Chapter 282: The Illusion of "I Can Do It All" - A Widow's Plea for Help
Beth Harmon withdrew her gaze, resting her chin on her hands, her mind replaying the various possible moves on the chessboard.
After a long while, she finally placed her piece.
"That's not right!" Young Sheldon, standing to the side, objected.
"Shelly!" His mother immediately tugged at her son's sleeve, then glanced apologetically at Beth Harmon.
Although she always believed in her son's intelligence, this was the newly crowned U.S. Junior Chess Champion! Besides, this was inherently rude.
"She knows I'm right!" Young Sheldon said confidently.
Paige glanced at him, her left eyebrow arching as if to say, "Look who's feeling smart again."
However, she didn't stop him. As she had said before, she wasn't targeting Young Sheldon specifically; in her eyes, everyone—including Beth Harmon—was trash.
They were merely her inspiration generators, just like Billy was to Young Sheldon.
Beth Harmon, however, wasn't going to tolerate his behavior. She didn't say anything, but answered him with her actions, completely disregarding his suggestion.
"You're going to lose," young Sheldon said, displeased with Beth Harmon's dismissive attitude.
"Sorry," Sheldon's mother quickly apologized to Beth Harmon, then pulled Sheldon outside.
At the door, they bumped into Monica and Linda, who were returning home.
This Linda wasn't Paige's mother, but Beth Harmon's adoptive mother, the wife of chess grandmaster Patrick Cross.
"Mrs. Cooper, you're here," Monica greeted Sheldon's mother with a smile.
"Yes," Mary replied with a smile.
As guardians of gifted children, the two already knew each other.
"Let me introduce you," Monica quickly said. "This is Linda, Beth's mom. Linda, this is Sheldon, Paige's good friend. And this is Sheldon's mom, Mary."
"It's nice to meet you." Mary immediately extended her hand to shake Linda's warmly, but as they got closer, her nose twitched, and her expression became somewhat odd.
"It's nice to meet you." Linda was already very familiar with that look and smiled apologetically. "I like to have a drink..."
"I understand, I understand." Normally, Mary would definitely have objections to this, especially since her husband George was always drinking Lone Star beer. But now, she wasn't so resistant.
The reason her expression was still strange was because it was far too early—not evening at all. This Linda's so-called "liking" was probably more serious than she was admitting.
"What a coincidence! Your name is Linda, and Paige's mom's name is also Linda." Mary caught the scent of alcohol and thought of certain scenes from her recent dreams. Her heart fluttered, and she quickly changed the subject to divert her attention.
"Yes." Linda smiled awkwardly but politely.
"Let's go outside and talk," Monica suggested.
"Okay," Mary readily agreed.
"Mom, aren't we leaving?" Little Sheldon frowned, ever honest.
"Watch them play chess first," Mary said, pushing her son toward the room before smiling and walking out with Monica and the others.
Little Sheldon, though puzzled, still moved closer to Paige and Beth. He was indignant!
Outside, Monica said warmly, "Have a seat."
After a few pleasantries, Mary casually asked, "I heard Chandler has his own show now. I watched it, and it's really great."
"Haha," Monica couldn't help but laugh. "Mrs. Cooper watches his show too? And thinks it's great?"
"It's just that he complains about his parents too much and too often," Mary explained awkwardly.
"You'll get used to it," Monica laughed. "We've been hearing this for years. Besides, Nora hasn't said anything, and she even praised Chandler."
"Nora?" Mary immediately interjected, "Isn't she Chandler's mother?"
"Yes, you should know her..." Monica said instinctively, then glanced at Mary and stopped herself.
Mary knew what Monica meant. Her image had always been that of a devout believer and a good mother, and she instinctively disliked women like Nora.
"I know her," Mary said with difficulty, meeting Monica's curious gaze. "Sheldon's grandmother is a fan of hers..."
"Oh." Monica immediately gave an expression of understanding, as if she wasn't surprised at all.
This annoyed Mary. Although that was her mother, Sheldon's grandmother, everyone thought her mother should be cooler than her, and that whatever she did was perfectly reasonable.
