"Dr. Chuck Wolfe."
Chuck glanced at young Leonard and reached out to shake Beverly's hand.
"I heard you crushed Sheldon?"
Beverly released her hand and got straight to the point. "Would you please come with me to the lab for an MRI? I'd like to see your brain."
"My brain doesn't like outsiders,"
Chuck flatly refused.
Because of his childhood conditions, he'd had numerous CT scans and MRIs for his brain, and he wasn't averse to such procedures.
But things were different now.
With the Life Water provided by the system, his body and mind had already undergone changes.
It was foreseeable that these changes would only grow more pronounced with the continued supply of Life Water.
If he allowed people to examine his brain and take scans now, if someone ever got a before-and-after comparison of his brain imagery, they would draw startling conclusions, attracting the attention of those with ulterior motives.
"That's a shame,"
Beverly frowned. "A brilliant mind can make remarkable contributions to human science. You shouldn't keep it to yourself."
"It's not keeping to myself,"
Chuck said, nodding to Beverly and Leonard, and walked towards a car.
In front of the car, a middle-aged woman with ordinary appearance smiled at him. "Dr. Wolfe, welcome back."
"Let's go, Helen."
Chuck got in the back seat, motioning for his secretary to drive off.
"Beverly,"
just then, young Sheldon also came out, looked around, and upon seeing Beverly, immediately called out.
"Sheldon,"
Beverly pursed her lips slightly as she walked over.
Young Leonard rolled his eyes and followed.
"Thank you for picking me up,"
young Sheldon thanked Beverly.
"You're welcome,"
Beverly replied with a blank expression.
"How was your summer break?"
young Sheldon asked again.
"Can we just stop engaging in these meaningless pleasantries?"
Beverly adjusted her glasses.
"I'm sorry. I've spent too much time with my family in the past two months and picked up this bad habit again."
Young Sheldon apologized immediately.
"I understand. This is a basic social custom. I don't like it, but I have to accept it."
Beverly nodded: "It's just that there's no need for this between us. How about we go to the lab now? I'm very interested in the changes in your brain after two months of being with your family."
"As long as it's not an MRI."
Young Sheldon said happily: "I don't want my brain to explode."
The magnetic field of the MRI could make the penny in his nose shoot out like a bullet, in an unknown direction, which could easily cause damage in his head.
"Of course, your brain will only explode because of your wisdom recreating the Big Bang, not because of a mere penny."
Beverly said this, showing a forced smile and a very fake and perfunctory laugh: "Ha ha."
"Ha ha."
Young Sheldon almost simultaneously revealed this awkward smile and laugh.
The two walked out while talking, leaving young Leonard standing there with a dark expression and a cold heart, watching their backs. After a while, he called out, "Mom, I'm here!"
Beverly stopped, looked back, and frowned, "Leonard, what are you still standing there for? Come here!"
Although her tone wasn't very pleasant, young Leonard finally saw that his mother hadn't forgotten him, and he jogged over contentedly.
"Help Sheldon carry his luggage!"
As soon as he arrived, he heard Beverly's instructions.
"What?"
Young Leonard was stunned.
"Sheldon is a guest. Helping guests carry their luggage is proper etiquette. Don't you understand this?"
Beverly frowned.
Young Leonard didn't dare to be angry with his mother, but he really didn't want to help young Sheldon carry his things. He just looked at young Sheldon with resentment, hoping that he would be considerate.
"Actually, I don't consider myself a guest,"
young Sheldon said, ignoring young Leonard's gaze. "But Beverly's right, this is proper etiquette. Please handle it with care."
He left his small suitcase with young Leonard, gave him a warning, and continued his conversation with Beverly about their long-awaited reunion, which seemed strange to outsiders but seemed endless to them.
"..."
Young Leonard looked at his mother and young Sheldon with deep sorrow and indignation as they turned and left side by side again.
If this ridiculous etiquette really existed, he would rather be the guest.
After hesitating for a while, he saw his mother Beverly already walking to the car. If he didn't leave now, he was afraid he would be forgotten here. Young Leonard could only frustratedly carry the small suitcase and jog after her. He arrived before Beverly drove off. He struggled to put young Sheldon's luggage in the trunk, pulled out his inhaler, and took a few puffs to ease his wheezing from the intense exercise. Then he saw young Sheldon get into the passenger seat.
"Mom!"
"What's wrong now?"
Beverly was happily chatting with young Sheldon when she heard her son's agitated voice again. She glanced over with a hint of impatience.
"I get carsick. I want the passenger seat!"
young Leonard protested, aggrieved.
"No one under 12 and under 4'7" can sit in the passenger seat."
Young Sheldon sat in the passenger seat, showing no sign of getting out.
He'd wanted to sit in the passenger seat for a long time. Back home, his mother had always relegated him to the back seat, treating him like a child.
Now that he was a college student, no longer a child, the passenger seat was his.
"You heard him,"
Beverly accepted the explanation. "Sheldon's over 4'7", so he can sit there. Blame your dad. He's not the tall and intelligent Dr. Chuck Wolfe."
"..."
Young Leonard looked at his own height and was once again speechless. Seeing his own mother using this comparison against his own father, despite feeling hurt, he had no choice but to take the back seat.
In the past, he always sat in the passenger seat because he was prone to motion sickness.
Just as young Leonard was staring at the back of young Sheldon's head and cursing silently, secretary Helen picked up Chuck and drove to Peaceful Pines.
This is a small town in New Jersey with a small population and a quiet lifestyle. It is the town where Chuck lives and where AC Consulting is registered.
"Dr. Wolfe, the Andersons have come by several times asking when you'll be back. Their financial situation is very difficult and they need your help."
Secretary Helen parked the car on Main Street in the town and got out while reporting to Chuck as they walked toward the company office.
"Have them come in."
Chuck walked into the storefront with the sign 'AC Consulting' with his luggage. After hearing this, he gave the instruction and walked into the inner room.
This is a space of about fifty or sixty square meters, divided into two rooms. The smaller one on the outside is Secretary Helen's reception area, and the inner room is Chuck's office.
(End of this chapter)
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