“In this world, even blood relatives might not necessarily treat you well. Stone, no one is born to be kind to you. But you can be kind to others—one, two, three… eventually you’ll find someone who treats you well in return. You’re so unwilling because you feel you’ve given too much to receive feedback from your foster mother, brothers, and subordinates. But you’ve overlooked that they’re already being sincere with you too. Your efforts have been rewarded—why do you still abandon yourself like this? If you don’t like this way of exchange, you shouldn’t have shown them kindness first!”

“They must be worried about you now. Go back—that’s your responsibility! Everyone has responsibilities that belong to them, that cannot be avoided!”

So everything he’d done was for this speech? Lian Yu’s fingers dug into his palms, already furious. He suppressed the urge to grab this person’s throat, his anger turning to laughter: “Do you really think you’re sincere toward me? About your origins, you’ve never spoken one true word.”

The youth shrugged, being quite honest: “Yes, I work for you to exchange for food, expressing my sincerity in wanting to be friends with you. But you always ignore me, so naturally I talk nonsense to you too. Because I want you to know I’ve already taken the first step—you need to open your heart to me before I’ll open mine to you.”

Lian Yu’s heart seemed instantly filled with some intense, surging emotion. He smiled coldly: “Such a grand pile of reasons! Why not honestly say you want me to return so I can repay you later?”

The youth seemed to find his words amusing, laughing: “Stone, I want good jade to make a flute, but my family won’t give me pocket money, so I can’t afford it—that’s why I came here through various routes. I agreed with the little boss here that I’d work for him without pay, just wanting one piece of jade. The agreed time limit is almost up, and then I’ll leave. You can choose to come with me—I’ll take you for treatment, then you can go home. Or you can go straight home. I think your family definitely has the ability to cure your illness.”

“Later, if you remember me, come find me to play anytime. If you don’t like me, we’ll part like this and never meet again. Life is just a series of brief gatherings and partings anyway. We happened to meet and felt this person could be befriended—even without reason, just a feeling—so we laughed and gathered together, then each went our separate ways. When I say I don’t want anything from you, it’s true.”

Lian Yu looked at his bright eyes and was momentarily shocked, unable to find any words to refute him.

In his previous rage, he hadn’t paid attention to what he said. Now those words slowly flowed through his mind, and he suddenly felt a sense of destiny. A voice in his heart calmly told him: Yes, it’s time to go back, Lian Yu!

But he hated this youth’s calculations and schemes.

“I’m enlightened. Farewell.”

He spoke heavily and turned to leave.

“Hey, Stone, don’t be angry. Don’t leave yet—listen to me…”

Perhaps awed by his coldness, the youth was also startled, chasing after him from behind.

With a few leaps, he vanished without a trace.

“Stone…”

In his ears, he only heard that child’s panicked voice gently swaying in the forest.

That night, he didn’t return to the cave dwelling, sleeping in an old tree in the forest.

The next day, he prepared to leave this place where he’d hidden for over three months.

Walking to the riverside, hidden among mountain grass and forest trees, he immediately spotted that child among thirty or fifty people. He was working with his head down, somewhat listlessly. Lian Yu’s heart suddenly felt some dark pleasure.

But then he saw two sturdy men behind him suddenly reach out to touch his buttocks. That child’s whole body shook as he turned around angrily: “What are you doing?”

Several supervisors walked over, shouting: “What’s happening?”

That child pointed at those two men, gritting his teeth: “They touched me.”

Those two men exchanged glances and sneered: “Ridiculous—you’re not a young lady. Why would we touch you?”

Seeing the commotion, people turned around. A supervisor immediately scolded: “What are you gawking at? Get back to work!”

One supervisor looked coldly at the youth and scoffed: “They’re right—you’re not a girl. Why would they touch you?”

The youth’s face flushed red. He seemed not to understand this treachery, not knowing that in this poor village, many men hadn’t found wives. Working in this dry, stifling environment under daily scorching sun, they naturally had strong needs. Apart from the supervisors, these were all village people. Though there were some women, they were all village wives or daughters and couldn’t be touched. Though this youth wasn’t much to look at and was a boy, he was still young, with lively eyes and skin. Seeing him pout slightly earlier had stirred improper thoughts, so they touched him.

The village men naturally laughed and ignored it. Some women felt sorry but dared not meddle, since those two who acted were village ruffians, not good people.

Seeing the supervisor’s hostile attitude, the youth became even angrier: “Call your second boss over.”

Several supervisors laughed in unison. One sneered: “What right do you have to see our second boss?”

They knew that second boss quite liked this youth, saying he understood jade well and promising to give him a fine jade stone after helping with the work. Naturally they were jealous—they usually only got some silver money. As the saying goes, gold and silver have prices but jade is priceless; one jade stone could often equal much gold and silver. So naturally they wouldn’t help.

The youth clenched his fist: “Fine, since you won’t call him over, I’ll go find him.”

The supervisors immediately laughed. The youth was startled when someone actually came from a large cave dwelling, saying sternly: “What’s happening here?”

Only the boss didn’t have to work here. The youth was delighted and about to speak when he suddenly froze—this boss looked different—

It turned out the person before him, with shrewd eyes and a goatee, was the second boss’s older brother, the jade merchant who originally wanted to mine. Since the second boss had business at home, this elder brother came personally to oversee.

This jade merchant wasn’t as honest as his younger brother. Hearing his subordinates’ account of his brother’s actions, he naturally disapproved. But this youth worked very hard, so he hadn’t confronted him. These miners and rough men were numerous and strong, capable of hard labor, so naturally he favored them. Moreover, he used this as an excuse to renege on the jade, sneering: “If you cause more trouble, take your wages and get lost.”

The youth clenched his fists tightly, took a deep breath: “Fine, give me the stone materials and I’ll leave. I haven’t worked enough hours, so I don’t want a big one—just give me a small piece.”

The jade merchant’s eyes narrowed. Several supervisors understood, exchanged smiles, and again reached toward the youth’s back and buttocks—