Finding Leonard (Please Vote!)

Finding Leonard (Please Vote!)

New York.

West Side.

Adam casually found a hotel and checked in. Looking at his steadily thinning wallet, he quietly began to consider that it was time to figure out how to make some money.

He had not felt it while staying in Galveston, but once he came out here, money really flowed away like water.

Gas cost money, food cost money, water cost money, lodging cost money—everything cost money.

Over four years of high school, he had made a total of ten thousand dollars through the Fruit Hard Candy Band.

Most of it had come from Gretchen, the only daughter of the local billionaire tycoon. Naturally, he had earned it through legitimate means, such as singing and tutoring.

Yes, actual tutoring. The proper kind.

He was not truly shameless enough to let someone scorn him under the table while he put on a show of tutoring them and took their money. So after Gretchen spat a "Pah!" at him, Adam regretfully gave up charging her.

If he had kept at it for a few more months, he probably would have had enough for college tuition and living expenses.

The lavishness with which a billionaire's only daughter treated money as nothing was no joke.

Ten thousand dollars was equivalent to the average American's income for three months. It was indeed quite a lot for a high school student, but afterward, just driving around with Jennifer and the other girls had cost him a full two thousand dollars in gas.

Anyone who had driven an American pickup knew how much fuel those things guzzled!

This time, when he came out for interviews, he had even turned down the two thousand dollars his dad Bob offered him.

There were too many places where the family needed money. Little Charlie's formula alone was no small expense, not to mention Gabe, that troublesome brat who caused trouble everywhere and always needed money spent to smooth things over in the end.

His mom Amy had started working, but her income was average. His younger sister Teddy would also be applying to college soon, which would mean another huge expense.

Adam had taken someone else's son's place, so he felt somewhat guilty. He wanted to save the family whatever he could, so he refused to take the money no matter what.

He had not gotten a scholarship from Columbia University, but with the help of an enthusiastic female teacher, he had successfully secured student loans. As for living expenses, Adam felt he could still earn those himself.

In a few months, he would be living long-term in this land where every inch was precious and extravagance reigned. Being without money would be miserable.

His desire to make money had never been stronger, but the most important thing before Adam right now was to quickly raise his Wisdom Points and push them from their stuck point of 138.25 to over 140 as soon as possible.

And there was only one person who could help Adam achieve that quickly: Leonard Hofstadter!

First, Leonard definitely existed, because Sheldon existed!

Second, he should currently be in New Jersey, right next to New York. Adam could go there tomorrow.

Third, he was smart enough and "friendly" enough that Adam could easily gain his friendship.

Finally, Adam had no other choice besides him.

New York really was the center of the American TV multiverse, but there were not many plot characters who could grant Adam Wisdom Points. The six members of Friends were almost all ordinary people. Ross, the only one with a doctorate, specialized in paleontology.

As someone at the bottom of the scientific hierarchy, there was naturally a reason Sheldon looked down on him. Doctorates in that field did not place particularly strict demands on IQ; people with excellent intelligence and enough diligence could obtain one.

And Ross did not look like a genius, either.

The five members of How I Met Your Mother were also all ordinary people. The only one who might have been a genius was the future Marshmallow Judge, but the legal profession was much like paleontology—still the type that relied on 99 percent perspiration rather than 1 percent talent.

That was why Adam had only visited those familiar places for a look around, then casually let it go when he could not find anyone.

Of The Big Bang Theory Seven, aside from Penny, the poor student, and Little Sheldon, who had already contributed, all of them could help Adam.

But he only knew that Howard was in Pasadena, thousands of kilometers from New York, and he did not know where Howard's home was.

Rajesh's family, known as the "bootleg Iron Man Family," should have been famous in their country, but considering the expense and risk, Adam still ruled them out.

There was even less information about Bernadette and Amy. He had no leads at all.

Only Leonard Hofstadter, the originally intended protagonist of The Big Bang Theory, had been given ample information in the show.

First, Leonard should have been around the same age as Sheldon, only twelve or thirteen this year. When Leonard first appeared in the first season of The Big Bang Theory in 2007, he and Sheldon had already been roommates for two or three years.

In other words, Leonard had probably gotten his doctorate and gone to Caltech to become an Experimental Physicist around 2004 or 2005, when he was around twenty-four or twenty-five.

By the normal age progression for American students, they graduated high school at seventeen or eighteen and college at twenty-one or twenty-two. Since doctorates were difficult to obtain, they generally took another five to eight years, putting the usual age at twenty-six to thirty.

Considering that Leonard was a genius with an IQ as high as 173, it was perfectly normal for him to get his doctorate at twenty-four or twenty-five. Besides, when Leonard argued with Sheldon, he had said that he was not as extraordinary as Sheldon, who had gone to college at eleven. Leonard was probably on a normal academic track; even if he had skipped grades in high school, he would not have skipped several at a time like Sheldon.

Therefore, twelve- or thirteen-year-old Leonard was either in middle school or high school.

That raised another question: which school did Leonard attend?

Leonard's family was in New Jersey. His mother was a neurologist, his father was a sociologist, and he had been raised like a scientific experiment by his mother in a family of scientists. With such a high IQ, Leonard's high school alma mater should have been one of the best schools in New Jersey.

But considering that Leonard had been bullied for a long time by a school jock played by the same actor as Sheldon's Dad—a guy who would turn out to do poorly in life and whose intelligence was questionable—private high schools could basically be ruled out.

Therefore, Adam only needed to check several of the highest-ranked public high schools. He should be able to find Leonard. If there was a problem, Adam could also follow the trail of Leonard's mother.

After all, Leonard's mother was not only a neurologist but also a writer. As long as he put his mind to it, he could definitely find her.

Adam even had an idea for how to quickly identify the inconspicuous Leonard at school. He would not look for Leonard first. Instead, he would find the school jock who looked exactly like Sheldon's Dad.

The guy was a football player and would definitely be a prominent figure at school, so he would be easy to find.

What if he looked different when he was young than he did as an adult?

No problem. Adam had seen photos of George when he was young at Little Sheldon's house. He refused to believe the two of them had looked different when they were young.

New Jersey.

Bergen County High School.

"Nancy, is it good? If it's good, eat more, so when someone loves you later, they won't have to shave you."

"Hahaha!"

A group of students in football uniforms surrounded a bespectacled short boy. As they watched the leader press the boy's head down and force him to eat arm hair, they all laughed wildly.

A trace of helplessness flashed through the short boy's eyes, but there was none of the despair one might have expected, because he was already used to it...

PS: Thanks to Di Can Chiru Hua for the tip!