Chapter 91

There was no way he was going to bark like a dog—never in his life! So the only one who could lose this bet was the young master of the Mu family standing in front of him.

The Mu family had been in slow decline for years now. It wasn’t very obvious on the surface, but anyone with some understanding knew it well.

Now that a young genius had finally emerged in their family, they naturally wanted to seize this opportunity to silence those who doubted their standing.

Even though they knew deep down that this move was a little too ostentatious, they had no choice. They needed to prove the Mu family’s strength, and the most favorable way to do that right now was this.

If it had been any other matter, Ji An wouldn’t have been so confident. But when it came to judging whether a raw stone contained jade, he could do it with his eyes closed and still not lose.

Some people saw how young and adorable Ji An looked and kindly advised him:

“Little one, that’s the Mu family’s young master. He’s been skilled at jade identification since he was little. You’re an outsider—better not challenge him over something like this.”

“Thank you, Auntie. Don’t worry—I won’t lose.”

Ji An politely nodded at the woman, appreciating her concern.

The exhibition was hosted by the Mu family, and naturally, they were biased in favor of their young master. His raw stone was the first to be cut, and sure enough, it revealed a decent piece of jade inside.

However, its translucency wasn’t great, so it wasn’t particularly valuable.

Most of the people there didn’t care too much about that. What impressed them was that the young Mu master, at such a young age, could tell the stone contained jade at all. His future prospects were clearly limitless.

The crowd burst into applause to celebrate him. The young master stood in the middle, lifted his chin, and shot Ji An a look full of contempt and disdain. He declared confidently:

“That trash you picked definitely won’t produce anything.”

The stone Ji An chose was quite large, and even when lit with a flashlight, there was no hint of green.

If it hadn’t been for the earlier argument between them, this stone would’ve been tossed out as waste after the exhibition.

Now, a craftsman stepped forward and began cutting the stone with expert technique. As expected, the first cut produced nothing but crushed debris.

Laughter broke out among the crowd. Once it was clear this kid didn’t know anything, some even joked that selling a decent stone to the Mu family wasn’t a bad deal at all.

Ji An had spent a long time by his father’s side, and had picked up a fair bit of raw stone cutting skills. Using his index finger like a pen, he lightly drew a line on the stone and calmly said:

“Cut here.”

The craftsman followed his instruction and made another cut. When a streak of green light appeared, the man’s hands trembled and he nearly dropped his tool.

“It’s green?!”

“Wait, it really turned out green? Wasn’t that stone just junk?”

“What? It actually has jade?”

The crowd began to murmur in surprise. Ji An rested his chin on his hands, eyes fixed on the craftsman’s movements.

He could never get tired of watching the process of jade being cut from raw stone, no matter how many times he saw it.

When the craftsman finally laid a whole piece of glass-type green jade on a damp cloth, many in the room gasped aloud.

What the Mu family’s young master had revealed was merely decent, but this piece, in terms of quality and beauty, was on a completely different level.

The outcome of the bet was now obvious to all.

Ji An crossed his arms, a playful smirk curling at his lips. Even at his young age, he already carried a trace of charm.

“You made the bet in front of all these people. You’re not going to go back on your word, are you?”

The Mu family’s young master turned red with rage. He had always been treated like a little prince and had never lost face like this before.

“We bet on whose stone could reveal jade. Mine did too—how did I lose?”

Such bets weren’t uncommon in Myanmar. The rules didn’t need to be spelled out every time.

For instance, in this situation, when both stones produced jade, the winner was the one with the higher-quality piece.

But the young master, unwilling to accept defeat, played dumb and refused to follow through—not entirely wrong by local standards.

Still, his unwillingness to admit defeat left a bad impression. Even those watching began to think less of him—and of the Mu family as a whole.

Ji An clapped the dust from his palms. He had known this guy wouldn’t follow through.

If the roles were reversed, he was sure the other boy would’ve forced him to honor the bet by any means necessary.

Thinking that, Ji An suddenly found it boring and turned to leave.

But just as he lifted his foot, a voice called out behind him.

“Wait! You’re not allowed to leave!”

“What is it now?”

Ji An stopped and asked calmly.

