Chapter 19

“Keep trying,” Shanley commanded, loosening his tie. “Price is not an issue.”
His grandmother adored this designer. After failing to acquire a bracelet for her last time, he was determined to make her happy now.
“Understood,” Felton replied with a respectful nod. “Sir, you have an international conference call in thirty minutes.”
“Back to the office.”
Just as Shanley gave the order, he caught sight of a child happily skipping along with a lollipop. “Wait.”
A thought seemed to strike him, and a small smile touched his lips.
“Go to the nearest mall.”
The mall? They would miss the meeting.
“Yes, sir.” Flint, in the passenger seat, was about to object, but seeing the serious expression on his boss’s face, he knew this must be more important. He immediately gave Felton the new direction, and the car sped off.
Ten minutes later, in the snack aisle on the lower level of the mall, Felton and Flint stood frozen like statues, their jaws on the floor as they watched their boss meticulously selecting mango-flavored candies.
“So, the boss ditched a hundred-million-dollar conference call… to buy candy?” Flint turned to Felton, his mouth twitching.
“Apparently so,” Felton replied, standing ramrod straight with his hands behind his back, his expression a mixture of confusion and disbelief.
“First of all, the boss hates mangoes. Second, he wouldn’t be buying them for us Flint narrowed his eyes, adopting a detective-like focus. “So who are they for?”
Felton turned his head slowly and gave Flint a look that said it all.
“No way!” Flint’s mind reeled. Had the ice king finally thawed?
…
Back at Moultlands, Juniper had just finished dinner when Janet placed a thick stack of textbooks beside her.
“Juniper, you should get familiar with these first. I’ll help you catch up as soon as I finish these few problems.”
“You don’t have to ”
Before Juniper could refuse, Janet was already engrossed in her worksheet, head down in concentration.
With nothing better to do, Juniper idly flipped through the textbooks to pass the time.
Half an hour later, she had finished skimming the books and saw that Janet was still struggling.
“This problem is way above our level!” Janet muttered, chewing on her pen and ruffling her hair into a messy nest. “I’m seriously questioning the mental state of whoever wrote this. Can anyone actually solve it?”
Juniper glanced at the worksheet, propped her chin on her hand, and smiled. “The answer is 8.” It was a bit harder than the problems from class. It had taken her until she was seven to learn that concept.
“That’s right!” Janet’s head snapped up, her eyes wide with disbelief. “Juniper, how did you know?”
“Assume angle A is 30 degrees, then draw a line here, connect BE Juniper picked up a pencil and sketched on the paper. With just a little guidance, realization dawned on Janet’s face. “Yes, that’s exactly it!”
Then, her smile froze.
“Juniper,” Janet said, leaning closer, her large, clear eyes fixed on her. “This is Math Olympiad level.”
Many college students couldn’t solve it, let alone someone who had only completed their freshman year of high school.
Juniper blinked, unable to come up with a better explanation. “I just read the book,” she said dismissively.
What? She could solve Math Olympiad problems just from skimming a textbook once? For real?
“I have a few more I’m stuck on. Could you help me with them?” Janet licked her lips, looking at Juniper with hopeful eyes. “I’ll make you fried chicken later.”
Fried chicken? Juniper’s eyes lit up. She pushed her glass of lemonade far away, her tone as resolute as if she were taking a solemn oath. “Bring me the problems.”