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Chicago.
Courthouse Cafeteria.
Chuck held the phone, silent for a moment,
then said, "Got it," and hung up.
As Chuck reconciled the accounts with the other party over the phone, little Leonard initially politely lowered his head to eat. But as a familiar voice faintly reached the other end, he suddenly looked up, listening intently to Chuck's indifferent voice and the ever-proud and boastful voice on the other end. It grew slower and slower, then silent, until finally, the faint sound of crying reached him. His eyes lit up as he looked at Chuck, his admiration surging like a river, awaiting final confirmation.
"Are you talking to Sheldon?"
"I'm talking to George Cooper's kid, the accountant,"
Chuck said truthfully.
While he recognized the voice as reminiscent of the main character from the American TV series Young Sheldon, he was only certain of George Cooper's name on the tax form.
"George Cooper is Sheldon's dad,"
little Leonard said excitedly. "Sheldon has been the family accountant since he was nine, something he never stops bragging about. That guy just now must be Sheldon!"
"Do you know him?"
Chuck asked, expressing his curiosity.
As far as he could remember, Leonard and Sheldon met after college, about thirteen years later.
Even if he'd been curious, the influence of his predecessor's severe autism would have kept him from asking.
But just now, after hearing the other person crying, the system in Chuck's mind indicated a +10 Positive point and a +10 Negative point.
Chuck's consciousness had simply replaced his predecessor's, and everything about his predecessor, including his IQ and severe autism, was slowly merging with Chuck's.
Naturally, this system change was also involved.
Previously, there had been no movement, but this sudden tenfold increase, a double increase, completely shook Chuck's consciousness.
The inherent rationality of his predecessor's superior intelligence somehow managed to suppress his severe autism, allowing Chuck to express a bit more freely.
In a flash, Chuck realized that this unprecedented double increase was likely the result of him making little Sheldon cry.
At this thought, he looked at little Leonard in front of him with a slightly strange look.
Could it be that this Balance Life System had something a little off, particularly fond of making children cry?
Little Leonard had been staring intently at his idol, and seeing Chuck's usual coolness suddenly change to a look of calculating intent, the stark difference in his demeanor made him lean back slightly, away from Chuck, unable to look him in the eye.
But when he stole a glance at Chuck again, he saw that he had regained his coolness. The slightly calculating expression seemed like a misunderstanding. Seeing him staring at him, waiting for a response, he shook his head and refocused his attention on the joyous event of Sheldon being made to cry.
"Of course I know him!"
little Leonard said angrily. "That little jerk is now my mom's favorite, and I hate him the most..."
Chuck listened quietly to little Leonard's story of how he met little Sheldon so early, and temporarily put aside the thought of trying to make little Leonard cry to verify the system.
Leonard was the epitome of hardship, and now he had encountered the bane of his existence, Sheldon. At such a young age, he had to endure double the torture he shouldn't have. No one was worse off than him.
If Chuck were to deliberately provoke him, it would not be right.
Moreover, with the IQ inherited from his predecessor and the amplification from the Life Essence, his intuition far exceeded that of ordinary people. He felt that the system he obtained would not be so cruel. Making a child cry just to gain ten times the Positive and Negative points was too heartless... Wait a minute, there's no rush.
Thinking of this, his mind returned to Leonard Jr.'s complaints against Sheldon Jr.
When Sheldon Jr. started high school at nine, and at eleven couldn't stand high school anymore, and high school couldn't stand him anymore, he considered applying to several universities, amidst the "farewell" of the entire faculty and students offering to do whatever it took to help him apply for college.
His first choice was actually Caltech,
a private research university with the strongest physics department in the United States.
His second choice was Princeton University,
a private research university with the strongest mathematics and physics departments on the East Coast.
The prestigious public university, the University of Texas at Austin, was his mother's safety net, worried about him being too far from home.
In the original timeline, Sheldon Jr. had enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin this year. Located in Austin, the state capital of Texas, not far from his home in East Texas, Sheldon's family could drive him to and from school every day.
But now, when Sheldon Jr.'s application arrived at Princeton University, history took a significant turn.
Leonard's mother, Dr. Beverly Hofstadter, a neurologist, psychiatrist, and child development expert at Princeton University, read Sheldon's application and felt he was gifted and a perfect candidate for parenting and neuroscience research. She contacted the Cooper family.
Sheldon's mother's concerns about her son's young age were met with Beverly's willingness to foster him.
Sheldon's mother was even more reluctant, as she deeply disliked Beverly's clinical attitude and the extreme admiration Sheldon displayed for her after their initial phone call. This made her incredibly jealous and unbearable,
so she firmly opposed the idea.
However, Sheldon genuinely admired Beverly, who was just like him, and he resolutely fought his mother's objections.
He spoke with completely inappropriate vocabulary, obsessed over cleanliness endlessly, and did his own laundry, attempting to wear his mother down into compromise.
Ultimately, Sheldon's mother relented.
After all, she loved her child.
Furthermore, her husband and his family didn't offer much support.
Because aside from her and the child's grandmother, no one liked little Sheldon, a troublemaker from childhood, including her husband and the other children.
While his grandmother loved little Sheldon, she wasn't as protective as she was, and she would occasionally express her disapproval of him.
This combination of factors led to little Sheldon's departure to New Jersey before school started, where he stayed with little Leonard for a few days to test the waters. He then returned home, only to wait for summer break to end and school to begin, when he truly became the most favored child in the Hofstadter household.
There was no other way.
Beverly had always been the head of the family; whoever she favored was considered the golden child.
How would little Leonard, already dismissed by his mother and now seemingly invisible, react to this?
Furthermore, little Sheldon was undoubtedly superior to him in both intelligence and academics, yet his temperament was a carbon copy of his mother's. It was understandable that he harbored resentment towards little Sheldon.
Now that it was summer vacation, little Sheldon had temporarily returned to his own home, which at least brought Leonard some relief, and for a moment, he no longer felt like the forgotten child.
Now, unexpectedly, seeing Chuck make that arrogant little pest cry was simply a gift from above.
(End of this chapter)
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