Chapter 75

Normally, the test results wouldn’t be out for another two days, but the village chief had been worried about Ji Chenbiao bringing back another little burden, so he pulled some strings to speed things up and had an acquaintance bring the report back directly.

When Ji Chenbiao heard this, he glanced at where Dadan was, wiped the water off his hands, and walked out.

“Chief, that was quick.”

“Mm. Take a look for yourself.”

The chief hadn’t even opened the report. Ji Chenbiao took it, tore it open casually, and after reading through it, set it aside.

“Nothing serious. Just a bit of an issue with his eyes—it won’t affect daily life.”

“That’s good to hear. I’ll head back, then.”

The village chief didn’t doubt Ji Chenbiao’s words. Hearing it wasn’t anything major, he let out a sigh of relief, waved his hand, and walked away.

Once the chief was gone, Ji Chenbiao picked up the report again and examined it carefully. He sat down on the steps, smoked a cigarette, and only after finishing it did he go back inside.

Back in the house, he looked at Dadan still lying there, waved his hand in front of his face, and asked curiously:

“Can you see people?”

Little An’an, who had been staring up at the ceiling beam, pursed his lips and silently rolled his eyes.

“Seems like you can see. I made you some porridge earlier—want some?”

“Ya~”

As long as it filled his stomach, An’an wasn’t picky—at most, he just preferred hot food.

“Alright.”

Ji Chenbiao’s cooking was mediocre—not enough to poison anyone, but definitely nothing to brag about. If the kid were picky, it’d be a headache.

Once the porridge was ready, he carried An’an out. Seeing the little hands waving eagerly in the air, he supported the child with one arm and held his hand with the other.

“I’m feeding you now, so when I’m old, it’ll be your turn to feed me, alright?”

An’an gave a perfunctory “ya,” his eyes fixed on the steaming bowl of porridge.

Ji Chenbiao didn’t tease him again. He scooped up some porridge and brought it to his lips. Watching the boy greedily devour it, his eyes held a subtle smile.

“Good boy! Eat more and grow strong.”

He kept speaking softly while feeding him. As An’an ate, he slowed down toward the end.

Ji Chenbiao couldn’t help wondering—maybe it was just his imagination—but it really felt like he was fattening up a pig for slaughter.

“Full?”

An’an’s thoughts were instantly scattered when Ji Chenbiao’s voice rang out by his ear. He quickly opened his mouth wide, waiting to be fed.

“Ah~”

“Little Dadan, compared to your dad, you’re still way too green.”

An’an forced himself to ignore everything he was hearing and pretended he hadn’t heard a thing.

Who’s Dadan anyway? He didn’t even know the guy.

After settling the kid, Ji Chenbiao half-heartedly ate a couple of bites himself, then started calculating the money he had left. There wasn’t much food at home either. As an adult, he could manage without eating if he wasn’t out working, but Dadan couldn’t suffer along with him.

Next time he came down from the mountain, he’d take Dadan with him to the county town and buy some New Year’s supplies.

Ever since his sister died, he hadn’t properly celebrated the New Year. Now that there was a new member in the family, he couldn’t just muddle through like before.

An’an lay in the windproof room, playing with his fingers. Just as he was bored out of his mind, a familiar voice suddenly rang in his head.

“Hello, Host. Would you like to begin receiving the plot?”

“Huh?”

“Please prepare to receive the plot.”

The system was worried he hadn’t heard clearly, so it repeated itself.

The protagonist of this story was Ji Chenbiao. The main plot revolved around avenging his sister while gradually developing a jade-gambling business, eventually becoming a jade tycoon.

The original character An’an replaced was an adopted child Ji Chenbiao had picked up—born to the mistress of a powerful jade company executive.

The child was born with defects. The executive, a deeply superstitious man, believed the child would bring misfortune and ruin his business.

So when tests showed problems at seven months old, he asked one question, then abandoned the baby. Because of his superstition, he tucked a raw jade stone in the child’s blanket.

According to their local beliefs, this stone severed all ties between them—no father and son bond in this life or the next.

The baby was left in the mountains, where a small animal dragged him toward a light. That’s when Ji Chenbiao and Xiao Li found him, and he became Ji Chenbiao’s adopted son.

Throughout Ji Chenbiao’s journey to avenge his sister, this child was the greatest hindrance.

