Chapter 90

The first thing that caught their eyes was a pair of obviously well-crafted leather shoes, followed by a long leg—just from the height alone, it was clear he wasn’t from the Wang family.

Ji Chenbiao stood there and bent down to lift little Dadan out of the car. After vomiting heavily earlier, Dadan looked drained and low on energy.

Due to his constitution, he had always been sensitive to the cold, and that hadn’t changed over the years. Especially before they came back, when Ji Chenbiao had told him it would be even colder here than in Shancheng(Mountain City), Dadan had instinctively bundled himself up into a tight ball.

“Who are you?”
The people at the village entrance didn’t recognize the man before them. Clearly, he wasn’t one of the people they had guessed. One of the braver ones simply asked outright.

“Ji Chenbiao.”

There was nothing shameful about it, so Ji Chenbiao had no intention of hiding. He answered cleanly.

The two drivers with him were both retired soldiers who had grown up in the orphanage and didn’t have many relatives or friends. They had come with Ji Chenbiao to spend the New Year together.

Since it had been so many years since he last returned, Ji Chenbiao wasn’t sure whether the house could still be lived in. If it were just him, he could make do—but the issue was, he had Dadan with him.

Was Dadan pitiful? Sure, this little guy had been abandoned in the snow shortly after birth and nearly eaten by wild beasts. He had followed Ji Chenbiao from place to place just to survive. It had been rough.

But truthfully, from the time Dadan had memories until now, he hadn’t really suffered much.

He definitely wouldn’t be able to handle a terrible environment.

Having finally come home, Ji Chenbiao didn’t want Dadan to be unhappy just because he couldn’t adjust.

He wasn’t obsessed with making kids “tough” through hardship, nor did he believe that children had to suffer to grow up right.

Suffering—only those who’ve endured it truly understand it. If possible, Ji Chenbiao wished Dadan wouldn’t have to endure a single moment of it.

They were in a good place now. He really didn’t want to hear anyone preaching that kids needed to understand how hard it used to be.

What would knowing the past accomplish? It’s not like Dadan knowing how hard things once were could somehow erase the pain already endured.

None of that would change anything. So why not just skip it all and let his kid grow up happy?

Ji Chenbiao’s name wasn’t unfamiliar to the villagers. After all, he had grown up here. Not to mention, what happened with his sister back then had caused such an uproar that even after all these years, people still brought it up in idle conversation.

“Ji Chenbiao? Why are you back? Didn’t we agree before that as long as you stayed out of the village, we wouldn’t give you trouble?”

Just moments ago, Mrs. Wang had thought it was her brother-in-law who had made something of himself. If that had been true, her family might have gained some benefits.

The envious looks others had given her just now had all turned into ridicule. She couldn’t swallow the humiliation, especially given the unpleasant history between her and Ji Chenbiao.

“This is my home. Why can’t I come back?”

Many people stayed silent. They were just here for the spectacle—very few were actually willing to take Ji Chenbiao’s side and risk offending the Wang family.

“Your home? Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten the deal we made! It hasn’t even been a few years! And now you think you can come back? Forget it! No way!”

Most of the Wang family were notoriously hard to deal with, and after being publicly embarrassed just now, they were even worse.

Part of it was that they truly believed Ji Chenbiao had done wrong back then. The other part was just a chance to vent long-harbored resentment.

“How can someone like you, who deliberately got someone killed, end up rich? Heaven must be blind!”

Ji Chenbiao had experienced plenty of this kind of nonsense since childhood. He just watched coldly, waiting until the woman had screamed herself hoarse before saying:

“Oh? So what you’re saying is, I’m not welcome here? Funny, I was just thinking—since I’ve made some money now, maybe I’d fix the village road.”

“To be honest, this road of ours doesn’t compare at all to the ones outside. The bumps nearly rattled my son to death. His little face turned completely white.”

Hearing his name, Dadan buried his face even deeper.

After traveling all over with his father for so many years, this was his first time experiencing motion sickness.

“Fix the road?”

Someone in the crowd subconsciously repeated the words, their attitude shifting instantly. They shoved Mrs. Wang aside and stepped forward.

“Don’t listen to her! What do you mean you’re not welcome? Ji Chenbiao, this is your home. Who’s gonna stop you from coming back?”

“It’s almost New Year’s. Just got back now? You probably didn’t have time to prepare for the holidays, right?”

“No worries. Come to my place. My wife loves fussing with holiday goods—we’ve got extra!”

Once one person stepped up, others followed suit, all rushing to speak kindly to Ji Chenbiao.

