Chapter 84

Dadan had always been a well-behaved child. In Ji Chenbiao’s memory, the only time he’d ever thrown a real tantrum was back in Myanmar, when he went missing for several hours and cried nonstop.

So when he heard the teacher say something was wrong, he immediately dropped everything he was doing and rushed over to the interest class Mr. Zhou had recommended.

When Ji Chenbiao arrived, Dadan was still bawling his eyes out, showing no signs of stopping. In fact, when he saw his dad, he cried even harder.

“Waaah—Daddy, the teacher tried to change my name!”

Dadan had been howling for a long time at the class, all because the teacher refused to call him by his name. That upset the little guy so much that he lost it completely.

No matter how he tried to explain, the teacher just wouldn’t listen. She even tried to brush him off with vague responses.

And when she attempted to do that, Dadan got so mad he burst into tears—and hadn’t stopped crying until now, finally calming down a bit in his father’s arms.

“Change your name?”

The teacher looked a bit awkward when Mr. Ji brought it up. She didn’t think she’d done anything wrong, so she patiently explained:

“Mr. Ji, I’m not sure what happened exactly, but I think there might have been some misunderstanding.”

“Every time I called your child by name, he’d respond with some very strange remarks.”

This interest class was specifically designed to help kids get used to the preschool environment in advance. The setup and routine were modeled almost entirely on a real kindergarten.

The teacher was a professional early childhood educator, and she knew that at this age, kids often mimic things they see in TV shows or repeat lines they’ve heard.

As a teacher, it was her job to correct those behaviors appropriately.

“What did he say?”

Ji Chenbiao was genuinely curious. His Dadan wasn’t the kind of child who’d behave badly—he had repeatedly reminded him before they came not to be disrespectful to teachers.

Because he trusted his son, Ji Chenbiao didn’t believe Dadan would do something so unruly.

“Every time I called his name, he would answer me with ‘Dadan.’”

When the teacher told him that, she also felt a bit conflicted inside.

If little Ji An hadn’t ended up crying, honestly, the earlier exchange might have even seemed a little funny.

“I’m really sorry, Teacher. My child’s nickname is Dadan. I hadn’t had the chance to tell him his full name yet, so that’s probably where the misunderstanding came from.”

Ji Chenbiao had imagined all sorts of possible scenarios before he came here—but this was definitely not one of them.

Calling him Dadan at home was one thing, but once he officially started school, he’d obviously need to use a more formal full name.

“Little Ji An’s nickname is…”

The teacher hadn’t even finished her sentence before Dadan, still sniffling, corrected her seriously from the side:

“Dadan.”

It was only now that the teacher finally understood what she had misunderstood earlier.

It wasn’t what she thought. This wasn’t a spoiled, difficult child—he just wasn’t used to being called by anything other than his nickname.

The nickname was a bit odd, though. No wonder people wouldn’t immediately recognize it as one.

“Dadan?”

The teacher tried calling out gently. The once-defiant little guy looked over with those bright, clear eyes, silently asking what she wanted.

“So it was just a misunderstanding after all.”

Now that she knew he wasn’t a child dead set on challenging her authority, the teacher finally breathed a huge sigh of relief. She didn’t have to struggle with an unfamiliar name or a rebellious student anymore.

“Teacher, it looks like my son’s not really in the mood to continue learning today. I’ll just take him home for now—would that be alright?”

After crying like that, there wasn’t much point in forcing him to stay. It would be better to just take him home.

The teacher agreed immediately. Honestly, she’d also been worried something might go wrong under her watch—and even more so about running into unreasonable parents.

But someone like Ji Chenbiao, who calmly explained the situation and left with his child, made everything much easier for her.

“Of course. Dadan, I hope we’ll still see you here tomorrow!”

Dadan gave a halfhearted nod. As long as the teacher didn’t try to call him by another name again, he was still willing to come back.

He was old enough now to understand that his dad had other responsibilities aside from raising him. He couldn’t expect his father to spend his whole life doing just that.

Now he was going to this interest class, and soon, he’d be going to kindergarten.

He would study hard at school, and his dad would work hard outside—like vegetables in a garden and flowers next door, even if they were planted in different soil, they’d still grow strong and healthy.

