"You and her?"
Leonard's expression was a mix of conflict and relief.
After such a long wait, especially as night fell, the crisp autumn breeze had turned into a full-fledged chill.
With his impressive 173 IQ, could Leonard really not guess what Adam had been doing upstairs?
He wasn't Sheldon, after all.
When it came to things like this, he was particularly sensitive.
His nerdy brain, naturally inclined to fill in the blanks with colorful imagination, combined with his genius-level intellect, had conjured up all sorts of possibilities—both reasonable and absurd—during the ten-hour wait.
Now, with Adam's subtle but unmistakable hint, an image of Adam and Peggy's "wedding photo" instantly popped into Leonard's mind.
One was his goddess.
The other was his best friend.
To his frustration, he had to admit—they actually made a perfect couple.
And now Adam was trying to use another woman to shake his admiration for his goddess, Peggy?
Even if that woman was only slightly less dazzling than Peggy—someone like Dr. Elizabeth Plimpton!
But was he the kind of man to be so easily swayed?
"You said it yourself!"
Leonard's conflicted and unhappy expression vanished in an instant, replaced by a grin that practically reached his ears.
That's right!
He was that kind of man!
He was a top student at Princeton's physics department, not some naïve kid. Both Dr. Peggy Adler and Dr. Elizabeth Plimpton were women he deeply admired.
And both were utterly out of his league.
There were plenty of goddesses like them.
Natalie Portman! (Queen Amidala from Star Wars!)
Sarah Michelle Gellar! (Buffy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer!)
And countless other beautiful female characters from movies and TV shows.
That's right!
He, Leonard Leakey Hofstadter, was a man of broad affections!
"Yes, I said it."
Adam wasn't surprised at all.
Because this was so Leonard.
"Are we going right now?"
Leonard's eyes lit up again.
This was Dr. Elizabeth Plimpton we were talking about.
A scientific beauty second only to Dr. Peggy Adler.
He didn't feel the least bit unworthy.
As Adam's good friend, he knew he couldn't compare to Adam.
So if Adam was destined to be with Peggy Adler…
Then wasn't he being with Elizabeth Plimpton simply divine will?
Praise be to God!
Praise be to Adam!
For a brief moment, Leonard naively believed that God had erased everyone else from the world, leaving only the four of them on Earth.
Thankfully, Adam had no idea what was going through Leonard's mind.
Otherwise, he'd probably just give another polite, apologetic smile…
"Tonight's too soon. Next time."
Adam put an arm around Leonard. "First, I need to contact her. Second, you should at least dress properly. You can't meet her looking like this, can you?"
Leonard glanced down at himself.
He had only been hanging around outside Peggy's apartment, hoping to "accidentally" run into her. So, he hadn't dressed up at all.
But now that he had the chance to meet his second goddess, he suddenly felt self-conscious about his outfit.
"Yeah…"
"Come on, you must be hungry. Let's go have a feast and plan out the details of your meeting with Dr. Plimpton."
Adam grinned.
"Yes, yes, yes!"
Leonard had already forgotten all his previous frustration. He nodded repeatedly, grinning from ear to ear.
If a ten-hour wait could get him this kind of help from Adam, what was ten days?
That's right!
For love, he had infinite patience!
Otherwise, how else would he eventually win over Penny?
Howard and the others summed up Leonard's success in one word: Persistence!
It was his natural talent!
Adam took Leonard to a nearby upscale restaurant for a lavish meal.
Over dinner, Leonard excitedly and passionately recounted all sorts of legendary stories about Dr. Elizabeth Plimpton.
Hearing the level of detail, who could believe he hadn't thought about her before?
But that was fine.
Adam liked friends who were easily satisfied and didn't cause unnecessary drama.
---
After dinner, Adam drove Leonard back to his Princeton apartment before heading back to New York.
"What on earth were you doing today? You're way too fired up!"
Bianca looked at Adam, a little wary of his enthusiasm.
"Helping out a friend," Adam replied casually, multitasking as he spoke.
Bianca was too exhausted to continue the conversation. Just before she passed out, one final thought crossed her mind:
"I have to move out tomorrow. I can't live like this anymore."
Adam, feeling refreshed, got up and went to his study.
As his assets continued to grow rapidly, he had taken the time to renovate his study into a real library.
The room spanned over 1,000 square feet, with bookshelves lining the walls, filled with books—most of them massive medical textbooks.
These books alone were worth a fortune.
Tonight, however, Adam didn't immediately grab a medical book to "scan" as he usually did. Instead, he wandered through the study for a bit before picking up an advanced mathematics book and flipping through it.
In the past, he had been solely focused on earning his medical doctorate—becoming a great physician, saving lives, and pursuing longevity.
Now, with his grand goal progressing steadily, and with more and more surgeries under his belt, the urgency of increasing his lifespan had diminished.
And after everything that happened today, he suddenly had the urge to set a smaller goal.
With his IQ now at a staggering 177—and still rising—he was already qualified to aim for the peak of the scientific hierarchy: Mathematics!
Being a "genius of inspiration" was nothing special to Adam.
If he was going to do it, he'd do it right.
He'd be the one true genius!
The only one!
Why did Sheldon matter so much to Peggy?
Because their IQs were on par, and their shared mathematical talents gave them a deep intellectual connection.
But Sheldon, having chosen theoretical physics, and with an IQ slightly lower than Peggy's (Sheldon at 187, Peggy estimated at over 190), was destined to never surpass her in mathematics.
Adam, however, was different.
His IQ would continue to rise. Surpassing both Sheldon and Peggy was inevitable.
Plus, with his near-infinite stamina—steadily evolving beyond human limits—he could achieve groundbreaking work in mathematics even as a hobby.
At the very least, he could finally hold intellectual conversations with Peggy.
Moreover, mathematics was the foundation of all sciences.
If he could enhance his mathematical computation abilities to a level close to, or even beyond, Peggy's, it would directly benefit his medical career.
The high-resolution photographic memory and boundless imagination he had subtly acquired from Sheldon, combined with his vast medical knowledge, had already allowed him to construct a 3D dynamic model of human physiology inside his mind.
Even in its early stages, this model had already caused many to mistake him—an intern—for a seasoned attending physician in disguise.
If he could add Peggy-level mathematical skills on top of that, it would be like upgrading his CPU.
His 3D dynamic medical model would undergo an incredible evolution.
At that point, Adam's diagnostic skills would skyrocket.
His path to becoming a legendary physician would be smooth as silk.
Eternal life?
Not just a dream.