The Mu family’s young master’s eyes glinted with a malicious light as he said:

“Tell me, who are you? If we ever meet in a similar situation again, we’ll have another bet. You can trade me that jade for it.”

Though he called it a bet, Ji An hadn’t paid for the raw stone. In a sense, the jade still belonged to the Mu family.

What the young master meant was clear—he wasn’t going to let Ji An walk away with the jade at the original price.

Unless Ji An told him who he was, he wasn’t getting it.

The Mu family’s young master thought he was being subtle, but everyone present could see through him—he was clearly planning to retaliate later.

The woman who had tried to warn Ji An earlier didn’t dare speak up again. She didn’t want to offend the Mu family. When Ji An glanced her way, she merely shook her head slightly, hoping he would refuse.

Only then did Ji An realize he might be in trouble. Just as he was struggling with how to turn the offer down, the Mu family’s young master added:

“This jade is worth at least hundreds of thousands. Are you sure you don’t want it?”

The money wasn’t the issue. Ji An knew his family didn’t need the jade. If he took it, his dad might smack him on the head for lacking ambition.

He only gave the jade a quick glance before answering coolly:

“It’s just a piece of jade. I’m not interested.”

“Oh? Then tell me, what kind of family do you come from that makes you so dismissive of something like this?”

Ji An didn’t want to bring trouble to his dad and kept his mouth shut. But his silence only confirmed the Mu family boy’s suspicions. He sneered:

“What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue? You were acting all arrogant during our bet, weren’t you?”

Just when everyone was holding their breath for Ji An, a voice rang out from behind the crowd.

“He’s my godson. I brought him here to broaden his horizons. No need to make things difficult.”

Mr. Zhou pushed his way through the crowd. Over the years, he had developed a strong foothold in Myanmar—stronger even than many families who had been entrenched there for generations.

Anyone who could enter this exhibition, and dare to speak up here, was clearly not afraid of the Mu family’s power. Many immediately recognized Mr. Zhou.

Earlier, people had been wondering who this bold young boy was. Now they understood—if he was Mr. Zhou’s godson, then his arrogance made perfect sense.

The Mu family’s young master didn’t know who this man was. All he knew was that this was his family’s territory, and his father had told him that no one was allowed to upset him.

“Who are you? Your son insulted me—you should apologize on his behalf!”

Mr. Zhou hadn’t encountered such a brazen, audacious child in a long time. With a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips, he asked:

“Where are your parents?”

“Even if you bring my dad here, it’s the same. Hurry up and apologize to me.”

Ji An naturally hid behind Uncle Zhou and quietly explained what had happened. At the time, he had acted impulsively and made a bet with the other boy—he admitted it was his mistake and was willing to take responsibility.

“You didn’t do anything wrong. No need to be nervous.”

Mr. Zhou straightened Ji An’s skewed collar. After so many years of watching Dadan grow up, in his eyes, Dadan was no different from his own biological son.

He didn’t think Dadan had done anything wrong. No matter how you looked at it, it was the Mu family who were deliberately bullying others.

The commotion had lasted so long that even the Mu family members came over. Once they learned what had happened, the Mu family head shot a vicious glare at his own son.

He had placed high hopes on this young son who could appraise jade at such a young age, but he hadn’t expected that aside from being talented, the boy was also a master at causing trouble.

A few years ago, the Mu family wouldn’t have cared about someone like Mr. Zhou, but times had changed.

“Xiao Hao, you can’t speak to Mr. Zhou like that. Come here and apologize to him.”

“I don’t want to! I’m not apologizing to them!”

The boy’s earlier tantrum had already impacted how others viewed the Mu family. If he refused to apologize now, the damage to their reputation from this exhibition could become too great.

The Mu family head’s face was grim as he gave his son’s shoulder a hard slap and barked:

“Apologize!”

The boy was still somewhat afraid of his father. Even though he was unwilling, he choked back tears and muttered an apology to Mr. Zhou and Ji An.

The piece of jade that had been revealed was handed over as an apology gift to Ji An, but he merely glanced at it and tossed it aside. He didn’t want anything from people like that.