Earlier, they had only been watching the show. As for the old feud between Ji Chenbiao and the Wang family—most in the village knew he hadn’t been the one at fault.

But with things like that, it’s hard to clearly divide right and wrong, and no one wanted to get involved in trouble.

Now, though, everything had changed. With one sentence, Ji Chenbiao had put them all in the same boat.

Their village was the poorest in the entire area, all because of the terrible road. Even if someone wanted to do business, it was too inconvenient.

Government development hadn’t reached them yet, while other villages had already started progressing.

If this went on, who knew when they’d ever see a better life?

So seeing Ji Chenbiao return in such a fancy car, and even talking about fixing the road—it was only natural for them to want to hold on to this walking goldmine.

“There’s a lot going on at the company, so I’ve been busy and only got back now,” Ji Chenbiao patiently explained.

When the villagers heard he ran a company, their eyes lit up.

“You run a company?”

“Yeah, though it’s not that big.”

Given Ji Chenbiao’s current presence, no one believed that “not that big” nonsense. They all assumed he was just being modest, not wanting to boast in front of the village elders.

“That’s great! Big or small, it’s still a company. That old house of yours has been empty for years—it might not even be livable now. Why not stay at my place first? You can move back once it’s fixed up.”

The speaker was Aunt Wang—not related at all to the notorious Wang family. Her daughter had done well for herself and built the only small multi-story house in the village.

You couldn’t blame the villagers for getting so worked up. They had watched nearby villages grow wealthy while they stayed stuck in poverty. They were sick of it.

Even the village chief caught wind of Ji Chenbiao’s offer to fix the road when he returned with Aunt Wang.

“Build a road? Are you serious?”

Compared to the year when Ji Chenbiao left, the village chief looked noticeably older. He still held his long-stemmed tobacco pipe, and his back was even more hunched than before.

“Yes, Village Chief, I’m absolutely serious.”

When Auntie Wang saw the village chief approaching, she seemed to take it as a sign that things were more or less settled. She poured three cups of water, even placing one in front of little Dadan.

After setting them down, she immediately turned to busy herself in the back.

Even if that incident at the village entrance hadn’t happened, Ji Chenbiao had already intended to build a road for the village.

Not for any other reason—this was the place where he had grown up. And on top of that, he could never forget how, when he left the village in utter disgrace, the village chief secretly stuffed some small-denomination bills into his hand.

“Do you have any idea how far our village is from the county seat? If you’re really planning to build a road, it’s going to cost at least this much.”

The village chief gestured to show him, but for Ji Chenbiao now, that amount of money was really nothing. Even one of the jade pendants Dadan wore casually was worth more than that.

“I’ll have my assistant come and handle the follow-up matters.”

“You’ve really made a name for yourself out there after all these years, haven’t you?”

The village chief sighed helplessly and took a drag of his pipe. Back then, when Ji Chenbiao was driven out—taking such a small child with him—the chief had always felt a little guilty. All these years, he couldn’t help but wonder how they were getting by out there.

Now, seeing them return in such good shape, he could finally let go of his worry.

“Village Chief, I’m not just planning to build a road. I remember the fruit trees we grow here in the village are actually pretty good—great quality too.”

There wasn’t much in the village that could be considered a selling point, but the fruit trees were one of the few.

“That’s true.”

The village chief nodded. He agreed that the village fruit was good, but the transportation situation was simply too inconvenient. No buyers were willing to come all the way out here.

If they tried to carry the fruit out themselves bit by bit, it wasn’t worth it. In the end, most of it just rotted on the trees.

“Once the road’s built, I plan to open a canning factory in the county and sell the fruit from our village.”

With fruit trees spread across the hills, if there really was a canning factory, then the elderly villagers wouldn’t have to worry about their livelihoods anymore.

The village chief wasn’t a foolish man. After taking another puff of smoke, he asked:

“Do you have any conditions?”

Talking with smart people was always easier. Ji Chenbiao nodded.

“I don’t want to see any members of the Wang family in the factory.”

Back during the New Year, he had been driven out of the village by them. Maybe it wasn’t exactly hatred, but it was hard for Ji Chenbiao to pretend nothing had ever happened.

“Alright.”

The village chief didn’t hesitate at all as he nodded. Compared to the rest of the village, the Wang family didn’t amount to much.

One-on-one, people might have held back out of fear of the Wang family’s numbers and temper. But once word got out that Ji Chenbiao was willing to build a road for the village—and even open a canning factory in the county—anyone standing against him would essentially be standing against the entire village.

“How long are you planning to stay in the village this time?”

