Chapter 80: Duoduo's Memories (Part 1)

The Ten Thousand Souls Banner, as the supreme treasure of the demonic path, was naturally domineering beyond compare.

Even immortals and gods, once drawn into the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, would be utterly beyond their own control; from the inside out, they would be forever enslaved by the banner's master, never to know freedom for all eternity.

Though this little ghost Lin Yundo had a few peculiarities, once she entered the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, everything was naturally likewise under Shen Siyuan's control—her memories being no exception.

Earlier, chatting in the car, the little one was too young, and many things came out muddled and unclear, so it was better to simply look through her memories directly—a more straightforward approach.

Duoduo stood beneath the eaves, watching the heavy rain outside.

Daddy and Mommy had both gone to work, and Big Brother had gone off to school too; at home, Duoduo was all alone.

Before leaving, Mommy had told her to stay home alone and not go out, saying she'd be back from work very soon.

Duoduo was very obedient. She watched television for a while, but soon grew bored…

She played with her cloth doll for a while too, but just as quickly lost interest…

Looking at the empty house, she missed Daddy and Mommy a little, and wished Big Brother were there to play with her.

Just then, the sky, which had been clear, suddenly burst into a downpour.

Duoduo stood beneath the eaves, watching the rain knock flat all the flowers Mommy had planted in the yard, and she let out a long, regretful sigh.

She remembered that Big Brother, when he left for school at noon, seemed to have forgotten his umbrella.

So she hurried back inside and looked at an umbrella sitting in a red plastic bucket in the corner.

Duoduo hesitated a little over whether to go deliver the umbrella to her brother.

Big Brother would get soaked, and getting soaked in the rain would make him sick, and being sick would mean taking bitter medicine…

Big Brother didn't like taking bitter medicine, and Duoduo didn't either…

So Duoduo decided to go deliver the umbrella to her brother.

She was clever, she knew the way—Mommy had taken her to Big Brother's school before, and Big Brother had told her how to get there too.

"Take the No. 6 bus, get off at the sixth stop, and you'll reach Big Brother's school…"

Thinking of this, Duoduo could hardly wait as she took the umbrella out of the red plastic bucket.

It was an oil-paper umbrella, exquisitely crafted, with a pine-and-crane pattern on its canopy.

This was Duoduo's favorite umbrella. One time when it was raining, Daddy had taken it away, and Duoduo got angry, ran out into the rain, and said the raindrops were going to smash her to death, so Daddy would never have a Duoduo again…

Later, Big Brother had laughed at her for being silly—how could raindrops possibly smash a person to death?

Shen Siyuan, who was currently browsing through Duoduo's memories, noticed that the decor style of her home didn't look like the twenty-first century at all.

Whether it was the television, the refrigerator, or the wooden sofa… everything was in an eighties style.

Still, judging from these appliances in the home, Duoduo's family was quite well-off—her parents were probably both in high-ranking positions.

By this time, Duoduo had already put on her little yellow rain boots, taken a kaleidoscope, and stepped out of the house under her umbrella.

The little thing was clever—before leaving, she even fished a few fen out of her little red piggy bank.

As for why she also brought a kaleidoscope, she thought of it as her telescope—once she reached the school gate, she could spot her brother inside.

Shen Siyuan followed along through Duoduo's memories, moving forward.

The rain was pouring hard, the world a hazy blur; for a five-year-old child to go out at such a time was extremely dangerous.

But Duoduo was completely unaware, and was even a little excited and skipping with joy.

Raindrops struck the umbrella's canopy with a pitter-patter; Duoduo happily twirled the handle, sending water spraying out in all directions…

Seeing puddles on the road, even if it meant taking a detour, she had to stomp through them—the splashes of water accompanied by her cheerful laughter…

……

"Three, eight, one, and six—I can read, you know, I'm really clever…"

Standing beneath the bus stop, Duoduo twirled her umbrella handle proudly, water spraying everywhere, completely unaware that not far off, a man was staring fixedly at her.

"Haitang Station—anyone getting off, hurry up and step out."

A bus slowly pulled up at the stop; the announcement wasn't an electronic broadcast, but a young Miss calling out.

She was the bus's ticket seller—in the early eighties, there was no such thing as self-service ticketing; everything was done by hand.

Duoduo's eyes went wide; seeing the bus had come to a stop, she hurried toward it on her little short legs.

But she forgot to close her umbrella, and on boarding she got stuck, nearly pulling someone over.

"Slow down, little one—are you all by yourself? Where's your my lord?"

The ticket seller, seeing this, asked with some amusement.

"Daddy and Mommy are at work-work, I'm going to school to find Big Brother."

Duoduo struggled to close her umbrella—this oil-paper umbrella was a bit too big for her, easy to open but hard to fold. Seeing this, the ticket seller got down from her seat, walked over, helped her carry it onto the bus, and helped her fold the umbrella up.

"You're going to Xicheng Elementary to find your brother, right?"

On this bus route, there was only one Xicheng Elementary.

Duoduo nodded. Actually, she didn't know whether the school her brother attended was called Xicheng Elementary, but a school was a school, so that was fine.

"When we get to the stop, I'll call you," the ticket seller said with a smile.

The ticket seller didn't choose to call the police, or notify her parents or anything—children running around everywhere was simply too common in this era; hardly anyone paid it any mind, as though it were perfectly natural.

At this moment, another young person boarded, carrying a black umbrella. The young person wasn't tall, but was extremely stocky, with quite a few pimples on his cheeks and a knife scar on his right eyebrow; his appearance wasn't very pleasant, giving the impression he wasn't a good sort.

Seeing him, the ticket seller involuntarily lowered her voice by a fraction.

She asked softly, "Which stop are you getting off at?"

"The train station."

"Five fen."

The young person took out money and bought a ticket, then walked to the very last row of the bus.

After the young person left, Duoduo, who had been standing nearby, held out the few fen she had been clutching tightly in her palm.

She was wearing a dress with no pockets, so she had been holding those few fen in her palm the whole time.

Seeing this, the ticket seller said with some amusement, "You little bean, you don't need to buy a ticket."

Hearing this, Lan Duoduo said somewhat unhappily, "I am already a big child."

"You're not even 1.2 meters tall, you can't even close your umbrella, and you call yourself a big child?" the ticket seller mocked.

Then, without waiting for Lan Duoduo to speak, she added, "Hurry up and find a seat to sit down, be careful not to fall."

Hearing this, Lan Duoduo hurriedly sat on the seat nearby and placed her umbrella beside her.

The rain outside the bus window was still falling...

"One stop... two stops... three stops..."

Looking at the curtain of rain outside the window, Lan Duoduo dared not be distracted for a moment, constantly counting the number of stops the bus made.

During this process, passengers came and went, boarding and alighting; the heavy rain did not make the number of people decrease.

In this era, travel was either by bicycle or by bus.

So, because of the rain, the number of people taking the bus actually increased.

However, after seeing Lan Duoduo, they only glanced at her and did not pay much attention.

"Xicheng Primary School has arrived, anyone getting off? Oh right, that child, you've reached your stop..."

The ticket seller's sharp voice rang through the bus, and Lan Duoduo came to her senses, hurriedly dragging her umbrella off the bus.

After getting off the bus, she only then realized she hadn't opened her umbrella, and rain poured down on her head and face.

But just then, she suddenly felt something cover her head.

Lan Duoduo looked up and saw a black umbrella blocking out her sky.

A rumble of thunder suddenly sounded in the sky, the thunder rolled, and the rain fell even harder...