Courtyard House: Initial Donation of 50 Million

Yan Fugui, the "Third Uncle" of Courtyard No. 95 and a senior math teacher at Hongxing Primary School, naturally paid special attention to the newly arrived siblings, relatives of martyrs, in the courtyard. Especially after Yi Aijia transferred to Hongxing Primary School, he took advantage of his position to secretly keep an eye on the child's situation.

He quickly discovered that Yi Aijia was a sensible and ambitious child, but her academic foundation was extremely weak. In math class, when the topic turned to slightly complex word problems involving the four basic arithmetic operations, her brows furrowed tightly, and her eyes were filled with confusion. She was okay at memorizing Chinese texts, but her sentence construction and picture-based writing skills showed a limited vocabulary and unclear logic. This was clearly due to a lack of systematic guidance and a good learning environment in her early years.

In the past, given Yan Fugui's profit-driven nature, he would have at most offered a perfunctory comment when Yi Zhonghai inquired, but would never have expended any extra effort. But this time, the situation was different. Yi Aijia was the orphan of a martyr! This deeply touched the remaining spark of conscience and scholarly integrity within him, a spirit not yet completely extinguished. He recalled how, during the Korean War, he had led his students in making noodles and writing letters of condolence to the volunteer soldiers; that patriotic fervor was genuine. No matter how calculating Yan Fugui was, he couldn't bring himself to be perfunctory towards the descendant of a hero.

Moreover, Yi Zhonghai's attitude has undergone a complete transformation. He is no longer the aloof and calculating "old man," but is genuinely concerned about his niece's future. This makes him feel that his efforts are worthwhile and honorable.

So Yan Fugui made a decision that surprised his whole family: to change his unwavering habit of "going straight home after work." Every afternoon, as long as he didn't have classes or meetings, he no longer rushed home to worry about daily necessities, but stayed in the school's teaching and research office to prepare lessons and grade homework, essentially waiting for the third graders to get out of school.

As soon as the school bell rings, Yan Bugui will "coincidentally" appear near the classroom of Class 2, Grade 3. Seeing Yi Aijia come out with her schoolbag, he will walk over with a smile: "Aijia, school's over? Did you understand today's math class? Are there any questions you don't understand? Come on, let's go to the teaching and research office with Teacher Yan, and I'll explain them to you."

At first, Yi Aijia was a little reserved and scared. But Teacher Yan was very patient when explaining the problems, always using the simplest and most understandable examples to explain them to her, unlike the teachers at her previous school who were so strict. Moreover, Teacher Yan never mentioned any tutoring fees. Instead, she would sometimes take out a few pieces of animal biscuits or dried apricots wrapped in oil paper from her drawer, which she was reluctant to eat herself, and give them to her as a "reward for her to listen attentively in class".

Yi Aijia's learning is progressing at a visible pace. She used to dread word problems, but now, with Teacher Yan's guidance, she's gradually getting the hang of them. The number of red crosses on her homework is decreasing, and her confidence is growing.

Yi Zhonghai and the elderly woman witnessed all of this and were deeply grateful. They knew that Old Yan was genuinely trying to help this time.

That weekend, Yi Zhonghai went to Liubiju to buy braised pork and sausages, and opened a bottle of his treasured Fenjiu liquor. He then carried it to Yan Bugui's house in the front yard.

"Old Yan, are you home? Come on, let's have a couple of drinks!" Yi Zhonghai greeted him with a broad smile.

When Yan Bugui saw this, he knew exactly what was going on. He beamed with joy and quickly told his third aunt to fry two eggs as a snack with his drinks.

After several rounds of drinks and dishes, Yi Zhonghai raised his glass and said sincerely, "Old Yan, thank you so much for everything these past few days! Aijia's grades have improved so much thanks to your dedicated tutoring! Her aunt and I don't know how to thank you enough!"

Yan Bugui took a sip of his drink, waved his hand, and unusually spoke frankly: "Old Yi, you're being too polite! Aijia is the descendant of a martyr, it's only right that we take care of her as much as we can! Besides, this child is also very ambitious and willing to learn! As her teacher, seeing my student make progress makes me happier than anything else!"

Yi Zhonghai nodded, took out ten yuan that he had prepared in advance from his pocket, and pushed it in front of Yan Bugui: "Old Yan, I will remember your kindness. But tutoring the child has taken up your rest time, so you must accept this ten yuan as a reward for your hard work over the past two months. Don't think it's too little. When Aiguo turns six and starts school, we will need to trouble you to take care of him again. We can settle the expenses then."

In the past, Yan Fugui would have feigned reluctance before accepting the money. But this time, looking at the ten yuan and then at Yi Zhonghai's sincere eyes, he felt a pang of guilt. He hadn't initially helped Yi Aijia for money; it was more out of respect for the martyr and a sense of responsibility as a teacher. He hesitated for a moment, then pushed five yuan back, leaving only five: "Old Yi, you don't need that much! Five yuan is enough for the child to buy notebooks, pencils, and occasional snacks! Take the rest back and buy the children some good food to nourish them! I, Yan Fugui, am calculating, but I can't do that to the children of a martyr! I'll take five yuan; that's enough. If you keep being polite with the rest, I'll really get angry!"

Seeing the rare sincerity in Yan Bugui's eyes, Yi Zhonghai felt a warmth in his heart, knowing that this "Old Miser Yan" had truly taken pity on him this time. He didn't insist further, put the money away, and said with emotion, "Good! Old Yan, for those words, I, Yi Zhonghai, am determined to be your friend! Cheers!"

The banquet was a great success, with everyone enjoying themselves. Yan Bugui not only gained practical benefits but also earned Yi Zhonghai's sincere gratitude and respect, which made him feel even better than earning an extra five yuan. From then on, he devoted himself even more diligently to caring for Yi Aijia and her siblings, tutoring them every day after school without fail and then personally escorting them back to courtyard number 95. The villagers were secretly amazed, saying that Old Yan had done something truly generous this time!