Rebirth in a Courtyard: I Am a Little Hunter

After resting enough, I continued strolling around.

There was also a small "Spring Festival Amusement Area" in the park, with a rope cordon around an area where several simple games were played: one involved tossing clay figures or small toys through bamboo hoops, and another involved walking blindfolded to stick a "pig's nose" on a stick. Each game stall was surrounded by children and young people, filled with laughter and joy.

Wei Ran's eyes lit up as she watched the ring toss game. Wei Chen spent five cents to buy ten bamboo rings and let his sister try. Wei Ran threw the rings nervously and excitedly, but unfortunately, she didn't get a single one on the ring. However, the process made her giggle with joy.

After playing around for a while, Wei Ran had eaten all the sugar figurines except for a bare bamboo stick. She looked at it with some regret, and Wei Chen smiled and said, "Next time you come, I'll buy you another one." "Okay!" Wei Ran nodded vigorously and carefully threw the bamboo stick into the trash can by the roadside.

Before they knew it, the sun was already setting. They walked to a relatively open spot in the park with a good backdrop and saw a photo booth set up there. It wasn't a mobile vendor, but a temporary service point set up in the park by the "Red Star State-Owned Photo Studio" not far away.

A backdrop with the Temple of Heaven pattern stood there, next to two pots of plastic flowers, and a family of four sat on a chair, taking pictures.

The photographer, a middle-aged man in blue overalls with a photo studio badge pinned to his chest and an old-fashioned twin-lens reflex camera hanging around his neck, was bending over the viewfinder, directing: "Yes, like that. Women holding children, move a little closer to the center, men, tilt your heads slightly... Good! Look here, smile! Alright!"

"Click!" A flash of white smoke followed the photo (old-fashioned cameras require magnesium powder flash), and the photo was taken. The photographer straightened up and said to the family, "Come to the Red Star Photo Studio in three days to pick up the photos. Use this receipt." He then handed them a small piece of paper.

Wei Chen's heart skipped a beat, and he said to his mother, "Mom, let's take a picture too? To remember this. Let's take it right here, it's convenient."

Wang Xiulan paused, looking at the camera and flash, somewhat flustered. She subconsciously straightened her clothes and hair: "Taking photos? That... must be very expensive, right? Besides, Mom isn't photogenic... And what if the photos turn out badly...?"

"Mom, it's not expensive, just keep it as a souvenir," Wei Chen advised, pointing to the price list next to him. "Look, a four-inch group photo is only six cents. Our family hasn't taken a family photo yet. The clothes should be neat and clean. Didn't that family just take one? It's normal to have a keepsake for the New Year."

Wei Ran excitedly chimed in, "Take a picture...take a picture...Mom, let's take one! I want to take a picture with Mom and my brother!"

Others were also queuing up to take photos, mostly families or couples, their faces beaming with festive smiles, which eased Wang Xiulan's awkwardness somewhat. Yes, if others can take photos, why can't hers? Her son was right, it's about having a keepsake. She'd never had her picture taken in her life…

"Then... shall we take one?" Wang Xiulan finally agreed, a faint blush rising on her face, a mixture of nervousness and anticipation.

"Okay!" Wei Chen happily joined the queue. There were two groups ahead of them, so they waited on the side. Wei Ran curiously observed how the photographer handled the black, somewhat mysterious-looking machine.

Their turn. The photographer looked at the three of them and said enthusiastically, "Comrades, a family photo? Sure! Come on, this lady, sit in the middle chair, yes, relax. Son, stand on the right, daughter, stand on the left, get closer, yes, smile, be natural!"

While adjusting their poses, he tried to ease Wang Xiulan's tension, "Sister, don't be nervous. Look at this camera, think of something happy. Yes, just like that! Your daughter's smile is so sweet! Your son looks great too! Okay, hold on, don't move..."

Wang Xiulan sat stiffly in her chair, her hands resting awkwardly on her knees. Wei Chen stood to his mother's right, his posture upright, one hand gently resting on the back of her chair, a gentle and serene smile on his face. Wei Ran stood to her mother's left, close by, one hand still holding hers, her face beaming with an undisguised radiant smile, her eyes crinkling into crescents.

"Look here—good!" The photographer pressed the shutter. "Click!" Another puff of white smoke flashed by. "Alright! It's done!" The photographer straightened up, took out a small notebook from his pocket, tore off a slip printed with "Red Star Photo Studio Pickup Slip," wrote down the number and date, and handed it to Wei Chen. "Comrade, pick up your photos three days later, on the afternoon of the fourth day of the lunar new year, with this slip. The address is on the slip. Four-inch black and white, six cents."

Wei Chen took the photo collection slip, looked at it, carefully put it away, and then paid. "Thank you, sir." "You're welcome, Happy New Year!" The photographer cheerfully began preparing to take photos for the next group of people.

Holding that small photo slip, Wang Xiulan had a strange feeling, as if that moment had been captured by some force, to be savored in the future.

She looked at her son and daughter, then touched her hair, and murmured, "I wonder what it will look like in the photo..."

"It's definitely beautiful, Mom looks the best!" Wei Ran said sweetly.

"You're so good at talking." Wang Xiulan gave her daughter a reproachful look, but her eyes were full of laughter.

After taking the photos, I felt like I had accomplished something big, and I felt much more relaxed. The three of us continued our stroll in the park, the afterglow of the setting sun gilding the trees and buildings.

