Chapter 136: The Punishment of Peter
"Do you remember the big fish we caught last time?"
Seeing Chris nod, Quagmire didn't elaborate on what he did with the big fish, only briefly skipping over the details and directly mentioning his later reward.
"To repay Joe and them for giving me the big fish, I specially rented a plane, wanting to take them out for a good time. The result..."
Quagmire covered his face with both hands, his voice dropping, "I didn't expect that Peter guy to be so stupid. No, I should have thought of it. It's my fault for not being more careful and preventing this from happening, which led to this accident."
Seeing Quagmire fall into self-blame, Chris placed his hand on Quagmire's back, using his mental ability to calm him down.
"No, this has nothing to do with you. This is all Peter's fault."
After comforting Quagmire, Chris continued to ask, "What exactly did Peter do? Why did Joe break his legs, while the rest of you were fine?"
Quagmire, whose emotions had calmed down, took a sip of tea, then became agitated again upon hearing Chris's question. He said angrily, "It's all Peter's fault, that moron! If he hadn't opened the aircraft door without permission, causing an imbalance in cabin pressure, we wouldn't have crashed at all."
"And Joe's legs?"
Chris pressed on, curious as to how unlucky Joe must have been to break his legs in an aviation disaster where Peter and the others didn't even get a scratch.
No, that degree of injury couldn't be called broken; it should be called pulverized.
Chris thought about Joe's legs and couldn't understand how, with his superhuman physique, he could have ended up like that.
Speaking of Joe's injury, Quagmire's face showed gratitude.
"Joe saved us. There were only two parachutes on the plane, not enough for the four of us. In the end, to save our lives, Joe held me and Cleveland and jumped out of the plane at the last moment before it crashed.
Fortunately, it was the ocean below. Joe only paid the price of shattered fractures in both legs to save the lives of the three of us."
Quagmire's words didn't mention Peter or the whereabouts of the two parachutes, but Chris could guess what happened.
"So Peter grabbed both parachutes alone, then abandoned you guys and bailed by himself?"
Chris's words shattered Quagmire's attempt to save Peter's dignity. He lowered his head awkwardly and drank his tea.
He couldn't help it. After all, Peter was Chris's father, so logically, Chris should have been more embarrassed than Quagmire.
However, the father-son relationship is arranged by fate and isn't formed by the free will of both parties.
But friendship is different. It's formed after both parties click and after consideration... well, maybe not much consideration.
Anyway, Quagmire's friendship with Peter was his own choice, so even if Peter did something so idiotic, Quagmire would instinctively try to cover for him.
Because this wasn't just Peter's problem; it also indirectly showed that Quagmire's judgment of people was flawed.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have befriended Peter, nor would he have let Peter do such a stupid thing right under his nose.
So Quagmire felt embarrassed, while Chris felt nothing.
However, this might also be related to Chris not being the original.
After understanding the whole story, Chris sighed and stood up, physically and mentally exhausted.
Even though he'd anticipated the outcome, Chris still felt weary after truly learning the truth.
"Alright, thank you for your help, Quagmire."
Quagmire also stood up. After a moment of hesitation, he asked in a low voice, "Chris, what are you going to do?"
Fearing Chris might misunderstand, Quagmire quickly explained, "I don't mean anything by it. It's just that Peter is your father after all, and he really has something wrong with his brain, so can you please not... be too harsh."
Quagmire thought for a long time, still hoping Chris would go easy.
Although he knew Peter deserved punishment, as a friend of many years, he ultimately didn't want Peter to suffer too much.
Especially, he didn't want Chris himself to send Peter to prison; that would be too cruel for Lois.
But if it was just scolding and reprimanding, it would be no punishment for Peter, appearing too lenient.
So, seeing that Joe didn't plan to retaliate, Quagmire had never taken it upon himself to deal with Peter.
Chris saw Quagmire's concerns and said with a light chuckle, "Don't worry, Quagmire. Even for Lois's sake, I won't do anything drastic to Peter."
"Then you...?"
Quagmire's expression was conflicted. He was afraid Chris would be too harsh and hurt Lois's feelings.
He was also afraid Chris would be too lenient and fail to give Peter the lesson he deserved.
Fortunately, Chris understood Peter and knew just the right punishment for him.
Chris smiled and asked in return, "Quagmire, do you know what's most important to Peter?"
"Lois!" Quagmire blurted out, then awkwardly added, "I mean, your mother is most important to him. He loves your mother the most."
"Haha." Chris glanced sideways at Quagmire, not exposing his feelings.
"It's food! To Peter, the most important thing is food. As for Lois, she's no longer just important to Peter; she has become a part of Peter, to the extent that he would die without her."
Hearing Chris's description, a look of disappointment appeared in Quagmire's eyes. His lips trembled, and after a long hesitation, he said, "It's food! You're absolutely right."
Chris saw Quagmire's disappointment, but he couldn't offer any comfort.
Because for Lois, Peter had also become a part of her; losing Peter would break her heart and leave her devastated.
That's why Chris never thought of breaking up the couple.
Otherwise, as soon as Chris had the ability, he would have immediately taken Lois away from that brute Peter, to spare her Peter's abuse.
But clearly, this method wouldn't work, which is why Chris came up with the idea of reforming Peter.
However, at present, this path is long and difficult.
Because Chris found that as long as he left Peter for a period, Peter would seize that gap when Chris wasn't around to unleash his moronic nature.
Nevertheless, to ensure his own future life is smooth, Chris still needs to re-educate Peter.
"For Peter, the most suitable punishment is to force him to lose weight, to let him see all kinds of delicious food every day but not be able to eat it.
Only this kind of mental torture can serve as a punishment for Peter."
Upon hearing Chris's plan for Peter's punishment, Quagmire's eyes lit up with excitement, "That's brilliant!"
"Count me in! I can help you make food to tempt Peter!"
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