Ji Chenbiao walked home with Dadan, who had his tiny backpack on. Seeing him reach out to try and catch the sunlight in his hands, he asked with a touch of helplessness:

“All that fuss just because the teacher called you the wrong name? That’s not really okay, Dadan.”

“I told her my name is Dadan, but she didn’t listen.”

Dadan knew some things were too rude to say in front of the teacher, but with his dad, he didn’t have that filter.

Not only did he speak his mind, but he also looked a little aggrieved.

Ji Chenbiao looked at Dadan’s innocent and wronged expression, and in that moment, he couldn’t bring himself to scold the boy.

Thinking about it carefully, he realized he was partly to blame. If he hadn’t jokingly given his son that nickname “Dadan,” none of this would’ve happened.

Other kids had nicknames like “Sweetie” or “Mimi”—but his son? Dadan. It really did stand out in a strange way.

“You should’ve said, ‘Teacher, my nickname is Dadan. Could you please call me that?’”

“Huh?”

“You have to explain things clearly. Just saying one word won’t cut it.”

He didn’t know where Dadan had picked up the habit, but the kid clearly preferred saying as little as possible—even when a few more words were needed.

Ji Chenbiao hadn’t really paid attention to this kind of thing before, but now that Dadan was interacting with people outside the family, he realized it was actually a problem.

“Oh…”

Dadan was still feeling a little wronged and didn’t understand why his dad had to say all that—but since he said it, of course he’d do it.

For other things, maybe not. But when it came to trusting his dad, Dadan was one hundred percent on board.

“Blame me for not teaching you these things earlier.”

Worried that the whole situation might make Dadan lose confidence, Ji Chenbiao gently ruffled his hair to comfort him.

But when Dadan heard his dad trying to take the blame, he shook his head firmly and denied it:

“No, it’s because I’m not smart enough. I didn’t understand what Daddy meant. My daddy didn’t do anything wrong!”

“Alright, alright, your dad’s not wrong.”

Clearly, this blame either belonged to Ji Chenbiao or himself, but looking at Dadan, the kid didn’t seem to think there was anything wrong with the situation at all. He even looked pretty pleased to be taking the blame.

“Mm.”

Ji Chenbiao had already set up a meeting time with Mr. Zhou in advance—they’d agreed to talk about a potential collaboration today.

After picking up Dadan, he checked the time and saw that they had enough, so he brought it up with Dadan to see if he wanted to come along.

Dadan had a very high opinion of Uncle Zhou, and without even a moment of hesitation, he nodded and agreed.

“Sure!”

Seeing Dadan agree so happily, Ji Chenbiao wasn’t sure whether he should feel relieved or something else. After all, in this little guy’s heart, Mr. Zhou seemed to rank just slightly below his own dad.

“Daddy, what are we going to see Uncle Zhou for?”

“I’m not planning on working for him like I did before.”

Ji Chenbiao wasn’t even sure what he himself was thinking right now. He told Dadan about it probably because the kid’s overly protective attitude toward Mr. Zhou was making him a little unhappy.

So he twisted the truth on purpose, wanting to see which side his son would take.

“Huh? You’re quitting?”

Sure enough, Dadan was shocked. The way he looked at Ji Chenbiao seemed to confirm his suspicions, and his mood sank a bit. He responded with a quiet “Mm.”

“That’s fine~ Do we still have enough money, Daddy?”

Dadan leaned in curiously to ask, even starting to think that if Daddy wasn’t working for Uncle Zhou anymore, maybe they could keep some of the raw stones they cut for themselves to play with.

“Plenty.”

“Then why are we going to see Uncle Zhou?”

Ji Chenbiao didn’t see any trace of reluctance in Dadan—most of the kid’s thoughts were focused on anticipation for the future. There was even a faint but noticeable excitement.

Whatever emotions were involved, one thing was clear: in his heart, Daddy was still the most important.

To be honest, Ji Chenbiao also knew deep down that his own thoughts were childish. Waiting for a definite answer before starting to regret was like a kid getting a toy and then trying to convince their parents not to waste money.

“I only said I don’t plan to keep working under Uncle Zhou, not that I don’t want to collaborate with him at all.”

