"All right, so what do we need to do now?" Coach George asked after signing.
Sheldon immediately said, "Great. Now we need to go to Rui Xia Electronics Store. Link has already reserved the latest computer there. They have a discount, so it's only a little over two thousand US Dollars, plus a router..."
"Wait, Sheldon." Coach George said, "You mean we need to buy a computer, and it'll cost two thousand US Dollars?"
"That's right!"
"Who's paying for it?"
"Link, of course. He's my investor."
Noticing Coach George looking at him, Link said:
"Actually, I've been tutoring classmates for the past two years. Other than buying books now and then, I don't have any other expenses, so I can afford an investment of a little over two thousand US Dollars.
And to make things easier for Sheldon, the computer will be installed in your house. It'll just tie up the phone line when using the Internet and incur related charges.
But don't worry, I'll reimburse those expenses every month. Sheldon happens to be handling your household tax returns, so Sheldon and I can take care of all that..."
Seeing Coach George's somewhat dumbfounded expression, Robert patted him on the shoulder. "When I found out how much Link made tutoring people for an hour, I was shocked too, buddy."
"All right!" Fortunately, because of Sheldon, Coach George had already grown used to strange things. Seeing that Robert was not joking, he merely nodded and gave Link another careful look.
Still, what Coach George cared about most was that Link could actually come up with that much money. His family's finances had never been very good, and he could not help thinking, Tutoring people really makes that much money?
If Link had known what Coach George was thinking, he would have told him that it really could be that profitable. The key was finding people who had money and loved learning—and Link had plenty of those.
Next, the two families drove out together. Link paid out of his little savings stash and bought the latest Apple Personal Computer, along with a router, and got an Internet connection.
Those expenses cut Link's savings stash in half, and he also began participating fully in Sheldon's development work.
Only during the process did Link truly realize that even in mathematics, the subject he had worked hardest at, Sheldon had already surpassed him by a great deal.
If Link had already taught himself many university-level mathematics courses, then Sheldon's mathematical knowledge and ability were now enough for him to easily earn a Doctor of Mathematics degree. The only reason it stopped there was because a doctorate was the highest degree available.
But on second thought, that was not surprising. Otherwise, Sheldon could not have completed this research in the original story.
Also, because they could not afford a mainframe, Sheldon followed Link's suggestion and directly hacked into the Aerospace Center through the Internet, using its servers to obtain relevant data and complete the calculations.
During that process, Link learned a great deal of computer-related knowledge alongside Sheldon. He benefited immensely, and his Intelligence attribute even increased by 0.2.
The next steps were simple. Link and Sheldon first registered a patent for the results under both their names, then went to the Space Agency and found a way to meet Dr. Hodges.
"At this point, when the rocket approaches apogee, use gimbals to drive the engines to apply torque, execute a Power Steering Maneuver, and flip the rocket one hundred and eighty degrees..."
In Dr. Hodges's office, Sheldon stood before the blackboard and explained nonstop. After listening, Dr. Hodges said, "I have to say, your results are truly remarkable!"
As someone in the scientific community, Dr. Hodges naturally knew that geniuses existed. Still, seeing how young Link and Sheldon were left him deeply astonished.
Especially since, according to Link, Sheldon—the child not even ten years old—was the one who had truly developed these results. Dr. Hodges did not know what to say, and in the end, he could only tell Sheldon:
"This achievement is highly groundbreaking..."
"Thank you. What else?"
"What else?"
"I thought you were going to apologize."
"Why would I apologize?"
"You tried to shut me up with a patch."
That had actually been the beginning of the whole incident. When Dr. Hodges had come to the school to give a presentation, Sheldon had asked why they did not recover rockets.
Dr. Hodges had said the technology required complex mathematical calculations, and Sheldon had immediately said that he could help with them.
But obviously, Sheldon's appearance as a child under ten was not very convincing. So Dr. Hodges had given Sheldon a patch and told him he could sew it onto his backpack.
It was precisely that patronizing attitude, treating him like a child, that had provoked Sheldon's rebellious streak. Wanting to show that "idiot" what he could do, he had decided to complete the mathematical calculations related to this research. Even his future choice to study physics was connected to this experience.
From that perspective, Sheldon was rather petty.
That was not difficult to understand. High intelligence did not mean a person also had great magnanimity. On the contrary, because their intelligence far exceeded that of ordinary people, they developed what ordinary people saw as "stubbornness," and their negative emotions could be even more intense.
Link still remembered that in The Big Bang Theory, after Sheldon encountered a genius younger and smarter than himself, he became thoroughly warped. When Leonard and the others used a honey trap to lead that genius astray, Leonard and the others felt guilty, while Sheldon refreshedly said:
"He deserved it. Who told him to be so weak?"
And Sheldon was not an exception. There were many people like him in the scientific community. Great scientists like Newton and great inventors like Edison were both recognized examples of people with terrible character. Anyone who looked into them closely would know.
After receiving that answer, Dr. Hodges found it hard to respond as well. He opened his mouth before finally saying:
"I... I give patches to everyone I meet. And you have to understand, Sheldon, that while your calculations are theoretically correct, we don't have the technological capability to carry them out."
"So I'm ahead of my time?"
"It seems that way."
Having gotten that answer, Sheldon immediately felt refreshed. "All right, contact me when your capabilities catch up. I've already applied for a patent on these results.
Of course, I don't like negotiating, so you can talk to Link. He's my research assistant and my investor, and he shares this patent with me."
"All right!" Dr. Hodges could only nod. Then he looked at Link, whose youthful appearance made Dr. Hodges feel like an old wave that had been slapped dead on the beach.
Before you continue