The atmosphere in the hospital room was a bit awkward. Emily Stewart would occasionally glance up at Dad and Older Brother. She had already forgiven Dad when she received the latest model phone he gave her, but she was still siding with Older Brother. Just now, she and Older Brother had spent quite a while criticizing Dad for being irresponsible.

John Stewart was forty-five this year, but he was thin, looked very refined, and had great skin. In fact, he looked only about thirty-seven or thirty-eight, not at all like a captain who had spent years at sea. At least, Nancy Stewart really doubted whether Dad's appearance could command those tough, unruly sailors.

“Ahem, Nancy, I really didn’t expect you to have another accident.”

John Stewart wore a wry smile. “I originally planned to come back half a month ago, just in time for Emily’s college entrance exam. Who knew I’d run into a big storm in the Indian Ocean, the cruise ship broke down, and we drifted at sea for more than ten days. See, Dad really didn’t do it on purpose.”

“Dad, first of all, take back that ‘another’,” Nancy Stewart looked at Dad helplessly and said, “I don’t want accidents either, but trouble always seems to find me, there’s nothing I can do. I mean, Dad, can you be a bit more reliable next time? At least call home every now and then?” Nancy Stewart wasn’t really mad at Dad, but he was still a bit frustrated, because everything in life has its cause and effect.

If Nancy Stewart hadn’t tried to scrape together tuition for Younger Sister, he wouldn’t have sold that aged bronze artifact. If he hadn’t sold it, he wouldn’t have gotten involved with Brian Cooper and the others. If he hadn’t gotten involved with Brian Cooper, they wouldn’t have come looking for him, and then he wouldn’t have ended up crashing into the power distribution box.

“All right, all right, I’ll definitely pay attention next time.” After being criticized for so long, hearing his Son speak more gently, John Stewart quickly nodded in agreement, trying to please him: “Nancy, your phone is broken too, right? I brought you the latest model as well. This thing hasn’t even been released in China yet, but I checked, it can be used here, no problem at all.”

“Dad, you think you can buy me off with just a phone? Is all the trauma I suffered, physically and mentally, only worth a phone?” Nancy Stewart shot Dad a look. Unlike Emily Stewart, Nancy Stewart was already old enough to understand things when Dad left home to work at sea, so he could appreciate Dad’s hardships. That’s why their father-son relationship was still good. Ironically, it was Emily Stewart, the one who was supposed to be daddy’s little girl, who had a bit of distance with John Stewart.

“Of course not. Look, I know you’re in the antiques business, so I brought you this.”

As he spoke, John Stewart took a box out of his pocket and said, “I bought this ancient jade for you at the Port of Antwerp. I heard it was taken from our country by Italy back in the day. I spent twenty thousand US dollars on it! You can wear it around your neck, and later give it to my grandson—it can be a family heirloom.”

“Twenty thousand US dollars?” Nancy Stewart’s eyes went wide. “I almost broke the rules of the village just to scrape together tuition for Little Sister, and you spent twenty thousand dollars on this thing for me? Dad, do you even know what ancient jade is? A family heirloom? Don’t tell me you bought a piece of plastic.”

Holding the beautifully packaged box in his hand, Nancy Stewart felt like crying. He’d spent two years in the antiques market, and the things he saw most often were so-called “ancient” items, but in reality, out of ten pieces, not even one was genuine. Especially with jade, porcelain, and bronze—real antiques had all gone to auction houses; how could they still show up in the antiques market?

“You don’t need to worry about Emily’s tuition anymore, I’ll take care of it.” John Stewart took out a bank card and handed it to Nancy Stewart, saying, “Dad has a high annual salary. I just didn’t want you to spend recklessly before, so I didn’t let you keep money on hand. There’s a million in this card, take it and use it.”

“A million?” Nancy Stewart stared at Dad in shock. He remembered the last time Dad left him fifty thousand, he looked so pained, as if that fifty thousand was his funeral money.

“If you’d given it to me earlier, I wouldn’t have had all this bad luck.” Nancy Stewart grumbled at Dad, but his hands were quick to take the card. Being polite with this Dad who always tricked his son would really be irresponsible to himself.

“Let’s not talk about that. From now on, things will turn around for you, and you’ll have good fortune after hardship. Hurry up and open the box, see if you like the jade. Dad does have some taste.” John Stewart glanced at his Son’s neck and casually said, “I think I gave you a piece of jade before, didn’t I? Are you wearing it?”

“You gave me jade?” Nancy Stewart was stunned for a moment.

“It was after your car accident. I told you to wear it as a protective charm,” John Stewart said.

“Oh, you mean that jade Buddha.”

Nancy Stewart remembered and pointed at Emily Stewart, saying, “Dad, this is why I say you don’t know the business. There’s a saying: men wear Guanyin, women wear Buddha. You gave me a jade Buddha pendant—if I really wore that around my neck, I’d be laughed at by everyone in the antiques market. What I wore was that meteorite you gave me, but after I got electrocuted, I lost it. No idea where it went.”