Chapter 191: Little Sheldon: My Grandma is a legend herself!
"Why does he have so many kids?"
Jane casually remarked. "If you can't afford to raise them, have fewer. Running an illegal daycare in the basement isn't really a good idea."
"His family is Jewish,"
Chuck said succinctly.
"..."
Jane looked at Chuck with a question mark, who had just given her what seemed like a non-answer. "And then?"
Chuck glanced at her but didn't speak.
"Is there some common knowledge I'm missing here?"
Jane complained. "What does being Jewish have to do with being poor and having six kids?"
"Jews are among the most active promoters of alternative lifestyles, LGBTQ+ culture, and the idea of not getting married or having children,"
Chuck added, seeing her genuine confusion.
"...Am I the one with the problem?"
Jane rubbed her temples, speechless. "Let me sort this out. First, you said his family is Jewish, so even if they don't have money, they still want to have many children. Then you said that the most active promoters of alternative lifestyles and the idea of not getting married or having children are also Jewish. What do you mean... what do you mean? Did I mishear, or do you think there's some contradiction?"
"Think about it."
Chuck glanced at her and continued driving.
Jane was startled, sat up slightly, and felt that there was probably neither a mishearing nor a contradiction, but rather a logic she hadn't considered. So she quickly started thinking, took a deep breath, and visualized the scene when she and Chuck were together, quickly entering a passive, multi-angle observation perspective.
"You mean they have many children while also promoting ideologies to encourage others not to have children, hoping to shift the demographic balance by doing the opposite?"
Jane pondered. "But that doesn't make sense. I saw Detective Rostenkowski wearing a cross; he should be Catholic."
"Not all Jewish families practice Judaism,"
Chuck said. "Judaism has many scriptures and complex doctrines, while Catholicism is simple and easy to understand, with just the Bible. You only need to say you follow the Ten Commandments, and if you break them, you can immediately be redeemed through confession. It's much more user-friendly than Judaism, and it's a mainstream denomination with social acceptance. It's not strange that the Rostenkowski family is Catholic, not Jewish."
"Not strange, not strange,"
Jane smiled wryly.
"Remember Sheldon Cooper?"
Chuck glanced at her.
"I remember,"
Jane nodded and smiled. "Anyone who met that little guy would find it hard to forget him."
"He's from Texas, just like me,"
Chuck said, driving. "Two years ago, because his devoutly religious mother wouldn't let him play Dungeons & Dragons, a board game with demonic elements, he became interested in religion and wanted to learn about Judaism.
Then his grandmother took him to see Ira, one of her boyfriends and the only Jew in the area, to ask what it was like to practice Judaism.
Ira told him it wasn't great and didn't recommend he convert, because his whole life would be restricted by archaic, meaningless rules—he couldn't do this, he couldn't do that, he couldn't even go to a decent country club."
"He really said that?"
Jane chuckled. "It seems he really likes Sheldon's grandmother; otherwise, he would never share such honest opinions with outsiders."
"Sheldon's grandmother is quite the catch among older gentlemen,"
Chuck nodded. "Her attraction to highly intelligent older men is off the charts!"
"And then?"
Jane asked curiously. "So, Sheldon didn't want to practice Judaism anymore?"
"No."
Chuck shook his head. "After Ira pointed out famous Jewish figures—besides Jesus, there was William Shatner, who played Captain Kirk in the original Star Trek, and Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock. Both of them are Sheldon's favorite TV stars. What's more, Einstein and a host of other scientific giants were Jewish, so he immediately wanted to convert to Judaism."
"And then?"
Jane listened with great interest.
"Then Ira asked the crucial question,"
Chuck said. "He asked young Sheldon, 'Do you plan to stay in Texas when you grow up?' Young Sheldon said maybe, and then he strongly suggested that young Sheldon continue being Catholic with his parents, preferably even wearing a cross. There aren't any Jews in the area, and he was unlucky enough to be sent there to preach, which led to those honest observations about the challenges."
"Ha!"
Jane burst out laughing. "That guy is pretty funny."
"Think about what's beneath the laughter,"
Chuck reminded her. "The core of comedy is often tragedy. Now, do you still think it's strange that the Rostenkowski family doesn't practice Judaism but is Catholic?"
"No, it's not strange anymore."
Jane finally understood. For most people, what they believe in doesn't matter as much as fitting in, or they'll be ostracized, living a difficult life.
It was already past midnight when they returned to the hillside villa.
Jane, who had managed to stay awake until now, said goodnight and headed to the guest room. She really wanted to sleep.
"Go wash up!"
Chuck called to her.
"I'd rather go to sleep,"
Jane said, yawning.
"No!"
Chuck shook his head.
"Why?"
Jane looked over in surprise. "You don't have to sleep in the guest room... You want to sleep in the guest room?"
Her eyes gleamed with anticipation.