When he was young, Ji Chenbiao missed many opportunities trying to cure him. He spent almost all his startup funds just to prevent the boy from going blind.

Later, Ji Chenbiao balanced his budding business while raising the kid, waiting for him to grow and start school. Just when his career picked up and he uncovered the truth about his sister’s false accusations—

When the child turned twelve, his biological father secretly sent people to approach him.

They implied that the boy should have grown up spoiled in his real family’s loving arms, but had been “stolen” by Ji Chenbiao and made to suffer.

If the boy helped them through a difficult business period, they’d welcome him back. They even brought him to their ancestral home for a few days, showing him the lavish lifestyle he missed because of Ji Chenbiao.

The boy—completely unguarded—betrayed Ji Chenbiao by swapping a raw jade Ji had spent his life savings on with junk, destroying years of hard work.

And in the end, he wasn’t even taken back. The father denied ever saying such a thing and sent him back to Ji Chenbiao.

Said that no matter how long Ji had raised him or how much he sacrificed, the boy was still their blood.

Ji Chenbiao was forty then. His hair turned half-white overnight. A man known for ruthlessness, he didn’t lay a hand on the boy—just kicked him out.

The resulting business setback delayed his pursuit of justice for his sister.

He didn’t find the real culprits until he was sixty—by then, the couple who framed his sister were dead, having lived lives of luxury and died of old age, buried in a feng-shui-blessed cemetery.

In the end, Ji Chenbiao stood at the peak of his career, but the drive that pushed him forward had become a hollow dream. He leaned against his sister’s grave, sobbing.

An’an had been force-fed the entire plot and sat there stunned for a long time. He raised his finger and pointed at his nose.

He was… Dadan? The ungrateful wolf?

“Yes, Host. Please don’t doubt the system’s data. You are indeed the white-eyed wolf of this storyline.”

The system let out a sigh of relief now that the host finally reacted. In the last world, the host had come from a privileged family, so lacking memories hadn’t mattered much.

But it was different here. If he hesitated for even a moment when his biological father came knocking, it would be a blow Ji Chenbiao might never recover from.

So he had to know in advance—his biological parents were no good.

An’an shook his head like a rattle drum—there was no way he could be that kind of ungrateful traitor.

Impossible! Not in this lifetime!

Even though his dad named him Dadan (meaning “Bold”), the boldest thing he ever did was sneak a few kicks at his dad in his sleep. He would never do something so heartless and ungrateful.

“Host, that was the former you. Your role in this world is to change the fate of the mission target, Ji Chenbiao,” the system reminded him again.

An’an gave a half-hearted nod. He refused to believe that person was him—Ji Dadan!

After resting at home for a few days, it was time for their shift rotation again.

Ji Chenbiao took An’an to Xiao Li’s house. In the past few days, Xiao Li had already explained the situation to his wife.

Once she learned that her husband had picked up a child out of the kindness of his heart, and now it was Ji Chenbiao helping raise the child, she felt embarrassed and welcomed Ji warmly, assuring him with full confidence, “Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of this child for you.”

“Dadan, behave yourself, got it? If you dare cause trouble, just wait until I come back—I’ll deal with you then.”

Ji Chenbiao playfully shook a fist at the child. It was already a huge favor to have Xiao Li’s wife help look after An’an—if Dadan caused any trouble, he’d really feel guilty.

Ji Dadan rolled his eyes silently and lifted his tiny fist to shake it back at him.

At that moment, Xiao Li came out to smooth things over, carrying his supplies for the mountains and standing by the door, saying, “Biao-ge, what kind of trouble could a kid this small possibly cause? Don’t scare him.”

“True. Let’s go then.”

It was the twenty-first of the twelfth lunar month. This year, Ji Chenbiao wasn’t planning to spend the New Year in the mountains. Their next descent would be on the twenty-seventh, still in time for him to take Dadan to town and buy some New Year’s supplies.

As for the things that needed to be made by hand—well, even if he bought them, he couldn’t prepare them himself anyway. He was well aware of his limitations.

“Dadan, say goodbye to Daddy.”

An’an quietly buried his face into the auntie’s arms. He really didn’t want to respond to that name.

After Ji Chenbiao walked a little way down the road, An’an finally lifted his head to try and sneak a glance. Xiao Li’s wife understood his conflicted little thoughts and carried him over to the window so he could see more clearly.

