It was not until four o'clock in the afternoon that Lin Dachun and Zhao Xuewu, along with Wan Yunting, Gu Luotang, and the six girls including Lu Xiaodie, returned to Wuliang Mountain.
Li Zihang and Qi Wu, along with Wang Zhuyu, Tang Doudou, and Huang Shaoqing, along with several other young disciples, came forward to greet them. "Sect Leader Senior Brother, you are indeed punctual. A month of closed-door cultivation is exactly a month…"
Wan Yunting was not polite. He handed his backpack to them and asked Qi Wu, "When did you guys get back?"
"Just yesterday."
Li Zihang helped Duan Yingying with her backpack and said, "Senior Brother Qi and I accompanied Sister Shumei and the others on a month of research work. They are inside the sect."
Wan Yunting nodded and smiled, "Perfect. Let's see how their research results are…"
"Sect Leader Senior Brother, where exactly in Kunlun Mountain did you go for your closed-door cultivation?" Li Zihang couldn't help but ask curiously.
"Is that something you should be asking?" Duan Yingying glared at him and snorted coldly.
Li Zihang immediately chuckled and dared not ask further, but he looked at Duan Yingying strangely, "Sister Yingying, how come I find your martial arts have improved?"
"Nonsense, Senior Sister has been practicing in seclusion for a month, of course, I've improved," Duan Yingying gave him a proud glance, looking smug.
Li Zihang and Qi Wu were all surprised. They sized up Gu Luotang, Lu Xiaodie, Zheng Rong, and Duan Miaomiao, and clearly felt that their temperaments were different. They all seemed to have become much more formidable.
"Why is she wearing a veil?"
Huang Shaoqing noticed that Chen Qiuyun, who was following behind, was veiled and walking with her head lowered, as if afraid of being seen.
Lin Dachun and Zhao Xuewu also shook their heads and said, "When we went to pick them up, she was already veiled."
"Don't stare, or you might lose your souls," Wan Yunting turned to the younger male disciples like Lin Dachun and Zhao Xuewu and smiled.
This made them exchange bewildered glances. Even Li Zihang and Qi Wu didn't understand what he meant…
After climbing the stairs for forty minutes, they finally returned to the entrance of Wuliang Daoist Temple. Yang Jingyi, Wuweizi, and Han Shumei and Lin Xinlan, who had received the news, were waiting at the gate. Seeing Wan Yunting return with Gu Luotang, Lu Xiaodie, and the others, they all went forward to greet them…
"Xiao Wan, you're finally back…"
"Sister Shumei, Sister Xinlan, you've worked hard."
Wan Yunting smiled and nodded at them. Then he smiled at Yang Jingyi and Wuweizi, "Mistress, Uncle Wuwei, we're back."
"It's good that you're back…" Wuweizi smiled and nodded. Duan Yingying had already pounced into her mother's arms. Yang Jingyi stroked the girl's head and nodded at Wan Yunting. Her attitude had softened considerably, unlike her previous anger and regret upon learning that Wan Yunting had ruined her daughter. She seemed to have come to a realization.
"You all look travel-worn. Go back and freshen up first. I've already asked the食堂 to prepare dinner, and we'll all gather together then," Yang Jingyi said.
"Okay…" Wan Yunting, Gu Luotang, and the others nodded. Without any further chatting, they each took their belongings and headed back.
Chen Qiuyun, still veiled, quietly walked back to her small dwelling. She had already decided to pack her things and descend the mountain the next day to find a house left by a hunter, intending to live a reclusive life…
Wan Yunting took Gu Luotang, Lu Xiaodie, Qi Miaomiao, and Zheng Rong back to their residence. He first asked the four girls to shower, while he took Han Shumei and Lin Xinlan to the front hall to sit and listen to their month-long research work in the surrounding impoverished areas…
"I never expected that before we arrived, we would discover so many impoverished areas where poverty had not been completely resolved."
Han Shumei and Lin Xinlan had been working outdoors for the past month. Their skin had darkened by a shade, and they had both become thinner. But what moved them the most was that many people in those impoverished areas were still living in dire straits.
"Yunting, here is the data from our research. Please take a look." Lin Xinlan handed a data file to Wan Yunting. He looked at it seriously and then asked after a moment, "To completely solve the poverty problem in these areas, how much money would it roughly take?"
Han Shumei and Lin Xinlan exchanged glances and said, "We estimate it would take one hundred million!"
Wan Yunting nodded, looking at the data in his hand, and said, "To drive the economic development of those areas and build schools and roads, these projects need to be jointly mobilized with the relevant local departments."
"Yes, we have already contacted the relevant local departments. It was with their cooperation that we completed the research this past month," Han Shumei said.
Wan Yunting returned the data file to her and smiled, "I will transfer the money to our Children's Charity Foundation account immediately. I'll have to trouble Sister Shumei and Sister Xinlan with this matter."