“Dadan, what if Daddy wanted to go into business with Uncle Zhou—what do you think?”

“Sure~”

When Dadan agreed right away, Ji Chenbiao thought at first that he really supported the idea. But when he saw those clear, sincere eyes, he began to doubt. So he casually asked:

“What if we don’t work with him?”

Dadan seemed confused why Daddy would ask such a strange question, and answered without even thinking:

“That’s fine too~”

After hearing that, Ji Chenbiao realized all those questions were pointless. In this little guy’s heart, no matter what choice he made, Dadan would think it was great.

“Dadan, do you think Daddy can do it?”

“You can!”

Dadan’s trust in his dad was absolutely unwavering. In his eyes, no one was more amazing than his father—not even the Uncle Zhou he used to idolize.

“Alright, let’s go together and ask.”

Maybe it was just psychological, but whenever he had to go out and deal with something important, bringing Dadan along always made him feel calm and grounded.

Mr. Zhou had agreed before that they could work together on a business, but the details hadn’t been settled.

Even now, Ji Chenbiao wasn’t entirely sure whether Mr. Zhou truly wanted to work with him, or if he was just going along with their previous agreement and didn’t want to lose such a helpful little assistant like Dadan.

Ji Chenbiao figured Mr. Zhou hadn’t contacted him because he was waiting to see if Ji Chenbiao had the capability to cooperate—a kind of test, in a way.

Before coming to see Mr. Zhou, Ji Chenbiao had already thought a lot about it. After weighing his options, he came up with something that suited him.

After all, he’d spent a good amount of time learning how to cut raw stones. It would be a shame not to put that skill to use.

He had plenty of funds on hand, so he wanted to ask Mr. Zhou if he could open a raw stone shop of his own.

In other circles, someone like Ji Chenbiao opening his own shop might seem suspicious. But in this industry, it wasn’t unusual.

Even Mr. Zhou himself ran two shops on his own, and he sometimes got hands-on with stone cutting just for the thrill of it.

“Of course you can. But you know, in our line of work, the most important thing is reputation. And besides, Dadan is just way too good at identifying jade…”

“So you can’t pick stones yourself like the bosses at other shops. You can only take the ones we’ve selected and send to you.”

“Of course, I promise you that these raw stones will be untouched. Whether or not there’s jade inside will be pure luck.”

To put it plainly, the biggest draw of the stone-gambling business was that gambler’s thrill.

No one could predict if a stone would yield jade. The more uncertain and exciting it was, the more it pulled people in.

“You don’t have to worry—I wouldn’t ask Dadan to help me even if you hadn’t said anything.”

Even though he knew Dadan could help him make a lot of money, Ji Chenbiao just couldn’t bring himself to do something that felt so wrong.

“If you can promise not to bring Dadan, then I’ll let you pick your own stones.”

Mr. Zhou was the kind of person who preferred laying everything out clearly from the start. Rather than let things blow up later due to unspoken issues, he’d rather be upfront about it all now.

“Alright.”

Ji Chenbiao chose to work with Mr. Zhou mainly because he knew it would be too difficult to make it on his own.

Connections were part of strength, too. Admitting that you had help in your success wasn’t shameful at all.

On the way home, Dadan was still grinning like a fool. Ji Chenbiao wasn’t sure if he’d been like that as a kid—always beaming over things that didn’t even count as real happiness.

But one thing he was sure of—he definitely hadn’t been as silly as Dadan.

Dadan seemed to sense that Daddy might be judging him, so he gave a little huff and turned his head away.

“Back home already? Want some formula?”

With just one sentence, the once-pouting Dadan, who had no intention of paying attention, immediately cozied up and wrapped his arms around his father’s neck. In an overly sweet voice, he drew out his reply:

“Yes~”

The change in his expression and attitude was so abrupt that even Ji Chenbiao, who was already used to Dadan’s mood swings, was caught off guard for a moment.

Sunlight fell on them, casting long shadows on the ground. Ji Chenbiao’s every step was steady and firm.

After all, having worked with Mr. Zhou for such a long time, he knew very well how kind and generous Mr. Zhou could be to his subordinates. Since Mr. Zhou had promised to let him work alongside him, he would definitely not be treated unfairly.