The village chief knew Ji Chenbiao didn’t have any family left here, so he figured he probably didn’t want to linger. This visit was most likely about finding closure.

“I’ll leave after the New Year. Things are busy at the company.”

“That house of yours hasn’t been lived in for a long time. I’ll get some folks from the village to help clean it up for you.”

“Alright. Thanks.”

The houses in the village might not have had the best renovations, but at least they were clean and well-lit. Dadan wasn’t picky about this sort of thing.

Still, being new to the place, he was having some trouble adjusting.

That night, Ji Chenbiao stayed up talking with him for a long time, even telling Dadan about his own childhood—something he rarely did.

The village had certainly been poor, but Ji Chenbiao’s parents never treated him and his sister badly. Whatever the two kids wanted, no matter how hard it was, their parents would always find a way to get it.

Dadan was very curious about his dad’s childhood. He listened intently, eyes shining.

Seeing the boy getting more and more excited, Ji Chenbiao had to steer the conversation toward more boring topics.

Eventually, Dadan fell asleep while listening.

Their first night back in the village passed peacefully. After tucking his son in, Ji Chenbiao returned to the room Auntie Wang had arranged for him next door.

Early the next morning, a crowd had already gathered outside the village chief’s home—those who’d heard the news and wanted to confirm it for themselves.

“I heard Ji Chenbiao is planning to build a road for us?” someone asked, and the noisy crowd fell quiet. Clearly, more than just that one man was curious.

The village chief let out an “Mm” and tapped his pipe.

“He also said he’s got plenty of money now. Once the road is built, he wants to open a canning factory in the county and buy up all the fruit growing on our hills.”

The crowd erupted. None of them had expected that the man they once drove out would come back a few years later with this much capability.

“You’re not joking with us, are you, Village Chief?”

One of the Wang family members who had insisted on driving Ji Chenbiao out back then let out a scornful snort and said:

“You all remember what he looked like when he left, right? And now suddenly he’s supposed to be some big shot? Do you really believe this nonsense? I think he’s just fooling you!”

Back then, the Wang family had blamed Ji Chenbiao for their son’s death. Anyone with eyes could see that they were in the wrong.

If it hadn’t been for the village chief trying to keep the peace, he wouldn’t have supported them either.

It had been years since Ji Chenbiao was driven out. Now he’d returned with success and wanted to give back to the village.

The Wang family kept pushing and causing trouble, but now that they were threatening the rest of the village’s interests, the other villagers were no longer having it.

“Whatever he was like when he left, he’s come back driving a fancy car. If you don’t believe it, fine. But the rest of us do.”

“Old Wang family, I’m warning you. Don’t go messing things up like last time. If you piss him off and he leaves, you can build us a road!”

“Exactly. That road—we’re getting it, no matter what.”

The Wang family had long relied on their numbers and rough ways to push people around. Many villagers had suffered because of them.

Now that the tables had finally turned, the old grudges were bubbling up, and everyone was eager to finally settle the score.

For once, the Wang family didn’t come out on top. As they slipped away in frustration, they could still hear people behind them whispering—saying they’d better not ruin the village’s big opportunity.

The house Ji Chenbiao was staying in had been left to him by his parents. It was an old brick-and-tile home, and after so many years without anyone living in it, the yard was now overgrown with weeds.

Some of the villagers who came to help hesitated to say certain things outright, but after thinking it over, one of them still tried to speak in a gentler tone:

“Chen Biao, we’re all from the same village, so I’ll just get straight to the point. Your house has been empty for a long time. Do you want us to help you clean it up, or would it be better to just rebuild it altogether?”

“Let’s just clean it up.”

First, because building a new house would take too much effort. Second, Ji Chenbiao didn’t plan to stay here for long—he’d be heading back to Shancheng after the New Year.

Most importantly, Ji Chenbiao couldn’t let go of the memories tied to this house.

Back when he was little, his parents and younger sister were still alive. Those memories were irreplaceable to him. If he could help it, he didn’t want to throw them away.

“All right, if you want to fix it up, let’s get to it.”

The villager was just asking for Ji Chenbiao’s opinion. Once he got the answer, he immediately got to work.

Dadan had been brought along too. It was his first time in a place like this, and everything felt new and exciting. He ran around curiously.

After running himself tired and squatting down to rest, he suddenly spotted a small handrail by the door. Dadan hesitantly reached out and placed his hand on it.

The height—just right.

“Daddy, come look!”

Ji Chenbiao looked over at Dadan’s voice. That small, delicate handrail made him fall silent for a moment.