Ji Chenbiao arrived late. He first checked on his son to make sure he wasn’t hurt, then casually glanced at the man from the Mu family.

Seeing the Mu family head’s profile, Ji Chenbiao was momentarily stunned. It was only Dadan tugging on his sleeve that brought him back to his senses.

He wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that this man looked very much like someone from the Lu family.

Ji Chenbiao took Dadan and left the venue. They accepted the apology gift, but they didn’t plan to forgive that easily.

After all, everyone loves their own child. If the one being humiliated in public had been that Mu family young master, the Mu family definitely wouldn’t have brushed it off like nothing happened either.

Back in their private room, Ji Chenbiao shared his thoughts with Mr. Zhou.

“Why do that Mu family child and his father both look so much like the Lu family heir?”

Mr. Zhou was brewing tea at the time. He pushed a freshly made cup toward Ji Chenbiao, thought for a moment after hearing the question, then said:

“They are distantly related. It’s common for families from Haicheng and Myanmar to intermarry.”

Since the last century, many families had been involved in the jade business. Passed down over generations, the connections between families were countless.

Lately, Dadan had taken a keen interest in tea brewing. He was now imitating Uncle Zhou’s technique, carefully making tea and looking quite serious about it.

Ji Chenbiao nodded slightly, lost in thought.

As a father, even while zoning out, he instinctively kept an eye on his child. In a daze, Ji Chenbiao suddenly felt that maybe it wasn’t just the Mu family who resembled the Lu family.

There was also… Dadan.

His father’s gaze lingered on him too long, and Dadan noticed. Puzzled, he looked over and asked:

“Dad, why are you staring at me?”

Ji Chenbiao beckoned him over. Dadan sat down beside him, still confused.

The usually quiet system, which rarely intervened in host affairs, suddenly chimed in:

“Host, just now, you met your biological father and younger brother.”

Dadan was almost scared to death by this one sentence from the system. Eyes wide, he didn’t want to believe it was true. But then, in the next second, Ji Chenbiao also spoke:

“Dadan, have you ever noticed that you kind of look like the Mu family head?”

“Really? I don’t think so. I don’t look like him at all.”

Dadan absolutely refused to acknowledge any relation to that family. He didn’t want to be connected to them—especially not at such a young age, when he couldn’t afford to take that kind of emotional gamble.

Mr. Zhou was also intrigued by what Ji Chenbiao said and started studying Dadan’s face. When Dadan was younger, the resemblance wasn’t obvious, but now that his features had matured, there really was a slight similarity. It wasn’t overt, but noticeable if you looked closely.

“Dad?”

Ji An widened his eyes, recalling all those ridiculous melodramas he’d accidentally seen.

“You’re not thinking of sending me back, are you?”

He had never been more anxious about anything in his life. His little face was full of worry.

Hearing that, Ji Chenbiao found it hard not to laugh. After a sip of tea, he lazily replied:

“I’ve raised you all these years, and now they want to swoop in and take the fruit of my labor? Not a chance.”

If not for Mr. Zhou being present, Ji Chenbiao would’ve probably cursed outright.

Once he was sure his dad had no intention of sending him back, Ji An finally relaxed. He got up and walked to the restroom. After comparing his reflection for a moment, he mumbled with a frown:

“Do I look like him? I really don’t think so…”

“I’ll have someone look into it.”

Mr. Zhou took the initiative. He had always thought it was odd that Dadan had been carrying a piece of raw jade when he was found—it was very much in line with how prominent Myanmar families operated.

The fact that Dadan had been abandoned due to a physical defect suggested that, at some point, he had been brought before the family head and evaluated.

Now that Ji Chenbiao had suspects in mind, investigating the Mu family was easy.

The Mu family head hadn’t changed over the years. All they needed to do was check whether he had any mistresses who gave birth the year Dadan was born.

“Alright.”

Ji An didn’t care at all about finding his biological parents. He only acknowledged the person who had raised him as his real dad.

As for anyone else—what did they have to do with him?

What Ji An didn’t expect was that even before Mr. Zhou’s investigation came back, someone from the Mu family privately reached out to him.

