Ten Thousand Soul Banner: Deceased, do you have any unfulfilled wishes?
Chapter 77: First Encounter with Duoduo

Chapter 77: Chapter 77: First Encounter with Duoduo

Shen Siyuan did not answer Lin Manzhi’s question, but counter-asked: "Did she say something to you?"

Lin Manzhi nodded and said, "She said these past few days, you haven’t been contacting her."

Sure enough, Jiang Tingyu had been waiting for Shen Siyuan to take the initiative to contact her.

Shen Siyuan was not surprised by this; with Jiang Tingyu’s appearance, it was impossible for her to actively pursue a man. As long as she expressed some fondness and goodwill, men would naturally pursue her.

She believed that she had shown quite a bit of fondness and goodwill towards Shen Siyuan, and that he should take the initiative to give a more positive response.

However, she did not expect Shen Siyuan to suddenly drop out of touch.

This made her feel very uncomfortable, so she was even less proactive in contacting Shen Siyuan.

But now that Lin Manzhi had brought it up, Shen Siyuan felt that some things should be made clear.

So he said, "A friend introduced me to someone a few days ago. We found each other agreeable, so we decided to try dating."

Lin Manzhi was stunned for a moment, as if she hadn’t come back to her senses, and then asked, "What about Tingyu?"

"Isn’t she currently not wanting to date?" Shen Siyuan countered.

Lin Manzhi knew about Jiang Tingyu’s situation and sighed upon hearing this, feeling somewhat disappointed, "Tingyu is a really nice girl."

Shen Siyuan understood her meaning and replied, "I’m not saying she’s not nice, but—there’s no obligation to wait for anyone."

Shen Siyuan chose to be blunt; if one doesn’t want to date, there’s no point in wasting each other’s time.

"I think, with her qualifications, she should be able to find someone better," Shen Siyuan added comforting words.

Upon hearing this, Lin Manzhi laughed. Jiang Tingyu was just her friend, not her daughter. It was just a bit disappointing that things didn’t work out between them.

Curious, she asked, "What does the person you’re seeing look like? To make you give up on a great beauty like Tingyu."

"If things work out between us, I think you’ll have the chance to meet her," Shen Siyuan said with a smile, without giving too much of an explanation.

When she meets Ruan Hongzhuang, she will understand why Shen Siyuan chose her over Jiang Tingyu.

Ruan Hongzhuang had said she would contact him at noon, and sure enough, right when it struck 12:00 PM, she promptly made the call.

It was probably their first phone call, and Ruan Hongzhuang, who didn’t have a bit of dating experience, suddenly found herself at a loss for words after the call connected. After hesitating for a long time, she ended up saying, "I’m sorry."

Shen Siyuan was stunned for a moment, then couldn’t help but burst into loud laughter.

He found this side of Ruan Hongzhuang incredibly endearing, a stark contrast to her usual cool, aloof demeanor.

"Should I not have said that?"

Hearing Shen Siyuan’s laughter, Ruan Hongzhuang wasn’t annoyed but seemed to have found a conversation topic.

"Right, who greets someone like that?"

"Actually, I do know. It’s just, I couldn’t think of what to say for a moment," said Ruan Hongzhuang.

Of course, she knew what to say. She wasn’t foolish. It was just that she got so excited, she forgot what to say. And because she paused for too long, she ended up apologizing.

Shen Siyuan chuckled a few times, then stopped himself from laughing further, so as not to be rude.

And he comforted her by saying, "It’s quite good this way. At least in the future, I’ll never forget how our first call went."

"That makes sense."

Ruan Hongzhuang actually believed Shen Siyuan’s comforting words, her tone even having a bit of a self-satisfied air.

Once the conversation opened up, Ruan Hongzhuang was no longer nervous or excited, and her speech also became fluid.

She told Shen Siyuan that if they were to go hiking tomorrow, she’d need to wear a pair of flat sports shoes, but she only had high heels at home...

She told Shen Siyuan that she looked it up and there was a good movie playing tomorrow...

She told Shen Siyuan that Jiang Taoshi had recommended a Sichuan restaurant with delicious food, and they could go there together tomorrow...

She told Shen Siyuan if they went shopping tomorrow, could he accompany her to the folk street? She had wanted to go for a long time but never had the chance...

...

When Ruan Hongzhuang spoke to Shen Siyuan, her tone was neither too slow nor too fast, carrying a slight softness unique to the women of Jiangnan, far from her usual clear and snappy Mandarin.

This wasn’t something she did on purpose; as a person from Si Ming, her natural speech was in Wu dialect. It was only because of work that she made a conscious effort to use Mandarin to communicate with others.

Even if one couldn’t see her in person, the sound of her voice would evoke the image of a stately and gentle person.

Shen Siyuan was a very good listener, not just listening but also providing timely responses.

In this respect, he had much experience. Back when he pursued his first girlfriend, he would talk on and on, and she’d not utter a word, which was very frustrating.