They walked to a relatively secluded corner with several green benches facing the lake, which was not yet completely frozen. Part of the lake was covered with thick ice, while another part shimmered in the setting sun, and a few small boats trapped in the ice could be seen in the distance. The scenery was tranquil and expansive.

Sitting down, basking in the last warm rays of the winter afternoon sun, watching the ice and shimmering water of the lake, and listening to the faint, lingering sounds of drums and laughter in the distance, one feels a rare sense of relaxation and tranquility. Wei Ran, tired from playing all day, leans against her mother, taking small bites of a small bag of glutinous rice strips she had just bought.

"Mom, look, isn't life getting better and better?" Wei Chen asked softly, looking at his mother's relaxed brows.

Wang Xiulan nodded, gazing wistfully at the lake. "Yes, there's hope. I never dared to imagine that our family could have such a day. If your father could see this..." She paused, not finishing her sentence, but tears welled in her eyes—tears of relief, and also of remembrance for her deceased husband.

"Dad is watching from heaven, he'll be so happy." Wei Chen held his mother's hand, which was rough from years of hard work, but warm and strong. "From now on, I will make sure you and Ranran have a good life, even better than it is now."

"Brother, I will study hard and make something of myself in the future, and take good care of Mom and you!" Wei Ran raised her head, with half a stick of glutinous rice still in her mouth, and said earnestly.

"Good, good, you are both my good children." Wang Xiulan held the two children's hands together, feeling her heart filled with warmth. The past hardships, bitterness, and confusion seemed to be dispelled by the afternoon sun and the warmth before her. This was truly a case of overcoming suffering and finding happiness.

Wei Chen leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and felt the last warmth of the sunlight on his face. From the initial bewilderment upon arriving in this world, to the life-or-death struggles on the grasslands, to the cautious maneuvering in the steel mill, and the step-by-step advances in the courtyard…

The past six months have passed like a film reel, slowly replaying in my mind. There was the initial anxiety of arriving, the crisis of the snowy grasslands, the joy of making contributions at the factory, and the exhaustion and planning of dealing with all sorts of people in the institute.

Now, he has finally gained a foothold in this special era, possessing the ability and a certain foundation to protect his family and improve his life. The game world is his trump card and secret garden, while in the real world, he also has a job to make a living, a nascent network of interpersonal relationships, and an increasingly warm home.

The road ahead is long, the tides of time continue to surge, and the turmoil in the courtyard will not cease. But he is different now. He is no longer that cautious, subservient youth, but a powerful, confident, and armored transmigrator.

He wants to protect this hard-won peace and happiness, and also to steadily walk his own path in this turbulent era.

"Brother, look! There are balloons for sale over there!" Wei Ran's exclamation interrupted Wei Chen's thoughts. He opened his eyes and looked in the direction his sister was pointing. Sure enough, there was a vendor pushing a bicycle with a bunch of colorful rubber balloons tied to the back seat, selling them to tourists with children.

"Come on, I'll buy you one." Wei Chen stood up and dusted himself off. It was a bit extravagant, but it was the New Year, and as long as his sister was happy, that was all that mattered.

"Really? That's great!" Wei Ran's fatigue vanished instantly.

Finally, Wei Ran chose a bright red balloon, which she tied with a thin string. Bathed in the setting sun, it shone like a flame. Holding the balloon in one hand and her mother's hand in the other, she was completely satisfied.

As the sun set, a magnificent sunset painted the sky. The park began to empty, and a revolutionary song announcing the park's closing played over the loudspeaker. The mother and her two children slowly walked towards the park entrance with the flow of people.

Wei Ran's face was flushed from playing. Holding a balloon in one hand and clutching the unfinished rice strip packet in the other, she excitedly discussed her day's experiences with her mother and brother: the sugar figurine of Sun Wukong that could do somersaults, the figure speeding across the ice rink, the ring toss game, the flash of the camera... Wang Xiulan always had a faint, satisfied smile on her face as she listened to her daughter's chatter, occasionally adding a few words of agreement.

As I walked out of the park gate and looked back, the vermilion gate tower appeared serene and solemn in the twilight. The banner that read "Happy Chinese New Year" fluttered gently in the evening breeze.

On the bus back, the carriage was a bit emptier than when they arrived. Wei Ran leaned against her mother and soon fell asleep, still clutching the balloon string and the photo receipt tightly in her hand.

Wang Xiulan gently patted her daughter, her gaze fixed on the streetlights just beginning to illuminate the evening. Red lanterns were lighting up one after another, casting warm glows that adorned the deepening twilight. Some state-owned shops still had their windows lit, displaying their wares. More people were riding bicycles home from get off work, their bells ringing in the air.

"Chen'er, today... is so wonderful," Wang Xiulan said softly, her voice full of emotion and satisfaction.

"Yes, things will get better from now on, Mom." Wei Chen looked at his mother and sister's peaceful profiles, a sense of tranquility and determination filling his heart. The warmth of home and the beauty of ordinary life were his greatest motivation and the treasures he needed to protect.

The bus swayed gently, carrying a family of three towards the courtyard house, a place brimming with the warmth of everyday life, yet also rife with calculation and intrigue. But at that moment, their hearts were filled with sunshine, the sweet aroma of candy, the vibrant red of balloons, and the anticipation of their family photo being developed. This warmth and fulfillment were enough to ward off any chill and illuminate their path forward.