Chapter 97: Photos
Finally, a family photo where everyone is smiling brilliantly was born.
This was also their family’s first family photo, with the background being their old house, small and dilapidated, but one that had sheltered them from wind and rain for so many years for their large family.
Before the photos were even developed, Yun Xiaowu and the others were already looking forward to it, constantly asking when the photos would be ready.
Wang Yi: “It’ll take a few more days. I’ll bring them to you when they’re done.”
Yun Xiaowu tiptoed and patted his shoulder: “Good brother, I’ll remember this!”
Wang Yi: “…I thank you.”
It was getting late, and Wang Yi also wanted to get the photos developed as soon as possible, so he said goodbye and left on his bicycle.
After their family took photos, they changed into old clothes and continued with their respective tasks.
After dinner that night, the family gathered to talk, and the topic of the day was sending Yun Xiaowu and the others to school.
Grandpa Yun had already handled the procedures.
Yun Jiao sat on a small stool and asked: “Then when will I go to school?”
“At five years old. Your brothers will take you then.”
There are no kindergartens here; they start directly from pre-school.
They only accept children who are capable of self-care; children aged three or four are generally not accepted.
It’s rare to find a three-year-old as intelligent as Yun Jiao.
“Our Jiao Jiao would have no problem going to school at three, but there’s no rush. It’s fine to wait until she’s a little older.”
Yun Jiao nodded vigorously.
She had looked at the books of her third and fourth brothers, and just looking at the dense knowledge made her dizzy.
She didn’t want to go to school, thanks.
Yun Xiaowu and the others were quite eager to start school.
They were already tired of playing in the village and could make new friends there.
So, starting that day, Shen Yunlian and Wang Mei began sewing crossbody schoolbags for the boys every evening.
A few days later, Wang Yi arrived.
He brought the developed photos and a voucher for purchasing an electric fan.
He arrived on his bicycle as usual. This time he didn’t come too early, and along the way, many village children ran after his bicycle to Yun Jiao’s house.
As soon as Wang Yi parked his bike, some bold children reached out their small, dark hands to touch it.
Wang Yi: “You can touch it, but don’t push too hard and knock it over. If the bike breaks, I’ll have to ask your parents for compensation.”
Anyway, the bicycle was meant for riding, so he didn’t mind the small, dirty hands of the dark-skinned children.
In contrast, he couldn’t help but look at Yun Jiao, who was sitting by the doorway eating a cucumber, her skin snow-white and clean all over.
The contrast with the dark-skinned children in the village was very stark.
Just standing in the crowd made people want to look at her more.
“Uncle, what are you guys doing?”
Wang Yi walked in casually.
Yun Linhai and the others returned from outside carrying a large backpack full of corn, sweating profusely under the strong sun.
“We’re harvesting corn.”
After finishing a cucumber, Yun Jiao carried her small stool back to the courtyard and sat with her grandmother, shelling corn and breaking off the kernels.
The corn cobs were placed aside to dry.
The chicks, ducklings, and goslings milled around the corn pile, looking for bugs to eat.
Almost every corn cob had bugs on it; plump corn worms. Yun Jiao wasn’t afraid and simply grabbed them with her hands and put them on the ground.
“Peck, peck, peck… Come here, there’s food here.”
The nearby furballs ran very fast, rushing to her feet with a whizz. Before they could even stand steady, their mouths were pecking.
Several gathered together, jostling and shoving each other.
Wang Yi leaned over to take a look and was so startled by the wriggling grubs that he quickly moved away, his scalp tingling.
“I brought the photos, Yun Jiao, do you want to see them?”
“Photos!”
Yun Jiao hadn’t reacted yet, but Yun Xiaowu and the others, who were watching the bicycle at the entrance, rushed in.
“Where are they? Let me see quickly.”
Yun Jiao, Grandma Yun, and the others also gathered around.
Wang Yi quickly took out a stack of photos.
There were more than a dozen.
The topmost one was the Yun family’s family photo.
“It’s in color!”
Everyone was shocked, their eyes shining as they looked at the photos.
Wang Yi proudly said: “The film I bought was special, and I even went to the city to have it developed in color. Aren’t they beautiful?”
Beautiful!!!
Yun Xiaowu: “Why am I so dark?”
“Let me see, oh, our Jiao Jiao looks the best here, so beautiful!”
Yun Jiao looked at it and was also amazed by such human technology.
Beautiful, she truly was the most beautiful, so much so that she seemed to be on a different layer from everyone else.
“Grandma looks beautiful too.”
Grandma Yun smiled, her wrinkles becoming even more pronounced.
“Beautiful what, I’m old.”
Yun Jiujiu pointed at himself: “Xiao Jiu is also beautiful, Xiao Jiu is the second most beautiful.”
“Okay, okay, you’re second.”
The whole family cherished that family photo immensely.
Yun Jiao, Yun Xiaowu, and the others couldn’t wait to look at the other photos.
Among them were photos of Yun Jiao tide pooling with a string of fluffy yellow furballs against the backdrop of the sea, the colors in the picture being extremely pleasing to the eye.
There were also giant sea turtles.
Yun Xiaowu and the others playing.
The most numerous were the photos from going out to sea.
Yun Jiao and Wang Yi fishing, Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe catching fish, and those orcas.
Yun Jiao riding an orca and playing, her smile brilliant and sunny in the sea, her large eyes full of simple happiness, so beautiful as if she were an accidentally captured ocean sprite.
There were photos of Yun Jiao swimming by herself in the sea, orcas playing with wooden balls, and interspersed were two photos of Wang Yi himself.
He had selected the photos he thought were the most handsome and had several developed.
Yun Xiaowu and the others looked on with great envy.
“I rode an orca too! Brother, why didn’t you bring your camera earlier!”
He wanted to look that handsome too.
“There’ll be a chance to take photos again.”
The village children were even more envious and shocked than Yun Xiaowu and his group.
“Orcas, Yun Jiao riding an orca and playing.”
“Wow… I want to have my photo taken too.”
“Yun Xiaowu, you have them too, they look so good.”
“I’m in this photo too!”
“Where, let me see if I’m in it.”
Those were photos taken while tide pooling, and others had been incidentally captured.
Even being just a background element was enough to make them happy.
In those days, people in the countryside didn’t specifically take photos. Some who had money would do so, but they would go to photo studios, and they were black and white photos.
These colored photos, with nature as the background and of their familiar hometown, were exceptionally lifelike, and currently, only their family had them.
Wang Yi was quite proud; this was the effect of showing off he wanted.
When school started, taking the photos to school would have an even better show-off effect.
“By the way, Uncle, this is for you.”
He handed Yun Linhai a voucher.
Shen Yunlian leaned over to take a look, and then her eyes widened in shock.
“This… this is an electric fan ticket!”
“What? What ticket? Let me see.”
Grandma Yun and Grandpa Yun crowded over.
Seeing it was an electric fan ticket, they were so excited.
Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe were also excited: “Great, great, thank you, Xiao Yi, thank you so much.”
“How much is this ticket?”
Wang Yi: “My mother said this ticket is a gift to you all, as it’s of no use to us.”
“How can we accept a gift like that.”
Everyone disagreed, and Grandma Yun even went inside to get money.
“Even brothers should settle accounts clearly. If we always let you give us things, our affection will fade. We should give what we should give, and settle clearly what needs to be settled.”