Apparently, Ji Chenbiao wasn’t the only one who noticed the resemblance that day. In this world, it’s rare for people to look alike without any blood ties.

Compared to believing it was mere coincidence, they were more inclined to think there was a familial connection.

When he was little, Ji An couldn’t adapt to this environment at all and always felt everything here fell short of home. But now that he’d grown up a bit and had to stay, he’d learned to find joy in hardship.

He really liked the various street food vendors here. Unfortunately, his dad had warned him that the security in this area wasn’t great—he was only allowed to go out if he brought at least two bodyguards.

One day, while crouching by the road eating Myanmar snacks, Ji An overheard someone behind him discussing a fortune-teller from Huaguo who had done a reading for the Mu family head. The prediction said he would have a son made of jade.

The recently rumored Mu family young master seemed to fit that prophecy perfectly.

Even guests attending the exhibition had heard the story—it had spread that widely.

Hearing about the “jade son” rumor, Ji An shrank his head a little and suddenly lost all interest in exploring. He decided to go back and talk to his dad.

But after just a few steps, he was stopped by someone from the Mu family entourage—someone he’d seen before.

“Young Master Ji, is that right? Our family head has something he’d like to discuss with you. Would you be willing to come with us for a bit?”

Of course, Ji An wasn’t willing at all. He hadn’t forgotten what the System Uncle once told him—back in the world he never entered, it was these very people who had used him to hurt his father.

Though he might have been the true culprit, these people were far from innocent.

This time, he refused to let his father be hurt again. He had no intention of having anything to do with these people.

“No.”

“I heard that you were adopted by your foster father. All these years… has he ever told you anything about what happened before you were adopted?”

In families that truly loved their children, they often avoided bringing this up, worried the child would overthink it.

Because of how cautious Ji Chenbiao had been with Ji An when they last met, the Mu family head decided to take a gamble—betting he hadn’t told Ji An the truth.

Usually, once a child learned they were adopted, they’d start to feel curious about their biological parents.

“He’s definitely told me.”

In fact, Ji Chenbiao originally planned to keep it a secret from Dadan—only the fact that he was adopted. Whether he knew or not wouldn’t change anything.

But later, someone grew jealous of how well Ji Chenbiao’s business was doing and kept trying to stir up trouble. They’d drop hints, subtly or otherwise, in front of Dadan that he’d been picked up off the street.

Dadan had already heard bits and pieces from the System, but when he finally heard it said to his face, he couldn’t help feeling upset. He’d cried and gone to his dad about it.

Since then, Ji Chenbiao stopped hiding it. More than that, he often used the story to tease him.

He’d paint vivid pictures of that snowy day he found him—how Dadan had been too cold to even cry, afraid his tears might freeze.

He’d always drive home the point: only Ji Chenbiao hadn’t abandoned him. Only Ji Chenbiao had loved him.

Similar words—Ji An had heard them countless times over the years.

“…I see.”

The assistant, who had prepared a whole script, was now completely choked by Ji An’s answer. After a pause, he tried again:

“Still, after all these years, don’t you want to see your biological parents? Before your mother passed, she was still calling your name.”

“I don’t. If they really cared about me, they wouldn’t have thrown me away.”

Family? If that was real, would he have been tossed out in the freezing cold?

Once Ji An had fully come to terms with that, he found everything about the man in front of him repulsive. He glared coldly and said:

“I’m warning you—don’t block my way.”

“And another thing—how can you be so sure she was calling my name? My name was given to me by my dad. Has she even met him?”

The assistant never expected Ji An to find such a sharp angle to attack from. He was caught completely off guard and couldn’t think of a rebuttal. Still, he forced himself to carry out the family head’s orders and pressed on:

“There’s a misunderstanding here. The family head is also very upset that you weren’t raised by his side.”

“All these years, he’s been searching for you. There was just never any news.”

“It was wrong of him to let you be abandoned in the wilderness because of that accident—but he’s missed you deeply ever since.”

But Ji An had already heard from Uncle Zhou just how powerful the Mu family had been before they declined. If they’d really wanted to find someone, even within the country, they could have done it.

“Upset? Then he can go die.”