This was completely different from everything Ji Chenbiao had once obtained through Dadan. Back then, it had all felt like something floating in the air, fragile and uncertain, never guaranteed to stay his.

But now, this shop was different. No matter what, it truly belonged to them.

Seeing his dad so happy made Dadan happy too. He hummed softly to himself, singing a tune he’d learned in his interest class that day.

“Dadan, do you like going to your interest class?”

“If the teacher doesn’t keep calling my name wrong.”

Ji Chenbiao couldn’t help but laugh at that. He knew his child had a reserved nature, and a response like this was already a roundabout admission that he liked it—he just didn’t want to say it outright.

“How about going again tomorrow?”

“Okay!”

What Dadan didn’t tell his dad was that even if the teacher kept calling him by the wrong name, he’d still go. After all, his dad had spent quite a bit of money on it—he couldn’t just let it go to waste.

After the issue was brought up, the teacher finally stopped getting Dadan’s name wrong. Occasionally, the teacher would still call out “Little Ji’an,” and Dadan would still respond, though he was clearly less cheerful about it than before.

The teacher really couldn’t understand why Dadan liked a name that didn’t sound particularly nice, but she could only convince herself that perhaps, for this student, the name held a very special meaning.

…

The shop Mr. Zhou had handed over to Ji Chenbiao required him to pay rent independently. He also needed to cover the cost of the rough jade stones himself, though Mr. Zhou would support him publicly to ensure others didn’t dismiss him just because he was new to the area.

The shop hadn’t previously sold raw jade, so if Ji Chenbiao wanted to do business there, he had to completely renovate and redecorate the place.

He’d been busy with that lately and had worried that he might have been neglecting Dadan in the process.

Thankfully, Dadan was a well-behaved and sensible child—or perhaps he was even more excited than his father about them owning their very first shop.

Every day after school, he would come over with his little backpack to help out, looking every bit like the little boss supervising the workers.

Ji Chenbiao didn’t mind Dadan getting involved at all. In fact, he tried to meet all of Dadan’s requests.

After all, Dadan had walked with him step by step from that poor mountain village to where they were now.

To Ji Chenbiao, Dadan was even more important than he had imagined.

Even though Dadan had only just started learning calligraphy, Ji Chenbiao still let him write characters on the blank walls of the shop—and even asked the decorator to preserve those childlike strokes.

At first, Dadan had been thrilled that his dad liked his writing so much. But a few days later, when he felt he had improved under the teacher’s guidance, he couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed when he looked at the wall again.

He knew, however, that his dad would never agree to take those words down. So, he could only pretend he didn’t know anything and look away.

Mr. Zhou visited several times while the shop was being renovated, offering suggestions on layouts that would attract customers.

When he saw the childish handwriting on the wall, he paused briefly before understanding what it was about.

Looking at the little one pretending to read with ears flushed red, Mr. Zhou also smiled.

He had always thought of himself as a pretty good father, but compared to Ji Chenbiao, he realized he might still fall short.

After all, he believed business should be serious—different from family life. He would never have thought to bring anything related to his child into the business world.

In contrast, Ji Chenbiao didn’t mind at all—in fact, he seemed quite proud.

A few passersby noticed the shop’s unique decor and asked about the handwriting on the wall. Ji Chenbiao always responded with great pride: it was written by his son.

At first, Mr. Zhou thought maybe Ji Chenbiao simply didn’t understand business. But after thinking it over, he realized perhaps he himself had been too narrow-minded.

After all, Ji Chenbiao had used a clever method to make people remember his store.

Later, if anyone talked about the shop, they might say, “Oh, the one with the kid’s writing on the wall!”—and that alone could be a memorable feature.

He wasn’t sure if Ji Chenbiao had done this on purpose or just stumbled into it by accident.

Still, Mr. Zhou didn’t like to assume the worst about him. Although Ji Chenbiao was just working under him for now, as long as he performed well, Mr. Zhou would also benefit.

Not to mention, they had signed a contract that would last until Dadan came of age.

That alone made Mr. Zhou very willing to give him some extra support.

