Matt rambled on, "This journey of revenge has given Erica too much confidence, she's now blindly optimistic about the future."
"She says that this is an era of rapid development, with the human race accelerating into the cosmos, our child shouldn't miss this grand epoch. She believes we have the capability to protect him."
Matt shook his head, "She doesn't see the problems hidden beneath the beautiful vision of rapid development. Leaving out safety issues, I don't want my child to become a blind wanderer in an era of colliding technology and thought changes. I hope for him to have a more stable growing environment…"
Shiller sighed softly, this isn't a realm a psychologist can manage. Matt and Erica's ideas don't have any issues, it could only be said that one person leans towards being conservative, while the other leans towards being progressive.
Matt doesn't want his child to become an experimental subject of this era's development. He hopes to plan when the situation is more stable, but Erica thinks that now is the bonus era, where giving birth earlier means outpacing others and allows the child to seize opportunities earlier.
This kind of divergence between husband and wife has no right or wrong, nor do the two people have any psychological issues. It can only be said that they have different world views due to different growth experiences.
Erica is a diplomat's daughter, her father has always regarded her as a pearl in his palm, introducing her to many grand scenes from a young age, broadening her horizons, so she has her own opinions on the international situation and future development.
Because Erica has a better understanding of the previous international situation, it's why she feels that the current global unity to step into the cosmos is hardly easy to come by. She wants her and her family to seize this opportunity, which is reasonable.
Matt's father was a boxer from the lower class. Matt's social status today all came from his own struggles, belonging to the kind of person who has crossed class lines through his own efforts. He pursues stability, thinking that his hard work and struggles were meant to create a good living environment for his descendants, he's unwilling to take risks with his descendants.
Shiller pondered, and then began to speak, "Recently, I treated a patient. He's not much older than Peter. He's been hospitalized for a while due to some recent shocks, but things are improving now."
"He's been lucid more often recently. So, I talked with him about his background. His name is Robert. Oh, you might know his other nickname, Speedball, from the New Warriors Team."
Matt frowned and said, "The New Warriors? You mean, that bunch of young superheroes who show off on the media and don't do anything serious?"
"Yes. But, they've already disbanded. Some of them were absorbed by S.H.I.E.L.D. and are busy maintaining peace in various places. Some who were originally mutants joined Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters and spent a term in the Andromeda Galaxy."
Shiller sighed and said, "Robert has severe personality issues. On the surface, he exhibits an overblown sense of self and an extreme vanity, but he's actually weak-willed and falls apart easily over small issues."
"He's constantly scared of people seeing through his facade. He's combative and volatile, but he's outwardly strong and inwardly weak."
"According to my understanding of his family, this is caused by the divergence of his parents' education." Shiller shook his head regretfully and continued, "His father was a prosecutor, and his mother was a musical actress."
"His father was like you, from a civilian family, earned everything he has now through his own efforts. He hopes that his son could be focused, diligent, and earnest enough to stand out among his peers by being sufficiently hardworking and outstanding, and must not be looked down on by others."
"His mother, on the other hand, was from a richer family, learned dance and drama from a young age, and became an excellent opera actress. She doted on Robert immensely, thinking as long as her child is happy, everything's fine. Even when Robert got into trouble, she would prefer to pay to resolve the trouble rather than educate him."
"These two people had completely opposite educational ideas, as a result, whether Robert got into trouble or achieved something, he could never get feedback from both parents at the same time."
"The father criticized the mother as being overly indulgent towards the child, while the mother criticized the father as being overly harsh on the child. With their parents arguing every day, little Robert developed symptoms of separation anxiety in children, but his parents never noticed this."
"As a result, by the time he reached high school, his problematic character was impossible to reverse. On one hand, he'd heed his father's teachings and carry himself as arrogant and vain in front of others, even boasting about things he couldn't do or didn't have."
"On the other hand, because of his mother's indulgence, he would disregard rules and challenge authority. When he was in high school, he was punished for community service because he was bullying and beating classmates."
"After he gained superpowers, all these problems intensified. According to S.H.I.E.L.D. agents' interrogations of the New Warriors team members, even his teammates could hardly stand him."
"Later on, due to certain events, Robert suffered psychological trauma. His already unstable psyche completely collapsed. It's predictable that even if he walks out of this shadow, this will be a lifelong regret for him..."
With a "snap," the chopsticks in Matt's hand fell. His blink rate increased, constantly swallowing saliva, apparently becoming a bit nervous. He said, "This is what I'm afraid of! Erica and I don't really meet eye to eye on educational matters…"
"She's from a diplomat' s family and was encouraged to travel to various countries to broaden her horizons since she was young..."
"But my dad has been teaching me since I was young that I must first polish my skills and pursue inner peace and stability. Only then, I won't inadvertently hurt others while interacting, and also have some self-defense capabilities."
"This becomes a question of cause and effect." Shiller analyzed, "Does increasing experience aid persona stability, or shall one first establish personal stability before going out to gain experiences?"