With that, Ji An kicked the man hard in the leg, then strolled over and effortlessly freed the two bodyguards who were supposed to be protecting him from the assistant’s men.

He’d trained in martial arts and combat with his bodyguards from a young age. After so many years, the results were clear—even adult men might not be a match for him.

His dad had taught him: no matter how powerful others are, it’s nothing compared to being powerful yourself. Your own strength is the foundation of your survival.

No wonder he didn’t like that little young master from the Mu family the last time they met—turns out, they were related.

And when he remembered how, in the original plot, they used such disgusting and dirty tactics against his dad, Ji An no longer felt like his harsh words were cruel at all.

He hummed a little tune on his way back, already planning to have a good chat with his dad about all this.

Not to brag, but the way his dad raised him—he had at least 800 clever little tricks up his sleeve. Nobody was going to fool him that easily.

Mr. Zhou hadn’t gone out in recent days and was still staying in the hotel. When Ji An returned, he came over too. Hearing that the Mu family head had sent someone to find Ji An, he was sure their earlier suspicions were right.

He just didn’t expect something this coincidental would happen to them.

“So what did you say to them?”

Ji Chenbiao asked with curiosity. Honestly, he’d once considered keeping the truth from Dadan. Letting Dadan know he wasn’t his biological son wouldn’t have brought any benefit, and Ji Chenbiao hadn’t wanted to do it.

But in the end, it had been impossible to keep secret. Other people would’ve told Dadan eventually—better he hear it from his own dad.

“Uh… I didn’t say anything.”

Ji An felt a bit embarrassed to admit what he’d really said—especially since it had been pretty harsh.

“That assistant said my mother was calling my name before she passed.”

Even though Ji An had acted indifferent at the time, those words had left a mark on his heart.

“Nonsense. How could she possibly know your name?”

Ji Chenbiao’s reaction was immediate and matched Dadan’s perfectly. Both Ji An’s formal and informal names had been chosen by him—how could she possibly know?

Fortunately, Mr. Zhou was there, the more rational one. He gently reminded:

“It’s possible she was the one who originally gave him his name.”

This time, Ji Chenbiao stayed silent. In truth, he didn’t bear any real grudge toward the woman who gave birth to Dadan. But anyone who had raised a child with their own hands would struggle to stay rational when the birth parents suddenly showed up.

He hated everyone involved equally.

He still remembered the day he found Dadan—it had been freezing. Grown men could die in that kind of weather, let alone a baby.

If everything hadn’t lined up perfectly that day, there was no telling if Dadan would be standing here now.

“I’ll investigate that matter with Uncle Zhou. Don’t worry. Just stay at the hotel for now, don’t go wandering around, understand?”

Dadan sat there looking like a bright, cheerful boy, but all Ji Chenbiao could think of was that tiny child he’d carried down the mountain, unfamiliar with everything in the city—how much he’d suffered along the way.

He couldn’t bear it. After raising him for so many years, it was impossible to let go. Even if the others were his real parents, Ji Chenbiao still couldn’t let go.

“Got it.”

Ji An nodded obediently. He hadn’t planned to run around anyway—reading in the hotel suited him just fine.

Ji Chenbiao assigned some subordinates to help investigate the matter. He didn’t want to believe that the Mu family head actually cared as much as he claimed. But Dadan’s late mother—that was someone they had to look into.

Otherwise, with that boy’s tendency to bottle everything up, even bringing him back home wouldn’t guarantee peace of mind.

Ji An wasn’t really that old yet—he was just more mature than his peers because of the things he’d experienced growing up with his father.

Stuck in the hotel room reading, his mind often drifted to the rumors about the “Jade Son.”

Ji An had never thought there was anything particularly great about that identity—but there was no denying that both he and his father had benefited from it a lot.

If an outsider were to look at the situation, they’d simply think that his father was extraordinarily gifted—that even though he hadn’t studied since childhood and only picked up the craft later, he was still better at jade appraisal than the immortals themselves. Very few people knew that the true genius behind the jade-cutting was Ji An.

He had grown up by his father’s side since he was little, and Ji An himself had a rather indifferent personality. Something like this wouldn’t be enough to make him argue with his dad. In his eyes, he and his father were one family—whoever got famous made no difference.

