Chapter 114: Second to the Ancestors, First to the Future
New Jersey
Princeton University
Chuck returned quietly from New Hampshire and went straight to campus. He had classes today.
"Hi, Chuck."
Cheryl greeted Chuck warmly as always.
The female bodyguard followed closely behind.
"Cheryl."
Chuck nodded in response.
"Justine will help you tidy up your place. Can I come over to hang out?"
Cheryl smiled.
"No."
Chuck said curtly.
"..."
Cheryl's smile froze, but she didn't ask why. She had tried her best to gather information about Chuck and had a rough idea of what kind of person he was. This rejection was actually expected.
She had asked her best friend Justine before and begged Justine to take her to surprise Chuck, but her bestie refused without hesitation.
Chuck ignored Cheryl's fading smile and walked straight inside.
Cheryl pouted as she watched Chuck's retreating figure, but hurried to catch up. Seeing the familiar small figure walking ahead, she smiled and greeted, "Hi, Sheldon!"
Little Sheldon paused, turned around, and replied, "Hi, Cheryl."
Then, reluctantly, he greeted Chuck, "Dr. Wolfe."
"Mr. Cooper,"
Chuck nodded in response.
"What happened to you?"
Cheryl laughed as little Sheldon turned around, pointing at his right black eye and trying hard to control her laughter.
Little Sheldon glanced at Cheryl, who was trying to hold back her laughter, then glanced at Chuck, who remained indifferent, and said gloomily, "I wanted to emulate the spirit of superheroes like the Flash and Batman and help Leonard."
"And then you failed and got beaten up?"
Cheryl struggled to contain herself.
"Do you want to know why?"
Chuck looked at little Sheldon.
"..."
Little Sheldon's face, half covered by his black eye, fell, and he glared at Chuck with deep resentment.
He's a super genius too, isn't he?
How could Chuck humiliate him with the same words over and over again?
And he was actually trying to practice the heroic ideal of helping others, okay?
"Don't be sad,"
Cheryl consoled him. "You're already a little hero for standing up for someone and taking on the bad guys."
"Why would I be sad?"
Little Sheldon looked at Cheryl in surprise.
"You didn't stand up to them?"
Cheryl was stunned.
"Do I look like a linebacker?"
Little Sheldon said confidently, glancing enviously at a certain muscular individual.
"...Okay."
Cheryl wanted to ask who would pick on a kid like you if you didn't provoke them, but when she heard little Sheldon's self-righteous tone, it suddenly didn't seem strange at all. She even wondered if little Sheldon had actually used his fists instead of his mouth, he might not have gotten beaten up.
"I went to talk to him,"
Little Sheldon pouted. "But apparently my cousin inherited the bad temper from my Uncle Jim and dad."
"Your cousin?"
Cheryl was surprised.
"My uncle's child from his first marriage is now named Jimmy Sparkman,"
Sheldon explained. "He looks a lot like my uncle and my dad. Leonard met my dad. When he saw Jimmy on campus, he thought they might be related. And then he confirmed it. He's my cousin. Otherwise, why do you think I went over there?"
"…"
Cheryl was speechless again.
Great!
Sound logic!
But not only did he lose the confrontation, but now it seems even the last shred of courage she'd imagined Sheldon possessed was a lie.
"It's so pathetic, getting beaten up like this by your own cousin."
Cheryl made a final effort, exercising the courtesy and friendship of an older classmate.
"Oh, that's nothing."
Little Sheldon immediately shook his head. "It's nothing compared to my sister Missy. When my sister Missy and I have irreconcilable conflicts, she always likes to resort to violence. She also likes to hit me in the face, but she prefers a groin kick even more. I remember last Thanksgiving she kicked me so hard I was slightly displaced. I spent the whole Christmas break waiting for it to slowly go back to normal."
"..."
Cheryl was dumbfounded by this tale of sibling abuse: "Poor little guy."
"Are you sure you weren't kicked in the head?"
Chuck said suddenly.
"What do you mean?"
Little Sheldon looked at him very warily.
"Because there's a logical inconsistency here."
Chuck said seriously: "If you're really used to your sister's fists and groin kicks, and you're aware of the violent tendencies of the Cooper family, then when you know that Jimmy Sparkman might be your cousin, you shouldn't go over there to get beaten up. And if you know that he's not your cousin, you wouldn't go over to get beaten up either. So either way, if your IQ is functioning, you wouldn't get beaten up, but now you're beaten up. What does this mean?"
"..."
Little Sheldon's mouth twitched and his eyelids spasmed.
"This means there are two possibilities."
Chuck continued: "Either you're not as smart as you think, or you were very smart, but your sister scrambled your IQ, causing you to malfunction from time to time."
