Why did you provoke me?

Dali looked at Yu Meng helplessly, "Little sister, do you really have a solution?"

"It's alright, big sister. You're going to be a bride, so don't worry about these things. I'll take care of it," Yu Meng said with a smile to her older sister.

"Eldest sister, Sister Xiu, there's something else I need to tell you. I've come to call our lineage the Cangshan lineage. If anyone asks about our origins in the future, you can say that."

Niannian placed her little pendant on the table. "This is the standard waist tag of the Cangshan lineage. It's made of oddly shaped dough. I made one for both of my older sisters as well."

The eldest sister touched the thing in her hand, "Is it really necessary for just the four of us?"

Niannian opened her mouth wide as if to say something, but Yu Meng glared at her and made her swallow her words.

"Big sister, what will you say if someone asks about your background? You can't just say you figured it out yourself, can you?" Yu Meng asked with a smile, without showing any anger.

Dali looked at her three younger sisters sitting in front of her and chuckled. "Little sister, I knew you were the best in our family. It's just that there aren't enough people. How about I have Mingfeng join our branch too?"

Dali's face flushed red at the sight of her three younger sisters. "Why are you looking at me like that? If you don't agree, then forget it."

"I agree, and big sister, your children will also be from my Cangshan lineage," Niannian said with her little mouth.

Sister Xiu frowned. "Are there men in the lineage of mask-revealing masters?"

Niannian lay on the table. Yu Meng wouldn't let her talk about the club, so she had no choice but to shut up. But her eyes looked at Yu Meng pitifully.

"Our lineage is special. We can bring family members and children. But there's a condition: they must come voluntarily," Yu Meng stated the condition.

"Sister Xiu, when you find us a brother-in-law in the future, you can let him join our lineage," Niannian said happily.

"That's right. Some families pass on their traditions only to sons. In the end, those traditions are basically lost. Why should the inheritance be divided into male and female when they are all your own children?" Dali was also happy.

Sister Xiu looked at her with a puzzled expression. "Aren't all mask-revealing artists women? Are there men too?"

Dali tossed the stolen thread onto the table. "This thread was stolen from a man. It really exists, I'm not lying to you. It's just that we don't have much contact with these kinds of people, but that doesn't mean they don't exist."

Niannian buried her head between her arms and then lay face down on the table—playing dead. She muttered to herself, "My dear Xiu-jie, there aren't just people like this, there are many. Most importantly, it seems like all of them will eventually belong to their lineage."

Dali had presented the facts, and Sister Xiu finally had no more reservations. "That's settled then. My children will also be part of the Cangshan lineage from now on."

Yu Meng nodded hurriedly, "Of course." She had been worried about how to explain this to Sister Xiu. Her older sister was more reliable. She spoke with facts and got to the point right away.

After chatting for a while, Dali sent them all back to their rooms to rest.

The next day, right after breakfast, an uninvited guest arrived.

Yu Meng looked at Nangong Tianshou, who was sitting in a wheelchair, and then looked at the weather outside.

"In this freezing weather, couldn't you have asked someone to let me know? Why did you have to come by yourself?" Yu Meng complained, looking at the aged-looking Nangong Tianshou.

"How capable do I have to be to not even consider you bone-drawing masters? You overestimate me." Nangong Tianshou coughed a few times after saying that.

At this moment, Xiao Hao stepped forward, bowed respectfully to Nangong Tianshou, and called out, "Third Grandfather."

"Good boy, you're much stronger than when you were at home."

Looking at Nangong Tianshou's condition, Yu's parents understood why they had left the child with them. With his health, he truly couldn't care for a young child. The two elders felt even more sorry for Xiao Hao.

Yu Meng led Nangong Tianshou into a room. "What big thing happened that made you come all this way?" There were no outsiders here, and Yu Meng's tone was not as gentle as when Nangong Tianshou had first come in.

"I heard your eldest sister's wedding is in the next couple of days. Can't I give a gift?" Nangong Tianshou completely disregarded Yu Meng's tone.

"Sure, why not?" Yu Meng smiled. She had no reason to refuse her older sister's blessing.

After taking a few sips of hot tea, Nangong Tianshou put down his cup. "I'll help you resolve Sister Xiu's matter."

"You didn't do this on purpose, did you?" Yu Meng asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Of course it wasn't me. Why would I do something so low? But I didn't stop him either," Nangong Tianshou said without any attempt to hide his true feelings.

Yu Meng took a deep breath, suppressing her anger. "Even if you don't intervene, I can handle it."

Nangong Tianshou nodded. "I know, but I've already come to your door. Why would you need to take care of this personally?" Nangong Tianshou deliberately used a respectful title.

Yu Meng thought to herself, "He's just an old scoundrel. And he's openly acting like a scoundrel right in front of me."

"Tell me, what is it this time?"

"Yu Meng, when you asked me to take over the Jingchuan base, you didn't have this attitude." Nangong Tianshou began to bring up old grievances.

Yu Meng stopped talking, picked up her teacup, and slowly sipped her tea.

Nangong Tianshou nodded, "That's right. Don't get upset or impatient. I didn't mean any harm."

"I've received some breaking news: the Alien Battlefield is going to be upgraded."

Yu Meng's teacup slammed onto the table with a loud thud.

"What do you mean?"

"This means that from now on, bone artists will be in high demand, and they will stop at nothing to plunder high-level model makers in order to cultivate a bone artist."

Yu Meng was a little confused. "Isn't this a power struggle between high-level officials? How could it affect such a small town?"

"Yu Meng, even a massive pyramid needs a foundation. And the foundation takes up a huge area."

"No wonder the base was canceled so suddenly; it was premeditated."

"Yes, I suspected back then that even if the Xenomorphs broke out at the Fourth Base, it shouldn't have been canceled. Now that I know this news, and after connecting the dots, I naturally thought of this."

Nangong Tianshou refilled his teacup. "This news, in exchange for a promise from you, is it?"

"I won't make any promises to anyone. Even if you give me this information, it won't work." Yu Meng refused cleanly and decisively.

Nangong Tianshou narrowed his eyes. "What kind of curse did that old woman cast on you? Why did you agree to her request?"

Yu Meng looked at Nangong Tianshou seriously. "I never made any promises to her back then. It was just a moment of weakness on my part. Later, I finally realized that I was indeed not suitable for managing the base, so I came to you."

Nangong Tianshou laughed in anger, "So it seems I'm the stupidest one."

"Your heart holds both the nation and the world, as well as the tender feelings between you and your children." Yu Meng gave him a small compliment.

"Hmph, I'm not as good as you say. Don't flatter me anymore." Nangong Tianshou couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"While I can't promise you anything, if your price is right, I can still help you with something." Yu Meng gave Nangong Tianshou another red date. "After all, we do have some connections."