Ten Thousand Soul Banner: Deceased, do you have any unfulfilled wishes?-Chapter 999 - 995: Regret When It’s Too Late to Repay Parents’ Love

Chapter 999: Chapter 995: Regret When It’s Too Late to Repay Parents’ Love

"Thank you for your hospitality."

After dinner, Lin Zifeng thanked Shen Siyuan again, then helped to tidy up the dishes.

"No need, I can handle these myself," Shen Siyuan said politely.

"How can that be? You invited me to dinner, and if I just leave after eating, what kind of person would that make me? My parents didn’t raise me that way."

"You love your parents very much," Shen Siyuan took the opportunity to ask.

"My father passed away early. My mother raised me alone. She was very strict with me when I was young, so I didn’t like her, and even kind of resented her..."

When Lin Zifeng talked about his mother, his voice was exceedingly calm.

There was neither hatred nor love.

The middle-aged woman standing beside them just sighed deeply, looking at Lin Zifeng with eyes still gentle, without a hint of resentment.

"Later, I went to university, left home. Our family wasn’t well off, and I often didn’t have enough money for living expenses, so I found some jobs outside of school. It was then that I slowly started to understand her..."

"Her raising me all those years by herself, how hard it must have been..."

"I had planned to wait until after I graduated from university, when I got a proper job and could earn money, that her burden would be lighter. But unfortunately, she passed away from exhaustion before I could graduate..."

By this point, Lin Zifeng was slightly choked up, but he forced down his emotions, making his voice sound a bit strange.

"In her whole life, she never enjoyed any comforts. She worked from before dawn till eight or nine at night, day after day. Sometimes, I couldn’t understand what the point of living like that was..."

"I later realized it was for this family, and for me..."

"After graduation, I found a job in Chengdu, the pay and benefits were good. When I came home this Spring Festival, I found that after just half a year with no one there, the weeds in front of the house had grown taller than a person. It was at that moment I truly realized that my mom was really gone, my home was gone..."

At this point, Lin Zifeng’s tears finally began to flow, and the middle-aged woman behind him was also wiping her eyes continuously.

"In her entire life, the farthest place my mom had been was the small county town near us. She was like a bird trapped in a cage, and I was that cage..."

"So, I quit my job and took her portrait on a journey. She was a devout Buddhist believer. I don’t know if Buddha watched over her, but she heard that the Dazhao Temple was very effective, so her biggest wish was to visit Dazhao Temple to pray..."

...

"She believed in Buddha, surely Buddha watched over you."

Shen Siyuan, who had been silent, suddenly spoke, and Lin Zifeng was momentarily stunned, then showed a bitter smile.

Somewhat relieved, he said, "My mother was always thinking of me; her prayers to the Bodhisattva were naturally for me..."

"You’re doing well, so she’s happy, isn’t she?" Shen Siyuan said.

Lin Zifeng understood the meaning of Shen Siyuan’s words and sincerely said thank you.

After talking to Shen Siyuan for a while, Lin Zifeng went back to his tent, but he didn’t go inside to rest immediately. Instead, he sat outside, watching as Dou Dou and the others played around the bonfire.

Dou Dou hunched over, imitating the macaques they’d seen in the mountains, curving her arms in front of her chest like paws, bouncing around the bonfire.

She deliberately craned her neck, mimicking the macaques baring their teeth, occasionally jumping up, acting like a "human-sized little macaque."

When she got excited, she would spread her arms, imitating the monkeys climbing, and make a "rawr" sound towards the bonfire. Her comical yet serious appearance made Lin Zifeng unable to hold back his laughter.

"Duoduo, look! Do I look like a big bad monkey?"

Dou Dou stopped and struck an exaggerated "monkey squat" pose, turning to shout at Duoduo.

Duoduo was holding up her arms, allowing the bonfire’s light to cast long shadows on the grass.

Upon hearing this, she immediately lowered her arms, eyes lighting up: "Not at all, not at all! Let me teach you how to make shadow puppets!"

Saying that, she ran over to Dou Dou, took her hand, and intertwined their arms, "Look, doesn’t this look like a big eagle!"

On the grass, their interwoven shadows spread their arms like eagle wings, looking quite similar.

Intrigued, Dou Dou became enthusiastic, pulling Duoduo to keep changing their poses: at one point, they hunch over with arms on shoulders, turning the shadow into a hunched-over old grandpa.

At another point, Duoduo tiptoes and raises her hand while Dou Dou crouches by her feet, turning the shadow into a little bunny under a big tree.

Then they’re holding hands in a circle, their shadows swirling around the grass into a moving patch of light.

Dou Dou bared her teeth and acted like she was a tiger’s claws, while Duoduo bent over as the tiger’s body; together they moved around the bonfire, their shadows on the grass lively and adorable.

Xiao Yue quietly sat by the bonfire, resting her chin in her hands, her eyes following the two little ones’ movements.

The firelight reflected in her clear eyes, the dancing flames like stars lighting up her gaze.

Though she said nothing, her eyes were filled with softness, and as she watched Dou Dou and Duoduo frolic freely, a faint smile unconsciously touched her lips.

Lin Zifeng sat outside his tent, looking at the cheerful figures by the bonfire, feeling an unprecedented tranquility in his heart.

Dou Dou’s laughter was crisp like silver bells, Duoduo’s cheers lively and dynamic, the bonfire’s light cast their shadows long on the grass, weaving a warm tableau.

He thought of his childhood, of helping his mother stoke the fire in the big stove, his mother busy at the stove, him adding firewood below. Thinking about it now, he wondered whether it was the warmth of the fire or his mother’s warmth.

The bonfire crackled and sparked gently in the evening breeze, like tiny stars falling from the sky.

The laughter and playing of Dou Dou and Duoduo echoed in the night of the grassland, intertwined with the occasional chirping of insects and the rustling of wind through the grass blades, creating a warm and moving nocturne.

Watching this, Lin Zifeng’s pent-up emotions gradually faded, replaced by a long-lost peace and warmth.

He lifted his hand to wipe the corner of his eye, a relieved smile appearing on his lips.

"Dou Dou, Duoduo, Xiao Yue, it’s time to rest," Shen Siyuan called out loudly.

"No, I still want to play a bit more," Dou Dou immediately retorted loudly.

"You can play again tomorrow."

"That’s not right; tomorrow has tomorrow’s business, and today’s matters must be done today," Dou Dou asserted confidently.

"Where did you learn this from?" Shen Siyuan asked, somewhat helplessly.

"From mom. Isn’t that right? You can call her and then scold her," Dou Dou said.

Shen Siyuan: ...

"Your mom was talking about work, not play," Shen Siyuan said, speechless.

"It’s all the same, all the same... children’s business is just playing..."

Dou Dou waved her little hands in a manner of ’you don’t understand, so don’t bother like this.’

Sitting outside the tent, Lin Zifeng saw this scene and couldn’t help but laugh heartily.

Back then, wasn’t he just like this in his mother’s eyes?