"That's very interesting..." After listening to the tenets of Taoism, Sheldon showed strong curiosity.
Since Mike's introduction to Taoism wasn't detailed enough, Sheldon was already considering where to learn more about it.
Just then, Mary also returned from outside. Having taken on the wedding preparation tasks, her face still held a hint of joy.
"Mom, can you tell me about Christianity?" Sheldon seized the opportunity to ask.
"Of course, Shelly—" Mary, thinking her son had finally changed his mind, was pleasantly surprised and gave him a detailed introduction to Christianity.
However, after listening to Mary's narration, Sheldon was still not satisfied. He felt his understanding of the church was still insufficient.
"Dad, can you take me to the library? I want to look at materials about the church..." Sheldon sought his father's help.
George, who was comfortably drinking beer on the sofa, glanced at the sky outside, which was almost completely dark, and lazily said, "Sheldon, it's too late today. How about I take you when I have time?"
In fact, George's new job at the sporting goods store had been very busy recently, and he couldn't even make time on weekends.
His previous answer was more of a perfunctory response to his son.
As for Sheldon, he had already planned to debate Pastor Jeff tomorrow, and he didn't have much time left to prepare.
Seeing Sheldon's anxious look, Connie said, "Sheldon, don't worry. Grandma knows a twenty-four-hour library. I'll take you there right now..."
"Really?" Sheldon's face showed surprise.
"Of course—" Connie smiled and stroked her grandson's head, then turned to Mike and said, "Mike, you should go back and rest. Grandma will definitely be home very late tonight."
Afterward, Connie spoke to George and his wife, then took Sheldon and Mike, and left Cooper family.
It wasn't until the three of them left that Mary realized her son's intention in learning about Christianity was not to believe in God, but to refute Pastor Jeff tomorrow.
This result greatly disappointed Mary.
On the other side, the three who went out quickly split into two paths.
Mike, after seeing Connie drive Sheldon to the library, went straight back to his small home.
Although his body could still handle the immense physical activity of this week, his spirit was also somewhat fatigued.
So, Mike just wanted to have a good, long sleep now.
When Sheldon arrived at the library, he gained a targeted understanding of Taoism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, and even Voodoo and Satan, as well as Catholicism and Mormonism, all at once.
It must be said that Sheldon's IQ of one hundred eighty-seven was very useful. In just over half a night, he summarized the knowledge he needed.
After being baptized by various religious knowledge, Sheldon was full of confidence for tomorrow's debate.
And after getting what he needed, Sheldon, who had been sustained by pure enthusiasm until now, finally couldn't keep his mind awake.
After all, physiologically speaking, he was still just a nine-year-old child.
Looking at his grandson sleeping on the library desk, Connie didn't wake him up. She gently carried her grandson into the car and drove all the way back to the Cooper family.
In the living room, Mary, worried about her son, hadn't gone to sleep either. When she saw Connie return, she quickly took Sheldon from her arms.
And Sheldon, after being taken back to his room and laid down by his mother, woke up.
He blinked his eyes, looked at his mother in front of him, and asked, "Mom, if I don't believe in God, will you be mad at me?"
Listening to her son's muffled, sleepy voice, Mary felt very heartbroken. She comforted him, "No, whether you believe in religion or not, Mommy will always love you."
"Thank you..." Sheldon mumbled, then fell soundly asleep.
...
At the church on the weekend, Sheldon, who was prepared, found that Pastor Jeff was a bit strange today.
"What's wrong with him?" Sheldon was very concerned about his opponent's condition.
Pastor Jeff, while preaching the doctrine today, would constantly smile foolishly towards one particular spot.
And the person sitting in that direction was the female traffic police officer, Robin.
Connie, who knew from Mary that Pastor Jeff was getting married, looked back and forth between the new couple and said, "I hear the sound of candy wrappers tearing, it's very annoying—"
In Connie's opinion, Pastor Jeff's behavior at that moment was tantamount to openly flaunting his affection.
This kind of public display of affection was very unfriendly to the single Connie.
"Candy...where's the candy..." Missy, who was dozing off nearby, suddenly perked up at the mention of candy.
Seeing her daughter's dazed look, Mary shook her head and said, "No candy."
And just as Mary was scolding her daughter, her voice woke up Georgie, who was catching up on sleep nearby.
"Is it over? Can we go now...?" Georgie rubbed his eyes, groggily getting up.
At this, Georgie's actions completely annoyed Mary.
...
Watching his family gradually become boisterous, Sheldon, who had initiated the conversation, leaned back as if in disgust, wanting to pretend he didn't know Georgie and the others.
Fortunately, Pastor Jeff's attention on the stage wasn't focused here, so Cooper managed not to embarrass themselves during this service.
And after the service ended, Pastor Jeff also announced his wedding date to everyone in the church.
Then, after the service dispersed, Pastor Jeff specifically took Robin to find Mary and expressed his gratitude to her.
After some conversation, Pastor Jeff sent Robin off, then took Sheldon and Missy to the church's small classroom.
Here, Sheldon also saw two familiar faces, the neighbor's children, Billy and Bobbi.
These two children had left Sheldon with bad memories.
Therefore, Sheldon's first impression of the church's small classroom plummeted even further. So, he moved a set of tables and chairs to the side, creating a significant distance between himself and the other children who came to study.
"Quiet—" Pastor Jeff, after Sheldon finished his actions, continued, "Today, I'm going to tell you about the origin of Christianity..."
The purpose of the church's small classroom was to promote Christianity to children and cultivate their interest.
Therefore, here, Pastor Jeff would try to choose simple and interesting content to talk about.
And this level of content clearly would not satisfy Sheldon.
So, after Pastor Jeff preached a short section of basic knowledge, Sheldon raised his hand.
"Sheldon, do you have any questions?" Pastor Jeff hadn't realized the seriousness of the problem yet.
"Of course, I have already studied Christianity, Taoism, Judaism, etc..." Sheldon spoke at length, then finally said, "So, I have synthesized the philosophies of various churches and decided to establish a new church—the Church of Mathology."
"What?" Pastor Jeff somewhat suspected he had misheard.
"My Church of Mathology is formed by combining science and Math Olympiad knowledge." Sheldon stood up and came to the front, solemnly asking, "Does anyone want to join the Church of Mathology? I can teach them math knowledge."
Yes, Sheldon was already ready to recruit members for his church.
While the children below were still trying to figure out what was going on, Billy raised his chubby little hand.
"Very good, Billy. You are now a member of the Church of Mathology." Sheldon nodded in satisfaction and continued, "Now, is there anything you want to know?"
"I want to know, can the Church of Mathology be eaten?" Billy asked naively.
"No, our church only teaches knowledge related to mathematics..." Sheldon explained, frustrated.