Two more days passed. During these two days, Mike, after greeting Connie, stayed at Cady's house.
After her first experience, the girl's combat effectiveness clearly improved. Receiving more favor, her complexion also got better and better.
This made Gretchen incredibly envious.
This afternoon, Georgie suddenly brought his father to the Mathematics Study Room.
Mike, stepping out of the classroom, looked at George's anxious expression and asked, "What happened?"
Although Mike hadn't returned home for the past two days, he learned from Connie that George had gone to a sporting goods store for a job interview.
He got a sales clerk job from the owner, Dale.
This time should be when George's new job starts.
"Do you know where Shelly is?" George asked directly.
The matter of Sheldon faking illness for the past two weeks was accidentally blurted out by his chess teacher and his homeroom teacher, Ms. Elizabeth, during a conversation.
It made sense; Sheldon was perfectly healthy in class in the morning, but in the afternoon he was wrapped in bandages, faking a broken arm, to ask for leave from his chess teacher.
This absurd method might be effective for a short time. Over time, it was bound to be exposed.
"Shouldn't he be at the chess club?" Mike asked, puzzled.
Seeing Mike's reaction, George shook his head and said, "Let Georgie tell you the situation."
So, Georgie recounted how Sheldon had asked him for help. Then, he guiltily added, "I thought Sheldon just wanted to take a day or two off. I didn't realize he hadn't attended afternoon group activities for the past two weeks."
Georgie only found out what stupid thing Sheldon had done after the phone call came to their house.
If he had known that Sheldon would skip so many classes, Georgie would never have dared to give him such a bad idea.
Seeing the equally anxious expressions of George and his son, Mike helped analyze, "Sheldon skipped the afternoon chess club activity and didn't go home, so he's likely hiding somewhere in the school..."
"That's right!" Georgie's eyes lit up, and then he asked, "So where would he be hiding?"
Sheldon's truancy was somewhat related to Georgie, so he naturally hoped the matter would be resolved as soon as possible.
"Let me think..." Mike closed his eyes and pondered under the expectant gazes of George and his son.
It was known that Sheldon skipped group activities to study twelfth grade knowledge. So he would definitely find a place where he wouldn't be disturbed and could still study.
Some time ago, to facilitate 'interpersonal communication' with Karen and Lina at any time, Mike had also explored the hidden corners of the school for a while.
With the Memory Palace, Mike went through all these places in his mind, using the elimination method to determine the best 'light under the lamp' spot.
That place perfectly met Sheldon's needs.
"Follow me. If nothing unexpected happens, I know where Sheldon is hiding," Mike said, opening his eyes.
"Really?" Georgie looked at Mike, who had closed his eyes and thought for a while, and then guessed Sheldon's hiding place, feeling it was very magical.
Mike didn't explain much. He led George and his son directly to the first floor, to the stairwell under the stairs.
"Are you sure it's here?" Georgie asked uncertainly.
Previously, he and his father had passed by here many times while looking for Sheldon.
"You'll know if you go in and look," Mike said.
The stairwell on the first floor used to be used for storing miscellaneous items and was now in a semi-abandoned state, rarely noticed by anyone.
George didn't think too much; out of trust in Mike, he decisively pushed open the small door of the stairwell.
Indeed, in the middle of a pile of discarded tables, chairs, and benches, a small figure was diligently studying by the light of a desk lamp.
"Shelly!" George called out, suppressing his voice.
Sheldon was roused from his studies and, after recognizing the people, asked in surprise, "How did you all get here?"
"Why didn't you participate in the group activities?" George asked, holding back his anger.
George didn't want his youngest son to get into trouble over such a small matter.
"Are you talking about the chess club?" Sheldon said seriously, "Their level is too poor. I can't learn anything there at all. It's better to take the time to study what I want to learn..."
With Sheldon's high IQ, the players in the chess club, including the instructor, posed no challenge at all.
Sheldon, having lost interest, would only suffer by staying there.
"Oh, right, Mike. I've basically finished reading the twelfth grade knowledge too. Can you find me some more Math Olympiad exercise books to look at?" Sheldon asked as a matter of course, completely oblivious to George's almost furious expression beside him.
"No problem. If you're willing, I can ask Ms. Sharon if she can let you audit the Math Olympiad team," Mike replied.
During this time, Mike had also discovered that although Ms. Sharon seemed to have a rigid personality, she was actually quite easy to talk to.
"Auditing? Sounds good," Sheldon said, his eyes lighting up.
He thought that after joining the Math Olympiad team, he would have another chance to compete with Mike.
"Shelly, you're not going anywhere right now. You need to come with me to Ms. Elizabeth's first," George said, seeing that his youngest son hadn't acknowledged his mistake at all, his tone instantly becoming severe.
Then, Georgie, who was no longer needed, returned to the football team. George and Mike, on the other hand, accompanied Sheldon to Elizabeth's office.
"Sheldon, can you explain to me why you lied?" Ms. Elizabeth asked with a frown in the homeroom teacher's office.
"It was a benevolent lie. It allowed me more time to enrich my mind," Sheldon stated the strategy he had thought of from the beginning.
However, Ms. Elizabeth was not buying it at all. She asked sternly, "Do you know that lying is wrong?"
"Of course, lying is wrong," Sheldon nodded, and then stubbornly added, "But I had my reasons for lying, so it can't be considered wrong..."
Watching Sheldon still trying to defend himself, Ms. Elizabeth said impatiently, "Alright, Sheldon, I understand. Since you won't admit your mistake, I've decided to give you three days of detention."
After stating Sheldon's punishment, Ms. Elizabeth turned to George and asked, "Mr. George, do you have any objections to this decision?"
"N-no..." George replied, then looked at his youngest son and said, "This punishment is very good."
In George's opinion, Sheldon's refusal to admit his mistake deserved a lesson.
"Very well, then it's decided," Ms. Elizabeth said finally, "Starting today, until the end of this week, there are exactly three more days. For these three afternoons after school, Sheldon will need to stay at school for an extra hour to study the school rules."
Upon hearing the punishment, Sheldon felt guilty. He knew that students who needed to stay for detention were not good people.
Sheldon didn't have the courage to be alone with those bad students. So, he quietly asked, "Ms. Elizabeth, if I memorize the entire school rules, can I leave early?"
"No," Ms. Elizabeth firmly refused, then continued, "You may leave."
As a radical feminist, being alone with three gentlemen made her very uncomfortable.