of two to two..."

Seeing the conflicted look on her husband's face, Mary really wanted to tell him directly that she disagreed with the family moving to Oklahoma.

Just to spare her husband's feelings, she continued tactfully, "How about this, George, you go to teach in Oklahoma, and I'll stay here to take care of the children. That way, neither of us will be inconvenienced."

This compromise, seemingly taking care of George, actually forces him to choose between family and work.

It must be said that Mary's approach was very clever.

The outcome was exactly as she had expected.

George, who values ​​family more, glanced at his three children several times before giving in: "Forget it, the job at the Oklahoma University isn't really that great. I can find another job, it's no big deal."

George turned down what might have been the best opportunity of his life, choosing instead to give his children a complete family.

“That’s wonderful.” Mary was touched by her husband’s words. She then got up and gave him a hug.

The three children were all happy to hear that their father had chosen to stay. It seemed like the whole affair had come to a happy ending.

Mike, though an "outsider," saw the dejected look beneath George's forced expression.

Grandma Connie frowned and glanced at her daughter. Then she suggested, "Since George is unemployed now, how about we have him take charge of cooking for Mike and me from now on?"

Of course, we will pay him 800 yuan a month for food until he finds a job.

It's conceivable that George, having spent half his life as a football coach, has no other notable skills besides football.

Finding a suitable job again is very difficult for him.

Connie's grandmother also wanted to use the excuse of food expenses to help the Cooper family temporarily alleviate their financial pressure.

"This..." George, whose mind hadn't quite caught up, was about to refuse.

In his view, Connie's grandmother and Mike were both family, and 800 US dollars a month for living expenses was far too much.

You should know that Mary's weekly wage at the church was only 200 US dollars, which translates to only 800 US dollars a month.

However, Mary, who had a longer-term perspective, saw through Grandma Connie's intentions. She glared at her husband and then agreed for him, "Of course, no problem. If you want to eat special roast meat in the future, George can make it for you."

Actually, George's only decent dish is his secret-recipe roast beef; Mary can take care of all the meals for Mike and the other person on her own.

After finalizing the agreement to dine together, the atmosphere at the table became lively.

At that moment, George also remembered that Mike had quit the football team.

"I also have something to discuss with everyone," George Jr. said, mimicking his father's previous manner. "What are your thoughts on Mike leaving the team?"

"That's great. It's such a waste for Mike to play football with that face," Grandma Connie joked with a laugh.

“Mmm, mmm~” Missy nodded in agreement.

"Rugby is a brutal sport..." Sheldon Jr. also expressed his opinion.

George already knew about Mike's decision, so he didn't say anything more.

Thus, George Jr.'s idea of ​​getting Mike back into the football team failed.

Chapter 107 The Threat from the Little Girl

The conversation at the dinner table quickly turned to Mike's participation in the school's math Olympiad team.

To satisfy everyone's curiosity, Mike gave them a brief account of the day's math Olympiad team activities.

After dinner, Sheldon called Mike aside for a private conversation.

"Mike, can I borrow that math Olympiad workbook?" Young Sheldon's focus was always so unexpected.

However, it's understandable. Ever since losing to Mike in the math test, Sheldon has been looking for an opportunity to compete with him again.

This math Olympiad workbook presents a great opportunity for him to prove himself. If Sheldon can master the concepts in the workbook before Mike, he will prove that he is no less capable.

“Okay, but you’ll have to wait two days.” Mike didn’t quite understand Sheldon’s thought process this time, and casually said, “I can only lend it to you after I finish the exercises in it.”

This was not the answer Sheldon wanted at all. After rolling his eyes a few times, he said, "How about this, you lend me your workbook during your morning academic class. I'll return it to you this afternoon when you go to the math team. We can also have a competition to see who can learn the material first."

"Is that so?" Mike finally understood Sheldon's intentions; the other party clearly hadn't given up on competing with him.

However, considering that Sheldon has already mastered all the knowledge of eleventh grade, it's not a big deal for him to learn a little more advanced math.

Mike agreed, "Okay, I'll bring you the workbook tomorrow morning."

……

A week passed in the blink of an eye, and both Mike and Sheldon had thoroughly mastered the knowledge points in the math olympiad workbook.

