Chapter 4: Little Red Riding Hood Arrives 

**The Duncan Residence**

"Adam!"

Teddy feigned ignorance for a moment, then caught Adam's playful glance and suddenly understood. She let out a dissatisfied cry.

"Alright, alright."

Adam raised his hands in surrender. "Teddy, we'll do it your way! I'll take Charlie for two hours first, then you take over!"

After all, this was America. Although Adam was the eldest brother, with their parents setting a questionable example, he couldn't really interfere with Teddy's budding romance.

"The living room is yours! The basement is mine!"

Teddy's eyes lit up. She became bolder in her demands. Everyone knew the basement was the best place for a date!

"Don't even think about it!"

Adam flatly refused. "You can only stay in the living room, uh, to study. Otherwise, we'll all study together. Your choice?"

"The living room it is!"

Teddy pouted. She wasn't rebellious by nature and had always been a good girl. She knew she couldn't bargain on this kind of thing. Besides, she was innocent and didn't have any ulterior motives.

Ding-dong!

The doorbell rang!

"I'll get it, I'll get it!"

Teddy jumped up and ran towards the door. Before opening it, she took out a small mirror from her jeans pocket to fix her hair and adjust her expression. Then she opened the door, leaned against it, and gave the visitor her sweetest smile. "Hi, Spencer~"

"Hi, Teddy~"

The visitor was a tall, handsome guy with a backpack slung over his shoulder in a pretentious manner. But with Adam's sharp eyes, he could tell there were no books inside.

Heh, amateur!

"This is my brother, Adam. This is my friend, Spencer."

Teddy briefly introduced them. Without waiting for Adam to speak, she immediately 'changed her tune'. "Adam, weren't you going to take Charlie out to play? Go on, we still need to study!"

"What's the rush?"

Adam ignored Teddy and addressed Spencer, who was wearing a reserved smile that seemed to mirror his own. "Did you bring your books? Do you need to borrow one from me?"

"..."

Spencer's smile froze. How was he supposed to respond to that? Was he really here to study?

"You don't need to lend him any!"

Teddy couldn't stand to see 'her boyfriend' embarrassed. She nudged Adam with her elbow and urged, "We have books! Adam, hurry up and take Charlie!"

She gave Adam a threatening look.

"Just remember what I said! Charlie and I will be in the basement. Call us if you need anything."

Adam looked at the 'reserved and silent, almost like a younger version of himself' Spencer and said meaningfully, "We can hear everything..."

"Haha."

The corner of Spencer's mouth twitched, and he let out a dry laugh. The hidden warmth in his eyes instantly dropped a few degrees, and he became visibly uncomfortable.

Adam carried Charlie to the basement. This was a classic feature of American suburban houses. Almost every house had a basement that could be used for storage, as a recreation room, or even as living space.

According to their mom, Amy, having three children was for cowards, and continuing to have more was for warriors. The Duncan family was undoubtedly a family of warriors, but it also brought a problem: room allocation.

The first floor had a large living room and kitchen. The second floor had three rooms. Bob and Amy occupied the master bedroom, and the adjacent room belonged to Charlie, equipped with a baby monitor.

This was America, where personal freedom was highly valued. There wasn't a custom like in Eastern countries where parents slept with their children for years after birth. The master bedroom and the nursery each had a baby monitor. Although it was a bit troublesome, it did avoid a lot of awkward situations.

For example, Adam's future friend, Sheldon Cooper, had complete memories from the age of one or two, and he also possessed eidetic memory. This made him dread hearing his parents' catchphrases because it would trigger memories he shouldn't remember...

The remaining room on the second floor was originally occupied by Adam and Gabe. However, after Adam traveled through time, he didn't want to live with the mischievous Gabe and took the initiative to move to the basement.

The basement was spacious. Besides accommodating Adam's bed, it also served as a recreation room, housing all sorts of musical instruments for Adam to play rock music, as well as a game console and a TV.

Teddy and Gabe also wanted to live there, but Adam suppressed their attempts. He wasn't like his former self, a pushover who was often teased by his younger siblings despite being the eldest.

Teddy, failing to claim the basement and not wanting to be too close to her parents, had no choice but to move to the attic room on the third floor.

"Charlie, be good. Big brother needs to study."

Adam placed his little sister on the sofa, gave her a toy to play with, and then sat down to seriously read his textbooks.

It was said that American students had a light workload and that the education system emphasized fun. But that was only for the abandoned lower class. The children of the true elite studied even harder than those in Eastern countries.

The number 4 was the nightmare of these elite high school students. To achieve the highest GPA of 4.0, they had to drink 4 cups of coffee and sleep only 4 hours a day. This level of dedication definitely surpassed that of high school students in Eastern countries!

Adam wanted to avoid an early death and aspired to become a top surgeon. The first step was to get into a good university.

And to take this first step well, it was quite a challenge for both his former self and his current self.

The original PJ's knowledge structure could be summarized in one sentence, which was what his sister Teddy often said to nine-month-old Charlie: "You have a good chance of going to high school with your big brother!"

As for Adam himself, although he had gone to university, as anyone from an Eastern country knew, the peak of one's knowledge was during the college entrance exams. That was when one truly knew everything about the universe and the earth, and could conquer the world with math, physics, and chemistry. After graduating from university, all that remained was a single exclamation: "Holy crap!"

Therefore, Adam was now a true academic underachiever. He had to start reviewing all the courses from scratch, and the American curriculum was different from that in Eastern countries, which further increased the difficulty of his studies.

After a whole year of catching up, he finally managed to keep up with the progress. High school was approaching, and the four-year GPA had a significant impact on college applications. Adam had to strive for a 4.0 GPA.

And in a public high school with weak teaching staff, finding a genius classmate to study with would definitely be helpful. This was one of the important reasons why Adam wanted to befriend Sheldon.

Putting aside these distracting thoughts, Adam, truly immersed in his studies, declared: "Learning makes me happy!"

**Living Room, First Floor**

Teddy and Spencer sat on the sofa, their bodies close together, a book spread open in front of them. Both of their eyes were flickering, neither paying attention to what was written in the book. Occasionally, their eyes met, and sparks seemed to fly.

"I'm going to get a pencil!"

"I have one!"

After a long standoff, Teddy took the initiative to speak in code. Spencer immediately responded, and they both pretended to turn around and rummage through their backpacks.

Teddy applied lipstick while looking at a small mirror. Spencer took out breath freshener and sprayed it in his mouth.

"I think I forgot my pencil at school."

"Me too!"

As Spencer said this, he blew a breath towards Teddy. Teddy took a deep breath, and the smile on her face grew sweeter.

Ding-dong!

Just as they were getting closer and closer, the doorbell suddenly rang, startling them both.

"I'll get it!"

Teddy apologized with a smile and then got up and ran to the door angrily. As she opened the door, she asked, "Who is it?"

"Is Adam Duncan home?"

Outside the door, a girl of the same age said with a smile, "My name is Juno MacGuff. I'm his classmate!"

"Hello."

Teddy looked at the girl in the red hoodie and thought of her brother's flirtatious nature. A hint of pity flashed in her eyes as she thought to herself, "Poor Little Red Riding Hood, actually coming to find the Big Bad Wolf herself..."

**(End of Chapter)**