If he remembered correctly, his mother had made it back when his sister had just learned to walk. It was installed so she could open the door on her own. In the blink of an eye, so many years had passed.

When Dadan pushed the door open, hand gripping the little handrail, it was as if Ji Chenbiao had been pulled back to that summer in an instant.

His sister pushed open the door, toddling over to him.

While others helped tidy up the house, Ji Chenbiao took Dadan to the village store to buy some incense paper. He also brought along the court verdict he’d brought back from Haicheng, and the two of them headed up the hill to his parents’ and sister’s graves.

The village chief had arranged for the area to be cleaned up yesterday, so it looked decent now.

Ji Chenbiao tried to reach out and wipe the dust off the headstones, but he couldn’t quite touch them. In the end, he just gently rubbed the engraved names with the pad of his finger.

Dadan, imitating his father, knelt down and lit the incense paper.

Ji Chenbiao tossed the court verdict into the fire, watching as the flames licked at it and turned it to ash.

“Xiaomei, don’t worry. I’ve already gotten to the bottom of what happened. The people who hurt you—your brother made sure they all ended up in prison.”

“I also arranged for someone to give them ‘special attention’ in there, to make sure even in jail, life wouldn’t be easy for them.”

“When they get out, your brother will give them another good lesson!”

The mountain wind swept through, lifting the ashes of the burnt verdict into the sky.

Ji Chenbiao looked up, eyes following the drifting ashes into the distance. A soft smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, and he whispered,

“Xiaomei, let’s just say… you came to see it.”

The flickering yellow firelight fell on Dadan’s chubby cheeks. He started muttering away, just like his father had:

“Hello Grandpa, hello Grandma, hello Auntie. I’m Ji An, but my nickname is Dadan. I’m in second grade now, and I’m the class monitor.”

Listening to Dadan’s chattering, Ji Chenbiao’s gloom lifted.

If his parents were still around, they’d probably be just like him—half-annoyed by how chatty Dadan was. But Xiaomei would’ve liked him, probably even scolded them for saying that about her nephew.

On the way back, Dadan followed behind his dad carefully, paying close attention to the bumpy road like he was afraid a single wrong step would send him tumbling.

What Ji Chenbiao didn’t expect was that they’d run into some familiar faces on the way home.

Not from Old Wang’s family, but Lao Wu—the guy he’d saved more times than he could count back when they were guarding against poachers—and Xiao Li.

When the two spotted him from afar, they quickly ducked away, clearly trying to avoid him. From the way they turned their backs, it was like they were fleeing in panic.

Ji Chenbiao couldn’t quite describe how he felt. He just gripped Dadan’s hand tighter and acted like he hadn’t seen anything.

It wasn’t hard to guess what Lao Wu and Xiao Li were thinking. Back when he’d left, they hadn’t helped him. Now that he’d made it big, they were probably too embarrassed to come begging.

Dadan had a great time that New Year in the village. Most of the villagers remembered that Ji Chenbiao had promised to build a road for them. Before the kids played together, their parents always made sure to remind them not to offend him.

Being doted on and spoiled—how could a kid not enjoy that?

After the holiday, Ji Chenbiao left an assistant behind to oversee the road construction and prepare for the canning factory, then returned to Shancheng himself.

Maybe it was because he’d stayed in Shancheng too long before, but now that he was back, he didn’t feel quite at home here anymore. Plus, Ji Chenbiao didn’t want Dadan to pick up any bad habits.

Being spoiled constantly would only make his temper worse and easier to spark.

Before leaving, Ji Chenbiao especially took out a copy of the court verdict from Haicheng and asked the literate villagers to read it aloud for others.

He wanted to make absolutely sure everyone knew that Xiaomei hadn’t been a third party in someone else’s relationship.

The truth was, someone had pursued Xiaomei, and after she refused, the man’s fiancée—driven by jealousy—took her anger out on Xiaomei.

If this had been said before everything happened, a lot of people might’ve doubted it.

But now, with the entire village counting on Ji Chenbiao to build roads and a factory, it only took a brief clarification from him before others stepped up to help convince the skeptics.

…

After returning to Shancheng, Dadan holed up in his room to catch up on his winter homework. He’d had too much fun back in their hometown and completely forgot about his assignments.

Fortunately, there was still plenty of time—he could catch up if he started now.

To support Dadan’s education, Ji Chenbiao even hired a private tutor to help him with his work.

The tutor was dedicated and responsible. Every time Dadan finished one set of assignments, another quickly followed.

After just two days of this nonstop studying, Dadan began seeing math problems in the rice in his bowl at dinner.