An’an gave a small wave. Ji Chenbiao, perhaps out of reluctance or some other feeling, turned back to look—and An’an’s tiny waving hand froze in place.

Ji Chenbiao cheerfully waved back and called out loudly, “Bye-bye! Be good, okay?”

An’an huffed softly and was about to mutter something unintelligible when the system suddenly reminded him:

“Host, don’t act too smart in front of outsiders.”

“Huh?”

“A normal six- or seven-month-old baby wouldn’t be this clever. If you act too much like an adult, people might think you’re a monster.”

In this remote mountain village, superstitious beliefs still hadn’t been completely wiped out—there was no telling how people might react.

“Oh.”

An’an understood that. He had once been treated like a monster himself—just the kind of monster whose value made them worth keeping around.

“Host, just be patient for now.”

Back when he was interacting with Ji Chenbiao, the system didn’t issue warnings like this—being smart in front of the mission target wasn’t a problem. But around unfamiliar people, they had to be cautious.

This auntie and her husband had recently been trying for a baby. She liked kids—even the children she barely knew in the village. Let alone this one she could take care of herself for a while.

An’an was undeniably adorable. Auntie Li stared at his chubby cheeks for a long time, wanting to pinch them. But then she remembered an old superstition that said pinching a baby’s face made them drool, so she regretfully pulled her hand back.

Xiao Li and his wife had a great relationship—he always told her everything.

Like how, when dealing with poachers in the past, Xiao Li had nearly died several times. It was all thanks to Biao-ge’s help that he was still alive.

Normally, Auntie Li didn’t know how to thank Ji Chenbiao. Now that this opportunity presented itself, she seized it.

She brought out all kinds of treats the couple usually couldn’t bear to eat themselves, and even steamed an egg custard just for An’an, topping it with a couple drops of fragrant sesame oil.

An’an knew it wasn’t right to accept something so nice from others, but when Auntie Li brought the custard over, he couldn’t help but swallow hungrily.

Auntie Li noticed his reaction and smiled as she picked up a spoon and fed him a bite.

The mountain road was rough, and despite the cold weather, both men were sweating by the time they arrived. They greeted Lao Wu.

“There’s really nothing wrong with that kid?” Lao Wu still wasn’t entirely convinced.

Ji Chenbiao nodded firmly. “He might have some vision issues, but otherwise he’s fine. Don’t worry.”

“Alright. Then we’ll head back down first. You two be careful up here. They’ve been showing up every night lately—those people really don’t let anyone rest, even during New Year.”

“Yeah.”

Ji Chenbiao had already gotten used to the recent instability. Xiao Li knew that too, and waved to Lao Wu. “Stay safe. Survival comes first.”

Poachers would risk their lives for money, but they weren’t like that. The village head had told them in private—if they encountered danger, their own safety came first.

“Got it.”

After sending them off, Ji Chenbiao found a spot to sit, put down his bags, and began organizing things, glancing out the window from time to time.

Maybe it was because that little one had been clinging to him these past few days, but now that they were apart, he felt oddly unsettled.

He wondered if, in the care of strangers, the kid would cry at night.

Xiao Li noticed that Biao-ge seemed distracted and quietly helped heat up his share of the meal. It was fine if his mind wandered now—as long as he pulled himself together by nightfall.

“Biao-ge, you’re not going to be like before this year, right? At least prepare something—it’s New Year’s, after all.”

During dinner, Xiao Li brought it up again, trying to persuade him to come spend the holiday at his house.

He’d already discussed it with his wife, and she was totally fine with it. After all, it was just the two of them—having more people around would make things more festive.

“Yeah.”

Ji Chenbiao had actually been thinking the same thing. Xiao Li heard his response and instantly felt relieved, realizing Biao-ge didn’t plan to hole up on the mountain this year.

“Then… Biao-ge, why don’t you come spend New Year at my place? It’s just me and my wife—don’t worry, no one’s going to say anything bad about you.”

There had been an incident once, when the village head invited Biao-ge to his home for New Year. Someone got drunk and brought up Xiao Mei, blaming her for everything. Biao-ge got so mad he sent the guy to the hospital—on New Year’s Day.

Ji Chenbiao wasn’t exactly eager to accept, but when he thought about how bad he was at handling all that festive preparation, he had to admit—maybe this time, going along with Xiao Li wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

Especially when it came to taking care of Dadan, there were a lot of things he didn’t quite understand and still needed to ask Xiao Li’s wife for advice.

