Courtyard House: Initial Donation of 50 Million

After leaving the Yi family, Director Wang felt conflicted, but the adoption issue was finally showing signs of progress. She didn't dare delay and went to the district orphanage herself early the next morning. There were quite a few children in the orphanage, but the situation was indeed as she had expected: either they were too old to remember things, and she worried about not being able to care for them properly; or they had disabilities or serious illnesses requiring long-term treatment, which would be too heavy a burden for a family like Yi Zhonghai's and could easily create further discord. Looking at the timid or bewildered little faces, Director Wang felt a heavy weight in her heart and couldn't help but sigh. She asked the accompanying director, "Are these all the children? Are there any... younger ones, without any major health problems?"

The dean, a kind-faced middle-aged woman, hesitated for a moment upon hearing this, then lowered her voice and said, "Director Wang, to be honest, there aren't many who meet your requirements... However, we just sent over a brother and sister a couple of days ago. The sister is nine years old and her name is Yi Aijia, and the brother is five years old and his name is Yi Aiguo. They don't have any major disabilities, but they are a bit malnourished and look younger than their actual age. The brother had a slight fever yesterday, and the sister was taking care of him in the room, so you didn't see him."

Director Wang's heart skipped a beat. Siblings? And their surname is Yi? She immediately said, "Take me to see them!"

The dean led Director Wang through the somewhat noisy courtyard to a relatively quiet small room. Pushing open the door, they saw a thin, pale boy, about five or six years old, lying on the bed. His cheeks had an unnatural flush, and he seemed to be asleep with his eyes closed. Beside the bed sat an even thinner girl, who looked no more than seven or eight years old, carefully using a worn-out spoon to scoop a little medicine from a bowl, gently blowing on it to cool it, and then feeding it to her younger brother little by little. Her movements were exceptionally practiced, and her eyes revealed a composure and worry beyond her years.

"Aijia, Aiguo, Director Wang from the neighborhood committee has come to see you," the dean said softly.

The girl, Yi Aijia, looked up and saw Director Wang. She stood up somewhat awkwardly, nervously twisting the hem of her clothes with her small hands, and whispered, "Hello, Director." The boy on the bed, Yi Aiguo, also opened his eyes groggily and looked at the stranger timidly.

Director Wang felt a pang of sadness and asked a few questions about the children in a soft voice. The hospital director quietly added details about the siblings' background. When Director Wang received the simple, still-wet ink file from the director, her gaze fell on the "Father's Name" section—Yi Zhonghe! Her heart skipped a beat! Further down, she read: Yi Zhonghe, a soldier in a motor transport regiment of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army, died in the Korean War in July 1953, posthumously awarded a second-class merit. Their mother, Wang Xiaohua, was the former head nurse of the Beijing People's Hospital, who passed away last week due to illness… Following this was the siblings' basic information.

Director Wang's hands trembled slightly. Yi Zhonghe… only one character different from Yi Zhonghai! Was it a coincidence, or…? She suppressed her excitement and carefully read the brief certificate attached, provided by the military and hospital. The letter stated: Comrade Yi Zhonghe, during a crucial supply mission in the final battle of the Korean War, drove a vehicle to draw enemy fire to cover his comrades and supplies, sacrificing his life heroically and making a significant contribution to the victory. His wife, Comrade Wang Xiaohua, also unfortunately contracted the disease while rescuing civilians infected by Japanese-made bacteriological bombs and died despite treatment. The siblings became orphans of a martyr.

Director Wang's eyes instantly welled up with tears. She seemed to see the smoke-filled battlefields of Korea, the valiant truck drivers charging through enemy fire, the medical workers struggling to save lives on the brink of death… These siblings were actually descendants of heroes! And their surname… A bold idea arose in her mind: What if, what if Yi Zhonghe was Yi Zhonghai's long-lost younger brother? Then wouldn't these children be Yi Zhonghai's nephew and niece? Yi Zhonghai was a high-ranking worker, earning a high salary, more than enough to support two children, and adopting a martyr's orphan was an unparalleled honor! Perhaps this could completely reverse Yi Zhonghai's current predicament and help him regain his strength!

