Chapter 005: The Bai Family Household Register

In the old city district of Ruiyun City, there is a street with a very pleasant name, called Book Fragrance Street.

Originally, this area was full of schools, but now most of them have moved out. The construction of the new city district has gradually turned this place into a corner of the city, rarely visited by people.

The dozens of stationery and bookstores that used to be here have either moved or closed, and the sounds of reading and flipping pages on Book Fragrance Street have become rare.

At the end of Book Fragrance Street, there is still a bookstore in operation. The name of the bookstore is quite interesting, called "Lack of Books." On both sides of the door, there is a couplet, the characters of which are very faint and somewhat peeling, but the cleanliness is rare, just like the surrounding environment, and the quietness is rare.

"Is it also, is it also, is it, is it?"

The warm spring sunlight of noon shines from the horizon, dispelling the remaining cold of winter. It filters through the not very tall and not very dense poplar trees, casting a speckled light into the "Lack of Books" bookstore.

An old lady is sitting in a reclining chair, holding a book, with a blanket covering her body. Her reading glasses are perched on her nose, and a black cat is lying at her feet, looking extremely lazy, forming a contrast with the old lady's serious reading, yet harmonious.

Yang Qi pushed the door open, and the black cat's ears perked up, but it didn't even bother to lift its eyelids, as it was already extremely familiar with the sound of footsteps. The old lady only pushed her reading glasses up and continued reading.

"Grandma Bai." Yang Qi approached the old lady, his voice soft but excited, and said, "I have something to tell you."

He wanted to tell this old lady, who had been so kind to him, that he had changed, no longer foolish.

"Go eat first, then help Aunt Chen wash the dishes. The kids at the back are being very noisy, go keep an eye on them. We can talk after I take a nap."

The old lady still didn't look up, giving her usual instructions, her voice slightly weary. After speaking, she pulled the blanket over her body and closed her eyes, and the black cat rubbed against her feet.

Seeing this, Yang Qi didn't say anything more. He turned around and closed the bookstore door, not locking it, as few people now buy books in this area, and he wasn't worried about anyone disturbing Grandma Bai's rest.

Behind the bookstore is a courtyard surrounded by several bungalows. The houses are not tall, but the space is quite large. This is where Yang Qi grew up. Yang Qi is an orphan, abandoned by his parents when he was very young, and raised by Grandma Bai. Grandma Bai once told Yang Qi that when she found him, he had two pieces of paper on him, one with the character "Yang" and the other with a description of his illness. Besides these two pieces of paper, Yang Qi also had a longevity lock and a gold bracelet, both finely crafted, indicating that they came from a wealthy family. Grandma Bai only mentioned this once and never again.

Yang Qi now understands the reason for his abandonment, but he doesn't have any particularly strong emotions about it. He has never thought about tracing his roots. For him, this is his home, whether in the past, present, or future.

In addition to Yang Qi, Grandma Bai has also adopted six other orphans, all younger than him, and all with some physical or mental issues, even disabilities. This place can be considered a small orphanage. However, Grandma Bai never allows anyone to use the terms "orphanage" or "orphans," saying that this is just a home.

Grandma Bai's ancestors were from a scholarly family, with several members passing the imperial examinations. During the Republic of China era, they were a prominent family. If life can be divided into four seasons, for Grandma Bai, the first 20 years were spring, and everything after was winter.

At the age of 20, her family declined, and a few years later, they suffered a massacre. Only she and her two younger sisters survived. The two sisters were taken to Hong Kong by relatives, while she got married. Her husband died during the war, leaving no children, and she never remarried.

She lived a lonely but strong life in this small city, supported by the property left by her ancestors. She bought the houses around this courtyard long ago, not lacking food or clothing, but missing many things that should have been there. After adopting some children like Yang Qi, her life changed.

"Back. The food is still warm, go eat first."

A woman in her forties walked out of a room. She is Aunt Chen, who has been helping here since Yang Qi can remember. With the addition of more children in the courtyard, Aunt Chen also stopped Grandma Bai from hiring more help, saying that these children were pitiful and that a random person might not be careful and hurt them. She mostly did everything herself, and occasionally her husband would come to help with heavy work, for over ten years. There were complaints, but only in words.

The children in the courtyard are very different from normal children due to various reasons. Sometimes they make Aunt Chen cry in anger, sometimes in pity, and sometimes in gratitude. After crying, she would wipe her tears and continue working. She has thought about leaving, but has never been able to bear it. Aunt Chen and her husband have no children and, to a large extent, consider the children in the courtyard as their own.