You see, before she got pregnant out of wedlock and married her husband, she was the real cool girl. The kind even her mother had a headache over!
Now, the tables had turned. She couldn't even compare to her aging mother. What kind of situation was this!
"I heard that Chandler's mother, Nora, is coming to New York for a book tour?" Mary thought to herself, but could only go along with Monica's assumption and, using her mother's name, start asking.
"Yes." Monica nodded.
"Why?" Mary asked, voicing her biggest question these past few days: "Chandler criticized her like that on the show, so why is she here to promote her book?"
"Precisely because Chandler criticized her like that on the show, and it generated a lot of buzz, so even though she keeps saying she doesn't like New York, she still came specifically to promote it," Monica explained. "Making money—it's not shameful!"
"You really think so?" Mary's heart skipped a beat, and she asked instinctively.
"Of course," Monica smiled. "As Chandler's friends, we all know that although he criticizes his parents relentlessly, he actually has deep feelings for them, and their relationship is actually quite good. Now, taking advantage of the show's popularity to sell some books, what's wrong with that? Besides, even Chandler is preparing to publish a book. What's it called again? Oh, right! My First Half of Life..."
"Chandler's writing a book too?" Mary's eyes lit up with excitement.
"I've heard about it too." Linda, who was still drinking, finally interjected: "It was originally supposed to be a joint project between him and his mother, told from the perspective of young Chandler, featuring the wild adventures of Nora Bing, the world-famous romance novelist. But I heard it was later stopped and abandoned."
"Hmm." Monica nodded: "Chuck stopped it. It wasn't good for the image. Chandler has a bright future ahead of him, and he can gain fans through humor and satire, but he can't follow his mother's path. Especially writing a joint novel like this involves more ethical concerns than a simple romance novel, so they didn't let Nora write it directly. Instead, they had Chandler write it, cutting out the overly explicit descriptions, striving to make it sensual but not vulgar..."
"Will Nora Bing mentor Chandler?" Mary pressed.
"Of course." Monica laughed. "Chandler is writing his first book after all, and who is more qualified to guide him than his mother? Actually, it's more like a memoir, so Nora's perspective as a mother is indispensable."
"That's great... I mean, it's wonderful that they can collaborate." Mary said, her composure slipping. "If possible, I'd like to meet Nora... For Sheldon's grandmother, you understand. She adores Nora, saying she's the epitome of the modern American woman, and everything she does is wonderful. For example, writing. She's not only incredibly talented, but she also spends time researching, which is how she writes such captivating pieces. Like that book, Passion's Harvest. I heard it was written after she went to the ranches in Texas to do her research..."
At this point, facing the knowing looks from Monica and Linda, she paused slightly and quickly added, "I heard it from Sheldon's grandmother. She loved that book so much, she read it many times, and even collected her favorite chapters. It's beautifully illustrated with fold-out pages..."
"I've read it too." Linda, who was tipsy, looked away from Mary and said absentmindedly, "It really has a Texas feel to it, very wild..."
"Heh." Monica could only laugh awkwardly.
She wasn't really interested in it, nor would she bother to read all of Chandler's mother's books just because she was Chandler's friend. After all, Chandler's mother, Nora Bing, had written too many books.
But what could she do? She had a roommate, Rachel, who was a huge fan. Rachel had read all of Nora Bing's novels, and more than once. According to her, "I carry one with me everywhere I go, and I always have one under my pillow when I sleep. I even thought about starting to write like my idol."
Rachel, with this kind of enthusiasm, after learning that Chandler was her idol's son and having met Nora through her old social circle, delved even deeper into Nora's books. This enthusiasm manifested naturally in her speech and behavior.
As her roommate, Monica couldn't avoid being passively bombarded by Rachel with many classic scenes and plots from Nora's novel universe. Among them was the so-called Passion's Harvest.
If she remembered correctly, the story's premise was that the protagonist was named Passion, she inherited her father's ranch, and the ranch had a stallion...
Whether this stallion was metaphorical or literal, Monica... No one dared to listen any further.
