Ten Thousand Soul Banner: Deceased, do you have any unfulfilled wishes?
Chapter 314 This Is Love

Chapter 314: Chapter 314 This Is Love

"Xiao Shen, Duoduo’s daddy."

Seeing the two approach, Jiang Yingxue greeted them with a smile.

"Auntie, thank you for your trouble." Shen Siyuan said.

Lin Jianming also smiled and nodded at her in response before turning his gaze to Duoduo.

"Duoduo, do you want to come to the store with me?" Lin Jianming asked with hope.

Upon hearing this, Duoduo looked up at Lin Jianming, then at Shen Siyuan, but eventually shook her little head.

"No, I want to play with brother."

Hearing this, Lin Jianming felt a bit disappointed but could only instruct, "Then you need to be a good girl, okay?" He then continued towards the direction of the store.

Taking a few steps and looking back, he saw Duoduo circling around Shen Siyuan, prodding him with her little hands. Talking with Jiang Yingxue, Shen Siyuan grabbed her in one swift movement and hoisted her onto his shoulders. Duoduo’s little legs kicked towards the sky as they both laughed.

Actually, this was quite nice, Lin Jianming thought to himself.

Jiang Yingxue exchanged a few words with Shen Siyuan, and then she led a middle-aged lady into the residential area; presumably, she was the Fourth Aunt Ruan Hongzhuang had mentioned.

Only then did Shen Siyuan, carrying Duoduo, head towards Xiao Yue and the young man lingering under the sour bean tree.

Seeing Shen Siyuan coming over, the young man stopped in his tracks and cast a curious look at him.

As the man observed Shen Siyuan, Shen Siyuan was also sizing him up.

The man looked to be in his thirties, but his hair was already mostly gray. He was slightly overweight with a plain face, a round nose, and thick lips, giving off a very honest impression.

This was just an average person from Daxia, utterly ordinary with nothing special about him, yet it was such people who made up today’s Daxia society.

"Hello."

Shen Siyuan put Duoduo down and greeted the man.

"Hello, my name is Yan Zicong."

Yan Zicong greeted Shen Siyuan with a stiff body, displaying a hint of unease and fear.

"Let’s find a place to sit down and talk slowly." Shen Siyuan suggested.

"Oh~ okay." Yan Zicong quickly replied mechanically upon hearing this.

"I know where there are chairs." Duoduo excitedly said.

She then took the lead and ran ahead, with Xiao Yue leisurely following behind.

Yan Zicong hurriedly caught up, as if only Xiao Yue could bring him comfort.

It seems he’s quite introverted, Shen Siyuan thought to himself.

Crossing a street and then passing a grassy lawn and a coconut grove, they finally arrived near the beachside sand.

Then Duoduo ran off to the beach and began digging in the sand by herself.

That was her true goal; otherwise, there were benches near both the lawn and the coconut grove.

Seeing Xiao Yue still standing by, Shen Siyuan said, "Why don’t you go play with Duoduo too?"

Xiao Yue glanced at Yan Zicong, seemingly understanding that Shen Siyuan didn’t want her to listen in, so she nodded and walked towards Duoduo.

With Xiao Yue leaving, Yan Zicong seemed even more nervous, which surprisingly caught Shen Siyuan off guard.

A grown man, yet he depended on Xiao Yue for comfort.

Nonetheless, Shen Siyuan didn’t say much but just invited the man to sit down and chat at leisure.

"Um... This..."

"Last name Shen, you can call me Mr. Shen. I’ve heard about your situation from Xiao Yue, and I generally understand it. However, I don’t agree with you giving up on life because of this..."

"If you die, other than harming yourself, your parents, and the people you care about, does it have any impact on those who hurt you, those who bullied you? They would only clap their hands in celebration. You’re really too kind; dying just entertains them..."

As Shen Siyuan spoke, Yan Zicong, who initially appeared uneasy, gradually clenched his fists tight, his body tensed, and he was in a state of extreme anger...

"You...stop talking..." he gasped.

Upon hearing this, Shen Siyuan closed his mouth, not intending to continue.

After a while, Shen Siyuan continued, "Can you tell me more in detail?"

Yan Zicong didn’t reply but looked at Shen Siyuan filled with hope, "Xiao Yue said you could help me, is it true?"

Shen Siyuan nodded, and then said, "Of course, but first, I need to know the full story, you should not hide anything."

Yan Zicong nodded, and then began to tell his story.

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Yan Zicong was not from Bin Hai; he was born in a small city in the north.

The small city was once prosperous, but as the economic focus of the north shifted southwards, its heavy industry plummeted, leading to the city’s decline and loss of its former glory.

To leave the broken and backward small city, education became the only way out.

So Yan Zicong had been more diligent than others since he was young.

"I’m not as smart as others, so I can only work harder..."

"I wasn’t the best in my class, but I was definitely the hardest working one. It was during that time I met my wife...my ex-wife... She used to be nice..."

Yan Zicong’s gaze drifted towards the children on the beach, seemingly piercing through space and time, looking back at the past.

"Besides my studies, I was poor at everything else, and I’m introverted by nature, not good at socializing, which naturally led to some ostracization at school..."

"They weren’t bad people, just liked to play pranks, very annoying, and disturbing to my studies..."

"Our class teacher had some one-on-one mentorship, where one good student would help a struggling one, and my mentee was my ex-wife..."

"She had a strong personality and was quite feisty. After knowing about my situation, she stood up to those boys for me, unafraid..."

Shen Siyuan thought to himself that this trait was not surprising for a northern girl.

"At that time, I really admired her character. I, a man, had a character like a woman’s, and yet she, a woman, had the boldness of a man..."

"Her grades were poor, and despite my efforts to tutor her, she still failed to get into a good school, so she chose to work instead, while I went to college, and we lost contact with each other..."

"Until my junior year of college, I met her again in town. After years, she had completely changed, becoming more beautiful and speaking more gently..."

"We talked for a long time, exchanged contact details, and later often chatted. One day she suddenly showed up at my university, in front of me..."

"I was studying in Ice City, and she was working in Bin Hai, separated by more than four thousand kilometers. She didn’t make much money from her job; she first took a train to Coconut City, from there she took a ferry across the sea, then another forty-plus hours by train..."

"The moment I saw her, it felt as if my heart melted. I swore to myself that I would be with her for life, never to let her down..."

"But... but..."

Yan Zicong could no longer hold back his tears.

"It was all fake, how can people be so cruel... Why did it have to be me... I just wanted to live an ordinary life..."

Yan Zicong sobbed, unable to speak anymore for a time.

"I was just a part of their game..."

His last words deeply shocked even Shen Siyuan.