Matt immediately looked at Shiller with a hint of hope in his eyes, as though he would give a definite answer, but Shiller shook his head, saying, "Both paths have their pros and cons. However, in my view, the most significant factor in shaping personality during adolescence is the family education environment."
"The problem has circled back to its starting point." Matt said with some helplessness. "Erica and I can't even reach an agreement on whether we should have a child. How could we agree on how to educate that child?"
In the end, Shiller could only comfort him as a friend: "Even though you two haven't yet reached a consensus, never let this sense of defeat defeat you. Don't think because you can't come to a conclusion that you shouldn't discuss it..."
"Actually, the truth will always become clearer the more you discuss it. The more you two talk, the better you understand each other. Instead of staying here drinking with me, you'd better go have another chat with Erica..."
Matt thought for a moment, then nodded, "You're right. I plan to tell Erica Robert's story. If we can't guarantee a good family education environment, then we might be better off not having a child at all. If our child were to suffer a mental breakdown in the future, we would be even more devastated."
After a couple of hours of talking, it was late into the night by the time Matt left. Shiller cleaned up the leftovers on the table. Unintentionally, they had finished several cans of beer again.
Shiller found that he was now somewhat fond of the dizzy feeling that the beer gave him. His favorite accompaniment wasn't sashimi or any other food, but having someone across from him pouring out their emotions.
After a brief clean-up, Shiller didn't even plan to go to bed. He leaned against the sofa, planning to doze off until dawn.
Just as he was beginning to feel groggy and about to fall asleep, he heard a few "bang bang bang" sounds. Shiller woke up startled, sat up from the sofa and turned to look outside the window.
At this moment, under the sparse moonlight, the sky of New York remained calm, except for a streak of green that suddenly crossed the sky.
Shiller squinted his eyes hard, and in a daze, he saw a figure in a green tight suit, riding on a skateboard at high speed, throwing orange bombs downwards from the sky.
Shiller didn't hear any cries. He tried hard to judge the location in his slightly drunk state and found that this little green man seemed to be throwing bombs into the Hudson River. While no person had been hit, the fish were in big trouble.
No, wait, that's not a little green man... Shiller thought, isn't that Green Goblin? What is Osborn up to? Instead of striving to make money, why was he in a tight suit and acting crazy?
So Shiller rubbed his forehead trying hard to sober up, took out his phone and called Stark, then asked, "Any recent developments with Old Osborn? What is he doing?"
Stark was obviously busy with an experiment; he replied with some confusion, "Osborn is making moves? Wait, let me ask JARVIS…"
After a while, Stark answered, "The Osborn Group has been busy catching up in the shuttle route share. Old Osborn and Uncle Obadiah have three to four negotiations a day. They almost exchanged blows yesterday. Oh, right, that reminds me, I still need to prepare a Mech Armor Troops for Uncle Obadiah as a show of strength…"
Shiller heard Stark's somewhat disdainful voice through the phone, "He doesn't own much of the patent technology, but he's not willing to give up a single share. If it weren't for me not wanting to monopolize, he wouldn't have his share."
Shiller frowned, sensing nothing abnormal. Osborn should be pretty busy recently. Apart from the air transportation routes and the Immortality industry, even the generalization of the Lizard Serum Healing Drug, and the development of Mercury Shading Technology, he has got a foot in them all.
The Osborn Group was having the most splendid period in its history. Old Osborn was a thorough businessman; even if someone were to hold a knife to his neck, he wouldn't cause trouble at this time, because that would be like harming himself.
Shiller took another close look at the Green Goblin flying high in the sky, but this figure didn't seem to be Old Osborn.
Although Old Osborn was younger than Obadiah and half a generation younger than Howard, he was also a man from the previous generation. Even though he had been exercising and maintaining his physique, it still didn't match up with this Green Goblin. The agile figure of the Goblin, suggestively belonged to a young man.
Shiller speculated that it could be Harry Osborn, the Little Green Demon. But, Old Osborn was not only still alive but more energetic than ever, having a three-round fight with Obadiah every day. It does not look like he was on the verge of death. So, why has the Little Green Demon shown up?
Shiller shook his head, but he had no intention of stopping the Green Goblin. This was because he knew that Spider-Man would definitely show up.
Indeed, before long, under the moonlight, the shiny spider silk looked like shooting stars. A figure in red and blue swung over and kicked the Green Goblin in the waist. Immediately, both of them went crashing down to the structure of the Brooklyn Bridge, where they started a rigorous fight.
Feeling the weariness creeping in again, Shiller changed into his sleepwear and went back to bed upstairs.
That night, it felt as though he was back at spring festival in his homeland, with one moment of "bang bang bang" and another of "crackle".
It was not until the next morning when he saw Spider-Man at the door, looking like a drowned rat, that Shiller truly felt the urge to whack him with a curtain rod on his forehead.