No problem, let's work through this together. We're starting with 9997 and are subtracting 5596 from it.

Step 1: We'll start by subtracting the digit 6 and the borrow 0 from 7 in column 1 and get 1.
1 is the first digit of our result.

Step 2: We'll start by subtracting the digit 9 and the borrow 0 from 9 in column 2 and get 0.
0 is the next digit of our result.

Step 3: We'll start by subtracting the digit 5 and the borrow 0 from 9 in column 3 and get 4.
4 is the next digit of our result.

Step 4: We'll start by subtracting the digit 5 and the borrow 0 from 9 in column 4 and get 4.
4 is the next digit of our result.

So, 9997 - 5596 = 4401.