Duoduo thought carefully. "Father, are you telling me not to be greedy?"
Li Jin glanced at Xiao Yi. "Close."
Duoduo thought for another long while before finally shaking her head. "I can't figure it out."
Li Jin reminded Duoduo.
"How much silver did you spend on those two stones you bought today?"
"One tael of silver for the small one, and five for the big one." Duoduo recalled, still feeling a bit of a pinch.
Li Jin showed a surprised expression. "That cheap?"
Duoduo nodded. "But I bought a whole pile, and it cost me more than five hundred taels!"
Duoduo held up a hand, looking completely serious.
"Alright, let's not talk about the others. Just this small one, bought for one tael of silver, ended up being worth a hundred taels."
"What is that? A hundredfold profit!"
"Not to mention the big one! Even I was tempted!"
Li Jin clutched his chest, his heart aching with envy.
Duoduo smiled, her eyes curving into crescents.
"Teacher, me too!"
"So I wanted to buy more, but Father wouldn't let me!"
Towards the end, Duoduo lowered her voice, not forgetting to sneak a peek at Xiao Yi.
"A person must not be greedy!" Xiao Yi said coldly.
"Everyone sees that you succeeded, but they don't consider the reasons behind your success."
"With so many workers in the shop, if greed ever takes root in them, it will ruin them!"
Duoduo looked at Xiao Yi and blinked.
She seemed to understand.
Father didn't allow her to buy more because he was worried that the shop workers, seeing how easily money could be made, would follow suit.
Those people didn't have her ability to distinguish the colors of the stones.
They would only think that they just weren't lucky enough.
Once people become greedy, they will stray down a wicked path.
Xiao Yi's shop was originally in the business of selling jade.
If that happened, the workers might become a serious internal threat!
"I'm sorry, Father. I was wrong!"
Once Duoduo figured it out, she took the initiative to admit her mistake.
"What did you do wrong? Birds die for food, and people die for wealth; it's the way of the world."
"But a noble person loves wealth and acquires it in a righteous way."
"You must always remember that you are a manager. When thinking about problems, you need to consider them from multiple angles so you won't be blinded by money."
Xiao Yi guided her patiently.
Duoduo nodded. "Yes, I understand!"
Li Jin laughed.
"There is another reason His Highness stopped you from buying more."
"The fact that jade was cut in our shop will definitely spread through the market very quickly."
"The manager of that shop will likely become suspicious."
"If you were to deliver yourself to his doorstep right now, you might be playing right into his hands."
"Conversely, if you wait a while, the manager might no longer be certain that the jade in our shop has anything to do with you."
Li Jin explained to Duoduo from another perspective.
Duoduo's eyes lit up.
"That means, after a while, I can still go buy more!"
Xiao Yi nodded.
"Next time, remember not to buy too much from a single shop."
"Pick just a few pieces from each shop, so you won't attract too much attention."
Duoduo was delighted. "Yes! Thank you for the guidance, Father!"
Li Jin looked at the stones in the carriage. "Your Highness, do we need to take these stones back?"
Xiao Yi's gaze was quite strange.
"If we don't take them back, are we supposed to throw them away?"
Hearing Xiao Yi's tone, Li Jin's heart skipped a beat.
He pointed at the stones on the floor with a trembling hand.
"Your Highness, surely these stones don't also have jade inside them?"
The corners of Xiao Yi's lips curled up.
"Cut them open, and we'll find out!"
Li Jin almost jumped up. "Then just now..."
Halfway through his sentence, Li Jin suddenly realized something.
"Your Highness, Princess, how about you leave all these stones to me?"
"I've just been learning from the master for a few days, and I'm full of enthusiasm!"
Xiao Yi nodded. "Even if you hadn't asked, this matter was going to be left to you anyway."
Because there was no one more reliable than Li Jin.
"Remember, no fourth person can know about this."
"You cannot tell your wife or daughter either!"
"Duoduo, you cannot tell your mother either!"
Li Jin and Duoduo nodded simultaneously. "Understood!"
Li Jin was thrilled. He picked up the stones in the carriage, turning them over and examining them from every angle.
"Princess, may I ask a question?"
Li Jin felt the question in his heart scratching at him like a cat's claw; it would be unbearable not to ask.
Duoduo nodded. "Please ask."
Li Jin weighed the stone in his hand.
"How are you so certain that these stones definitely have jade inside?"
So that was what he wanted to ask!
Duoduo pursed her lips and smiled.
"I'm not certain!"
Li Jin was stunned. "You also don't know for sure if there is jade in these stones?"
Duoduo shook her head.
"I didn't know at first, but now I do."
Duoduo's words made even Xiao Yi look over in surprise.
"Because, in my eyes, every single one of them looks different."
"At first, I didn't know what this difference I was seeing meant."
"Until jade was cut from the stones."
"Then I understood that the difference I saw was the invaluable jade inside."
After Duoduo finished speaking, she looked at Li Jin with a beaming smile.
Li Jin swallowed hard and spoke with difficulty.
"You mean, you can see the jade inside?"
"You have x-ray vision to see what's inside?"
Li Jin's words added a hint of scrutiny to Xiao Yi's eyes.
"X-ray vision?" Duoduo tilted her head.
"Teacher, what is x-ray vision?" Duoduo asked, not understanding.
"It means you can see through the surface of the stone and look at what's inside," Li Jin explained in simple terms.
Duoduo looked at the stone in Li Jin's hand, feeling a bit confused.
"But I can't see the things inside!"
"I just see that they have different colors."
Li Jin glanced at Xiao Yi in astonishment, only to see that Xiao Yi didn't seem surprised at all.
Li Jin stayed silent for a moment to calm himself down.
"Princess, what color is this piece in my hand?"
Duoduo took a glance. "A faint purple."
"Purple? Purple jade?" A look of pleasant surprise appeared in Li Jin's eyes.
He held the stone, turning it over to examine it from all sides.
Unfortunately, in his eyes, it was nothing but brown.
"What about this one?" Unwilling to give up, Li Jin picked up another piece.
"This one is dark green," Duoduo answered quickly.
"Black jade? No, dark green jade?" Li Jin looked at the stones on the floor.
"What other colors are there?" A bold question popped into Li Jin's mind.
Duoduo obediently pointed at the stones on the floor.
"There's red, yellow, dark green, light green, black, white... the colors of the rainbow! So pretty!"
Duoduo finally concluded.
The stone in Li Jin's hand dropped to the floor with a thud.
"They all have colors?" Li Jin simply couldn't believe his ears.
Duoduo looked at Li Jin and Xiao Yi, nodding nervously.
"I don't like stones without color."
"These stones are pretty, so I wanted them. They were very expensive!"
Li Jin just felt completely numb.
