10,000 words updated! I've really gone all out! Thanks to Xia for the reward!
Looking at Zhang Shouyi's beaming smile and smug expression, Zhang Hongmei couldn't be bothered to pay him any attention. Was it really necessary for everyone to know? Wasn't this his own business?
I was too lazy to look at him anymore, so I went to find the old lady and asked Xiao Li to take a few more photos of me and the old lady together.
Zhang Shouyi noticed that Zhang Hongmei glanced at him and then left, so he quickly handed the remaining half-bag of sugar to Shi Tou and asked him to distribute it. He needed to go find Hongmei himself.
"Hongmei, where are you going?"
"Hehe, Brother Zhang, aren't you going to show off?"
"Hehe, how is this showing off? This is to let all my relatives in the village feel my sincerity, let them feel my joy, and receive their blessings."
Zhang Hongmei pursed her lips, "I'll go ask Xiao Li to help me take pictures. I need to take a few more group photos with the old lady."
"No need for Xiao Li, my skills are much better. I even studied photography for a while. I developed the photos from last time myself."
"Alright, then let me see your photography skills."
"Hehe, I guarantee you'll be satisfied. You go to your great-grandmother's house, I'll go back and get the camera."
The two went their separate ways. When Zhang Hongmei arrived at the old lady's house, the old lady was sitting in a rocking chair under the eaves.
"Grandma, can we take some photos together later?"
The old lady smiled and nodded. She was eighty years old and didn't know when she would be unable to open her eyes. This girl had been gone for several years, and she didn't know if she would be able to wait for her to come back.
"Grandma, I called my brother Jingze this morning and he didn't seem to be doing well."
"It will all pass. You did a great job. You just need to give him a definite answer. If it's no, it's no."
"That's what I think too. If we're not meant to be, we're not meant to be. Being direct now will allow us to remain family and friends in the future."
"Yes, you two will be siblings from now on. If I am gone one day, Jingze, please take care of him for me. Don't be fooled by his age; he is not as mature as you."
"My dear girl, I retired at the height of my career to protect the Liu family, but I still hope that the Liu family can have promising descendants who can bring glory to the family. However, only Jingze still has hope. Now that I'm gone, you must help him."
"Grandma, don't worry, I definitely will."
"Okay, that puts my mind at ease."
As the two were talking, Zhang Shouyi came in carrying a tin box. "Ladies, we can take pictures now. Would you like to change clothes or something?"
Wang Ying came over too. Zhang Hongmei suddenly thought, "Let's take a family photo instead."
“Wang Ying, go and call my grandma, grandpa, uncle and aunt back. We’re going to take a family photo and tell everyone not to worry, every family in our village is taking one today.”
"Okay, I'll go right away."
The old lady smiled and said, "It's good to take a family photo, but it would be even better if we could take a big group photo as well."
Everyone returned in about ten minutes. Liu Changhe's wife was still smiling as always. Zhang Hongmei was worried that they would have a problem with her, but she found that she was overthinking it.
The women hurriedly went back to their rooms to change their clothes, since they had just been cooking meat in the cafeteria.
Zhang Hongmei brought out all the stools from the house, and she and Zhang Shouyi discussed finding a spot and set up three stools. The old lady would sit in the middle, Liu Changhe and his wife on either side, and Liu Aimin and his wife would stand behind them.
"Uncle, why don't you two take a picture first? You're just waiting anyway."
"Let's take a picture together, the three of us." Liu Changhe chuckled and waved to Zhang Hongmei from his bench.
Zhang Hongmei walked over with a smile, moved a stool over, and the father and son sat down while she stood behind them.
Zhang Shouyi had just finished adjusting the camera, and looking at the smiling little girl in the lens, he felt extremely satisfied. He pressed the shutter, and the photo was complete.
Zhang Hongmei ran over and helped the old lady up, saying, "Now, you three, have a meal together."
This time, Liu Aimin stood at the back. Next were photos of Liu Changhe and the old lady, as well as photos of Liu Aimin and the old lady, and Zhang Hongmei and the old lady.
After taking several group photos, the mother and daughter finished packing up and came out.
The group photo shows Liu Aimin and his wife standing on either side of Zhang Hongmei, with the three of them standing behind them, and the three older men in front.
After that, there was a group photo of the four women, as well as a separate photo with Hu Aifen and her daughter. In the end, there were photos of everyone.
This busy work took half an hour.
"Hongmei, are you staying home with Great-Grandma? Or are you coming with me to the cafeteria, Great-Grandma? I need to help those kids take pictures."
Zhang Hongmei turned to look at the old lady. "You two go ahead, I'll go over when it's almost time to eat. After we finish eating, take another group photo of us old folks."
"Okay, I'll come pick you up when it's time to eat."
Wang Ying chuckled as she slung the tin box over her shoulder, while Zhang Shouyi simply held the camera in his hand—it was too much trouble to put it away and take it out again.
When they arrived at the cafeteria, the children swarmed around them. Zhang Hongmei smiled at them. These kids were quite clever; they probably knew they were going to have their picture taken, so they all went back to change into clean clothes, and their faces were all washed very well.
When Xiao Li saw the leader holding a camera, he immediately came over and said, "Leader, let me take over."
"Okay, it's up to you. In a little while, could you take a group photo of my wife and me with all the children in the village?"
In fact, Wang Ying, who was standing next to him, had been eager to try for a long time, but she really hadn't learned it. Xiao Li, on the other hand, had received special training, which is why Zhang Shouyi felt comfortable letting him be the photographer.
Tiger was very perceptive. He called over another friend, and the two of them brought over two stools for Zhang Hongmei and Zhang Shouyi to sit down.
"How about this: after all the kids take a group photo, I'll take a solo photo of each of you?" Zhang Hongmei asked the children surrounding her with a smile.
Of course I'm happy! It's so rare to have a photo of myself.
Xiao Li stood there seriously and said, "Let's take photos from the oldest to the youngest, and then we'll take a group photo at the end."
All the children in the village were there today, fifty-seven in total, including all the unmarried ones. The seventeen- or eighteen-year-old girls and boys hadn't gathered around yet, just watching from the sidelines. But when they heard it would start with them, one of the young men came over.
Holding his camera, Xiao Li said, "I think there are too many people in the cafeteria. Let's go to the big tree outside the courtyard."
The children all ran out in a flash. Zhang Hongmei refused Hu Zi's offer to help carry the stools, so Zhang Shouyi carried them out one in each hand.
The children watched and took photos from a distance. The teenagers, of course, were much faster; all thirteen of them finished taking photos in ten minutes, and at the end, they even took a group photo of all thirteen of them.
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