“Alright, then I’ll be counting on you two. I’m planning to go buy some stuff once we’re back from the mountain.”

“Sure, Biao-ge. I’ve still got a bunch of things unprepared at home too—let’s go together.”

The village chief usually only handed out wages after they finished guarding the final shift of the season, and once they got paid, Xiao Li planned to buy something nice for his wife.

“Mm, sounds good.”

After dinner, night fell completely. Ji Chenbiao grew even more worried—he’d heard that kids tended to be fussier at night.

“Biao-ge, I’m kinda freaking out.”

Xiao Li had been a bit scared before, but this time he was genuinely panicked. He spotted the tools Lao Wu had used to bandage his wounds in a corner—the sight of the blood sent chills down his spine.

“Don’t be scared, don’t worry. As long as I’m here, nothing’s going to happen.”

Ji Chenbiao’s bulky figure gave off a sense of security, but Xiao Li’s heart was still pounding. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something unpredictable was about to happen.

“Biao-ge, what if we really die here?”

The forest watch job was short-term, not hard, included food and lodging, and the pay was high—but no one wanted to do it because it was equally high-risk.

No one knew how many people had already died out here. Over time, anyone who cared even a little about their family didn’t want them doing this kind of work.

Xiao Li thought back to all the funerals he’d attended, terrified the next one might be his own. His hand shook slightly as he gripped his tools.

“We won’t. We’re not dying here.”

He still had things left unfinished—there was no way he’d die in a place like this.

“Biao-ge, I believe you.”

Xiao Li took a deep breath to steady himself. It was almost time for their patrol, and he was genuinely worried they’d run into experienced poachers.

That night, they ran into two separate groups of people during their patrol. Fortunately, with Ji Chenbiao there, everything went smoothly despite the danger.

They barely made it to sunrise, and Xiao Li finally let out a huge sigh of relief. No matter how arrogant those poachers were, there was no way they’d dare come out in broad daylight.

“Biao-ge, why do I feel like the next few days are gonna be rough?”

“When isn’t it rough this time of year?”

They were guarding endangered animals, the kind that were nearly extinct globally. Poachers used cruel methods, and Ji Chenbiao had buried more wild animal corpses than he could count with his own hands.

He wasn’t afraid of burying them—but it always hurt to see the valuable parts of their bodies carved out while they were still alive.

“Li-ge, why do you think these people are so brazen?”

They chatted while patrolling. The sound of voices would sometimes scare off newcomers or the more timid ones.

“Because the punishments aren’t harsh enough, and there are still plenty of people willing to pay for wild animal products. Like someone once said—wearing ivory close to the body makes a man more virile.”

“Pfft. If they’re weak, why not just work out? Instead, they obsess over these superstitions. No wonder they’re weak.”

During that final week, they encountered poachers almost every night.

Neither of them was attacked with weapons, but on the last day, Xiao Li accidentally took a fall and fractured his left arm.

The village chief arranged treatment for him and rotated in a new group.

One of the new arrivals approached Ji Chenbiao to ask if he’d be willing to swap shifts during the Spring Festival again this year.

Normally, it was whichever group’s turn it was that had to go. The chief had made it clear beforehand: if you couldn’t accept that, don’t sign up.

That said, exceptions existed. Some people would rather spend New Year’s with their families, and they could pay others to take their place.

The village chief turned a blind eye to these private arrangements, only insisting that replacements be chosen from those already on the list.

Ji Chenbiao had spent every New Year’s Eve on the mountain, so the guy whose turn it was this year hoped to switch with him.

“No. I’m going home this year.”

“Huh? Going home?”

The guy asking was taken aback. It had been two or three years, and this was the first time he’d heard Ji Chenbiao refuse. Old Wang grinned and playfully pushed Ji Chenbiao’s shoulder.

“You’re the only one in your family. What’s the point of going home? Staying up here is the same, right? You were fine swapping before—what’s changed? You’re not targeting me on purpose, are you?”

Ji Chenbiao really just wanted to spend the holiday with Dadan, but hearing this guy talk like that annoyed him. He frowned and pushed the man’s hand away.

“If it’s really all the same, why don’t you stay on the mountain? You think I’ve got nothing better to do than target you?”

