And so, a family portrait was taken, with everyone beaming radiantly.
This was the Yun family’s first-ever family portrait, with their old house in the background. Though small and worn, it had sheltered their large family from the elements for many years.
The photos hadn’t even been developed yet, but Yun Xiaowu and the others were already buzzing with anticipation, constantly asking when they would be ready.
Wang Yi said, "It’ll take a few days. I’ll bring them over once they’re ready."
Yun Xiaowu stood on his tiptoes to pat him on the shoulder. "You’re a real one, buddy! I won’t forget this!"
Wang Yi said, "...Gee, thanks a lot."
It was getting late, and Wang Yi himself was eager to get the photos developed. He said his goodbyes and pedaled away on his bicycle.
After the photoshoot, the family changed back into their old clothes and went back to their chores.
After dinner that evening, the family gathered to talk, and the topic of the day was sending Yun Xiaowu and the other boys to school.
Grandpa Yun had already taken care of all the paperwork.
Yun Jiao, sitting on a little stool, asked, "So when do I get to go to school?"
"Probably when you’re five or six. Your brothers will take you when the time comes."
There were no kindergartens around here; children started directly with preschool.
They only accepted children who were already independent, so they generally didn’t take three- or four-year-olds.
It was almost unheard of for a three-year-old to be as bright as Yun Jiao.
"Our Jiaojiao would have no trouble starting school at three, but there’s no rush. It’s fine for her to go when she’s a little older."
Yun Jiao nodded vigorously.
’I’ve seen my third and fourth brothers’ books,’ she thought. ’Just looking at all the dense information packed onto the pages makes my head spin.’
’I’d rather not go to school, thank you very much.’
Yun Xiaowu and his brothers, on the other hand, were quite eager to start school.
They were long tired of the village and saw it as a perfect chance to make new friends.
And so, starting that day, Shen Yunlian and Wang Mei spent their evenings with needle and thread, sewing crossbody satchels for the boys to use as school bags.
A few days later, Wang Yi came by.
He brought the developed photographs and a voucher for purchasing an electric fan.
As usual, he arrived on his bicycle. He wasn’t too early this time, and a crowd of village kids had trailed behind his bike all the way to the Yun family’s house.
Just as Wang Yi parked the bike, a bolder child reached out a small, grubby hand, wanting to touch it.
Wang Yi said, "You can touch it, but don’t push so hard you knock it over. If you break it, I’ll be coming to your parents for the money, you hear?"
The bicycle was meant for the road anyway, so he wasn’t really bothered by the children’s grubby hands.
By contrast, he couldn’t help but glance at Yun Jiao. She was sitting by the door, munching on a cucumber, her skin as white as snow and her clothes spotlessly clean.
The contrast between her and the other sun-tanned village children was stark.
She stood out so much in a crowd that you couldn’t help but look twice.
"Uncle, what are you all up to?" Wang Yi asked as he sauntered inside.
Yun Linhai and his brothers were just returning from the fields, carrying large baskets of corn on their backs. The sun was scorching, and they were drenched in sweat.
"Harvesting corn," Yun Linhai replied.
After finishing her cucumber, Yun Jiao carried her little stool back into the courtyard and sat with Grandma to husk corn, pulling off the layers of leaves.
The ears of corn were tossed into a pile to dry in the sun.
The little chicks, ducklings, and goslings milled around the corn pile, searching for insects to eat.
Almost every ear had a worm on it—a fat, plump corn borer. Yun Jiao wasn’t afraid at all; she just picked them out with her bare hands and dropped them on the ground.
"Here, chick, chick, chick... Come on, there’s food here."
The closest little fluffballs scurried over incredibly fast, rushing to her feet. They were pecking at the worms before they had even steadied themselves.
Several of them crowded together, jostling for a spot.
Wang Yi leaned in for a look, but the sight of the wriggling, fleshy worms made his skin crawl, and he quickly backed away.
"I brought the photos! Yun Jiao, wanna see?"
"Photos!"
Before Yun Jiao could even react, Yun Xiaowu and the other boys, who had been admiring the bicycle at the gate, came rushing in.
"Where are they? Quick, let me see!"
