Ten Thousand Soul Banner: Deceased, do you have any unfulfilled wishes?
Chapter 55 A Mother

Chapter 55: Chapter 55 A Mother

Zhu Guangfa always acted like a simpleton in front of Du Xiuzhi, but that was only the persona he adopted in front of the one he loved; he was far from foolish.

He wasn’t as naïve as a minor nor as dim-wittedly transparent as a college graduate fresh out of school.

He had entered society in his teen years and didn’t believe in love without reason in this world.

Every surprise and gain must be accompanied by an effort.

That’s why he said those words with such concern.

Upon hearing this, Du Xiuzhi rolled her eyes and said: "Nonsense, don’t make things up about Mr. Shen. You don’t know how formidable Mr. Shen is; he is just purely kind-hearted, feeling sorry for us."

Zhu Guangfa scratched his head, clearly Du Xiuzhi’s words did not convince him.

Du Xiuzhi sighed and explained further, "What do you think Mr. Shen could possibly want from you?"

Zhu Guangfa looked at Du Xiuzhi.

Du Xiuzhi instantly understood his thoughts, feeling her face would have turned red with anger if she were still alive.

"What are you imagining? With Mr. Shen’s abilities, if he had any bad intentions towards me, he could have just taken me away and not let me come back to see you."

"Xiuzhi, don’t be mad. I’ve watched too many TV dramas; it’s just the influence of television," Zhu Guangfa quickly apologized.

Du Xiuzhi glanced at him, then said, "Later, buy some stuff; when Mr. Shen gets off work, we’ll go and properly thank him together."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Guangfa immediately showed a radiant smile.

How could he not know, his wife was trying to put his mind at ease?

Just as Zhu Tingting arrived at school and took out her textbooks, she saw the teacher walk in through the door.

The once noisy classroom instantly quietened down.

"Zhu Tingting," the teacher called out from the doorway.

Upon hearing this, all the students’ gazes swiftly turned towards Zhu Tingting.

Zhu Tingting’s cheeks flushed red, and she became panic-stricken.

"Your dad is looking for you; he’s waiting at the entrance," the teacher informed Zhu Tingting, who quickly got up.

"Take your backpack too, your dad has asked for leave on your behalf."

Hearing this, Zhu Tingting hurriedly packed up the textbooks and stationery she had just taken out back into her backpack.

Because her classmates were continuously staring, her cheeks burned fiercely, and she felt her whole body prickling with embarrassment as she rushed out of the classroom, staggering a bit and nearly falling, igniting another round of laughter from the students.

From a distance, she could still hear the whispers of her classmates.

Is her dad really a gangster?

Has her dad been brought by the police to see her for the last time?

Could her dad be the one going around slashing from south to north of the city?

...

Zhu Tingting felt both wronged and angry.

Carrying her backpack, she hurried to the school gate and indeed saw her dad sitting on an electric scooter, waiting outside.

As students continued to enter the school, she strode over, filled with anger.

Suppressing her fury, she asked with a bad tone, "What are you doing here?"

"Hehe, I’ve asked your teacher for leave; let’s go home and have a good family gathering today."

"I don’t want to take leave. Don’t come looking for me at school."

Zhu Tingting sniffled, tears swirling in her eyes, but she didn’t notice a pale blue breath she inhaled into her belly.

"You shouldn’t talk to your dad like that," a gentle voice said nearby.

Upon hearing the voice, Zhu Tingting could no longer hold back her anger and burst into tears, saying, "I want to speak like this, what do you care..."

Then she froze, gazing blankly at the tender woman looking gently at her.

"It’s okay, but, why are you crying?" Zhu Guangfa became awkward and didn’t know how to comfort his daughter.

"Mom... Mom?" Zhu Tingting stuttered.

"What’s the matter, don’t you recognize your mom?"

Du Xiuzhi’s voice also trembled a bit as she struggled to hold back her tears.

"Mum..." Zhu Tingting’s backpack fell to the ground as she plunged directly into Du Xiuzhi’s arms.

Mr. Shen hurriedly got off the electric bike, picked up his daughter’s backpack, and half-hugged his daughter, saying, "We’ll talk about it when we get home, talk about it when we get home..."

At the school gate, people were coming and going, and since others couldn’t see Du Xiuzhi, Tingting’s behavior might be regarded by others as having some mental issues.

And with Mr. Shen’s embrace, it seemed to others that she was just hugging her dad and crying.

"Right, we’ll talk about it at home." Du Xiuzhi gently patted her daughter’s back.

Sorrow and tenderness filled her heart, causing her tears to fall unconsciously and then quickly disappear like droplets under the blazing sun.

Tingting gripped her backpack, stood on the footboard, with dad holding her in his arms, legs blocking on both sides, and mum sitting on the back seat, the family headed home.

This reminded Tingting of the times when she was very young, when her dad and mum would often take her out like this.

She would prattle on and on in front, with mum hugging dad’s waist, her chin resting on his shoulder, chatting with her.

Tingting felt a little dazed as if time had reversed, and everything was just a dream.

She kept looking back, seeing her mum always greeting her gaze with a warm smile.

"Mom~"

Tingting called out softly, her hand holding the backpack subconsciously lifted it, guarding it in front of her chest - a sign of unease.

"Baby, what’s wrong?"

Du Xiuzhi rested her chin on Zhu Guangfa’s shoulder.

"Dad stinks, all sweaty and sour," said Tingting.

"No, your dad says that’s the scent of a real man," retorted Du Xiuzhi.

Hearing this, Zhu Guangfa laughed out loud, and the corners of Tingting’s mouth also turned up slightly, revealing a shallow smile.

"Mom... I... I..."

Neither Zhu Guangfa nor Du Xiuzhi spoke, both waiting silently.

Finally, Tingting mustered up the courage to say, "Mom, I miss you so much."

"I feel the same," replied Du Xiuzhi.

She reached across Zhu Guangfa to touch her daughter’s cheek.

The motorbike moved slowly, with few people on the road, a gentle breeze blowing, and the afternoon sun scattering over the three of them...

They all wished it could go on like this forever.

But the road has an end, and eventually, they arrived at their own building.

Tingting couldn’t wait to get off the motorbike, extending her hand to pull her mum’s.

Then she took a long breath of relief.

"What’s wrong?"

Du Xiuzhi smoothed a lock of hair at her temple with her hand.

"I’m afraid I’m dreaming, but, mum, why... why..."

When her mum passed away, she was already five years old. Even though she was still in kindergarten, she understood what death was.

She saw her mum being wheeled out of the hospital room.

She saw her mum lying on the funeral bed, her cheeks pale and utterly bloodless.

She saw her mum being taken to be cremated.

They said her mum was dead, that she no longer had a mum.

She just kept crying...

After that, she never saw her mum again.

But now, her mum has reappeared before her.

Her mum bent down, and lightly tapped her nose.

"This is a secret," her mum said with a light chuckle.

Now she was even more curious.

At this moment, Mr. Shen parked the bike, came over, and said, "Let’s go home."

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.