Uncle Chen pinched the handle of the flower basket between his fingers and brought it up close for a careful look.
The little flower basket was woven from bamboo strips.
It was clearly quite old.
He turned it upside down and shook it, and a few withered stems and leaves fell out.
Maybe... there had originally been flowers in the little basket.
But so much time had passed that they had long since withered and fallen out.
"Hey, honey?"
The woman turned around, only to find that the man who had been following behind her was gone. She called out in surprise.
"Daddy!"
The child cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted along with her mother.
The cries startled the birds in the forest, and they flapped their wings as they flew into the air.
"Giggle~"
The child laughed happily.
"Coming."
The man hurriedly answered.
He casually slipped the little flower basket into his pants pocket.
It looked like the little basket had been abandoned here for a long time.
It still looked pretty nice to him.
He would ask his daughter later if she wanted it.
If she didn't, he could just throw it away.
"But then something else came up, and I forgot about the little flower basket."
"It wasn't until I was driving home that I suddenly remembered it again..."
When they stopped to rest at a service area, the man reached into his pants pocket, planning to take out the little flower basket and show it to his daughter.
But he checked not only his pants pockets, but every pocket he had, and still couldn't find the little flower basket.
Had he dropped it somewhere?
He was puzzled.
Just as he was about to think it over carefully, his wife interrupted him.