"Peter nodded, but Shiller could tell he was paying lip service, his mind was still filled with countless logical knots, continuously looping.
After a moment of silence, Peter looked at Shiller with pleading eyes. Shiller smiled and stood up from the sofa, walking to the second floor. During this time, Peter's gaze followed him. When Shiller went upstairs, Peter even felt like standing up and following him, like a completely insecure stray animal.
Shiller gestured for him to stay calm. After a while, he brought out a pot of flowers from the bedroom upstairs. Well, it wasn't exactly a flower, it was a cabbage.
Shiller placed the cabbage on the table. Peter stared at the cabbage, rather curious, he asked: "Is this some new variety of plant? But why does it look so much like a cabbage?"
"Correct, it's a cabbage."
"But why would you plant a cabbage in a flower pot?"
"Let's not get into that, poke it."
Peter was at a loss, he blinked confusedly, but still leaned forward as per Shiller's instructions and gently poked the cabbage leaf with his finger.
The living room of the clinic was not very large, so the distance between the sofa and the coffee table was not far. Peter leaned forward, his nose just above the cabbage. Suddenly, there was a "bam" noise followed by a scream. Peter got punched and ended up on the sofa.
Spiderman's nose isn't made of metal, getting punched at close range, Peter immediately clutched his nose and screamed on the sofa, simultaneously asking with disbelief.
"How did it punch me?!!"
"Does it still look strange to you now why I planted the cabbage?"
Peter rubbed his nose for a while, tears in his eyes, his voice choked up: "This is incredible. How can a cabbage have such strength?"
"You see, when you discovered that this cabbage can punch, you no longer care why a cabbage would appear in the clinic's flower pot, because a punching cabbage is even more shocking."
"Memory and brain capacity of humans are limited. When a more astonishing question presents itself, they won't have the capacity to deal with other problems... How has Gwen been recently?"
The sudden change in topic from the Shiller left Peter flabbergasted, he held his nose and asked suspiciously: "Huh?"
"Nick has complained to me several times that Spider Gwen is constantly dragging Gwen along for credit farming."
Peter nodded and said, "That's true. She is always helping Spider Gwen with tasks when she's free, either running errands or patrolling."
"So she also wears a uniform similar to Spider Gwen's and does the same things?"
Peter nodded, then froze. He opened his mouth wide towards Shiller and said, "Doctor, you don't actually intend to…"
"If you say Gwen is dating Spider Man, George would definitely disagree. But if you say Gwen wants to be Spider Man herself, then George would definitely not have time to care about who she is dating."
"If George found out that his daughter was dating Spider Man, he would definitely be furious. But, if he found out his daughter was Spider Man, he would likely be frightened as Spider Man has a precedent of sacrifice."
"But this…" Peter was about to say that provoking George this way was probably not a nice thing to do when Shiller interrupted him saying, "When these authoritarian parents find out that their child's path of growth is different from what they had imagined, they instinctively feel like someone tricked their child, rather than admit their failure in upbringing."
"If he finds out that Gwen is dating Spider Man, he will definitely feel that Spider Man has misled her. But if Gwen is determined to be Spider Man, he cannot deny his responsibility and must then face the fact that his parenting method has some fundamental issues."
"But he will feel very concerned." Peter said with his head down, "He will also feel heartbroken, because Gwen has always been obedient. She is his pride."
"Peter." Shiller called out Peter's name, prompting him to look at him, "Do you think Gwen is safe when she's not Spider Man?"
"Of course." Peter instinctively answered, "There's nothing unsafe about staying in the lab, right?"
"What is she researching in the lab?"
"Recently, she has been working with Dr. Otto on the experiment of artificial solar energy, and occasionally she helps out at Doctor Connors'. I am not exactly sure what their project is all about, but it might be some kind of animal experiment."
"Peter, you think she is safe now because you have professional knowledge. Do you think if you went to discuss his daughter's work with George using terms like 'artificial sun' or 'animal experiment', he would still think his daughter is safe?"
"But that's just a common misperception." Peter began to anxiously explain, "The experiments are under control, we are not creating a massive bomb or some evil monster."
"Of course, of course." Shiller comforted him and said, "But you cannot expect every common person to have your and Gwen's specialized knowledge. It's completely normal for them to not understand what you guys do in the lab."
"George does not understand the technical details. He similarly has to rely on Gwen's word that everything in the lab is okay. But he does have an understanding about Spider Man's work as a vigilante, or at least he thinks he does. So when it comes to judging Gwen's safety, he will ignore Gwen's opinion and judge based on his own understanding."
"Many parents do just that when they think they understand something. So they will ignore their children's feelings and make decisions for them while worrying about imagined dangers that seem ridiculous to professionals."
Peter was silent for a few minutes, as if he was contemplating how to express himself, then finally lowered his eyelids and said softly.
"George has to do this. He's a single father with a sensitive role. Too many people are eyeing his daughter. His resistance to me is just an instinct developed over years to protect his daughter."
"Because of this, I can't stand on a pedestal, berating him for being overly strict and unreasonable just because I know more than him. It's precisely his strictness that has shielded Gwen from all harm and allowed her to grow safe and to herself become an excellent person."
Peter looked up at Shiller, his eyes always had a child-like innocence, starting off with tenderness, ending with determination.
"He's a good man, good people understand other good people, That's why he knows Spider Man is a hero."
"That's why he understands how tough the path is, which is why he wants his daughter to be as far away from the identity of a hero as possible, to lead a safe and peaceful life."
"I didn't reveal my identity to Uncle Ben or Aunt May to save them from grief. How could I ask Gwen to upset her father and make George worry?"
Shiller looked at Peter and again touched by the young man: "You really have grown up, Peter."