Chapter 24: Extremely Passive Type
"Wait a minute."
Monica subconsciously called out to Chuck.
Chuck turned around and looked over.
"I..."
Monica panicked, not knowing what to say.
Ross opened his mouth to make a snide comment, but a glance at Chuck's calm, waiting expression made him swallow the words back.
If it weren't for maintaining his PhD dignity, he would have taken his left hand out from behind his back and rushed over to deck Chuck.
He was having a hard time holding back!
He was really afraid that Chuck would drop some more "truth bombs."
He wouldn't be able to take it anymore.
"Stay for lunch,"
Mr. Anderson said with a smile. "Let's eat together. It'll be fun."
"Yes, I'll cook! I used to be a chef and my cooking skills are pretty good."
Monica eagerly jumped on the topic. Seeing that Chuck still didn't respond, she added, "If you're not too busy, I have a tough situation I'd love your input on. It's the kind of problem that maybe only someone like you could help me figure out."
"I usually cook for myself."
Chuck didn't refuse.
He simply couldn't initiate any friendly gestures on his own, not that he didn't want to.
And neither he nor his predecessor would turn down Monica's overtures.
"That's even better! I'll provide the ingredients, and we can cook together."
Mr. Anderson beamed at the attractive pair, then said to her husband, still amazed by Chuck's incredible marksmanship, "Take Ross to see where we buried the dog."
"..."
Ross was speechless.
Just say it, why give him that 'get him out of here so he doesn't ruin the vibe' look?
"Right, the dog!"
Mr. Anderson, catching his wife's hint, smiled and put his arm around the reluctant Ross, leading him outside. "You wanted to see her, right? I'll show you."
"She has a name! It's Chi-Chi!"
Ross muttered, feeling weak and nearly stumbling as Mr. Anderson grabbed and pulled him along.
After the two left, Mrs. Anderson made a quick excuse and departed, leaving Chuck and Monica alone.
"What's the problem?"
Chuck asked directly.
"Huh?"
Monica was a bit taken aback by Chuck's bluntness, but fortunately it wasn't the first time she'd encountered someone like this.
Previously, when she became the guardian for the child prodigy paige at Columbia University, she had accompanied the brilliant girl to meet a kid named Sheldon, who was just as straightforward.
Now she figured that maybe all super geniuses are like this.
"It's like this..."
Monica compared little Sheldon to Chuck, relaxed a bit, and began talking about her recent concerns.
Chuck listened patiently, and comparing it with the plot of Friends he remembered from his previous life, was surprised to find that Monica's life had really changed dramatically.
Especially the potential influence of her alternate persona "Bad Girl Monica" on regular Monica.
But thinking about it, it made sense.
This was similar to his own mindset from his previous life.
Without options, no matter how miserable work gets, you just have to endure it. Once you have alternatives, and another possible path, then your whole attitude changes completely.
Your tolerance threshold plummets.
If you're unhappy, you think about quitting. It's not your only option, so why put up with this crap?
Monica was obviously the same. Why should she bite her tongue and stay regular Monica when she could live a more idealistic life as "Bad Girl Monica"?
With this foundation, when Columbia University was looking for a guardian for their newly admitted genius troublemaker Paige, Monica's transition from chef to genius guardian made perfect sense.
"...I don't know if all genius kids are like Paige and that Sheldon kid. I can clearly tell that Paige doesn't like me."
Monica had originally just made up an excuse to spend more time with Chuck, but then she remembered Ross's cutting remark about how she looked thirty when she was only twenty-six, and she began opening up about her frustration and seeking advice. "I feel like you might be a genius like them too. Can you help me figure out how I can be a good guardian to Paige and get her to actually like me?"
"You can't,"
Chuck shook his head. "For a genius like that, you either act as a parental figure and give her the nurturing she's missing, or become her best friend and offer her genuine companionship.
Either way, you need to earn her respect first.
Beyond family bonds, if you want her to accept you, you'd need to have an IQ somewhere close to hers."
"I really can't do that,"
Monica said with a rueful smile.
It wasn't that she had low self-esteem about her intelligence, but she understood exactly what kind of genius Paige was.
Even before officially enrolling, during her campus visit, Monica witnessed Paige's sharp tongue reduce several much older students to tears. She even heard about Sheldon complaining that Paige gave him a black eye during their first meeting.
Columbia University, knowing she was trouble, still accepted Paige and hired a full-time guardian because they recognized her exceptional brilliance.
"That's pretty normal,"
Chuck said, glancing at Monica. "There's a slim chance you could impress her with some major gesture and earn her acceptance."
The odds were minuscule.
"Okay,"
Monica said, somewhat deflated.
Chuck was quiet for a moment, then said, "Just do your best."
Only he truly understood how difficult it was to reach someone like that, earn their approval, and get them to change.
Even a reincarnated soul like himself, in this unique situation of having merged with his predecessor's consciousness, struggled to alter his predecessor's behavioral patterns, let alone anything else.
"Yeah, I'll give it my all!"
Monica, hearing Chuck's encouraging words, felt a surge of happiness, her spirits lifting, and she pumped her fist with renewed energy.
Chuck nodded, fell silent again, and headed into the house to start cooking.
Monica quickly followed, helping out while trying to find topics to chat with Chuck about.
She could tell Chuck was passive, or even extremely passive.
Both regular Monica and her fantasy "Bad Girl Monica" persona had deep-seated fantasies about this type of reserved behavior.
She imagined that he was just shy, and that if she took the initiative and made the first moves, his wild side would gradually emerge.
Thinking about this, Monica pushed down her own shyness and became more forward.
But there was no manual for this!
This was pure fantasy on her part, never tested in real life.
Ross returned to witness this scene, his eyes going wide. He forcibly pulled his sister aside, demanding, "Do you have any idea what you're doing?"
"What am I doing?"
Monica's eyes darted around as she tried to deflect, "I'm just trying to build a good relationship so I can be an awesome guardian to a genius kid."
(End of Chapter)
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