"No thanks, Uncle Dennis, everything's fine here… Uh, okay, say hello to Aunt Elizabeth for me…" Mike declined Dennis's offer to drive him back home to stay for a few days.
In a little over two months, Mike would reach the legal driving age, so he planned to drive himself back to visit during the next summer vacation.
"Mike, aren't you going out today?" Connie, who had dressed up and was preparing to go to the bowling alley, turned back to look at Mike, who had just hung up the phone in the living room, and asked.
Today was the third day of winter break, and ever since the break began, Mike had been like he'd entered hibernation, staying cooped up in the house.
"No, I plan to spend the entire winter break at home," Mike replied.
It was the coldest season, and if there were no special travel plans, staying at home was clearly more comfortable than going out.
"Alright." Connie, who couldn't sit still, expressed her inability to understand Mike's current 'lazy fish' state. Then, as if remembering something, she asked with a smile, "Your little girlfriends should be coming over today, right?"
"You mean Cady and Lina? They should be coming over in a bit." Although Mike was staying home, he wouldn't be lonely.
Although Regina and the other two girls had signed with Miracle Records and were now at the company headquarters for training.
It's worth mentioning that the single released by The Plastics for Christmas, after nearly a month of release, had reached a respectable total sales of 20,000 copies.
This achievement was enough to attract the attention of Miracle Records, so while training the three girls, the company would also appropriately arrange some small performances for them, preparing for their official debut later.
It could be said that Regina and the two girls had a very good start to becoming stars, with a promising future.
Meanwhile, Cady and Lina, who had no other plans for this winter break, took this good opportunity to come and play with Mike.
This was also why Mike wasn't lonely.
At the door, after hearing Mike's affirmative answer, Connie's expression turned into an auntie's smile, and she suggested, "There's still some brisket in the fridge, and you know where the beer is. After I leave, you can have a small party at home with your little girlfriends."
Connie had met both Cady and Lina and had a very good impression of them.
"Got it, Grandma, I'll arrange it…" Mike responded with a smile.
With a computer, beer, and food at home, Mike and the two girls wouldn't be bored staying in.
"That's good, they are good girls, you must hold onto them tightly." Connie nagged a bit more before walking out of the house, then turned back to remind him, "Oh, Mike, the condoms are still in the original place, remember to be safe when you're playing~"
This time, without waiting for Mike's reply, Connie walked towards the indoor bowling alley, carrying her handbag.
Watching Connie's quick departure, Mike shook his head speechlessly.
Even if she didn't say anything, Mike would still be careful; he had no intention of becoming a father so early.
Not long after, Cady and Lina arrived at Connie's at the same time, as if by prior arrangement.
The three of them were just playing a card game…
At noon, when the three of them paused their game and were eating brisket for lunch, Georgie came over.
"Mike, do you know where Connie's car repair toolbox is?" Georgie asked.
"I really don't know that," Mike said. "Wait a moment, I'll call Connie and ask."
Connie's private car wasn't used very often, so the probability of it breaking down was naturally low. Therefore, Mike had never seen the household car repair toolbox.
"Sorry, Connie said there are no car repair tools at home. When her car breaks down, she usually sends it directly to the repair shop," Mike said regretfully after hanging up the phone shortly after.
"That's really troublesome, what should we do?" Georgie fell into distress.
"What happened?" Mike asked.
"The car at home, the tire is flat… If we force it to the repair shop, it might ruin a good tire…" Georgie explained.
The Cooper family's financial situation wasn't great right now, and wasting a tire for no reason was clearly unwise.
"My family has a complete set of car repair tools, how about I drive back to get them?" Lina, who had driven over, offered.
Knowing that Mike had a good relationship with the Cooper family, the girl was happy to help Georgie.
"My family also has car repair tools…" Cady also offered to help.
"Really? That's great—" Georgie's face showed surprise, and then he looked at Mike.
After all, both girls were Mike's close friends, and their willingness to help was likely out of respect for him.
Knowing this, Georgie waited for Mike to make a decision.
"You two wait a moment—" Mike said to the two girls, then turned to Georgie and said, "Herschel next door works at a repair shop. Go to their house first and see if you can borrow tools. If not, we'll drive to Cady's house."
Compared to Lina's house, Cady's house was a bit closer.
If Herschel couldn't help, having Lina drive to Cady's house to get tools was the optimal solution.
"Oh right, I can go find Herschel…" After being reminded, Georgie's mind cleared up. "I'll go next door to borrow tools right away—"
With that, he hurriedly left Connie's.
"Let's go out and see if there's anything else we can help with…" Mike, who had been playing poker all morning, also wanted to go out and get some fresh air.
Moreover, the Cooper family had taken good care of him.
So, Mike genuinely wanted to go and see if he could help in any way.
"Mike, you're here—" At the Cooper family's doorstep, George stood in front of the broken-down car, greeting him.
There wasn't any major problem with the car; just one front tire was flat.
Without a spare tire and without professional tire repair tools, such a small problem was indeed difficult to handle.
Fortunately, not long after, Herschel, carrying professional car repair tools, came over led by Georgie.
As a professional, Herschel simply checked the car's condition and said, "No big problem, just a flat tire. The tools I brought can fix it…"
"Then I'll trouble you," George said politely.
After the heart-to-heart talk in the chicken coop last time, Herschel and George, two middle-aged men whose lives were also not going smoothly, actually had a pretty good relationship.
Moreover, Herschel was also a straightforward person.
With professional car repair tools and the problem identified, it wasn't long before, with Herschel's help, Mike and the other gentlemen removed the flat tire.
"Can I try?" Seeing Herschel about to start repairing the tire, Georgie asked with interest.
"Of course, you can—" Looking at the energetic Georgie, Herschel smiled and then told him the steps for repairing the tire.
The first step was to find where the tire was leaking air.
Georgie followed the steps, inflated the tire, and instantly found the leak just by listening.
Then, following Herschel's instructions, he removed the inner tube of the wheel…
Afterward, Georgie, understanding all the steps for repairing a tire, repaired the tire by himself without any help and neatly put it back on the car.
His strong practical ability also made people marvel.
"George, have you thought about letting Georgie learn car repair? He's really talented in this area…" Herschel suggested with a sigh.
"Is that so?" George looked at his eldest son's achievement, somewhat surprised.
"Of course, just being able to pinpoint the tire leak by ear alone makes him better than many people," Herschel said seriously. "If you're willing, he can come to the repair shop where I work and start as an apprentice."
"What do you think, Georgie?" George turned to his eldest son and asked.
"I'm willing—" Georgie immediately expressed his stance.
Having no special skills, he was very excited after discovering his talent in car repair.
After consulting his eldest son, George solemnly said to Herschel, "From now on, I'll entrust Georgie to your care."
"No problem—" Herschel nodded, then reminded Georgie, "Learning car repair will be very tough, can you stick with it?"
"I can," Georgie answered firmly.
...
Seeing his eldest son finally show some initiative, George revealed a look of relief.
Then, he invited, "Herschel, want to come to my place for a drink?"
Actually, Herschel had been having a very unpleasant time with his wife recently due to work.
With such an excuse to relax and not have to go home, he naturally wouldn't miss it.
Soon, the two middle-aged men reached an agreement.
"Mike, do you guys want to come to my place and sit for a bit?" George asked, looking at Mike and the two girls who had also come out to help, while greeting Herschel.
"No, we've already had lunch," Mike politely declined the invitation.
"Alright then, I won't bother you anymore—" George had also been young once, and seeing the state of Mike and the two girls, he knew they had plans for the afternoon.
So, he didn't insist.