In their industry, situations like Ji Chenbiao’s weren’t rare—people would work under someone for a while, learn the ropes, and eventually go off on their own.

But that only worked if they met a good boss like Mr. Zhou. Otherwise, a more petty employer might secretly try to sabotage them.

Once the renovation was complete, Mr. Zhou personally selected a batch of high-quality rough jade stones for the opening.

For a new shop, the most important thing was to make a splash—something memorable.

And nothing made a stronger impression for a jade store than uncovering sky-high value jade on the first day, or at least a higher-than-average number of successful cuts.

Mr. Zhou came in person for the opening. Many of his former customers came by as a favor to him. The two jade-cutting masters Ji Chenbiao had hired were barely enough to keep up.

It was a level of business Ji Chenbiao had never dared to hope for. When customers started urging them to hurry, he even jumped in to help himself.

Mr. Zhou didn’t mind if others laughed at them—in fact, once Ji Chenbiao joined in, he rolled up his sleeves and helped out too.

By the end of the first day, they had uncovered three pieces of jade worth a good sum. Several customers even asked Ji Chenbiao before leaving if there would be more rough stones available the next day.

Of course, Ji Chenbiao agreed on the spot—there was still plenty in the back storage that he hadn’t even brought out yet.

That night, Ji Chenbiao sat down and carefully went over the accounts. Though he couldn’t read, he could recognize a few numbers, and after all this time, he had also learned the basics from Mr. Zhou’s assistant. He could at least manage the simplest bookkeeping.

In the past, he had never imagined he could earn so much money in just a single day.

“Chenbiao, your business is doing pretty well,” Mr. Zhou said as he patiently waited by his side until he finished tallying the accounts.

“If you have something to say, Mr. Zhou, please feel free to speak directly.”

“There is indeed something I want to discuss with you.”

The moment Ji Chenbiao noticed that Mr. Zhou had no intention of leaving, he figured there was something he wanted.

He was very clear that there wasn’t much about him worth Mr. Zhou’s time—except perhaps for his connection to Dadan. That alone could justify Mr. Zhou waiting so long.

“There’s a new pit that’s opened up in Myanmar, producing a lot of rough stones. It’s the same kind of exhibition as last time. I was wondering if you’d be able to come along?”

Honestly, after the danger and thrill of the last experience, Ji Chenbiao wasn’t too eager to take another risk. After all, nothing was more important than his life.

But Mr. Zhou had come at a rather opportune moment. It was the first day his new shop had opened, and for the first time, Ji Chenbiao tasted the sweetness of success.

It would be a shame to give that up simply because he didn’t want to take any risks.

“Don’t worry—this time, I’m much better prepared than last time. I hired two retired international mercenaries. They’ll be with Dadan twenty-four hours a day, making sure nothing happens to him.”

Last time, their mistake was going in unprepared. But now that everything was in place, there shouldn’t be any issues.

While persuading himself, Ji Chenbiao also considered that his new shop really did need more rough stones to stock up.

“Alright. When exactly?”

“We only have a rough timeline for now. I’ll contact you once the details are finalized.”

“Okay.”

That evening, Ji Chenbiao brought it up to Dadan. For Dadan, that trip had not been a pleasant memory at all.

It wasn’t just the food that didn’t suit him—he had also been temporarily separated from his dad, and forced to wear a dress that didn’t suit him at all.

After Ji Chenbiao mentioned it, Dadan’s movement slowed visibly, his arms still holding his bowl.

“Dad… do I still have to wear the little dress?”

“No, you just need to wear the short wig.”

According to Mr. Zhou, by the time they arrived, the weather in Myanmar would have cooled down. Wearing a padded coat wouldn’t draw attention.

As long as he wore the same wig as last time and didn’t get mistaken for a boy, everything would be fine.

“Alright then…”

Dadan still wasn’t thrilled about wearing the wig, but if it was just the wig and not the dress, that was already much better.

By the time Mr. Zhou received the update, it was already a little late. Once he confirmed that the timing worked, he had his assistant book a ticket for him at the right moment.

To play it safe this time, Dadan had already put on the wig before they even boarded the plane.

After landing, they stayed at the same hotel as before. Thanks to their last experience, Ji Chenbiao wasn’t as clueless this time around.