Without feedback, one wouldn’t know the other person’s attitude or even if they were listening.

From then on, Shen Siyuan learned how to be a good listener.

There were countless examples of this. Although his first relationship wasn’t perfect, it actually taught Shen Siyuan many things.

At the beginning of the call, they didn’t know what to talk about.

But once they started talking, like all boys and girls in their first love, it seemed like they had endless topics to discuss, never running out of things to say.

Once I came back to my senses, I realized it was already time to start the afternoon work shift.

Luckily, Guanghui Animation isn’t very strict about management. Shen Siyuan ordered some takeout for himself.

When Zhou Chuan saw it, he just said, "How come you’re only eating now," and didn’t say much else.

This was one of the reasons why Shen Siyuan liked this job.

As long as you hit the monthly KPI and don’t come to work late, no boss would lecture you too much.

Today is Friday, and Ding Youguang said we’d have a meal together. A few of us would meet up, so after work, Shen Siyuan didn’t ride his electric scooter.

Instead, he took a taxi alone to the dinner venue. He didn’t ask Ding Youguang or Zhou Zhengdao to join him.

That’s because everyone in the company knows Zhou Zhengdao has a thing for Li Qunfang. He was giving Zhou Zhengdao and Li Qunfang a chance to be alone.

He didn’t ask Ding Youguang to come along because he went to print the contract.

Since Ding Youguang is from the North, he chose a Northeastern restaurant for tonight’s dinner, claiming the food was very authentic, and he often ate there himself.

Shen Siyuan was the first to arrive, followed by Zhou Zhengdao and Li Qunfang, and Ding Youguang was the last.

"It took quite an effort to get you out here; Zhou Zhengdao really has a big pull."

Seeing Li Qunfang, Shen Siyuan made a joke with her.

This girl is introverted, doesn’t talk much, and was wearing a European-style puffy dress, making her look much younger than her actual age.

Shen Siyuan said this, and she just smiled faintly, not engaging in conversation.

But when they talked about games and art styles during the meal, she began to speak more.

She suggested choosing a cute chibi art style because the most viewers on television are the elderly and children, and those choosing to play games on TV would certainly be mostly children. Therefore, a chibi art style would attract them more...

Her suggestion was good and was eventually adopted, determining the art style.

They talked about many things that evening and also signed the contract.

Ding Youguang did an excellent job with this. Before getting down to business, he made sure to sort out the profit-sharing, giving everyone something to look forward to and preventing any future discontent over uneven profit distribution, which would only cause trouble.

When Shen Siyuan left the restaurant, it was already close to ten at night.

Ding Youguang, who lived the farthest, left in a taxi first, then Zhou Zhengdao and Li Qunfang took a taxi together.

Only Shen Siyuan was left. He originally planned to take a taxi as well, but after having a few drinks, he wanted to walk in the night breeze, so he headed to the bus stop alone.

He was chatting with Ruan Hongzhuang on WeChat as he walked.

"Do you want me to come and pick you up?"

"No need, you get some rest early. The bus is here, I’m getting on first."

Seeing the Route 6 bus slowing to a stop in front of him, Shen Siyuan quickly exited the chat, opened the transit app, and scanned the code to board.

Although there weren’t many passengers at this time, Shen Siyuan still habitually headed to the back of the bus.

That’s when he saw a little girl about four or five years old sitting alone in the last row of the bus.

Shen Siyuan saw her.

And she saw Shen Siyuan.

The little girl had particularly large, spirited eyes. Wearing a blue and white striped dress, with her hair in twin ponytails, she looked fresh and clean.

But around her neck, there was a very deep wound, dark and bottomless, with the curled edges of the gash looking ferocious and frightening.

It appeared she was a victim of throat-slashing. One can’t imagine what kind of person would be so cruel, to lay hands on such a lovely little girl.

The girl noticed Shen Siyuan staring at her, looking both thrilled and surprised.

She seemed to want to talk to him but appeared a bit shy.

So she just looked at Shen Siyuan with her big watery eyes, unblinkingly.

It wasn’t until Shen Siyuan sat down next to her and spoke to her that she finally made sure that Shen Siyuan could indeed see her.

"What’s your name?" asked Shen Siyuan.

"Lin Yunduo," the little girl said softly.

"I’m Shen Siyuan, how old are you this year?" Shen Siyuan asked gently.

"Five years old," Lin Yunduo said timidly.

"What are you doing on the bus so late?" Shen Siyuan continued to ask.

Fortunately, there weren’t many people on the bus at this time, and he was sitting in the back row, so it didn’t attract any attention from others.

"I want to go home," Lin Yunduo said, looking down, with a slight crying tone in her voice.

The wound on her neck was so deep and large, when she lowered her head, Shen Siyuan was really worried that her head might fall off.

Then—

Her head really fell off.

PS: Duoduo makes her appearance. Those who are aware of the situation know.