Yun Jiao, Granny Yun, and the rest of the family gathered around as well.
Wang Yi quickly produced a stack of photos.
There were more than a dozen in total.
The one on top was the Yun family’s portrait.
"They’re in color!"
Everyone was stunned, their eyes lighting up as they gazed at the photograph.
Wang Yi said smugly, "The film I bought was special. I even made a special trip to the city to get them developed in color. Pretty neat, huh?"
Amazing!!!
Yun Xiaowu commented, "Why do I look so tan?"
"Let me see! Oh, wow, our family’s Jiaojiao is the prettiest one in the picture, the absolute cutest!"
Yun Jiao glanced at it. ’Even I have to marvel at this human technology,’ she thought.
’It’s beautiful, and I really am the best-looking one. So much so that it looks like I’m on a completely different layer from everyone else.’
"Grandma looks pretty, too," she said.
Granny Yun smiled so wide that the wrinkles on her face deepened.
"Pretty? Nonsense. I’m just old."
Yun Xiaojiu pointed to himself. "Little Nine is handsome too! Little Nine is the second most handsome!"
"Alright, alright, you’re second."
The family members passed the portrait around, unable to stop marveling at it.
Yun Jiao, Yun Xiaowu, and the other kids eagerly moved on to the other photos.
There was one with the ocean as a backdrop, showing Yun Jiao leading a trail of fluffy yellow chicks and ducklings while foraging on the shore. The colors in the image were incredibly pleasing to the eye.
There was one of the great sea turtle, too.
There were shots of Yun Xiaowu and his brothers goofing around.
But most of the photos were from their trip out on the ocean.
There were photos of Yun Jiao and Wang Yi fishing, of Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe casting their nets, and of the killer whales.
There was one of Yun Jiao playing while riding a killer whale. Out on the water, her smile was radiant and full of sunshine, her large eyes brimming with simple joy. She was so beautiful she looked like a sea sprite accidentally captured by the lens.
There were pictures of Yun Jiao swimming in the ocean on her own, of the killer whales playing with the wooden ball, and mixed in among them, a couple of shots of Wang Yi himself.
He had, of course, picked out what he considered his most handsome shots and had several copies made.
Yun Xiaowu and his brothers were green with envy.
"I’ve ridden a killer whale too! Buddy, why didn’t you bring your camera sooner?!"
He wanted a cool picture like that for himself.
"We can always take more next time," Wang Yi said.
The other village kids were even more shocked and envious than Yun Xiaowu and his brothers.
"A killer whale! Yun Jiao is riding a killer whale!"
"Wow... I want a picture taken, too."
"Yun Xiaowu, you guys are in them too! They look so good!"
"I’m in this picture!"
"Where? Let me see if I’m in one."
It was one of the photos from the beach foraging trip, and some of the other kids had been unintentionally captured in the background.
They were thrilled just to be in the background.
Back then, almost no one in the countryside would go out of their way to have photos taken. A few who had a little money might, but they would go to a proper studio, and the photos would be in black and white.
As of now, the Yun family was the only one to have such vivid, colorful photographs taken against the natural backdrop of their familiar hometown.
Wang Yi was quite pleased with himself. This was exactly the kind of impressive effect he’d been aiming for.
Once school started, he could take the photos with him, and the bragging rights would be even better.
"Oh, by the way, Uncle, this is for you."
He handed a voucher to Yun Linhai.
Shen Yunlian leaned in for a look, and her eyes widened in astonishment.
"This... This is a voucher for an electric fan!"
"What? What kind of voucher? Let me see."
Granny Yun and Grandpa Yun both crowded closer.
When they saw it was a voucher for a fan, they were absolutely thrilled.
Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe were excited too. "This is great, just great! Thank you, Wang Yi. We can’t thank you enough."
"How much for the voucher?"
Wang Yi replied, "My mom said it’s a gift for you all. We don’t have any use for it, anyway."
"Oh, we couldn’t possibly accept that."
Everyone disagreed, and Granny Yun went straight into the house to get some money.
"Even blood brothers keep their accounts clear. If we’re always taking things from you, it’ll strain our friendship over time. We give gifts when it’s right to, and we pay for things fair and square."