After a tiring day, Mike, who had suffered significant mental exhaustion, returned to the Cooper family home after dinner, quickly washed up, and prepared to rest.
However, not long after he lay down, a knock sounded on his door.
"Who is it? Is that Paige?" Mike asked, sitting up in his pajamas.
Connie usually wouldn't come to Mike's room at this time of night.
And besides Connie, Paige was the only other person in the house.
"You're not asleep yet?" Paige pushed the door open and skillfully entered the room. Seeing Mike in his white pajamas, she asked, feigning ignorance.
Mike, on the other hand, noticed the little girl casually sitting beside him and couldn't help but frown, asking, "Is something wrong?"
In front of Mike, a person with considerable acting skills, the little girl's troubled expression was impossible to hide.
"Oh." Paige acted indifferent and said, "I'm a little curious about the songs you created..."
"Just for that?" Mike shook his head helplessly, pulled a manuscript from his change of clothes, handed it to the little girl, and said, "Here, this is my new song. If you want, you can take it back and study it slowly."
Despite Mike's obvious attempt to dismiss her, Paige seemed oblivious. Taking the manuscript, she said, "I'm just a little curious about your creative ability, and I can also help you check it..."
Afterward, she showed no intention of leaving, sitting by the bed and beginning to study the song.
For someone with Paige's super-high IQ, even without formal training in composition, assessing the quality of a song was not difficult for her.
Meanwhile, Mike, who had been ready to sleep, saw the little girl earnestly studying the new song and couldn't bring himself to send her away again.
So, he squinted, leaning back against the pillow, waiting for her to finish her appreciation.
Fortunately, the little girl read very quickly.
After a short while, Paige, having finished studying the new song, looked up and said, "It's a very good Christmas song. Is this for the girl who brought you back?"
"Yes, this is a song I wrote for her The Plastics..." Mike admitted, then whispered as if sharing a secret, "Actually, the girls in The Plastics want to use this song to make a splash at the school's Christmas party."
"With a creative genius like you, their wish, if nothing unexpected happens, can easily come true," Paige said, looking down, with a hint of sarcasm.
At this point, Mike realized that the little girl's mood was very off.
It was like a child seeing an adult give candy to another child, thus feeling jealous.
"If you want one, I can also write a children's song specifically for you. It's not difficult..." Mike immediately said.
Mike found Paige's situation easy to appease.
Since she felt it was unfair, why not just give her a "candy" too?
"A children's song?" Paige, whose mood had already improved, realized that he was treating her like a child and said resistantly, "Thanks, I'm not very interested in singing."
"Alright—" Seeing her strong reaction, Mike didn't bring up the song again.
Then, he picked up the manuscript the little girl had left aside, and seeing that she still had no intention of leaving, he asked again, "Is there anything else?"
"I..." Paige, who had high emotional intelligence, had already sensed Mike's slight impatience. After a moment's thought, she found an excuse and said, "I want you to teach me how to play computer games."
This reason was very logical and would allow them to spend more time together. So, the little girl grew more confident as she spoke.
"Computer games? Now?" Mike, on the other hand, clearly couldn't keep up with her line of thought.
"Do you have time during the day?" Paige said, "I want to play that game you played last time, it was called 'Super Mario' or something like that."
The little girl perfectly elaborated on the excuse she had found.
Mike realized that during Paige's visits these past few weekends, he hadn't really paid much attention to her.
So, he agreed, "Alright, you go turn on the computer, I'll be there in a moment."
"Then hurry up!" Paige gave Mike a proud look, then left the room contentedly.
Computer games were just emerging at this time. Although they held little appeal for Mike, they were a novelty for everyone else.
Even Connie became engrossed for quite a while after learning to play computer games.
Meanwhile, Mike, having put on a thick coat, arrived at the small cubicle to find Paige already at the computer, having opened the game interface.
Half an hour later, under Mike's guidance, the little girl successfully reached the final level, the scene of rescuing the princess.
"Jump...jump...oh...what a pity..."
As Mario, the plumber, fell into the lava, Mike, who was directing from behind, let out a sigh.
When playing such action-oriented games, sometimes the atmosphere is so engaging that even those watching from the sidelines find it very interesting.
Moreover, Mike had discovered that Paige, with her super-high intelligence, also had a talent for gaming.
"It's okay, let's try again. You can definitely clear the level..." Mike encouraged from behind.
"How about you show me?" Paige turned her head and said with a smile.
Mike, who had been watching others play for a long time, also became somewhat interested. So, he took the opportunity to sit in front of the computer and boasted, "Watch how I save the princess with one life!"
Afterward, watching Mike's various brilliant maneuvers, Paige, who was leaning back and watching, unconsciously smiled.
Another half an hour passed, and as the little character controlled by Mike successfully rescued the princess, Paige, beside him, cheered appropriately.
In fact, the little girl had the ability to clear the game herself earlier, but with her own little scheme, she cleverly made a "mistake."
This led to the subsequent events.
[Intelligence main attribute +1]
On the other side, Mike, who had satisfied his gaming craving, unexpectedly received an attribute light cluster from the little girl, which also made him smile.
Playing games together has such benefits?
Mike immediately said, "Paige, if you want to play other games next time, you can come find me again. I'll teach you everything you need to know."
"Okay~" Paige happily agreed, then asked, "Aren't we going to keep playing today?"
"No, it's very late today." Mike turned off the computer and, looking at the still highly enthusiastic little girl, advised, "You should go to bed. Children who don't get enough sleep won't grow tall, you know."
Paige, who was already aware of body image, heard Mike's "threat" and nodded in agreement, saying, "You're right, to grow up quickly, I really should go to bed now."
After seeing off the strangely behaving little girl, Mike also returned to his room to rest.
...
When everyone had fallen asleep, on the other side of the Cooper family home, Sheldon, who had gone to bed early, tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
Still preoccupied with the researcher's figure, he suffered from insomnia that night.
Sheldon, who had never experienced insomnia before, knew very well that he needed sleep now, but the more he tried to fall asleep, the more he couldn't.
Instead, his mind was incredibly active, uncontrollably replaying the scene of Dr. Linkletter rejecting him earlier in the day.
So, Sheldon, finally unable to endure this torment, got up and went to the landline phone to call Dr. Linkletter.