With that, Ji Chenbiao walked off toward the foot of the mountain.

They’d been apart for seven days, and he really missed that kid. He was itching to mess with him, just to see him roll his eyes.

Xiao Li quickly packed up his things and caught up. On the way down, he told Biao-ge not to take those kinds of people seriously.

Honestly, it was clearly intentional. That guy just wanted to see Biao-ge lose his temper.

These shift swaps were supposed to be voluntary. There was no reason to pressure someone into agreeing.

Besides, everyone in the village knew that mentioning Biao-ge’s sister was off-limits. That guy had done it on purpose, stabbing straight into his sore spot.

If he were in Biao-ge’s shoes, even if he had planned to stay on the mountain this year, there’s no way he’d swap with someone like that.

“I’m not bothered by it.”

Ji Chenbiao didn’t take Old Wang seriously. He was fine with making money, but not just any money—he wouldn’t even touch that guy’s cash if it were handed to him.

He was strong. If he really wanted to make money, there were plenty of ways to do it—no need to hang himself on this one tree.

“Exactly.”

Xiao Li’s left arm was still hurting. The village doctor had helped set it up on the mountain, but going downhill, he moved very carefully to avoid reinjuring it.

Even though he was hurt, Xiao Li still felt kind of lucky.

If Biao-ge hadn’t been with him, he’d definitely have ended up with more than just a broken arm.

They’d earned decent money, but Xiao Li knew for sure he wouldn’t be doing this again next year. He wasn’t greedy—he just wanted a slightly better life once the baby was born.

It was fine to earn some money, but not if it meant gambling with your life.

“Biao-ge, you’ve saved up quite a bit, right? When do you plan to head to Haicheng?”

Lots of young folks in the village wanted to go work elsewhere, but without good connections, they often got scammed. After a few bad experiences, no one wanted to leave anymore.

But Xiao Li was different—he still dreamed of that big, bustling world out there.

He knew Biao-ge wanted to visit Haicheng, so he was hoping to tag along. Biao-ge was way more street-smart—he figured he couldn’t go wrong following him.

“Next year. I’ll plant the crops in the spring first.”

Ji Chenbiao had saved quite a bit, but he still didn’t feel like it was enough.

“Alright.”

As they chatted, they arrived at Xiao Li’s house. His wife came out and, seeing the state of his arm, was heartbroken to the point of tears. Originally lying in bed, little An’an heard the familiar voice and anxiously patted the bed with his hands.

“Ya, wa ya~”

Ji Chenbiao could hear the urgency in his voice. After asking Xiao Li for permission, he entered and picked up the little rascal.

“It’s only been a few days, and you already missed me this much?”

This time, An’an didn’t roll his eyes like before. Instead, he let out a pitiful whimper.

Before, Ji Chenbiao hadn’t really noticed anything, but seeing the slight redness in the little guy’s eyes now, he started to panic a bit. He quickly patted his back and spoke hurriedly:

“Don’t cry, I never said I didn’t want you anymore. What kind of boy is this sensitive, crying like that? Come on, let me see if you’re really crying.”

As Ji Chenbiao leaned in to check if he was actually crying, An’an couldn’t hold back anymore. After a brief struggle, he lifted his little hand and punched him square in the face.

Ji Chenbiao chuckled at the angry outburst and caught his tiny fist in his palm.

“With that kind of strength, you can’t hurt me.”

After saying that, he didn’t keep talking to An’an but carried him outside.

Ji Chenbiao figured Xiao Li and his wife must have a lot to say to each other now that Xiao Li was injured, and his presence wasn’t exactly helping. He also didn’t want to be an eyesore, so after a brief farewell to Xiao Li, he took the little rascal back to his own house.

Back when things blew up over his sister’s situation, Ji Chenbiao had fallen out with many people in the village. When he went up the mountain, no one helped take care of his home.

There had been strong winds recently, and a lot of things in the yard had been blown over.

Ji Chenbiao first went inside and lit a fire. The cold in the room quickly dissipated. He placed the little rascal somewhere near the fire—not too close to get burned, but warm enough not to freeze.

“Dadan, don’t make a fuss. I’m going to tidy up the house a bit.”

“Ya~”

An’an lightly waved his hand, as if to say he agreed. While Ji Chenbiao was cleaning up the yard, the system’s voice rang out again in An’an’s mind.

