Invitation (Please Vote!)

Invitation (Please Vote!)

Duncan's Home.

"A keyboardist? Who?"

"You mean Sheldon Cooper?"

Unlike Emmett, who was completely baffled, Juno instantly understood what Adam was thinking.

"Yes."

Adam said frankly, "He's a genius!"

"Wait, you mean that little brat?"

Emmett finally made the connection and immediately swore. "Shit! What the hell does some little brat know about rock?"

Sheldon Cooper's name had spread far and wide. Even for a genius, starting high school at nine was major news.

"Trust me, he'll make an excellent keyboardist."

Adam was very confident.

In his memories, Sheldon had perfect pitch and was familiar with all sorts of instruments—piano, guitar, bongos, accordion, and more. When drunk, he would play and sing by himself, shedding his usual nerdy dullness for a wild, uninhibited charm. Sheldon was also a formidable keyboard warrior, perfectly meeting the requirements for a rock band keyboardist.

Of course, Little Sheldon had not yet been exposed to music, but Adam believed that for a genius like Sheldon, as long as he wanted to, he could pick it up in no time. That was enough.

Adam's most important goal was to use this opportunity to get close to Little Sheldon and test whether the other boy could increase his Wisdom Points.

"I don't agree!"

Emmett shouted, "Adam, tell me you're joking!"

"Why not?"

Adam persuaded him, "He'll be our classmate next semester. Are you discriminating against him?"

"Yes, I am discriminating against him!"

Emmett was getting anxious.

"Discrimination is always wrong, because..."

Adam stared at Emmett for a long while before drawling, "I have a dream~"

"..."

Emmett's mouth twitched, and his expression darkened further.

In the end, Adam's proposal passed unanimously.

"Great. Tomorrow, we'll go invite him, and then Fruit Hard Candy Band will officially be up and running."

Adam was in high spirits.

"Are you sure you don't want to wait until school starts?"

Juno asked teasingly, "You're just going to show up at his door and tell his mother, 'Hi, we're all talented people here, but we're missing a keyboardist. Can your nine-year-old son join us?'"

"..."

Adam froze. He looked at Emmett, whose face had gone dark at the thought of Sheldon joining, then at Juno, whom everyone considered bizarre, and finally met the gaze of his own charming, carefree reflection in the mirror. The corner of his mouth twitched.

With a lineup like this, even normal classmates might turn them down, let alone an oddball mama's boy like Sheldon. After all, Sheldon's mother was a devout Christian.

"Why not?"

Though these negative thoughts flashed through his mind, Adam still forced himself to say, "We're sincere, and that's enough. Besides, Sheldon needs friends too, doesn't he?"

There were still two months until school started, and Adam could not wait that long. Everything was for testing the pattern behind Wisdom Point growth as soon as possible, increasing his intelligence, and extending his Lifespan.

"That makes sense!"

Juno paused, then smiled and nodded.

Only then did she remember that, in outsiders' eyes, Little Sheldon was not much different from her. They were both so strange. As the parents of children like them, who knew how much effort they had put into helping their children make even a single friend?

Cooper's Home.

"Dinner's ready!"

A dignified, beautiful middle-aged housewife placed the last plate on the dining table and called out loudly.

A tall, heavyset middle-aged man walked over with a fourteen- or fifteen-year-old boy, the two of them talking about football. Soon after, an adorable eight- or nine-year-old girl came bouncing over.

"Shelly!"

After watching the three take their respective seats, the middle-aged housewife called toward the bedroom.

"Coming."

With a slightly shrill child's voice, an eight- or nine-year-old boy walked over at an unhurried pace.

"Thank God..."

Just as the middle-aged man was about to cut into his steak, the housewife extended both hands—one to him and one to the little girl beside her. Helplessly, he put down his knife and fork, took his wife's hand, offered his other hand to the little boy, and closed his eyes to listen to his wife's daily pre-dinner prayer.

"Wait."

The little boy did not reach out immediately. Under everyone's speechless gazes, he put on the gloves he had already prepared, then took his father's hand with one hand and his brother's with the other.

"Admit it, he was adopted!"

Looking at the thick glove his younger brother extended toward him, the teenage boy mocked his parents.

It was not the first time, nor was it directed only at him, but he was still extremely annoyed by his younger brother's obsessive germophobia and the way he treated him like he was dirty.

"I have a twin sister. How could I possibly be adopted?"

The little boy turned his head to look at his brother and said seriously, "Think with your brain, monkey!"

The teenager glared at his brother, really wanting to punch him. But, as expected, their mother, who favored his brother, spoke up. "Enough. No one was adopted."

"I wish I was adopted."

The little girl muttered under her breath.

"Oh, really?"

The middle-aged housewife sneered. "It's not too late to have someone adopt you."

The little girl immediately fell silent.

As the only daughter in the family, she should have been her parents' little darling, cherished and spoiled.

But her father was a football coach and was often with her brother, who played on the school football team. Meanwhile, because her twin brother was a strange genius, her mother's attention was always on him. She had practically become invisible.

The reason she spoke up just now was not only because she truly felt she did not seem like their biological daughter. More than that, she had gotten into the habit of making her presence known, lest her parents truly forget she existed.

After the prayer, the family ate and chatted, with the middle-aged housewife mainly guiding the conversation.

"Shelly, you'll be starting high school next semester. Are you happy?"

Sheldon, whose nickname was Shelly, said happily, "Of course."

He had long since had enough of the stupidity and ignorance of kids his own age, such as his twin sister Missy. Of course, he did not plan to stay in high school for long either, because high school students were just as stupid and ignorant, such as his brother Georgie Jr.

"What about you, Georgie Jr.?"

The middle-aged housewife smiled approvingly, then looked at the teenage boy.

"Any good mood I had was ruined by having to be Sheldon's classmate!"

Georgie Jr. complained.

"Hey! Shelly is your brother. As his older brother, you should take care of him."

The middle-aged housewife said in displeasure.

"You're doomed."

The little girl, Missy, gestured toward her brother Georgie Jr. "Trust me, once you start hanging around Sheldon, your social circle will suffer a devastating blow."

"I know."

Georgie Jr. nodded in wholehearted agreement and said firmly, "That's why it will never happen!"

The middle-aged housewife frowned, wanting to get angry, but when she looked at the indifferent Sheldon and the thick gloves on his hands, she sighed inwardly.

Though she deeply loved Sheldon, she also knew how difficult he was. Before, she could still have the obedient Missy serve as Sheldon's classmate and friend. But now that he had skipped a grade, she could not control the rebellious Georgie Jr. Thinking of her poor Shelly sitting all alone in the noisy school cafeteria broke her heart.

"God, please give Shelly a friend. Even one would be enough."