The guest room had been used earlier and hadn't been cleaned at all, which didn't bother her, but if Chuck suddenly wanted to stay with her, she would immediately spring into action and clean it.
"No!"
Chuck shook his head. "After washing up, we'll go to the master bedroom."
"Really?"
Jane was overjoyed, somewhat incredulous.
Before, Chuck always either left afterward or made her leave; there was never any talk of sharing a bed... Her aunt was right; she should have come sooner!
"I'm going now!"
Jane happily went to wash up.
When she finished washing up and arrived at the master bedroom, she saw Chuck had set the timer, which made her both surprised and apprehensive. "Again?"
"You're going to be my detective assistant now."
Chuck bluntly stated, "My true detective assistant, Jane Banner, is proficient in all situations—standing, lying down, day and night—and excels at everything. She's far superior to any FBI rookie. It's already past midnight; a new day, a new training schedule!"
"..."
Faced with Chuck's earnestness, Jane was speechless and could only accept the training with mixed feelings.
The next day.
Just as she was sound asleep, she was awakened again. Opening her eyes, she saw Chuck standing before her and immediately exclaimed in surprise, "I'm not Jewish!"
She really didn't want to undergo any more "intensive training."
"It's getting late; we should continue investigating the case."
Chuck ignored her unusual reaction, gave a brief reminder, and left.
Previously, his meetings with his partners were always brief, never exceeding specific timeframes. Now that Jane wanted to be his detective assistant, it was a good opportunity to conduct a longer-term arrangement.
Just as he had told Jane in the early morning, a complete schedule was already in place, finalized when his secretary Helen booked Jane's plane ticket.
Last night's session and the extra one in the early morning weren't ideal for Chuck.
Her outburst just now proved that Jane wasn't as resilient as he had imagined.
Jane lay there, watching Chuck's departing figure, a bitter smile appearing on her lips. She never imagined that she, who should have been exceptionally capable, would feel so overwhelmed.
This was too much!
Countless thoughts flashed through her mind. After a long while, Jane forced herself to get up. The thought of 'Auntie was right after all; she should have come sooner' was no longer so certain.
At the Dunphy family home.
Claire hadn't slept a wink all night. She almost had an accident while making breakfast for the three children in the morning. Her husband, Phil, stepped in, pushing her to the sofa to rest and taking over the task of making breakfast for the children. However, his flustered appearance wasn't much better than his wife's dazed state.
"Mom, how was last night?"
The three children got up and came downstairs one after another. After washing up and eating breakfast, they were ready to go to school. The eldest daughter, Haley, asked impatiently, "Did you see Detective Chuck?"
"Yes,"
Claire said, biting her nails and looking conflicted.
"What happened?"
The middle daughter, Alex, asked in surprise.
"Nothing,"
Claire shook her head, unwilling to tell the children so as not to disturb their school day.
"Okay,"
Alex shrugged and went to finish getting ready.
"What did Detective Chuck say?"
Haley asked with a gossipy look on her face. "Did he solve the case? Who is the suspect?"
"..."
Claire was even more annoyed to see Haley's expression, as if she would immediately spread the gossip after going to school.
She really wanted to yell, "Your mother is a suspect! Go ahead and gossip!"
But she held back, afraid of scaring her youngest son, Luke.
"The police will keep you updated on the progress,"
Phil said, having listened to his wife's worrying all night and knowing her thoughts perfectly. "Come and eat Dad's lovingly made breakfast, then go to school!"
After seeing the three children off, Gloria, accompanied by an elderly white man, stormed in, shouting angrily, "Can you believe they suspect me of supplying Scarlett with drugs just because I'm from Colombia!"
"They even suspect I poisoned her because of the committee conflict,"
Claire added, also complaining.
"They're just conducting a routine investigation,"
the white-haired man, Jay, could only gently comfort his daughter Claire and wife Gloria. "You're overthinking it."
"Oh, really?"
Gloria glared. "Why don't they conduct this routine investigation on others, but only on us? You keep saying that Detective Chuck used to be your accountant, how close you are, but why doesn't he give you any consideration?"
"That's just how Chuck is."
At this moment, a man with curly blond hair walked in with a smile. "Even though he's Dad's accountant, he'll still have the same attitude. He's the most professional."
He was Claire's brother, Jay's son, Mitchell.
"Stop making that face."
A tall, heavy-set man behind him glared at Mitchell with displeasure.
"Cameron, what face?"
Mitchell asked, his eyes darting around.
"You know what face."
Jay's son-in-law, Mitchell's husband, the tall, heavy-set, and flamboyant Cameron said with dissatisfaction.
"Cameron, you've misunderstood,"
Mitchell explained. "You know I graduated from Columbia Law School, and I greatly admire people with high IQs, and Chuck is definitely one of the smartest."
"Oh, please!"
