Here we go! We're going to add 9971 and 6896 together.

Step 1: We'll start by adding the digits 1 & 6 in column 1 and get 7.

Step 2: We'll start by adding the digits 7 & 9 in column 2 and get 16.
We'll write down the last digit 6 and carry the 1 to the next column.

Step 3: We'll start by adding the digits 9 & 8 in column 3 and get 18.
We'll write down the last digit 8 and carry the 1 to the next column.

Step 4: We'll start by adding the digits 9 & 6 in column 4 and get 16.
We'll write down the last digit 6 and carry the 1 to the next column.

So, 9971 + 6896 = 16867.

