"Hey, George. Wake up—" Outside the private theater, Mike tapped on the car window.
"Hmm? How did I fall asleep…?" George groggily got up from the steering wheel and opened the car door to let Mike and the other person in.
"I remember I was really worried about you guys before, how could I have fallen asleep?" George tried hard to recall what happened earlier.
Looking at his current state, it's highly likely that he also had his brain "washed" by the Men in Black. Otherwise, with the commotion in the theater just now, it would be impossible for him to have no impression at all.
"Never mind, it's good that you're back safely…" George didn't dwell on things he couldn't figure out. Then, he turned to his youngest son, changing to a lighter topic: "Sheldon, how was that science education film?"
"Actually, I don't remember watching anything before." Sheldon shrugged, saying helplessly.
"Well, you might have been too tired before and fell asleep in the theater too." George made an excuse he didn't even believe himself. Given his understanding of his youngest son, it was impossible for him to fall asleep while watching a science education film.
Both father and son simultaneously experiencing an unknown situation, the thought of it was very strange.
Looking at the pitch-black night outside the car window and the occasional chirping of insects in the distance, George increasingly felt that this place was evil. So, he pretended to be calm and said, "Let's go back to the hotel to rest early!"
Then the car started smoothly and drove towards the small hotel.
When they reached the bustling area with streetlights, much of the fear in George's heart dissipated. Calming down, he tentatively asked, "Mike, do you remember what movie you watched before?"
"'Mars Exploration', a very ordinary alien science education film…" Mike briefly described the previous science education film. Of course, the parts about the aliens Aliens were omitted by him.
Listening to Mike's narration, George's uneasy heart gradually settled down.
After that, the three returned to the small hotel and rested for a night, then returned to Medford Town on Sunday afternoon.
Seeing her youngest son return from his trip, looking like he had resolved his inner conflict, Mary also expressed affirmation for her husband's efforts.
On the other side, after the trip to Houston Space Administration, Mike's life also returned to normal.
And by tearing off the Chameleon Alien's tongue, Mike also gained a very useful skill: [Eloquent Speech].
Two weeks passed like this.
During this time, Mike also intentionally or unintentionally paid attention to alien-related posts online.
Although he didn't plan to get involved, there was no harm in learning more about such things.
Sure enough, many people who were suspected of having attended the "private theater" appeared online.
However, regarding the viewing process, those who had attended seemed unable to explain what happened.
Clearly, the Men in Black's work in strictly controlling alien information was very thorough.
But the situation online also indirectly indicated that "Francis" was not the only one trying to spread panic among the public.
"Earth seems very unsafe. But I believe the Men in Black and other organizations can handle it…" Mike did not develop the idea of disrupting his peaceful life because of the online news.
Being in different positions, the things to consider are naturally different. This can be considered a bit of life experience that Mike has summarized.
Meanwhile, at school, Sheldon, who had finished learning high school Math Olympiad knowledge in a very short time, already had the idea of leaving the Math Olympiad team to find his new "interests."
A brilliant brain gave him extremely strong learning ability; this was both a gift and a burden.
People who find everything easy to learn can easily fall into boredom once they lose their goals.
Sheldon was probably in this situation now.
At dinner time, when Mike and Connie arrived at the Cooper family, they heard Sheldon playing the violin from afar.
Yes, Sheldon was ready to bring his "talent" to the field of music.
"Sheldon, your violin playing sounds like sawing wood. It's noise…" Georgie expressed strong dissatisfaction with Sheldon's new hobby.
"I'm exploring…" Sheldon explained, "Einstein was a piano enthusiast, Stephen Hawking was a harmonica player, Charles Boulden was proficient in almost all instruments… So, studies show that smart people like music. I am now trying to emulate those great people."
"Bullshit—" Georgie was not impressed by his brother's statement; he only knew that his current violin playing was annoying and seriously hurt his ears.
And upon seeing Mike arrive, Georgie, as if seeing a savior, retorted, "Mike is also smart, why doesn't he learn an instrument?"
"He…" Sheldon really wanted to say that Mike was not as smart as him.
After a long period of interaction, Sheldon also keenly discovered that Mike was simply not as intelligent as him.
The profound knowledge he displayed was more due to his rich accumulation of knowledge.
However, to this day, Sheldon has never truly defeated Mike in terms of knowledge.
Even in high school Math Olympiad knowledge, they only drew.
Yes, Mike had also finished reviewing all the high school Math Olympiad knowledge points. And by answering without any mistakes, he also got a promise from Ms. Sharon that he wouldn't have to participate in the Math Olympiad team at school.
So, in this situation, Sheldon couldn't definitively say that Mike wasn't a smart person.
"Mike, are you interested in the violin? I can teach you." Sheldon changed his approach. Since he couldn't prove that Mike wasn't smart, he would prove the opposite: smart people like music.
"Thank you, but I don't have any plans to learn an instrument for now." Mike politely declined Sheldon's offer.
Then, as he passed by Sheldon, he grabbed a large ball of light from him.
[Absolute Pitch]: The ability to identify/produce the pitch of a note produced by an instrument or the surrounding environment without a reference tone.
Heaven knows why Sheldon, who possessed [Absolute Pitch], played the violin so terribly.
Upon seeing Mike's refusal, Georgie became energized. He said triumphantly, "See? Mike doesn't like music."
He wanted to use this to prove that "smart people" don't necessarily like music.
However, Sheldon did not agree with Georgie's taunt.
"Mike just said he doesn't want to learn an instrument for now, he didn't say he doesn't like music. You're twisting my words…" After Sheldon forcefully explained, he picked up his violin again, playing and saying, "Music is a bridge to the human soul; it allows me to maintain inner peace…"
Just as Sheldon was speaking eloquently, George poked half his body out of the kitchen and asked loudly, "Did you hear that? Someone's sawing wood, and it's so loud—"
"Screech… screech…" Sheldon was questioned again, and his violin playing stopped. Then, he annoyingly put the violin aside.
Georgie, seeing Sheldon give up his musical "dream," laughed mockingly as if he had won a great victory.
"You wouldn't understand my pursuit of art!" Sheldon said in a huff, then ignored Georgie.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Mary glared at her husband, as if asking disapprovingly, "Why did you say that to Sheldon?"
"Didn't you think the same thing?" George replied, hinting at something.
In fact, Sheldon's violin playing had been going on for several days.
And Mary, who had been listening to the noise for several days, was about to lose her patience.
If George hadn't stopped Sheldon from playing the violin just now, Mary would likely have taken action herself.
It was simply because Sheldon's violin playing was truly terrible.
Hearing her husband's reply, Mary also smiled knowingly and did not continue the topic that embarrassed her youngest son.