However, she understood why Chuck had stopped Chandler and Nora's collaboration. There was no other way! Even in liberal America, Nora's books were beyond the acceptable range for most people, belonging to a niche within a niche. Crucially, they couldn't even maintain a quiet niche, inevitably attracting public backlash and criticism.
In America, where people are infinitely divided, to become president, one must find the greatest common denominator. Being extremely niche is clearly self-destructive and unacceptable.
Just as the three were chatting, Linda's phone rang. Linda took her phone and went outside to answer it.
"I'll call you when Nora comes over," Monica said softly to Mary after watching Linda leave.
"Thank you," Mary was initially pleased, but then realized from Monica's expression that she might have been exposed, and her smile froze: "I'm here for Sheldon's grandmother..."
"No need to explain." Monica smiled reassuringly. "I understand that expression. My best friend and roommate, Rachel, was Nora's most devoted fan. She also dreamed of writing novels like her idol. When Nora came over, she even consulted her, and wrote for a while afterward. Your expression now is just like hers back then."
"Oh, I see..." Mary was embarrassed for a moment before finally asking curiously, "And then what happened? Did Rachel succeed?"
"Her..." Monica couldn't help but shake her head and chuckle. "Liking to read novels and writing novels are completely different things. Let me put it this way. She loved Nora's kind of novels so much back then, but now that she's actually tried writing them, she's become indifferent to them and rarely reads them anymore."
"How could that be?" Mary was surprised and puzzled.
"Because hobbies and work are completely different concepts," Monica explained. "If something is a hobby, you can stick with it for a long time, but if it becomes a task that you have to complete and rely on to make a living, then it gradually becomes torture. Rachel encountered a setback right from the start. That is, she had never written anything like it before, and even though Nora had told her the tricks, and she had plenty of life experience... unfortunately, she lacked writing skills, and her writing was riddled with errors. This directly dampened her enthusiasm. And then, that was it."
"Writing skills..." Mary was very nervous at first, but upon hearing this, her expression immediately relaxed, and a smile even appeared on her lips.
Monica noticed this, opened her mouth, but ultimately said nothing.
She knew this was a common misconception among beginners; Rachel had been the same way, both thinking they were very good, with beautiful prose and moving plots. But the reality was that there was no need for outsiders to judge; just leave the writing there, and reread it a day later, and you might have a different feeling. Looking at it again after a few months, it was simply unbearable—a complete "who wrote this garbage?" moment—and she gave up completely.
Clearly, Mary was still in the early, excited stage of a beginner's journey. No wonder she flew all this way to see Nora Bing. It was probably not just to see her idol and seek guidance, but also to ask for help publishing her book.
She had also heard that Sheldon's family had recently encountered financial difficulties. Publishing a book to make money was definitely a low-barrier, high-potential option.
"Linda, what's wrong?" Just then, Monica noticed the tipsy Linda walking in, looking distraught, and immediately looked over.
"Patrick, my husband... he's dead," Linda murmured.
"What?!" Monica exclaimed in shock.
In the living room, Beth Harmon, who was playing chess with Paige, turned her head and looked over, dropping her chess piece.
"Don't worry." Paige picked up the fallen piece and placed it back in Beth Harmon's hand. "That's just your adoptive father. With your current reputation, plenty of families would want to adopt you. You won't go back to the orphanage."
"I want Linda." Beth Harmon caught the chess piece, clutching it in her palm, a hint of anxiety creeping into her usually indifferent face.
She had been adopted by Patrick Cross and Linda, and adoptions prioritize two-parent households. Once Linda became a widow, the adoption would be in jeopardy and could be terminated at any time.
Besides, Linda's alcoholism, mental health issues, and other problems were all documented. Patrick was such a famous chess grandmaster; the media would inevitably report on it extensively, and all the institutions and individuals following Beth Harmon would know about it. There was no way to hide it.
Beth Harmon thought for a moment and understood the profound significance of her adoptive father's death. Even though she had no emotional attachment to him, the implications were far from positive.
(End of Chapter)
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