Chris Owen never imagined that he and his wife would reach this point.
He used to be a university professor, mainly studying geology. In the college, he was a teacher who was very respected by the students. At home, he was also the head of the family who was very respected by his family.
But everything was broken when he discovered that his son was secretly smoking marijuana.
In the United States today, the proportion of people who smoke marijuana has even surpassed that of smokers. On college campuses, it is common for students to smoke marijuana. The key is that in more than 20 states across the United States, including Washington, DC,
Marijuana has been legalized.
Smoking marijuana has become completely legal.
In contrast, after discovering that his son was smoking marijuana, Chris resolutely reprimanded him and threw all the marijuana in his room into the toilet, but he seemed like an outlier in the family.
He knows very well that once a person chooses to be an addict, he will continue to try more exciting drugs. In the United States, it is not difficult for a minor to buy heroin, methamphetamine and other drugs. Even in school,
There are brokers who specialize in transporting wholesale drugs.
My wife accused herself of making a fuss out of a molehill, saying that smoking marijuana is no longer a big deal, and even most of her colleagues have tried it. In her opinion, it is not much different from smoking.
But as a university professor, Chris knew exactly what this meant. Under the protection of his mother, his son refused to admit his mistake, so he slapped him in the face and left the house.
A month after his son John ran away from home, he was arrested by the police.
He was accused of sexually assaulting a woman with whom he and he were both drug addicts, whom he met in a bar. The woman accused John of repeatedly being violent to her and sexually assaulting her.
The wife insists that the other party is framing her son purely for money.
In the United States, the ME TOO feminist movement is on the rise, and the scandal involving the sexual assault of the son of a university professor immediately spread, making it difficult for Chris to continue teaching at the school.
He could only go to the police station and pay a bail amount to temporarily release his son.
What is certain at present is that John did have sexual relations with the woman. There is no doubt about this, and he does not deny it. However, he claimed that he only smoked marijuana with her at the time and used drugs to "help sexual intercourse."
"It is definitely not a sexual assault. The other party said this because he deliberately wanted to extort a sum of money.
However, this matter quickly became a big deal. John's photo was posted on Facebook, and with the identity of the son of a university professor, it immediately spread wildly on social media. Many people have identified him as a sexual predator.
, and then countless rumors were added to the Owen family.
Chris was overwhelmed, and in the end, even he himself doubted whether his son might have sexually assaulted the woman.
The son finally chose to commit suicide.
Looking back now, Chris regrets it very much. If he had known it earlier, it would have been better to bail him out without paying for it. If he was detained, he would not be able to commit suicide even if he wanted to.
…
At this time, he closed the book in his hand.
"Is your book about the neurological effects of drugs?"
Chris was stunned and looked at the blond woman opposite.
She pointed to the cover of the book: "This is a German book."
"Yeah...yes. I actually don't know much German, so it's a little difficult to read. There is no English translation of this book in the United States, only the German version."
Chris looked at the blond woman in front of him and said, "Do you know German better?"
"It's not bad. I'm a translator, and I'm good at Chinese and German. I first learned Chinese because I liked Bruce Lee. Later, I learned German."
"Then, can you help me read these paragraphs?"
"Okay, let me take a look."
Chris handed the book to the other party.
After she took the book and read it, she said: "This is about investigating drug abuse in the United States. It means that in the United States, a large number of painkillers are overused."
At this point, she looked at Chris and said, "Speaking of which, when I was learning Chinese, I learned that in Chinese, the abused drugs we call drugs are all called drugs."
The word "drugs" was spoken in Chinese, so Chris didn't understand what it meant, so he could only repeat it mechanically: "drugs?"
"That's Poison. Look, this paragraph mentions that China's anti-drug measures are the most stringent in the world..."
Afterwards, she translated a few paragraphs for Chris and said, "Well, are you interested in researching this area? Most people don't read such academic books to learn German, do they?"
"That's right... This book discusses the effects of drugs on the nervous system. I don't quite understand many parts."
After all, Chris is just a professor of geology and has no special experience in medicine or pharmacology.
His son died, and his death made his innocence an eternal mystery.
The wife believed in her son unconditionally and insisted that the other party was blackmailing him.
And he wanted to know whether he had serious hallucinations after smoking a lot of marijuana.
He read many books on this subject and even bought books written by foreign countries. However, even after reading these books, he could not get the answer and had no way of knowing whether his son was really guilty.
"But, in China, do drug and poison mean the same thing?"
"Yes. China is the country with the strictest drug control in the world. This is because about a hundred years ago, they also had the same high drug abuse rate as our country."
"Qing Dynasty period? Opium War?" Although he is not a history major, Chris is quite familiar with this well-known modern history.
After being silent for a while, he said, "Did you mention Bruce Lee just now?"
"Well...my husband and I are both fans of Bruce Lee. Even though he has been dead for so many years."
Chris remembered that there was a poster of Bruce Lee in his son's room. He also did not expect that his son would like the Chinese martial arts star of the last century.
"It is indeed very important for couples to have common interests."
He once felt that he and his wife were soul mates.
But I didn't expect that they couldn't get together in the end.
"Only death can do us part" in the wedding vows became so funny.
"I'm going to Washington, D.C., to meet with him now."
"That's great. Are you from Washington?"
"No, I'm from Atlanta, he lives in Philadelphia... Our situation is very complicated..."
"Do you think...you and your husband are soul mates?"
Chris didn't know why, but suddenly he asked such a question.