After several rounds of mutual testing, the two barely managed to reach a draw, with neither able to stump the other on any of the Olympiad math concepts.

It must be said that Sheldon is indeed very talented in his studies, while Mike is able to keep up with him because he has Sharon as his teacher.

At dinner that day, George, who still hadn't found a suitable job, prepared another meal for everyone, his signature roast beef.

After dinner, as soon as Sheldon left, Mary mysteriously called everyone else back, asking with a serious expression, "Have you noticed that Shirley has been acting strangely lately?"

"Haven't he always been like that, weird?" George said nonchalantly.

Mary glared at her eldest son to shut him up, then began to recount her discovery.

It turns out that this morning, when Mary saw Sheldon off, she discovered that he had hidden a layer of foam board in his clothes.

So Mary suspected that someone at school was bullying her youngest son.

“It is a bit strange.” Mike nodded, recalling Sheldon’s odd walking posture earlier that day.

"I knew it~"

Seeing that Mike agreed with her, Mary ignored her eldest son and asked directly, "Mike, have you thought about who might bully Shelley at school?"

Mike thought for a moment, then shook his head.

At school, Sheldon used to be protected by George and his father, so no one would bully him. Now, with himself and George watching over him, no one will dare to mess with him either.

Seeing this, Mary thought for a while longer. Suddenly, her eyes lit up, and she said, "If it's not at school, then it must be on its way to school..."

Yes, George used to pick Sheldon up and drop him off at school. Now George is busy looking for a job and can't manage it at all.

"How about I keep an eye on Sheldon on his way to school from now on?" Little George suggested a solution as soon as he heard that his younger brother was being bullied.

Despite his usual animosity towards Sheldon, he actually cares a lot about his younger brother.

“This…this isn’t a long-term solution either. To solve the problem at its root, we need to find the person who bullied Shelley,” Mary said firmly.

She takes anything related to Sheldon very seriously.

George, on the other hand, seemed uninterested. He was currently focused on finding a new job, and he felt that it was normal for children to encounter problems in life.

This is a process that every boy must go through as he grows up.

"How do we find out who's bullying Sheldon?" George asked the reliable young man.

“This is up to you and Mike,” Mary said, organizing her thoughts.

She plans to have George and Mike secretly follow Sheldon starting tomorrow in order to find out who bullied him on the street.

Upon hearing Mary's suggestion, both George and Mike said it was no problem.

The next day, not long after leaving home, little George hid behind a small tree and excitedly exclaimed, "There really is something wrong!"

Ten meters ahead of George and Mike, Sheldon Jr., completely bundled up, walked cautiously, glancing around as he went.

Sheldon's behavior makes it hard not to think that he's in trouble.

"I mean, are you serious? This little tree can't stop you." Mike was speechless, watching George get into character.

To be honest, the way little George is sneaking around behind the tree now makes him look more like a bad guy than a detective.

"Hehe, I'm used to it." Little George chuckled awkwardly and stepped out from behind the tree.

Actually, Mike and George didn't need to do much; they just needed to follow Sheldon from a distance.

The more normal the behavior, the better.

"There is a situation!"

George, who had been silently observing Sheldon, had only taken a few steps when, as if he had discovered important information, he cried out in surprise and hid behind a tree.

Mike looked up and saw that young Sheldon was indeed hiding under a small tree with a look of panic on his face, as if he had encountered a natural enemy.

Seeing the two brothers making the same movements, Mike helplessly slapped his forehead.

The trees by the roadside were no thicker than a bowl, not even big enough to hide a person. What these two brothers were doing was nothing short of burying their heads in the sand.

"Here he comes, here he comes!" Little George exclaimed excitedly, following his younger brother's gaze. "It's Herschel!!"

Sure enough, while Sheldon was hiding, Herschel from next door came out of his house.

The Herschel family were neighbors of the Cooper family. As the male head of the household, Herschel was similar in age and build to George.

However, compared to George's slightly overweight physique, Herschel appeared to be more robust.

“It shouldn’t be him…” Mike shook his head as he looked at Herschel.

"How so?" little George asked.

“Look at Sheldon,” Mike prompted.