But the head of the Mu family didn’t seem to think the same way. He appeared to love his youngest son dearly, but in reality, he was just placing the child up on a pedestal, never once worried about whether he could hold his position or whether he might fall.

Ji An was lost in his own thoughts and didn’t react even when someone opened the door. It wasn’t until his father walked right up to him that he suddenly looked up.

“Dad?”

“Yeah.”

Ji Chenbiao was carrying a briefcase. Mr. Zhou’s business had already taken root here in Myanmar, and his network was extensive. What’s more, that incident from back then hadn’t been particularly well hidden.

The Mu family patriarch had many mistresses. Some of them, who had given birth to his children, were living in the old Mu family estate.

Ji An’s mother was probably the unluckiest of them all.

After giving birth to Ji An, she was brought to the estate to recover during her postpartum confinement. But as soon as that period ended, doctors here discovered the child had congenital vision and hearing problems.

In the eyes of superstition, children like that were seen as omens of misfortune for the whole family. The deeply superstitious Mu family head had his brother, who was on a business trip to China, abandon the child in the furthest place possible—and even took his anger out on the woman who gave birth to him.

Back then, Ji An wasn’t the only child abandoned in the snowy cold of winter.

People said Dadan’s mother kept muttering to herself that she was wrong, and when Dadan was forcibly taken from her, she hadn’t even had time to give him a name.

Mr. Zhou found an eyewitness, who recalled that her last words were, “My child.”

The Mu family head had been cruel and heartless when he carried all this out, yet now he could still use Dadan’s mother to try and manipulate the relationship between them.

He even dared to hope that invoking Dadan’s mother might soften Dadan’s heart enough for him to come home.

After hearing all this, Dadan—usually a lively and cheerful child—fell into a long silence. He didn’t say a single word.

At first, he was more shocked than sad. Once the shock passed, his eyes began to redden, tears slowly falling.

Until then, Ji An had always been torn—did his mother love him or not? If she did, why would she abandon him?

But now that he knew the truth, love or not didn’t seem to matter anymore.

Ji Chenbiao reached out and let Dadan lean into his arms. Watching the boy’s shoulders shake uncontrollably, his eyes flashed with a rare tenderness.

This little guy hadn’t cried much since he became a bit more sensible—maybe because he thought crying was shameful.

Luckily, Ji Chenbiao’s shoulders were broad enough to shield him from others’ eyes.

The more Dadan thought, the sadder he felt—along with a growing, inexpressible anger.

He had no memories related to his mother at all. Originally, he only knew his father had used the original host. Back then, he hadn’t even wondered why his mother was never mentioned.

Eventually, Ji An cried so hard his body started to tremble. Ji Chenbiao gently patted his back to soothe him. Mr. Zhou and the assistant who’d reported the situation had quietly left at some point—now only father and son remained.

“Dad, I’m so sad.”

Ji An looked up, eyes still wet with tears, and clutched his chest. The pain there came in wave after wave, so sharp he could barely breathe.

“Dadan, I’m here. I know how much it hurts. I promise you, I’ll help you get revenge. Trust me, alright?”

“…Mm.”

Before all this, Ji Chenbiao had often wondered—if Dadan’s parents truly loved him, what would he do to keep the boy by his side?

But now, seeing strong little Dadan burying himself in his arms, crying just like when he was too small to drink milk—he found himself wishing things had turned out as he’d guessed.

Eventually, Dadan cried himself out and fell asleep.

Ever since Dadan started elementary school, it had been a long time since Ji Chenbiao had carried him to bed. But just like when he was younger—crying made him sleepy.

As a father, after learning what his son had gone through, of course Ji Chenbiao would take action.

Lately, he’d learned that Mr. Zhou had been fixated on expanding his business in Myanmar. But the established families there—especially one—were a major obstacle.

That family being the Mu family.

Ji Chenbiao never liked working alone. If something could be accomplished more easily by pulling in a few more people, he didn’t see the harm.

When he brought this up, Mr. Zhou was so shocked that the hot tea spilled on the back of his hand before he snapped out of it.

“You said what? The Mu family?”