"I'm smart!"
Little Sheldon shouted, "I'm the smartest!"
Chuck immediately looked down at him, giving him a reality-check look. "I don't even dare to say I'm the smartest person."
"Because you're not the smartest!"
Little Sheldon stubbornly raised his head, glaring at Chuck with his half-blackened eye.
"I'm certainly not the smartest person."
Chuck nodded. "At most, I'm only the third smartest person in the world."
"Third in the world?"
Cheryl asked curiously. "Then who's first and second in the world?"
"Second to the ancestors,"
Chuck said calmly. "First to the future."
"..."
Cheryl stared at Chuck with her mouth open, shocked.
The female bodyguard following behind also stared at Chuck in amazement, thinking to herself, "Geniuses are different. They boast better than anyone else! Second to the wise who have passed away, and first to the future. That means he's the best in the world right now. That sounds much better than that little kid constantly bragging that he's the smartest person."
"I'm the future!"
Little Sheldon was also shocked by Chuck's words, but he quickly recovered and raised his chin proudly.
"No, you're not!"
Chuck shook his head. "Everything I can observe has collapsed into the present, not the future."
"..."
Little Sheldon looked at Chuck angrily, not knowing how to refute him.
"What are you still doing here? Class is about to start."
Professor Alicia Harper drifted by.
"Hey, Professor Harper's in a bad mood today."
Cheryl keenly noticed that Professor Alicia Harper was in a different mood than usual.
Chuck said nothing, just followed her into the classroom.
People have their ups and downs, but each phase has its own beauty.
Professor Alicia Harper was just fine like this for Chuck, who was simply appreciating her.
The class ended.
"Mr. Cooper,"
Chuck called to little Sheldon.
"What is it?"
Little Sheldon took a step back.
"Do you know which school Leonard attends?"
Chuck asked.
"Are you going to help that Leonard?"
Cheryl had overheard and looked at Chuck with a puzzled expression.
Chuck's a grown man, he wouldn't bully a kid, would he?...
"I'm a detective, and crime prevention is part of my job,"
Chuck looked at her.
"Crime? Really?"
Cheryl was at a loss for words. "It's just school bullying. Just keep Leonard away from that person."
"I'm not talking about Jimmy Sparkman,"
Chuck shook his head.
"...You mean preventing Leonard from committing a crime when he's being bullied?"
Cheryl was speechless.
"Yes,"
Chuck nodded, then looked at little Sheldon. "Do you dare to come along, little Sheldon?"
"Of course I dare!"
Little Sheldon, provoked by Chuck's look, immediately exclaimed, "But I'm not Robin, and you're not Batman!"
"Got it, little Sheldon,"
Chuck nodded.
"..."
Little Sheldon was annoyed by Chuck's way of essentially calling him Robin while claiming he wasn't. But he was stuck there, and although he didn't want to go anymore, he had no choice but to give Chuck directions.
Bergen County Middle School
"It's all Sheldon's fault! Damn Sheldon!"
Little Leonard huddled in a dark space, cursing profusely.
If little Sheldon hadn't come to his house, he wouldn't have lost his mother Beverly's attention. He wouldn't have met Sheldon's father, Mr. George Cooper, because of little Sheldon's visit.
And if he hadn't met Mr. George Cooper, he wouldn't have seen the face of middle school football player Jimmy Sparkman and thought they might be relatives, approaching Sheldon to confirm the relationship.
Normally, he would have avoided such people.
If little Sheldon hadn't been so obnoxious, irritating even the most patient relatives, his risky approach might have been successful. With a football player protecting him at school, he wouldn't have to worry about being bullied.
Unfortunately, little Sheldon ruined everything.
Not only did he fail to gain protection, but he went from being invisible to a pitiful target for bullies like Jimmy Sparkman.
Then he was rolled into a ball and stuffed into a hallway locker. If it weren't for the resilient mentality he had cultivated since birth, he would have had a breakdown by now in the darkness.
But even so, he felt very uncomfortable. Through the slivers of light that seeped in through the gaps, he missed Chuck so much at this moment—the man who made his eyes sparkle whenever he met him or even heard his name.
It was a pity that his cell phone had been confiscated before he was rolled into a ball and stuffed in, otherwise he really wanted to call Chuck and ask him for help.
Little Sheldon kept saying that Chuck was not Batman and had nothing to do with Batman, but he felt that Chuck might actually be Batman.
Smart, detective, wealthy, aloof, technologically savvy, playboy—they had too many similarities.
"Chuck, if you are Batman, then come and help me."
Little Leonard murmured in the darkness toward the light that seeped in through the gaps.
Then he heard footsteps in the corridor.
(End of Chapter)
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