"What? You're going to Gotham?"
Martha's voice was full of surprise.
"It's only a four-day book promotion event. It'll be over soon."
Eric explained to his parents, "Besides, Mr. Anthony from the publishing house will be going to Gotham with me. I don't think you and Dad need to worry about my safety."
"You've never been this far from home before, much less to a place like Gotham."
Martha took Eric's hand. "I know that city's public safety isn't very good. It's even worse than Metropolis. Maybe, Eric, your father could go with you."
"Though I'm worried about Eric's safety too."
Jonathan was more open-minded about it. "I believe he can take care of himself. If I followed Eric to Gotham, he'd definitely feel very uncomfortable. A man who never takes risks gets neither mule nor horse; a man who takes too many risks loses both mule and horse. We worry about our children's safety, Martha, but we can't overprotect them."
Martha was dissatisfied with her husband's words. "Eric isn't even an adult yet."
"For ordinary people, perhaps not. But for Eric and Clark, they passed their coming-of-age ceremony long ago."
"When?"
Martha looked puzzled.
"When they secretly tasted whiskey."
Jonathan said with a smile.
"?"
Martha was full of question marks. "Eric and Clark drank alcohol before?"
"You see, sometimes that's just how things are. Martha, we're afraid of our sons coming into contact with anything harmful, afraid that they'll get hurt. But sometimes things happen gradually, without us even knowing. If we let them do things on their own, they grow up faster than we imagine."
Jonathan patiently explained to his wife.
Beside them, Eric's expression shifted slightly upon hearing his father mention him drinking.
Clark, meanwhile, felt rather wronged.
He had only curiously sniffed it once. He