Chapter 233: Disobedient Sheldon
"Can you help me deal with that woman? I don't want them discussing my... situation... in public on a TV show." Mr. Channing sighed helplessly.
He had initially thought that if he hid in prison and left Caroline under Ron's protection, the swindled investors would be helpless against him. He was proven wrong.
Capitalists are capitalists because they are far more ruthless than ordinary people. They could actually come up with such an underhanded scheme. It's incredible.
"Impossible, Mr. Channing. No matter how despicable that woman is, it's just a defamation case. It's not like she's getting concrete shoes and taking a swim with the fishes. That's way too extreme, really too much." Ron waved his hand dismissively.
"No, I'm asking if you can get her to stop appearing on talk shows and spewing nonsense. Caroline's sensitive nature would make it hard for her to handle."
"Believe me, she's no longer the sheltered trust fund princess you think she is," Ron waved to Caroline, who was constantly gesturing at him from outside the door, and rested his arm on the table again.
"Mr. Channing, this incident might prove it to you. I won't step in until things reach rock bottom. I'm sure Caroline will do everything she can to defend you. Let's just wait and see what happens, okay?"
Channing was stunned, but after a moment's thought, he finally agreed.
Ron had asked the two women if they wanted to ride back to the city together, but after receiving a negative response, he drove back to Los Angeles alone.
Ron had reconciled with Caroline after the cupcake shop incident, but the Channing situation made it difficult for her to face Ron. She couldn't discuss her father's intimate details with him on the way home, could she?
That would be way too awkward.
And when Ron returned home, he had to face his beloved "brother" who had driven his roommate crazy. He wondered if his madness had improved.
However, reality disappointed him.
In the apartment, plastic ball bearings were scattered all over the floor. Leonard was rubbing his rear end while holding his arm with the other hand, clearly having taken a tumble earlier. Sheldon, with disheveled hair sticking up everywhere, huddled on a chair.
Most importantly, he was still wearing yesterday's clothes, which meant he hadn't slept in three days, let alone taken a shower.
Ron covered his nose. "Hey, Leonard, didn't I give you custody of Sheldon? Can't you just toss him in the community pool for a rinse? Or take him to a car wash?"
"You think I haven't tried that? He's way stronger than I am, and he bites!" Leonard complained, limping onto the couch.
"Well, you should have told me earlier so I could have bought a large enough dog crate on my way back and hosed him down through the bars."
Ron walked over to Sheldon, but Sheldon seemed oblivious, his eyes fixed on the plastic bearings on the floor, as if completely lost in his own world.
"Sheldon, what are you doing?"
Ron hadn't expected a response, but he actually spoke. "Doing what I've been doing for the past three days, trying to figure out why electrons act like they're massless when they pass through graphene."
"Just with these ball bearings?" Ron questioned.
"I need to find something larger than a ping-pong ball!"
"Sheldon, when was the last time you got a full night's sleep?" Ron said gently, trying to imitate his mother, Mary. He now understood even more how difficult it was for George and Mary to raise four children.
"About two or three days ago? That doesn't matter. I don't need sleep. I just want answers," Sheldon muttered, fidgeting with bearings on the ground. "I want to find out what's blocking the noble steed of truth in this swamp of unbalanced equations."
"Noble steed of truth?" Ron turned to look at Leonard. "What new terminology is that in your physics world?"
"No! That's terminology for crazy people!"
"Well, poor kid!" Ron gently stroked Sheldon's head. Sheldon was now completely absorbed in his thoughts, too preoccupied to care about Ron's "invasion of personal space."
Yet, from the outside, this gesture seemed harmonious and loving.
"What a wonderful brotherly bond!" Bernadette said, enchanted, leaning her head against Howard's shoulder. "When I was little, my siblings fought over everything. I never imagined it could be like this. Howard, how about we have boys someday?"
"Of course, we can start practicing tonight," Howard replied flirtatiously.
Leonard rolled his eyes. They were indeed thinking about the same thing, but the difference was that Bernadette was mostly focused on the end result, while Howard was preoccupied with the various activities involved.
However, this harmonious and friendly atmosphere didn't last long.
Ron gently stroked Sheldon's messy hair with one hand while slowly pulling his chair closer to the bedroom wall.
When Sheldon, already in a daze, finally realized something was wrong, he barely managed to utter a "Hey!" when Ron's hand, gently stroking his head, suddenly shoved it backward.
"Thunk!"
Sheldon slammed his head against the wall behind him and collapsed forward onto Ron.
The warm and friendly scene of brotherly love instantly turned into a large-scale "fratricide" scene, and Bernadette, still enchanted by the moment, gasped in shock.
"Ron! What are you doing! You knocked out your brother!"
"No, no, no, don't worry, he just fainted," Ron hoisted Sheldon over his shoulders, "This is the only way to deal with stubborn kids who are disobedient and refuse to take care of themselves. Leonard, Howard, come and help me out."
"Sure thing. What do you need us to do? Help you dispose of the body?" Howard felt oddly cheerful: "If you're planning to bury him in the backyard, I promise to dig a hole for him right now."
Ron carried Sheldon and threw him directly into the bathtub in the bathroom: "Come help me get the shower head to rinse him off. This guy smells so bad I can detect it from the apartment across the hall.
Then help me get him into some clean pajamas and dump him in his bedroom. Thanks for your help."
After Ron finished speaking, he dusted off his hands and prepared to leave.
"But what if he wakes up again?" Leonard said worriedly.
"Don't worry, that last bump will give him at least three hours of rest," Ron said from experience. "If he wakes up again, just knock him out again."
Ron walked halfway to the door and turned back, pulled a taser from his pocket and stuffed it into Leonard's hand. "Considering your physical strength, it might be safer to use this. Go get 'em, tiger~"
(End of this chapter)
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