“Host, after this New Year, Ji Chenbiao will be driven out of the village.”

“Ya?”

When Ji Dadan heard that, he had been staring at his own fingers. His teeth had just started to come in and were itchy, so he constantly wanted to chew on anything nearby. With nothing around, he had started eyeing his own fingers.

He hesitated, thinking it wasn’t clean to chew on them, but just then he heard what the system said.

Driven out? Why would his dad be driven out?

Before Ji Dadan could ask his question, the system had already unilaterally cut off contact.

There were some things the system knew in advance, but by regulation, it couldn’t reveal them to the host. If it did, even the system would be punished.

Ji Chenbiao had been taking care of everything himself since he was a teenager. He worked quickly and efficiently, and before long, everything was tidied up. He brought in some dry firewood afterward.

“Little rascal, what do you want to eat tonight?”

“Ya?”

“I heard from Auntie Li that you love steamed egg custard? I’ll make one for you later.”

“Ya!”

An’an happily waved his little hands. Seeing him so excited, Ji Chenbiao couldn’t help but smile.

“Alright, then I’ll make that for you.”

To be honest, Ji Chenbiao wasn’t even sure if such a young child could understand what he was saying. Maybe he was just babbling to himself while the child happened to react.

But he didn’t expect the little guy to actually give a proper answer—just having a choice for dinner was good enough.

There was still some food left at home, though it didn’t taste great. Ji Chenbiao had always been frugal. As long as he could fill his stomach, he didn’t mind eating just potatoes and sweet potatoes every day.

He made a bowl of egg custard that, while not as visually appealing as Auntie Li’s, was enough for An’an, whose stomach was already growling. He didn’t care about appearances and started eating with big mouthfuls using a spoon.

Auntie Li had been teaching An’an how to use utensils, and it was going well—he could hold the spoon steadily, only spilling a little now and then.

Ji Chenbiao made himself a bit of porridge and stir-fried some pickled vegetables. He recalled Xiao Li once mentioning that adding a bit of sesame oil to the egg custard improved the flavor.

Of course, he didn’t have anything that fancy at home, but maybe next time he went into town, he could pick some up.

After cleaning up, Ji Chenbiao boiled some hot water for a bath. Everything else on the mountain had been fine, but the one big downside was the lack of bathing opportunities.

It had already been a week, and he was really starting to feel uncomfortable.

After washing up, he got into bed. An’an was already asleep, and as Ji Chenbiao watched his little chest rise and fall with each breath, a soft feeling settled deep in his heart.

He had burned that report after reading it—there was no point in keeping it.

This little rascal, to him, meant one very important thing: in this dull, monotonous life, he gave him a reason to keep going.

Xiao Li’s injury was on his left arm and not too serious. They still had a lot of New Year’s goods to buy and were waiting for the village chief to bring the money.

Early the next morning, he went to wait by the road near the village chief’s house. The chief didn’t keep them waiting—he had planned to deliver the money anyway.

Seeing Xiao Li, he handed over Ji Chenbiao’s share as well.

“Biao-ge, Biao-ge, when are you going into town?”

Ji Chenbiao had just woken up when he heard Xiao Li’s voice. Xiao Li handed him a thick wad of cash, and the two childhood friends sat side by side on the steps, counting the money in perfect sync.

“There’s a bit more than before, Biao-ge. The village chief said he gave me a little extra because of my injury, so I’d have time to get checked out in town.”

That’s how it worked in their village—if you got hurt because of work like this, you’d get a bit more money.

At first, the village chief used to take them to the hospital himself. Eventually, it just turned into handing them the money and letting them decide whether to go or not.

The village doctor was decent enough that there wouldn’t be any lasting effects anyway.

Last night, Xiao Li even went to see Old Wu’s nephew, who confirmed that there was nothing serious.

For Xiao Li, the extra money was better saved for when his child was born—he’d rather buy a new jacket than spend it on unnecessary medical checks.

“Mm.”

Ji Chenbiao understood that Xiao Li was afraid he’d be upset that he got more money. But Ji Chenbiao hadn’t even looked at the total until now. He counted it once, made sure it was fine, and put it away.

“The weather looks pretty good today—want to take a trip to the county town together?”

“Sure, Biao-ge, that’s exactly why I came to find you!”

They had already come down the mountain a bit late, and if they waited a couple more days, the vendors would start packing up to go home for the New Year.

