That night.
The five Shen brothers called all their children home.
But one had yet to return: the youngest Shen brother's son. He attended school out of town, and although he had already taken leave, he was still on the road and would probably arrive in another hour.
The main reason they were being so cooperative was fear.
When we first arrived, Shen Jun kept asking us whether the old man's unwillingness to let go after death would affect his descendants.
This was a common mindset among people who believed in metaphysics without understanding it. They did not know what would affect them and what would not, so the guiltier their consciences, the more frightened they became.
Zhang Rong and I sat outside the Spirit Hall, watching the family argue over there.
They were still arguing over how to divide the inheritance.
"I don't understand. I really don't understand."
Zhang Rong kept shaking his head, utterly baffled. "Everyone owes their life to their parents. Filial piety comes first among all virtues, so why are some people so unfilial? Even bad people treat their parents well. How could they have done these things...?"
After watching Zhang Rong wrestle with this all afternoon, I said, "The ancients already said it: when a child goes untaught, the father is to blame."
Zhang Rong objected, "But surely not every bad person has bad parents?"
I smiled. "Their parents aren't necessarily bad people, but they certainly didn't raise them properly. If they had, their children wouldn't be bad people, would they? This is actually a relationship of cause and effect."
"A good upbringing isn't just about whether parents teach their children to be good or bad. The parents' ability to distinguish right from wrong, their emotional stability, and their relationship with each other all affect