Ah Si’s words somewhat moved Ah Yi, who weighed the pros and cons, then begrudgingly nodded in agreement.
"Miss, please see if you can help Mother Huang even if it’s just to prolong her life a bit!" Ah Yi looked earnestly at An Yiqing and spoke sincerely.
An Yiqing nodded and stepped towards the orphanage. The boys hurriedly followed behind her.
Along the way, An Yiqing learned about many things from these boys that weren’t recorded in any documents.
Huang Fen had adopted over thirty children. The oldest among them was Ah Yi, twenty-two years old, and the youngest was just three. Because there were so many children, Huang Fen had no choice but to name some nameless children by assigning them numbers according to their age, from Ah Yi, Ah Er, up to eighteen, nineteen. In this orphanage, there were a total of nineteen children who had become orphans before they had names.
Over the years, Huang Fen had dedicated herself to these children with all her heart. Her income was not much, just a modest salary. In her spare time, she would even take on part-time jobs. Even so, due to limited capabilities, Ah Yi and Ah Er, who had just finished high school at the time, had no choice but to drop out and enter society, something that Huang Fen greatly regretted.
Since Ah Yi and Ah Er started working, life improved slightly for everyone. But they still couldn’t escape the fate of their younger siblings having to drop out after finishing high school. There was no choice; college tuition was too expensive, and the cost of living for over thirty children was already a huge expense, which the orphanage simply couldn’t afford.
However, fortunately, though they were poor in money, Huang Fen was rich in spirit, and all the children she raised had proper values and a strong will. If it wasn’t for the fact that Huang Fen’s stomach cancer had reached a late stage and she couldn’t afford the expensive medical bills, Ah Si and the others would not have resorted to robbery.
Listening to their stories, An Yiqing was moved. She glanced at Ah Si with a smile and teased, "I guess I’m lucky to have been your first robbery target."
Ah Si’s face flushed with embarrassment, and the tall young man became flustered like a rabbit, hurriedly waving his hands as he said, "You’ve got it wrong, we didn’t mean to pick on girls! Our place is remote, and only poor people come and go. I didn’t want to make a move on those uncles and aunties. Seeing you get out of a luxury car made me think of it. At the time, I wasn’t thinking straight, figuring that even if you were robbed, it wouldn’t affect your daily life, so I just... I’m sorry, miss, I won’t do it again..." As Ah Si spoke, he became increasingly guilty, continuously apologizing to An Yiqing.
The girl looked at the honest Ah Si with a smile and gently shook her head, "I don’t blame you. Although you used the wrong method, you still acted like a man who dares to bear the responsibility for his actions!"
Ah Si was stunned for a moment, then chuckled sheepishly.
The other boys were infected by his goofiness and also started to laugh.
In the short ten-minute walk, An Yiqing’s approachability and warmth instantly drew closer to their honest hearts!
After a short while, they stopped in front of the entrance to the orphanage. Actually, to call it an orphanage would be somewhat misleading; it was more like a run-down compound.
The rickety old iron gate looked as though it might collapse if you pushed it lightly. Inside the high walls, a large courtyard was surrounded by rows of single-story houses, with walls showing patches of peeling plaster, indicating their age. In the spacious yard, there were some simple and old sports equipment as well as swings and slides for the children to play with.
It was a little after three in the afternoon, which happened to be playtime for the children in the orphanage, so as soon as An Yiqing and the boys entered, they were immediately surrounded by a swarm of kids.