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"I knew it..." Sheldon complained, staring at the new ingredients list on the packaging. "They actually substituted refined flour for whole wheat flour, and they even added industrial saccharin and artificial coloring to the bread..."
The presence of unhealthy ingredients caused immediate psychological distress for Sheldon, who was obsessed with physical health.
"Is that so?" Seeing her younger son's extreme reaction, Mary worriedly took the package to check the new formula. "I was saying that the bread today tasted a little sweet..."
In reality, there is nothing wrong with a company updating its formula to stay competitive. Given the local sweet tooth, the food company's decision to add saccharin to the bread recipe was simply catering to the market.
And in a way, this modification to suit public taste was a successful move. After all, soft, sweet bread is bound to be more popular with the general public than the rough texture of whole wheat bread.
Mary clearly preferred the new sweet bread, too. However, seeing the indignant look on her son's face, she tried to soothe him. "Shelly, I don't think there's anything wrong with the bread... Of course, it would be better if they hadn't raised the price."
"No—" Sheldon continued to argue based on facts. "Excessive sugar intake can lead to obesity, diabetes, and other diseases. They are committing murder..."
"Stop, Shelly. It's not as serious as you're making it out to be." Mary was startled by her son's analysis and immediately put a stop to his diatribe.
"Perhaps," Sheldon said noncommittally, having been cut off. "But compared to sweet bread, I have the right to choose healthier whole wheat bread. If that's not available, I would rather starve."
Mary, who had been trying to comfort him, began to feel a wave of irritation at his unreasonable behavior. Just as she was about to lose her temper, George walked through the door after a long day at work.
"What's going on?" Sensing the tension between his wife and younger son, George asked.
Mary suppressed her anger and explained the bread situation to her husband, hoping he would join her in trying to talk some sense into Sheldon.
However, George didn't think it was a big deal. He offered a solution: "Maybe we can go check the supermarket again and see if they sell whole wheat bread."
"I told you, the supermarket only has this sweet bread now." Faced with her husband's perfunctory attitude, Mary grew impatient again.
"Not necessarily. Apart from the supermarket we usually go to, other places might still have whole wheat bread." Standing to the side, Sheldon—unable to read the room—latched onto the loophole in his mother's statement.
He looked at his father and asked, "Dad, can you drive me to check the other supermarkets?"
Driven by his obsession with whole wheat bread, Sheldon wanted to inspect the shelves personally.
"Come on, I just got back." George took off his jacket, hung it on the coat rack by the door, and looked at his son, who was staring at him with puppy-dog eyes. "Shelly, you're a big boy now. The supermarket isn't far from here. I believe you're capable of going by yourself."
Encouragement can help children build confidence, especially for a kid like Sheldon who needed to grow up a bit.
Sure enough, after receiving his father's encouragement, Sheldon thought for a moment and affirmed, "Yes, I can do it."
Motivated by the prospect of healthy bread, Sheldon ran back to his room, grabbed his sanitation gloves, and hurriedly left the house.
In the kitchen, Mary watched her son leave alone, then turned to look at her husband, who was heading to the fridge for a beer. Her brow furrowed unconsciously. clearly, her protective instincts over Sheldon were causing her to feel dissatisfied with her husband again.
---
Later, while Mary was preparing dinner for everyone, Georgie sprinted into the house with impressive agility.
After shutting the door tight, he wiped non-existent sweat from his forehead and panted heavily as he spoke to Mike, who was sitting on the sofa. "Mike, you won't believe it. Those reporters are a total pain in the neck..."
Earlier at the school gate, after Mike and the others had left, the reporters had settled for the next best thing and turned their questions onto Georgie.
In the living room, Mike handed Georgie a glass of water and asked curiously, "How did you shake them?"
"I didn't," Georgie said urgently, ignoring the water. "Those reporters followed me all the way to the front door..."
Georgie looked thoroughly depressed. The reporters stuck to him like glue; he couldn't shake them off at all.
Looking out the window, a few people holding microphones were gathered right outside the Cooper family's yard. Fortunately, due to the sanctity of private property, they hadn't trespassed onto the lawn.
"What's the situation out there?" George asked in surprise, looking out the window at the crowd.
"Those guys are magazine reporters. They're here to dig up gossip on 'The Stunners'..." Georgie explained to his dad. (Note: "The Stunners" is used as the localized name for the girl group.)
George had seen The Stunners' debut performance at the Holiday Showcase on TV. Combining that with his eldest son's explanation, George understood why those people were outside.
"Let them stay there. They'll probably leave before long." Deciding the reporters weren't a threat, George—who couldn't be bothered to deal with it—grabbed his beer and sat back down on the sofa.
Although Medford is a small town, it has its own local TV station. The station has its own field reporters, so the profession of the people outside didn't cause too much alarm for the family.
A little while later, Meemaw, who had picked Missy up from school, walked into the house with the little girl.
"Mike, are those people at the door looking for you? They all said they were reporters..." Missy ran happily up to Mike and asked curiously, "By the way, Mike... what's a reporter?"
"A reporter is just a reporter," Mike explained patiently to the curious girl. "It's a job, a profession. They mainly engage in recording news and reporting it. Of course, the ones outside are probably entertainment reporters."
"News? Can I be on TV and in the newspapers too?" The extroverted Missy had just answered several questions for the reporters. If Meemaw hadn't pulled her away, she probably would have stayed outside playing with them a bit longer.
To Missy, those people asking questions were just playing a game with her.
"No, Missy. Those reporters outside don't look like good people." Meemaw, having hung up her coat and checked her appearance in the mirror, walked over and interrupted her granddaughter's fantasy.
With her richer life experience, she easily deduced the reporters' intentions. Clearly, they didn't come with good intentions.
But for Connie, this wasn't a big issue.
She smiled and teased, "Mike, it looks like the girls in The Stunners are really going to be famous this time. What are your thoughts?"
Meemaw knew the real relationship between Mike and the girls in the group. Knowing the inside scoop, she also knew that Mike's support was behind the group's success. At the very least, that Christmas song meant a lot to them.
"What thoughts could I have?" Mike said casually. "The Stunners' achievements are all the result of the girls' own hard work."
Mike didn't take credit for their success.
"Alright then..." Seeing Mike's flat reaction, Meemaw felt bored.
She shrugged, grabbed a beer from the table, and went to sit on the adjacent sofa.
---
Another half hour passed, and Mary finished preparing dinner for everyone.
"Is Shelly not back yet?" Mary asked, looking toward the living room as she placed the food on the table.
"He should be back soon. Let's wait a little longer," George replied.
Since the Coopers were a Christian family, the dinner prayer usually didn't start until everyone was present.