He Yuyang: The tough eldest brother of the courtyard house

He Yuyang gazed at the falling peach petals, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing his cuffs—still smeared with flour from Xiaoxuan's earlier pounce. He turned to look at Xu Xiuli, who was putting a red scarf on the snowman. Strands of hair at her temples fluttered in the wind, and the carrot nose she held in her hand gleamed orange-red in the sunlight, just like the look of surprise in her eyes when she first entered the space.

"Actually, this tree," he suddenly said, his voice slightly muffled by the wind, yet clearly reaching everyone's ears, "is more precious for its blossoms than its fruit."

Shouye was holding up his camera to take a picture of the snowman when he heard this and paused, "Dad, we can only eat it after it's cooked."

"Silly boy," He Yuyang laughed, bending down to pick up a petal covered in fine snow. "Look at this flower. Knowing it shouldn't bloom in the dead of winter, it still insists on breaking through the branches to sprout. That spirit is far more precious than the fruit it bears." He thought of the mother peach tree in his space, which was already laden with fruit, and suddenly felt that this little tree in the yard, which had been slow to bear fruit, understood the meaning of life better—the forbearance when taking root and the stubbornness when blooming, which showed more character than a momentary harvest.

Xu Xiuli tied her scarf into a pretty knot around the snowman's neck. As she straightened up, her gaze met He Yuyang's, and they both smiled. She remembered last winter when Aunt Zhang coughed so badly she couldn't straighten up, and it was the loquat syrup from her spatial dimension that quietly relieved her symptoms; she remembered when Staff Officer Wang's wife's son had a fever, and Shouye "casually" handed him fever-reducing pills (a special medicine from her spatial dimension); she remembered He Jianguo's letter from the border saying, "The frostbite cream Dad gave me works even at minus thirty degrees Celsius; my comrades all envy it." These lights hidden in ordinary days, like the roots of a peach tree, quietly spread in the unseen soil, sending warmth to farther places.

Xiaoxuan suddenly pointed at the courtyard gate and screamed, "Big brother! It's big brother!"

Everyone turned to look and saw He Jianguo, wearing a thick military overcoat with unmelted snow still on his shoulders, standing under the peach tree smiling. He was carrying a military green satchel. He paused for a moment when he saw the snowman in the yard, then strode in, put the bag on the stone table, and several strings of dried Rhodiola rosea rolled out of it—he had dug them up from the plateau and specially made them for his father to brew into tea.

"Why are you back?" He Yuyang went up to greet him, patted the snow off his son, and felt a pang of anxiety when his fingertips touched his son's red, frostbitten ears.

"The mission ended early," He Jianguo said with a smile, pulling open his coat to reveal a sweater underneath. "I just wanted to rush back for a New Year's Eve dinner." His gaze swept over the peach blossoms and then landed on Xu Xiuli. "Mom, I smell pork ribs. Is it stewed with soy sauce from my space?"

Xu Xiuli's eyes welled up with tears, and she turned to walk towards the kitchen: "I knew you'd be thinking about this! I left a big piece in the pot for you!"

Fireworks outside the courtyard gate went off again, this time denser and brighter, casting the shadows of the peach trees onto the wall like a flowing painting. He Yuyang watched the three children scrambling for Rhodiola rosea around He Jianguo, watched Xu Xiuli bustling about at the kitchen door, and watched Aunt Zhang and Staff Officer Wang's wife rushing over upon hearing the news, carrying freshly steamed buns. Suddenly, she felt that the peach trees were blooming at the perfect time—blooming in the cold winter to tell everyone that even in the coldest days, there is still the strength to break through the soil; and that even in the most difficult times, as long as hearts are united, there is no obstacle that cannot be overcome.

Shouye ran over, camera in hand: "Dad, Mom, Big Brother, stand still! I want to take a family photo!"

He Yuyang pulled Xu Xiuli over, He Jianguo stood to the side, Xiaoxuan hugged her older brother's arm, and Yuanchao squeezed in between on tiptoe. When Shouye shouted "Cheese," a peach blossom fell right into Xu Xiuli's hair. He Yuyang reached out to brush it away, but she pressed his wrist down.

"Don't touch it," she said with a smile, "Keep it; it looks nice."

The camera clicked, capturing the moment—a tree full of blossoms, a room filled with laughter, and a touch of pink and white falling into one's hair, like a gentle footnote, inscribed on the opening page of an era. The winds of change are still blowing, but as long as this peach tree remains, as long as the roots in our hearts remain, life will, like spring, slowly arrive, treading on ice and snow.