On the eighth day of the New Year, Mr. Zhou came by with gifts, claiming he was just dropping in to wish them a happy new year.

“Mr. Zhou, is there something going on?”

“Yeah. There’s a new pit in Myanmar that’s produced quite a bit of raw jade. Interested in going over to take a look?”

They were no longer the people who had to live in hiding. Now, the two of them could go to Myanmar without worrying about safety.

Mr. Zhou’s company no longer needed him to personally pick raw stones anymore. The reason he still insisted on going every year was simply because he enjoyed it.

As Dadan grew older, Ji Chenbiao rarely let him get involved anymore—for his own safety.

“Sure.”

Ji Chenbiao agreed with a smile. Stone gambling, with all its uncertainty, wasn’t just addictive to clients. He, too, had become hooked.

Just then, the door cracked open slightly, and Dadan’s little head peeked in.

“What about me? What about me? Can I go too?”

Ji Chenbiao did a quick calculation of how many days were left before school started, then put on a very serious expression and said:

“Aren’t you about to start school again? You still have so much homework left unfinished.”

“I already finished it all, Dad! And there’s still plenty of time before school starts—please take me with you, please! I’m begging you, let me come too!”

Dadan clung to his father’s arm and shook it vigorously. Seeing how obsessed he was with stone gambling, Ji Chenbiao couldn’t help but feel a headache coming on. He even started to reflect on whether he’d introduced Dadan to the world of jade gambling too early.

“Just bring him along. Let him have some fun. In the big jade clans, it’s not uncommon for kids this age to start learning how to judge jade.”

“This exhibition we’re going to was organized by the Mu family. I heard they’ve got a little prodigy—only six years old—and he can already tell which rough stones are likely to contain jadeite.”

Plenty of people in the circle had been praising the kid like he was some kind of legend, but Mr. Zhou never paid it much mind.

He’d seen kids like Dadan open up imperial green jadeite at such a young age—so to him, a six-year-old who could only tell if a stone had jade at all wasn’t all that impressive.

They packed up and headed to Myanmar together. Having been there several times before, Dadan was already quite familiar with the place. Other than the food not being too tasty, everything else was fine to him.

Maybe it was because Mr. Zhou and Ji Chenbiao had raided so many rough stones from their stash in the past, but this time the Mu family wised up. They limited each person to selecting only five stones—and, most importantly, required that they all be opened on the spot.

This year, Mr. Zhou had no plans to let Dadan help. He didn’t need to rely on this business to make a living anymore—nowadays, he did it purely for enjoyment.

Ji Chenbiao brought along a full set of professional tools, intending to try his hand at it himself.

On the day of the exhibition, Ji Chenbiao and Mr. Zhou went to meet with a business partner. Dadan, quickly bored of listening to all the grown-up talk he couldn’t understand, acted cute and persuaded his dad to let the assistant take him out to look around first.

Dadan had always been obedient, so Ji Chenbiao didn’t think too much of it and readily agreed.

As Dadan wandered around on his own, he unknowingly walked up to a room. This one was also open for guests to pick stones freely, so he strolled right in without hindrance.

What drew him to the room in the first place was how lively it was. But once inside, he realized it was where the Mu family’s young heir—the very same one Uncle Zhou had told him about—was picking rough stones.

The boy stood there with a flashlight, shining it over a stone from different angles. As he moved, he explained to the crowd why this particular stone had a higher chance of containing jadeite than the one beside it.

Dadan listened for a while, then frowned deeply. His obvious expression caught the attention of the Mu family’s young master, who walked over with a frown and asked:

“Why are you frowning? Do you think I said something wrong?”

“Of course. That other stone over there is clearly more likely to have jadeite.”

Dadan pointed at a stone the young master had already discarded. It had been cast aside early on, and anyone who lingered in the room knew it was the first to be rejected.

The crowd let out a few chuckles—not malicious, but amused. After all, everyone knew the Mu family’s heir was the only child of his age with such jade-judging skills.

Anyone with eyes could see that stone had little to no chance of yielding green.

No one had ever dared speak to the Mu family’s young master like that before. Annoyed, he frowned and asked:

“Wanna bet on it, then?”

“Of course.”

Dadan couldn’t quite explain why, but even though it was their first meeting, everything about this boy rubbed him the wrong way.

“Let’s bet on which of these two stones will produce jadeite. The loser has to get down and bark like a dog—how about that?”

In front of so many people, it was clearly meant to humiliate. Seeing the certainty in the young master’s eyes, Dadan gave a calm little nod.

“Sure.”