Pastor Jeff's wedding ceremony was simple, with no dinner or other activities afterward.
After all, his purpose for getting married this time could be said to be solely to obtain that certificate, allowing him to drive legally.
After the hurried wedding, the Cooper family, having nothing else to do, chose to accompany Mike to the town's largest shopping mall to buy a computer.
The lowest-configured computers here cost around two thousand us dollars, while high-end computers easily exceeded ten thousand.
After consideration, Mike chose a mid-to-high-end computer costing over five thousand. Looking at the desktop computer, he even felt a sense of nostalgia.
The after-sales service at the mall was very thorough; within just one afternoon, delivery, installation, and even network cable setup were all completed.
Before dinner, the Cooper family and Connie were all curiously gathered around the newly installed computer.
"Go on, Mike. Turn it on," Connie urged with a smile.
This computer was purchased by Mike, so he rightfully had the privilege of being the first to turn it on.
The Cooper family also looked at Mike expectantly, waiting for him to operate the computer.
Seeing this, Mike didn't decline and stepped forward to press the computer's power button. Accompanied by low-resolution graphics, a retro boot animation appeared on the computer screen.
"Oh, the picture is so clear—" Georgie exclaimed after the computer screen stabilized.
For Mike, who had seen high-definition graphics, the current computer's pixel quality was not satisfactory.
However, for the Cooper family and Connie, the picture quality of the five-thousand-dollar computer was already excellent. At least it was much clearer than the picture quality of the television in the Cooper family home.
"Mike, can I watch 'Tom and Jerry'? I missed yesterday's TV broadcast..." Missy looked at Mike, pouting.
"Of course you can," Mike agreed while searching for 'Tom and Jerry' episodes on the web.
Then, the little girl selected an episode. Afterward, the family gathered in front of the computer and watched one episode of the cartoon with Missy.
"It's my turn, it's my turn!" After one episode of the cartoon finished, Georgie excitedly shouted, "Mike, can you help me create an online account? The kind that can be used for chatting..."
As he spoke, Georgie even deliberately raised his eyebrows at Mike, with a 'you know what I mean' smile on his face.
Seeing his exuberant display of hormones, Mike shook his head but still helped Georgie set up a chat account on the computer's built-in chat software.
Then, Mike filtered by conditions and added a few female online friends to the account.
"All right, you can now use this account to chat with them," Mike said, stepping aside.
Under everyone's gaze, Georgie excitedly came to the computer, his hands trembling as he typed on the keyboard: "Are you there?"
As the message was sent, Georgie seemed to have completed a difficult task.
Beside him, watching Georgie's operation, Connie said, "What's the big deal? It's not as convenient as talking on the phone..."
Mary nodded in agreement.
Just then, Georgie excitedly shouted, "She replied to me! She said 'Hello'! What should I say back?"
Georgie was currently still in the excitement of his first online chat.
"Don't get excited, Georgie," Mike instructed, "You can say whatever you want."
Listening to Mike, Georgie calmed down. Then, he typed what he wanted to say on the screen: "Are you an older brother or a younger sister?"
After Georgie sent what he thought was brilliant chat content, an expression of 'come praise me' appeared on his face.
Connie, who really didn't want to see Georgie's smug look, changed the subject and said, "Today is a memorable day, why don't we have dinner at my place!"
After proposing her idea, Connie then looked at George and said with a smile, "George, I have something good for you later."
The 'good thing' Connie mentioned was precisely the 'special dish' that she had prepared for Mike earlier, which he had declined.
This was a perfect opportunity to give it to George, and it might even promote the relationship between George and his wife.
"Really, thank you," George received Connie's kindness and thanked her with a smile.
Afterward, Connie and Mary went to the kitchen to prepare dinner for the family.
George, feeling awkward about competing with the children for computer use, went to the sofa nearby to watch television.
Here, in front of the computer, after Georgie's question was sent, the other party did not reply for a long time.
Finally, with the computer system's notification sound, a small box appeared on the screen.
Looking at the message "The other party has deleted you as a friend" inside the box, Georgie fell into self-doubt.
He couldn't understand why his online friend, with whom he had been chatting so well before, would delete him.
Georgie, not believing it, composed himself and then found another online friend, beginning his journey of online chatting again.
However, after several minutes passed, when the message "The other party has deleted you as a friend" appeared on the screen again, Georgie couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Why is this?" Georgie looked at the prompt box, on the verge of becoming withdrawn.
"Your intentions are too obvious; this can easily scare people away," Mike reminded him.
Georgie's series of absurd actions couldn't be called wrong, but his approach was simply too direct.
It was like randomly stopping someone on the street and immediately asking them, "Do you want to be in a relationship with me?"
If this approach were in reality, the other person might consider it slightly based on the questioner's appearance.
However, in the virtual world of the internet, very few people would tolerate such rude behavior.
Upon receiving Mike's reminder, Georgie seemed to realize where he had gone wrong. Just as he was about to regroup, Sheldon stepped forward and said, "It's my turn."
Georgie looked at Sheldon, then reluctantly at the computer. In the end, he still gave up his seat.
Sitting in front of the computer, Sheldon took out a small booklet from his person, which recorded the procedures required for rocket launches.
Then, he opened a computer document and began to calculate the complex formulas in the booklet.
Over half an hour passed, and as Sheldon's operations gradually became proficient, Connie also finished preparing dinner.
At the dinner table, Connie skillfully distributed the special dish into everyone's plates.
When it was George's turn, she even smiled and placed an extra portion on his plate.
George hadn't expected that Connie had prepared this for him.
His face was initially a little awkward, but after secretly glancing at his wife, he gladly accepted Connie's kindness.
After a pleasant roasted meat feast, Sheldon once again monopolized the computer.
George and his wife, meanwhile, sat on the sofa with Connie to watch television.
Mike, on the other hand, was with Missy, looking through picture books.
As time reached midnight, Mary, seeing her little daughter starting to doze off, urged Sheldon, who was still sitting in front of the computer tirelessly, "Shelly, it's time for us to go home."
"Just a moment, I still have a lot of work to finish," Sheldon replied perfunctorily while typing rapidly on the keyboard.
Seeing signs of Mary getting angry, Connie came to the computer and persuaded, "Moonpie, you should rest. If you want to play on the computer, you can come again tomorrow."
Sheldon really wanted to say that he wasn't playing. However, when he glanced at the sky outside, he still sensibly stood up.
Before leaving, he specifically made an agreement with Mike about using the computer tomorrow.