As Mr. Zhou’s business had grown, so had his ambition. Anyone in the raw jade business dreamed of extending their reach into Myanmar.

After all, it was the world’s largest source of jadeite—most of the world’s raw jade came from there.

Unfortunately, while people in Myanmar welcomed trade, they were extremely protective when it came to raw jade. Mr. Zhou had tried for years, but got nowhere.

In fact, once his intentions became clear, the locals only became more guarded.

But what if the entire Mu family collapsed?

A family that had dominated Myanmar’s jade trade for decades—if they fell, the whole market would need to reshuffle. And with that shake-up, there’d be more chances to get in.

“You brat. You’ve got more guts than I do.”

Mr. Zhou chuckled and patted Ji Chenbiao’s shoulder. He didn’t give a direct answer, but his attitude said it all.

If there was a chance, why would he let it go?

Even now, well into middle age, Mr. Zhou’s ambition hadn’t dulled a bit.

If he could get a foothold in the world’s biggest jade market, that would mean cutting out the middleman entirely—producing and selling on his own, keeping all the profits.

“I’m not as bold as you think,” Ji Chenbiao said with a laugh. “But if I don’t do this, Dadan won’t find peace.”

As his business grew, so did Mr. Zhou’s suspicion. But if he could help it, Ji Chenbiao truly didn’t want to go against the man.

Mr. Zhou had helped him a lot over the years. He still remembered the year he arrived in Shancheng with a little Dadan in tow—if it hadn’t been for Mr. Zhou, he would’ve run out of money and had to slink back home.

So he decided to be upfront, and even smiled as he explained:

“I’m pretty content with things as they are. As long as Dadan and I have enough, that’s all the money I need.”

“But Dadan’s mother deserves justice. I have to help him get it, so he can live in peace.”

If he could help it, Ji Chenbiao didn’t want his child to live burdened by vengeance. That kind of life was far too exhausting.

And the best way to keep Dadan from worrying—was to solve the problem for him.

“Even if our goals are different, what we have to do to reach them is the same.”

The Mu family was already pinning their hopes on an ignorant child. That alone showed how desperate they’d become—propping themselves up with empty strength.

If during this period they failed to find a new path forward, it would basically be time for a new family to take over in Myanmar.

What Ji Chenbiao and Mr. Zhou planned to do was to not give the old Myanmar family clans a chance to catch their breath or recover—instead, they would directly dismantle the game and seize the opportunity to step in.

When the head of the Mu family heard from his assistant that Ji An was showing no signs of giving in, he felt a bit of a headache. Just as he was considering whether to try winning the boy over from another angle, a servant came in to report that the child had come to visit personally at the door.

“Quick, invite him in!”

Ji An walked in with a gift in hand and first took a look at the décor of the house.

Say what you will, the Mu family had flourished in Myanmar for many years—there was indeed some depth to their heritage.

“I heard… you’re my biological father?”

“Yes, child. You’ve suffered so much out there all these years.”

As long as he could revive the already internally decaying Mu family, the Mu family head was willing to say whatever he needed to, no matter how insincere it was.

He had always believed in the prophecy told by that Taoist priest back then—he believed that once his youngest son grew up, he would become the pride of the Mu family and help lift them back up.

But during this transition period, they needed a child like Ji An to hold things up for the time being.

“It wasn’t suffering.”

Ji An couldn’t bring himself to pretend to cry and reminisce with the Mu family head, even if the man standing before him was likely his biological father.

Fortunately, his naturally indifferent personality helped. Even though his attitude wasn’t warm, the Mu family head wasn’t too disappointed.

“Child, you might not know this, but it was never my intention for you to grow up away from me.”

“Back then, I took your mother on a trip to Huaguo. She loved those remote mountain villages and said they had a special feeling. After giving birth to you there, somehow you were stolen by someone.”

“Your mother was devastated by this and didn’t make it through. Even before she died, she kept urging me to find you and bring you home.”

After saying this, the Mu family head even squeezed out a few tears, looking especially heartbroken.

Ji An’s expression didn’t show much change, but his lips had pressed into a hard line, and the veins on the back of his hand—tucked under his jacket—began to bulge.