This idea thrilled Director Wang. She immediately made arrangements, and the next day she brought Yi Zhonghai, who was preoccupied and looked dejected, and an older woman whose eyes had regained a glimmer of hope, back to the orphanage.

When the headmaster led the slightly more tidy-up Yi Aijia and Yi Aiguo to Yi Zhonghai and his wife, a strange sense of blood ties occurred. Yi Zhonghai's previously numb gaze suddenly sharpened when he met the children's clear yet timid eyes! Especially the boy, Yi Aiguo—his eyebrows, his stubbornly pursed lips—there was a vaguely familiar shadow of him! And when he heard the headmaster introduce them, "These are Yi Aijia and Yi Aiguo, siblings," and their surname was Yi! Yi Zhonghai's heart pounded!

He practically snatched the thin file from Director Wang's hand, his eyes fixed on the words "Father: Yi Zhonghe"!

Yi Zhonghe!

This name, like a rusty key, suddenly opened the floodgates of Yi Zhonghai's most painful and least wanted memories, which had been sealed away for decades!

Those were turbulent years of war and chaos. The Central Plains suffered a severe drought, leaving the land parched and barren. The Yi family, carrying all their belongings—a broken wheelbarrow, a few tattered quilts, and a meager ration of food—followed the fleeing crowds westward. Yi Zhonghai was just a teenager then, and his younger brother, Yi Zhonghe, was even younger. Along the way, corpses of the starved littered the landscape. Yi Zhonghai's father, trying to save a bite for his two children, became emaciated and eventually collapsed on the road, never to rise again. Their mother, dragging the two brothers along, dug up grass roots and ate tree bark, struggling to survive.

The nightmare unfolded one evening. A band of routed soldiers, like hungry wolves, preyed on their exhausted little group. For the last remaining cornbread mixed with bran and wild vegetables, and the few silver dollars their mother had hidden in her undergarments, the soldiers revealed their monstrous nature. The father struggled to reason with them, only to have his skull smashed by a rifle butt! The mother, like a madwoman, lunged forward to bite, only to be stabbed through the chest by a gleaming bayonet! Young Yi Zhonghai and Yi Zhonghe cried out and rushed forward, only to be brutally beaten with rifle butts and belts until they were barely alive. The soldiers, having taken their loot, fled, leaving behind a scene of carnage and the bodies of Yi's parents. Yi Zhonghai, covered in blood, several ribs broken, stared at his parents' unseeing eyes, and at his younger brother's weak breath beside him; overwhelming grief and hatred nearly tore him apart. Later, he was rescued by a passing caravan, but his younger brother, Yi Zhonghe, disappeared without a trace... He thought that his brother must have died in that chaotic world.

More than a decade has passed. Yi Zhonghai has become a skilled worker, an "old man" in the courtyard house. He tries hard to forget that tragic past, even deliberately avoiding any information related to the name "Yi Zhonghe." He thought his younger brother was long gone, but unexpectedly... unexpectedly, his brother not only survived, but also joined the army, became a war hero, and sacrificed his life on the battlefield defending his country! He even left behind a bloodline!

"Zhonghe...it's Zhonghe! My own brother!" Yi Zhonghai cried, tears streaming down his face, his voice choked with emotion. His calloused hands trembled as he stroked his brother's name on the file, as if trying to touch the blurred face through the paper. "Father! Mother! Zhonghe has an heir! The Yi family line hasn't died out!" He suddenly looked up at the bewildered siblings, his eyes blazing with an unprecedented light—a complex mix of joy, guilt, responsibility, and hope. He gripped the older woman's hand tightly and said to Director Wang with unwavering resolve, "Director Wang! I'll adopt these two children! They're my own nephew and niece! I, Yi Zhonghai, will sell everything I own to raise them to adulthood, to be worthy of my deceased brother and parents!"

Director Wang finally breathed a sigh of relief, and she couldn't help but wipe away her tears: "Master Yi! This is fate! It's a joyous occasion! Congratulations on your family's reunion!"

The adoption procedures went surprisingly smoothly. When Yi Zhonghai and an older woman, one holding Yi Aijia's hand and the other carrying the still somewhat weak Yi Aiguo, walked out of the orphanage and towards the bicycle that symbolized a new life, the sunlight shone on them, as if dispelling years of gloom.