After eating the warm food and washing the dishes, Yang Qi rubbed his eyes and looked at the children playing in the courtyard, thinking to himself, "Actually, we have always been very happy children. We don't worry about food or clothing, there is no beating or abuse, Aunt Chen is good to us, Uncle Chen is good to us, and Grandma Bai is good to us. We just get some cold looks from society, but it's not a big deal."

"Aunt, let me do it."

Seeing Aunt Chen carrying a large basin full of clothes, Yang Qi took it from her and started hanging the clothes in the courtyard.

"Ah Yang, you look strange today."

Aunt Chen, who is very familiar with Yang Qi, noticed that he was different from usual and asked curiously.

"I'm better."

Yang Qi gave Aunt Chen a bright smile.

"Better?" Aunt Chen was taken aback.

"Yes, better, my illness is completely gone."

Yang Qi smiled even more brightly, his eyes even moist with the joy of sharing good news with his family.

"Really?"

Aunt Chen immediately stopped what she was doing, came to Yang Qi's side, touched his forehead, and stared at him for a long time, her eyes already brimming with tears, extremely excited.

"Not cold, really not cold."

She then touched Yang Qi's neck and found that the coldness in his body was gone, and his temperature had returned to normal.

"Quick, quick, go tell Grandma Bai this good news!"

Aunt Chen pulled Yang Qi's hand, trembling, and led him to the bookstore. As they entered from the back door, the front door of the bookstore was also pushed open, and three people walked in. Two men, looking angry, were dragging a child who was struggling, small in size but strong enough to almost break free. Yang Qi recognized the two men as neighbors, and the child even more so, one of the children in the courtyard. He had a high fever as a child that left him half-foolish, very strong, and was named Huang Man by Grandma Bai.

Seeing Aunt Chen appear, one of the men, with a noticeable birthmark on his left cheek, said angrily, "Aunt Chen, you came just in time. You need to take better care of this child!"

"What did Manzi do, causing trouble again?"

Aunt Chen quickly pulled Huang Man away from the two men, afraid that he might be hurt.

"This child is too much!" The man with the birthmark said angrily, "We neighbors usually don't say anything about minor troubles, but today it's too much! Not only did he scratch Mr. Wang's car with stones, but he also threw all the clothes we hung out to dry into the river. The worst part is that he caught our Samoyed and killed it with stones, just killed it with stones, how cruel! This child is really, really too much. If this continues, the neighbors won't have any peace!"

"Yes! This child is too violent. He looks small but is very strong. Just now, when Mr. Li saw him beating the dog and tried to stop him, he couldn't even hold him back. If I hadn't come to help, who knows where he would have run!" The other man, Mr. Wang, was also very angry.

"No, I didn't!"

Hearing the two men's words, Huang Man immediately shouted, struggling, his eyes wide, his face red. Aunt Chen couldn't hold him.

Seeing this, Yang Qi immediately picked up Huang Man.

"Stop it!"

Yang Qi's low shout made Huang Man calm down. Yang Qi knew that Manzi never lied, and even if he made a big mistake, he would admit it. Recalling the expressions of the two men as they spoke, every subtle muscle movement appeared in his mind. Yang Qi felt that their anger was somewhat fake.

Aunt Chen was already confused by the two neighbors' words. Huang Man often caused trouble, but he had never done anything so extreme. She didn't know what to do, rubbing her hands anxiously.

"Uncle Li, Uncle Wang."

Yang Qi held the now calm Huang Man and said to the two men, "Manzi is usually mischievous, but he wouldn't do something so extreme. Scratching the car and throwing the clothes into the river, he might do, but saying he killed the dog, he definitely wouldn't. Manzi may not be very smart, but he is very good with animals. Which dog or cat in the neighborhood isn't very friendly to Manzi?"

The two men were taken aback by the logical words of the usually foolish Yang Qi, but the man with the birthmark quickly shouted, "What do you mean, kid? Are you accusing us of lying! Being friendly to animals, everyone knows he's not smart, who knows if he went crazy! We saw it with our own eyes, how can it be fake!"

"You can't reason with this foolish kid!" The man with the birthmark turned to Aunt Chen and said, "Aunt Chen, we neighbors haven't said anything about your orphanage being here, and we've even helped when we could. But this Huang Man and the other children are too mischievous, and they have illnesses that make them untouchable! It's getting worse, and it's making the neighbors uneasy! Where is Grandma Bai, we need to talk to her!"

"We will compensate for the losses and educate the children."

A voice came from the window. Grandma Bai had already woken up, tidied her blanket, and sat up, looking at the two men. Her voice was not loud, but her tone was very firm, "But listen, this is not an orphanage, and none of the children in this courtyard are orphans. They are all on the Bai family household register!"

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