"There's no trouble at all." Han Shumei smiled and said, "This money is yours. We'll just do the legwork and handle the related work."
Wan Yunting waved his hand with a smile, "That's not how you should put it. Even if I have the money, without you, nothing can be accomplished."
"Yes, yes, you're the only one who knows how to talk." Han Shumei covered her mouth and giggled with Lin Xinlan.
Just then, Lin Xinlan received a phone call and went out to answer it…
Leaving Han Shumei and Wan Yunting chatting in the living room, she asked, "By the way, Yunting, where exactly did you take Luotang and the others for your cultivation?"
Wan Yunting smiled and said, "We just went to a valley for closed-door cultivation."
Han Shumei waved her hand with a smile, "I don't understand your cultivation stuff, but Yunting, you're quite the topic of gossip lately!"
Wan Yunting's expression froze. Seeing Han Shumei's gossipy demeanor, he chuckled, "Sister Shumei, why are you so gossipy now?"
"I'm not gossipy, but when it comes to your affairs, I can't help but be curious," Han Shumei said, covering her mouth and chuckling.
Wan Yunting gave her a look. Han Shumei sat down beside him and smiled, "Hurry up and tell me, besides Yan Xi, Luotang, and that girl named Su Ke'er, are those women who went with you into the deep mountains for cultivation also with you now?"
Facing Han Shumei's sharp phoenix eyes that seemed to see through his thoughts, Wan Yunting's expression became unnatural, "How is that possible…"
"My goodness, it really is!" Han Shumei exclaimed. She stood up, looking at Wan Yunting with disbelief, then she started counting on her fingers, "Yan Xi one, Luotang one, Su Ke'er one… eight?"
"No, no, it's not, it's not…" Seeing Han Shumei counting the women he had been intimate with right in front of him, Wan Yunting's face turned red with embarrassment. But Han Shumei's phoenix eyes widened, and she pointed at him, "Yunting, I never imagined you would be so promiscuous, being with so many girls. My goodness, I don't know what to say to you…"
"Sister Shumei, please sit down first…" The helpless Wan Yunting took her arm and asked Han Shumei to sit down, saying, "My relationship with them is really not what you think…"
"Then what is it?" Han Shumei's phoenix eyes cast a sidelong glance at him, "I can't even imagine what it would be like for you to live with so many women in the future. It's truly refreshing my understanding…"
"Don't think about it yet, listen to my explanation first…" The helpless and speechless Wan Yunting had no choice but to earnestly clarify his relationship with Lu Xiaodie and Zheng Rong to Han Shumei. Han Shumei seemed to understand but not, shaking her head, "It's too complicated, my head hurts just listening."
"Fine." Wan Yunting simply stopped trying to explain to her. He glanced at Han Shumei and said, "Never mind me, you still haven't found a boyfriend. You're not worried, but Grandma Yan and I are worried for you."
Han Shumei's phoenix eyes cast a sidelong glance at him, and she huffed, "We're talking about you, why are you bringing me into it?"
Looking at the mature and charming Han Shumei, Wan Yunting said with incomprehension, "Sister Shumei, logically speaking, you are so beautiful and capable, you shouldn't be single. Or perhaps your standards are too high? You look down on those men?"
"Yes, my standards are really high." Han Shumei gave him a white glance with her phoenix eyes, playfully saying, "Who told you to be so outstanding, that's why I can't look at other men."
Wan Yunting was immediately speechless. He waved his hand, "Come on, I think you've clearly dedicated yourself wholeheartedly to your work, and by the time you realize you want a boyfriend, there will be no one worthy of you."
Han Shumei laughed and said, "How do you know?"
Wan Yunting glanced at her and chuckled, "But it's true, for a beautiful and outstanding woman like my sister, there are very few men who can match you. But Sister Shumei, if you don't find someone soon, it will be too late. In a few years, giving birth will be considered high-risk."
Hearing this, Han Shumei sighed and shook her head, "It's not that I don't want to find someone, but as you said, I really haven't met anyone suitable. If I have to get married, I'd rather be single for a lifetime than settle."
Wan Yunting nodded, "That's true. If you can't meet someone you like, forcing it is useless, and it will only make both parties uncomfortable."
"Exactly." Han Shumei nodded in agreement, then said very seriously, "Actually, I've thought about going abroad to have IVF and raise a daughter on my own. I don't need a man!"
Wan Yunting was shocked by her idea. He turned to look at her incredulously and after a long while said, "If Grandma Yan knew, she would scold you to death."
"Moreover, the technology for IVF is not 100% successful, so I advise you not to waste your time and energy on it."
Hearing this, Han Shumei frowned in distress, "Then what should I do? Do I really have to go on blind dates every day and meet those old men?"
When Wan Yunting heard about her going on blind dates, he couldn't help but laugh, which made Han Shumei roll her eyes in annoyance.