"It's my fault, I didn't protect you." Pei Yicheng couldn't bear to see Xu Nianhua blaming herself, so he stepped forward and spoke. He looked at Pei Guozhong's graying hair and reddened eyes, and said, "Dad, I'm sorry."
Pei Yicheng stood before him, and for the first time, sincerely apologized to Pei Guozhong.
"We're family, what's there to apologize for?" Pei Guozhong reached out and patted his arm. He knew how much effort Wan Hongxing had put into trying to mend the father-son relationship between them. That bit of pride he held, what did it matter anymore?
"Yicheng, I'm also at fault. If not for me back then, your mother wouldn't have died." Pei Guozhong's eyes rimmed red as he thought of his first wife. Deep down, he felt guilty too, but he had never spoken about it to his son. He took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry."
This sentence had circled his lips for so long but never made it out. Now, having said it aloud, he realized that pride didn't matter at all.
