Ten Thousand Soul Banner: Deceased, do you have any unfulfilled wishes?-Chapter 975 - 971: Invitation

The rain was still drizzling down, pattering on the camper’s windows with a soft, fragmented sound.

Under the eaves by the roadside, a small boy’s silhouette bustled by the bamboo basket, moving with agility that belied his five or six years of age.

Taozi asked for twenty pairs of socks, and he instantly squatted down, his small hands rummaging through various colored wool socks, sorting them quickly by color and size. In the blink of an eye, he handed over a stack of neatly folded socks, each pair arranged flat, with the tightly knitted sock openings facing up, indicating he was long accustomed to helping his mom with work.

"Ten yuan for three pairs, twenty pairs doesn’t calculate well, I’ll add one more pair to make it twenty-one pairs, perfectly seventy yuan."

Taozi, seeing the few pairs left in the bamboo basket, simply added.

"It’s cold, take the child home early," Taozi said, paying the money.

The evening temperature had dropped significantly, the woman’s pant legs were soaked by the rain, clinging tightly to her calves, and the little boy’s shoes were even more drenched, making a slight squishing "creak" with each step.

But the woman shook her head.

"It’s because it’s cold that these wool socks sell well. When it gets warm, no one will want them. Might as well earn a bit while I can."

Her voice was light, yet carried a resilience pressed out by life, leaving Taozi momentarily speechless, not knowing how to respond.

Shen Siyuan squatted down, his gaze landing on the little boy’s red, cold-stricken face, the child’s nose tip also red, yet he continued to look at the bamboo basket with big bright eyes, as if calculating how many more pairs he could sell.

"Where’s the child’s dad?" Shen Siyuan quietly asked, his tone as gentle as possible.

"Passed away."

The woman’s reply was casual, as if speaking about something trivial, but the drooping eyelids betrayed her emotions.

It truly seemed like frayed ropes break at the weakest point, misfortune finds those already burdened.

A woman born without arms, raising a child alone, the hardship was self-evident.

"Besides selling these socks, do you have any other means of living?"

Shen Siyuan asked again, his gaze sweeping over the remaining three or four pairs of socks in the basket, their colors a bit plain, presumably not easy to sell.

The woman replied, "Someone like me doesn’t have many ways to make a living, I can only do some handicrafts at home to supplement a bit for the household, but we receive state aid each month, so my child and I aren’t going hungry..."

She spoke lightly, but everyone knew that such aid was just a drop in the ocean for two people’s lives.

"If that’s the case, then put down your pride, focusing on getting by is the most important. You can bear hardship yourself, perhaps you feel your life is already like this, but can you bear for your child to suffer with you? He still has many possibilities for his future..."

"Si Yuan..."

Taozi gently tugged on Shen Siyuan’s sleeve, afraid that his words might be too harsh and hurt the woman’s pride.

The woman stiffened upon hearing this, staring blankly at Shen Siyuan, her eyes full of shock.

For so many years, she had grown used to others’ sympathy and pity, accustomed to gritting her teeth and holding on, yet no one had ever directly told her that her persistence might affect her child’s future.

The little boy stood beside, looking bewilderedly at Shen Siyuan, clearly not understanding the conversation between the adults, he just sensed the heavy atmosphere and instinctively leaned closer to his mother.

After a long time, the woman slowly came back to her senses, eyes slightly reddened, a complicated, bitter smile pulled at the corner of her mouth, and she softly said, "Thank you."

This thank you contained relief, confusion, and a touch of awakening.

"Now then, can you tell us about your situation?" Shen Siyuan asked again, his tone much gentler.

This time, the woman didn’t refuse, just nodded slightly.

"In that case, let’s go find a place to eat something, I don’t think you’ve had dinner either," Shen Siyuan said, standing up and picking up the bamboo basket from the ground.

The outside of the bamboo basket was covered with a thin plastic bag, probably for rain protection, and as Shen Siyuan picked it up, the plastic bag slipped off, the little boy hurriedly bent down to pick it up, carefully folded it and tucked it into the small pocket on the side of the basket, moving skillfully and obediently.

"Get... get in the car?"

The woman was full of surprise and a touch of unconcealable concern upon hearing this.

She looked at the imposing camper in front of her, and then at herself covered in rain and mud, truly unable to imagine what it would be like to sit inside.

"Don’t worry, we’re self-driving tourists, not bad people." Shen Siyuan explained with a smile.

"We just arrived here, not familiar with the area, and since you’re a local, you can recommend a good place to eat, just take it as we are inviting you to dinner, thanking you for being our guide."

"Big sis, we’re really not bad people."

Taozi also helped persuade, pointing at Dou Dou, Tang Tang, and Xiao Ya who were curiously peering through the car window.

"Have you seen any bad people taking so many kids and bringing their family along?"

Following the direction Taozi pointed, the woman saw a few small heads peering through the car window, a pair of curious eyes staring at them, eyes pure and clear.

Perhaps it was the children’s gazes that dissolved her last concern, she hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded, "Then... then thank you for the trouble."

So the mother and son followed Taozi into the car.

The moment they opened the car door, both the mother and son were stunned.

The interior was spacious and bright, the beige couch soft and comfortable, the floor spotless, and small decorative paintings hung on the walls, compared to their simple home, it was like a "moving little palace".

"How about we get off? We’ll dirty your car seats." The woman stood awkwardly at the door, not knowing where to put her feet.

This sounded somewhat familiar to everyone, earlier Gao Jianjun had said something similar when he got in, conveying an inherent simplicity and inferiority.

"It’s okay, cars are meant for people to sit in; if it gets dirty, it can be cleaned, come sit down." Taozi waived her resistance and lightly pressed her onto the sofa seat.

The woman couldn’t resist, had to carefully sit down, only occupying half the seat, leaning slightly forward, while holding the little boy closely, as if this gave her more security. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

The little boy, however, wasn’t as restrained as his mother, he curiously looked around as soon as he got in, his small head turning around, eyes filled with novelty, everything in the car seemed new to him.

Until his eyes met Dou Dou’s, the two little ones were momentarily frozen.

Actually, from the moment they got in, the little ones had been curiously staring at the mother and son.

Dou Dou, being the most outgoing, immediately jumped off her seat and ran to him, her little face brimming with excitement.

"What’s your name?" Dou Dou went straight to the point, her words rapid like a string of firecrackers.

"Shan Wenbo."

The little boy answered softly, shyly lowering his head, his small hands tightly clutching his mother’s hem.

"How old are you? Are you in kindergarten? What do you like eating? Do you have dogs at home? Why are your mom’s socks so pretty? Do you know how to knit socks..."

Dou Dou fired off a barrage of questions, leaving Shan Wenbo unable to get a word in, his face reddened as he lowered his head.

"Are you interviewing him?"

Taozi chuckled while pulling Dou Dou back, settling her obediently on her lap, "Don’t scare the little friend, ask slowly."

"Sorry, kids talk a lot." Taozi apologized to the woman with a smile.

"It’s alright, the little girl is very cute."

The woman smiled, her gaze softening considerably, she gently patted her son’s back, signaling him not to be afraid.

"I’m six years old this year."

Shan Wenbo lifted his head, softly answering Dou Dou’s very first question; as for the rest, he couldn’t remember or answer them.

"Oh, so you’re an older brother." Dou Dou sighed upon hearing this.

She had too many older brothers and sisters, she just wanted a little sister or brother, so she could be the elder sister, yet that still hadn’t happened.