A graduate of Sciences Po, a former student of ENS Ulm, a teacher at INALCO, working on a thesis about the emergence of the concept of subjectivity in ancient China, and fluent in Chinese and Japanese, he could fully support himself and leave the family nest.

Tanguy doesn’t give up and, during a conversation with his grandmother, mentions his low opinion of living alone, comparing a recently settled friend’s sad life to what he considers his "daily happiness" with his parents.

The joy is short-lived for the parents because, apart from his incessant phone calls to stay in contact with them, each night he suffers from anxiety and panic attacks, ending up in the hospital.

Now showing a different side, Paul sets very strict house rules, which Tanguy calls "military discipline," governing their interactions at home, such as the obligation to tidy his room or the prohibition of talking back to his parents.

When his parents discover that, between his research grant, his teaching, and the private lessons he gives, Tanguy earns at least 25,000 francs a month (about 3,800 euros), they throw him out of the house.

Just as Paul, at his wits’ end, hires some thugs to "beat up" his son, he learns that Tanguy has finally left the house, leaving behind a letter generously thanking his parents.

Their joy is once again short-lived as Paul’s mother Odile falls in her bathroom and, needing months of rehabilitation, reminds them of Article 205 of the Civil Code, "the same as 203… but for the elderly."

Ten months later, Paul and Édith receive a letter from Tanguy inviting them to visit him in Beijing, where he has married a Chinese woman and is expecting a child.