“Wait a bit—let’s go after Dadan wakes up. I’m planning to buy him a new set of clothes.”

In the village, it was common for kids like Dadan to wear hand-me-downs, but Ji Chenbiao felt that since it was New Year’s, he should at least get the boy something new.

“Is he awake yet? My wife said this kid usually wakes up pretty early.”

Hearing that, Ji Chenbiao opened the door and looked inside. Little Dadan was already lying on his stomach under the covers, his messy hair sticking up all over the place, staring curiously in their direction.

“Biao-ge, let’s head out now. The round trip’s going to take a while. My wife packed some mantou.”

“Alright.”

Little Dadan wasn’t even fully awake yet when he was scooped right out of bed, shivering from the cold.

Ji Chenbiao dressed him, put on his hat, wrapped him snugly in a scarf, and found a basket in another room. He lined the bottom with a rag and gently placed An’an inside.

Li’s basket was left outside the courtyard. Since they were shopping for New Year’s, carrying a basket made things easier.

He brought over two coarse mantou, handing both to Ji Chenbiao. Ji Chenbiao broke one and passed a small piece behind him, and a tiny hand reached out from the basket.

“Ya~”

There was no hiding the joy in that soft little voice. An’an took the piece and immediately began gnawing at it with his newly budding teeth. Thankfully, he was in the basket, and Ji Chenbiao had covered the top with a piece of clothing.

It was still cold, but at least the wind couldn’t get in.

They arrived at the county town fairly quickly. It was lively, with people busy preparing for the New Year. Ji Chenbiao first bought some sesame oil from a stall, then picked up a few eggs.

Children’s clothes weren’t anything fancy, so he simply chose a thick one that would keep Dadan warm.

After finishing those errands, Ji Chenbiao finally turned to New Year shopping—he weighed out two jin of meat, bought some sausages, and grabbed a few steaming buns from a vendor.

He still remembered how much An’an had enjoyed the buns last time.

On the way back, Ji Chenbiao ran into Old Wang’s wife. Things had been tense between them on the mountain before, and since they didn’t usually interact, he simply pretended not to see her.

He placed the sausages and meat directly into Li’s basket, not giving him a chance to decline, and brought up his plan to spend New Year’s with them.

Hearing that, Li stopped protesting and changed the subject.

“Biao-ge, not to brag, but my wife’s dumplings are the best in the whole village! Just wait, you’ll see!”

“Alright, then I’m in for a treat.”

Ji Chenbiao hadn’t eaten dumplings in years. Partly because he couldn’t be bothered to buy white flour, and partly because they were too much trouble—making them for one person just wasn’t worth it.

On the way back, he happened to see a vendor selling white flour and bought some to put in Li’s basket.

There were also candied hawthorns for sale in the winter. The moment An’an spotted them, he couldn’t take his eyes off them. They were a bit pricey, but after buying one and seeing An’an’s beaming smile, Ji Chenbiao lowered his voice and said:

“Go on, eat it. Grow up strong and fast.”

Little Dadan had long gotten used to him saying stuff like that. Happy and content, he—

“Go ahead and eat it. Once you’re done, grow up quick.”

Ji Dadan was already used to hearing things like that from him. Happily, he held up the candied hawthorn, ready to take a bite.

“Eat it at home. If I catch you sneaking a bite before we get back, don’t blame me if something happens…”

The moment he heard that, An’an froze mid-bite and let out a little angry huff.

“Have your teeth grown in yet? If they have and you keep huffing at me, I’m gonna start breaking pieces off.”

Ji Dadan didn’t dare make another sound. He thought maybe his teeth had come in already.

When they got back to the village, Li originally wanted to invite Biao-ge over for dinner that night, but Ji Chenbiao turned him down, saying he’d come over during the New Year instead.

Back home, he warmed up the buns and gave half to An’an, who slowly chewed through it.

He boiled some hot water for a foot soak. An’an was a bit afraid of the heat—every time, he’d carefully dip in his toes first to test the temperature, and if it was too hot, he’d step right onto Ji Chenbiao’s foot.

Ji Chenbiao pretended not to notice and stayed by Ji Dadan’s side, playing with him.

Neither of them had even laid down to rest yet when they suddenly heard a commotion outside. An’an stretched his neck as far as it would go, desperately trying to see what was going on.

“Ji Chenbiao, are you home?”