Why do many fathers in Chinese households end up becoming the most silent men? I saw a video that said my dad is the quietest man in the world. Ever since he married my mom, it's like he automatically lost his right to speak. In our family, not even hotpot can be made without someone calling the shots. When to add meat, when to eat veggies, who gets what – it’s all planned out by my mom. A hotpot meal feels more like a board meeting. My grandparents, my dad, and I each have our tasks assigned by her, just to earn a bit of peace and quiet. She doesn’t just manage the family; when we go out to eat, she’s the one serving food to complete strangers, setting the vibe, making a table full of socially awkward people restless. Later on, when my grandparents passed away and I got married and moved out, it was just my dad and a dog left at home. My dad became increasingly silent, and whenever something came up, he’d just say, ‘Ask your mom.’ Even when he got sick and had to be hospitalized, when the doctor asked him what was wrong, he couldn’t be bothered to speak; my mom answered for him the whole time. Looking back now, I realize that for so many years, my mom has been the one calling the shots, while the rest of us just went along with it. Over time, silence became not just a trait but a way of life. In a household, when one person gets used to organizing everything and everyone else gets used to obeying everything, what’s lost isn’t just the right to speak, but the ability to express oneself.