Cameron scoffed. "So what if he's smart? Everyone has their own strengths, and everyone is the protagonist in their own world. You don't care about Detective Chuck's high IQ at all; you only care that he's handsome and cool! Admit it!"
"The world doesn't revolve around you."
Although Jay had reluctantly accepted his son's marriage, he still found it hard to watch the two bickering and arguing in front of him.
"If I want, the world does revolve around me."
The tall, heavy-set Cameron, with his delicate fingers raised, turned slightly to the side, confidently displaying himself.
"Damn it! This is a murder case, and it involves me!"
Claire couldn't hold back any longer and shouted in frustration.
"Honey, don't worry."
Jay stepped forward and hugged his daughter. "I've already called Chuck and invited him to dinner. Although the time has been postponed until after the case is closed, he agreed. That's the best sign, isn't it?"
"Chuck's coming to our dinner?"
Mitchell exclaimed in surprise.
"..."
Jay wanted to say that this was just a dinner for his and Claire's families, and that Mitchell's family had nothing to do with it, but seeing his son's surprised and expectant eyes, he could only say, "Yes."
"I can help with the dinner arrangements."
The tall, heavy-set Cameron raised his hand with a delicate, flamboyant gesture.
"No need!"
Mitchell quickly interrupted, thinking of something. "I believe Claire can handle it, right?"
"What do you mean?"
The tall, heavy-set Cameron exclaimed indignantly. "You don't trust me? Oh, oh, I see. You think I'm too dramatic and over-the-top, don't you?"
"I don't."
Mitchell said this, but his eyes were fixed on the ground, clearly acknowledging Cameron's self-assessment.
The others weren't so discreet; their eyes held a 'you're absolutely that dramatic and over-the-top' expression.
"No need for you!"
Jay declared decisively.
"Why?"
Cameron looked at his father-in-law. He knew what others thought of him, but he didn't believe they would dare say it to his face.
"Because you're too dramatic and over-the-top!"
Jay didn't mince words, saying irritably, "What do you mean, 'The world revolves around you if you want it to?' The focus of this dinner is Chuck, Claire, Gloria, and the others, not you! And when Chuck comes over, he won't shake your hand. I'm telling you clearly, this isn't targeting you specifically. He does this with everyone, but do you believe that? No, you definitely won't! Then you'll make a huge scene, going on and on about it, demanding that Chuck compromise and apologize, or accuse him of homophobia."
He continued, frustrated, "Damn it! Just because I have to cater to your dramatic and extreme reactions, last time I went to England on a business trip, someone bumped into me, and I had to consider whether the person's orientation might be an issue before daring to express my annoyance. This hurts your feelings, that hurts your feelings—in the end, anything you don't like hurts your feelings. The world really does revolve around you!"
"Wow."
The tall, heavy-set Cameron clutched his chest, looking hurt as he stared at his raging father-in-law. "I'm really hurt!"
Jay spread his hands toward Cameron, his gesture saying 'see what I mean?' to everyone.
"We're already in a vulnerable position. When we feel offended, we have to bravely voice our opinions to change the world's perception,"
Cameron retorted.
"Yeah,"
Jay scoffed, "You're vulnerable, and you feel offended, so you have to speak out. What about the silent majority? They have to endure your increasingly extreme rhetoric. In the end, as long as they don't support every single one of your ideas that pop up anytime, anywhere—even silence without any bias becomes an offense, right? At that point, there's no such thing as a vulnerable group; you've clearly become the center of attention, the privileged group!"
"Wow,"
Cameron looked at his partner, Mitchell, "Did you hear what your dad is saying? What are we in his eyes? Who's being dramatic now?"
"Cameron, stop talking,"
Mitchell said, trying to smooth things over.
His father's words were harsh, but they also struck a chord with him, because in some ways, his father's words hit the nail on the head.
Not only is Cameron's behavior dramatic and exaggerated, but according to his father, he's actually the same. Not long ago, they adopted a Vietnamese girl named Lily. On their flight home, everyone initially praised Lily's cuteness, but then fell silent when they saw Cameron.
He then became unusually sensitive, as if every glance or expression from others was discriminatory towards them. When a new passenger boarded and saw Lily, saying something innocent about her being cute with a cream puff, he immediately launched into a lecture, criticizing everyone for discriminating against them. It turned out the passenger simply thought Lily with the cream puff was adorable.
The entire plane then fell silent.
This kind of "lecture" is what they excel at and use most often; it's become their go-to move.
Now, with his father describing it this way, this kind of "speaking out" seems to have become a tool for bullying the silent majority, making them, supposedly the disadvantaged group, seem like the bullies instead.
The key point is that this isn't just his father's opinion; could it be a shared sentiment among the silent majority?
Thinking about Chuck, who was always reserved around him, and then about the unusually quiet five hours after he insisted on giving his speech on the plane, the feeling was just awful.
(End of Chapter)
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