He also checked out the two bodyguards Mr. Zhou hired for Dadan—they were about the same height as him, and judging by certain bulges, were probably armed.

As long as Dadan was safe, Ji Chenbiao was at ease.

The truth was, Dadan’s safety was the one thing he worried about most in all of this. But unfortunately, the majority of jadeite in the world came from Myanmar. If they wanted to stay in this line of work, there was no avoiding it.

Mr. Zhou felt the same. He thought everything was well-arranged and foolproof. But unexpectedly, before the exhibition even began, Ji Chenbiao had gone missing—again.

Before Dadan woke up, Mr. Zhou had already sent his assistant over, telling him to calm Dadan down by saying his dad was sent on an errand for him and would be back in a couple of days.

Dadan was half-convinced. It was true that his dad had helped Uncle Zhou with tasks that took days before—but he had always let him know ahead of time.

“Really? Uncle Zhou?” Dadan asked.

Looking at Dadan’s innocent, easy-to-pacify expression, Mr. Zhou braced himself and nodded.

“Yes, of course it’s true.”

Even with that reassurance, Dadan still couldn’t relax. He kept asking when his dad would be back.

“Don’t worry, once your dad finishes the task Uncle gave him, he’ll be back. Next time, I promise I’ll make sure he lets you know in advance, okay?”

Uncle Zhou’s gentle attitude made Dadan feel bad about pushing further, so he could only pout and nod.

He still missed his dad, but throwing a tantrum didn’t seem right either. If Dad found out when he returned, he’d definitely be mad.

So he quietly held back his feelings, head hanging low as he went back to his room.

…

Ji Chenbiao had truly not expected this. He’d only gone outside to use the restroom—afraid that doing so inside might wake Dadan—and somehow he’d ended up taken to a strange place.

Just like last time, a hood had been thrown over his head, and judging by the sounds and movement, there were a few men around him.

“This time, there’s no hidden agenda—we just want to ask you a few questions.”

“You were lucky to escape last time, but I don’t think anyone will find you so quickly this time.”

That sentence was basically an admission—they were the same people who had taken him last time. Ji Chenbiao’s heartbeat quickened.

“What do you mean? I don’t get it.”

“You really think playing dumb will help you now?”

The man sitting across from Ji Chenbiao was the head of the Sun family, the same person who had hosted the last exhibition.

Back then, he had brought Ji Chenbiao in because he noticed that Ji seemed particularly talented at picking out rough stones. But up until then, there had been no rumors about him in the entire industry.

That made the Sun family head extremely curious—someone with such talent couldn’t have just appeared out of nowhere.

Unfortunately, before he had time to ask much, that Mr. Zhou had come looking. It wasn’t that he feared Mr. Zhou—he was more worried that if word got out that people who were good at picking stones might be taken to the Sun family’s place, their reputation and business would both be ruined.

“I’m very curious. You had never dealt with raw jade stones before—how did you become so good at picking them? Or is there something here that I don’t know about?”

At this point, Ji Chenbiao’s palms were already covered in a thin layer of sweat. He had never expected that someone would actually take the time to investigate his entire life in such detail.

Still, just like before, he played dumb and replied,
“That’s exactly because I hadn’t been exposed to raw stones before, so I didn’t realize I had such a natural gift for it.”

“If I’d been able to get into this line of work earlier, my achievements would definitely be more than what they are now.”

His words came off a bit arrogant, but they weren’t wrong.

“It’s extremely rare for someone with no prior experience in the jade stone industry to have the kind of instinct you claim to have.”

“Well, that’s why I say—I’m a genius, aren’t I?”

Ji Chenbiao wouldn’t budge, no matter what. He flat-out refused to admit anything. As long as he stuck to the story that he was simply extraordinarily gifted, he didn’t believe this man could come up with any other angle to force the truth out.

“Ji Chenbiao, right? From a remote village in Huaguo.”

“I heard you’ve been investigating the real cause of your sister’s death all these years?”

“What if I told you… I could help you find the person who truly killed your sister—would you be willing to tell me the truth then?”

The moment those words left the man’s mouth, it felt like Ji Chenbiao’s heart skipped a beat.