Why did you provoke me?

Xiao Wen looked at Hua Shulang and said, "You two aren't familiar with each other, but Yu Meng is a really nice person. Oh, by the way, you know Niannian, right? She was taught by Yu Meng, and she's quite capable too."

Since Qingyuan had already been saved, it was only a matter of course for Teacher Sun and Huang Yan. Yu Meng completed all the tasks she had come for the trip the very next day.

Xiao Wen was naturally very happy; he had kept his promise to Niannian. The little girl had been having a blast these past few days, buying lots of things. Xiao Wen readily agreed to help her send all those things back to the town.

"Fourth Sister, these are all local specialties; Mom has definitely never seen them before." Yu Meng looked at the three large, full boxes. "Are you sure?"

"Fourth Sister, this is what the two of us bought, it's not much."

Yu Meng nodded, "That's not a bad idea either."

Hua Shulang had been taking care of Qingyuan for the past few days, and Yu Meng hadn't made a point of approaching her. It wasn't until Qingyuan was able to sit up and eat liquid food on her own that Yu Meng sat down by her bedside.

"Yu Meng, you've finally agreed to see me." Qingyuan's eyes were brimming with tears, and she couldn't hold back when she saw Yu Meng.

With no one inside, Hua Shulang tactfully left.

"Aunt Qing, life is precious. Don't sacrifice yourself to please others. We don't agree on this point, so I'm only advising you this once."

"In that situation, I was only thinking about saving as many people as I could, I didn't think too much about it." Qingyuan wiped away her tears.

Yu Meng nodded. "Your life line is severely damaged. What do you plan to do?"

"I'm already lucky to be alive; I haven't thought about the future yet."

"You know about the withered branch monster, use it more often in the future. I don't want to see you die in front of me. If there's a next time, even a god can't help you." Yu Meng spoke very directly. She knew Qing Yuan's temper. If you don't make it serious, she'll do the same thing again next time.

Qingyuan nodded. "I've already experienced the feeling of hovering between life and death, and I don't want to experience it again."

"Aunt Qing, did Xiao Wen tell you that the base has been completely disbanded? Where will you go from now on?"

"He invited me to their Jingchuan Club. I accepted. You know, I have no children, and I've spent half my life at the base. I don't know how I would live without it." Qingyuan looked bewildered. "I dedicated myself to the base diligently, and it still disbanded. Yu Meng, tell me, haven't I wasted my life?"

Yu Meng smiled, "No, they went to such a dangerous place to rescue you. This is the good karma you've earned over half your life."

"Yes, they were all good kids. Even in my condition, they still rescued me. I wonder if those kids were scared at the time." As Qingyuan spoke, tears streamed down her face again.

Yu Meng didn't try to stop Qingyuan from crying; sometimes it's a good thing to let your emotions out.

"Aunt Qing, get well soon. I'm doing another experiment and I need your help," Yu Meng said, extending an invitation.

"Which one?"

"It's something my mother-in-law has always wanted to do. I have a rough idea of ​​what to do, but the workload is too much for me to handle alone."

"Ah? Really!" Qingyuan's eyes widened, her face still wet with tears.

"Then I'll cancel my engagement with Xiao Wen and go with you," Qingyuan said urgently. "That's also a great regret of mine."

Yu Meng shook her head. "I'm also registered with Xiao Wen, so these two things don't conflict. But we can't talk about it now. Many forces treat them as lifelong parasites. If we tell others, we'll affect the interests of many people. Who knows what will happen then?"

"I understand all of this. Yu Meng, you really have a clue." Qingyuan wiped away her tears. "Many of those deaths were caused by my carelessness, and I've always felt guilty. Back then, no one taught us. My mother-in-law, Xu Jie, and I all learned as we went, figuring things out on our own. Those young lives withered away in our hands; those feelings are something only those who have experienced them can understand. Yu Meng, Aunt Qing, thank you, thank you!"

Qingyuan clasped her hands together and bowed to Yu Meng again and again.

Yu Meng didn't expect Qingyuan to be so excited after hearing about this.

"Aunt Qing, don't be like that. Pioneers are all like that. You and your mother-in-law also spent your whole lives with them."

"We're happy to be understood, but how can we get over this hurdle in our hearts? We can't get over it! Yu Meng, you don't know, I can't get over it!" Qingyuan's tears flowed again.

"Aunt Qing, you're better now, don't overexert yourself. It's not good for your health!"

"No, I'm happy right now, genuinely happy!"

The two talked for a while longer, and Yu Meng noticed Qing Yuan's fatigue. "Aunt Qing, take good care of yourself. Have Xiao Wen send you more dead branches and aliens, don't be stingy."

"Oh, by the way, Yu Meng, Hua Shulang wants to learn the skinning skill of the withered branch monster. Can I teach him?"

Yu Meng nodded, "You decide what to do. I'm not familiar with him."

Back in her room, Niannian ran over and said, "Brother Xiao just came by. He said he wants to introduce you to someone. He'll pick you up tomorrow morning."

Yu Meng glanced at her and said, "My older sister messaged me saying that Mom saw those three boxes and said she'll keep your cards safe from now on."

Still puzzled, she asked, "Your mother doesn't care about you?"

"You're going against the grain; your mother caught you red-handed." Yu Meng shrugged. "I can't help you."

"Fourth Sister, you should have taught me these things sooner," Niannian complained, stamping her feet.

"Now you've learned it, haven't you? I'm just teaching you. It's just a card; you'll have more in the future." Yu Meng meant that you should just give up this card.

Niannian wasn't angry; she could spend her fourth sister's card however she wanted.

The next morning, Yu Meng had just finished breakfast when Xiao Wen and Yan Lei arrived together.

"That old man is an elder in Yan Lei's family," Xiao Wen explained. "Back then, when his grandmother raised him to be ten years old, the Yan family came looking for him. This is Yan Lei's uncle. You can tell they're from the same family just by looking at them; they look about 70% alike."

"I don't like doing business, so I went back to the base. This time, the place was perfect for rescuing people. If the person had died, my uncle wouldn't have cared, but now that the person is alive, he wants to see you. He's a businessman and likes to weigh the pros and cons. Teacher Yu, you are a magnanimous person. If you have said anything offensive, please don't take it to heart." Yan Lei didn't really like this uncle, but this time he had come to him for help, so they couldn't refuse his request.

Yu Meng didn't make things difficult. There was no problem with meeting. If they got along, they could talk for a bit; if not, it would just be a polite visit, since they had been staying there for several days.

The group entered a two-story building. The interior was decorated in a striking way, mostly in gold, with the most eye-catching feature being the large crystal ball.

Yu Meng stopped. This crystal ball seemed vaguely familiar. She reached out and touched it, then smiled. Life is full of surprises.

Yan Lei saw that Yu Meng was not leaving, "This is Uncle's treasure. I don't know where he found it. At first, a lot of people came to visit. Uncle was very proud of it for a long time."

"You brat, daring to talk about your uncle behind his back, are you getting cocky again?" A chuckled voice rang out. Yu Meng looked at the old man coming down from the second floor. He was a very kind old man, who seemed to be a few years older than her father.

"Please come and sit here. I was being presumptuous. I didn't expect you to actually come." The old man smiled and gestured for Yu Meng to sit down.