Qi Guowen’s face darkened, and he said angrily, "Gu Min, you are a sister-in-law, I’ve never been harsh to you before. I know your son has had an incident, and your heart aches, but listen to yourself! Is this nonsense you’re spouting even human speech?"
Qi Guowen spoke rapidly, "What business do you even have with those masters? You never had any dealings with them before, and just yesterday, you lost your temper with them and said all those unsavory things. Doesn’t everyone have a temper? Even a clay figurine has a little bit of anger in it! They were already being decent enough, even reminding Chang Hong, but if Chang Hong didn’t take it to heart, that’s on him! And you, Gu Min, and you, Guowei, what’s wrong with you two? If you had just cared a little more and gone out looking for him yesterday, couldn’t you have prevented all this from happening? Wouldn’t we all be happy and everything be fine? You didn’t care yourselves, indulged him endlessly, so why should others be held responsible?"
Qi Guowei’s face flushed red, and he fidgeted with the hem of his shirt, too embarrassed to look up.
Gu Min wiped her tears fiercely and glared at Qi Guowen, "So what you’re saying, big brother, is that it’s all our fault? Does Jiaoyang Temple bear no blame whatsoever?"
"Indeed, it’s all your fault!"
Qi Guowen said decisively, without a moment’s hesitation.
He looked at Gu Min sternly, "I heard the entire phone call. The master from Jiaoyang Temple didn’t say anything wrong! It’s because of you two, as parents, that Chang Hong has ended up where he is today! What kind of family do you have? Just ordinary wage earners, yet how old is Chang Hong? In his twenties, not studying, not working—I’ve told you countless times before, to get him into the company, let him work properly, start from the bottom up, but you wouldn’t have it! You insisted on letting him stay at home, under the pretense of what, starting a business? What business has he started, engaging in eating, drinking, and gambling?"
"At his age, idling away at home, relying on you both for support, and you both still spoil him, giving him whatever money he asks for. When you can’t produce it yourselves, you come to me to borrow! You two need to think about it—how much have you borrowed from me for the sake of Chang Hong, how much from your second brother?"
"If you hadn’t always indulged him, would he have turned out ? Acting impulsively without thinking, capable of doing anything! Killing a person, and now you know to cry, yet you don’t know to reflect, only to blame others! In my opinion, there’s nothing good about any of you!"
Qi Guowen was also fuming with anger.
Ultimately, the fault lay with Qi Guowei’s family, with Qi Changhong.
Yet, when Qi Guowei and Gu Min came over, they wept and wailed, blaming everyone but themselves, completely unaware of their own faults.
Qi Guowen, thinking about all the things Qi Changhong had done over the years, was seething with anger.
Qi Changhong was not his child, and in the past, when he wanted to discipline, he had no right to speak, and the occasional advice he did give, Qi Guowei and Gu Min wouldn’t take.
Now that the child had gotten into trouble, whom to blame?
Who else could be blamed?
Gu Min’s crying gradually subsided, her face flushed as she opened her mouth but couldn’t say a word.
But after a few quiet seconds, she wiped her face and began to cry again, "But what could we do? He’s our only son, my husband and I aren’t as capable as you and your spouse, we couldn’t satisfy him with money, so we tried to make him happy in every other way. Even if we were wrong, what’s the point of saying this now?"
Upon hearing this, Qi Guowen almost fainted with anger, "Even now you don’t recognize your mistakes. It’s not just about Chang Hong getting out. Even if he does, you’re likely to spoil him right back into trouble! Have you not heard that indulging a child is akin to killing a child?"