"Yue-Jie!!" voices of little children of all ages screamed at the top of their lungs as soon as Zi Yue walked into the front doors of the orphanage. She started to give out some sweets and snacks that she bought on the way here.
Growing up in this place for fourteen years, Zi Yue has always regarded this place as her home. Despite leaving the orphanage at fourteen, she would come back every week to visit the children here and to give part of her earnings to the orphanage.
She also spends time teaching her crafting skills to children who want to learn - this is her way of ensuring that they have a higher chance of success finding jobs in the future once they leave the orphanage at fourteen.
Due to her efforts for the past four years, many children in the orphanage have relatively decent crafting skills after moving out at fourteen and can secure employment easily.
"Ah-Qing, this is for you." Zi Yue handed a lotus bun to a gentle child with bright amber eyes, ten years younger than her.
"Thank you Yue-Jie, you know me the best!" Qing Ling jumped onto Zi Yue and gave her a big hug.
"Eat slowly, you silly girl." Zi Yue chuckled as the child beside her happily chewed onto her favourite bun.
While they were talking, an elderly woman slowly walked towards them.
"Ah-Yue, thank you for your contribution to the Orphanage, but isn't this too much? Do you have enough for yourself?" an elderly woman with a look of concern spoke gently while feeding a newborn in her arms.
"Elder Yi, please refrain from worrying. Being under your tender care for so many years, I understand that it is hard to run an orphanage. I will give what I can to ensure the children here were as fortunate as myself when I lived here." Zi Yue bowed deeply to the elder that she deeply respected since she was a child.
--
Elder Yi used to be a high-income scholar working for the human resource department in Ping Tian Continent. When Zi Yue was just three years old, a plague broke out across the continent and left many children orphaned. With a sudden increase of children needing care, the governing body of Ping Tian Continent made up of the four sect leaders as well as six other high ranking silver people, opened a few orphanages across the continent.
However, it was not enough to cope with the demand. There were still some homeless children on the streets. Without wanting to wait around for the governing body to do something, Elder Yi opened up an orphanage with her own savings. Orphanages take in both gold and silver children - but gold children are often adopted by families almost immediately as soon as they are up for adoption, so there are hardly any left in the orphanages. Elder Yi soon quit her job to cope with the matters of the newly founded orphanage.
Self-funding, Elder Yi ensures that the children in the orphanage receive the same treatment as children with families. She took teaching them classes into her own hands and made sure all were fed properly, with clean robes to change into. Elder Yi also remembered birthdays, and for children who do not know their birthdays, she would come up with a birthdate for them based on an estimate. The children in the orphanage love her like she was their mother, including Zi Yue.
By the time Zi Yue was 10, the Orphanage used up all of Elder Yi's savings, but instead of scrimping on meals for the orphanage or cutting costs, Elder Yi went out to teach private classes to earn extra income to fund the Orphanage.
Although Elder Yi was very tired after teaching private classes, she still wants to continue her role in the Orphanage. None of the children knew about the sacrifices Elder Yi put in, but when Zi Yue was returning empty bowls to the kitchen one evening, she overheard the staff worrying and discussing how Elder Yi is going to fall apart if this double job keeps up. Over the years, age caught up to Elder Yi, and it could be seen in her appearance and her actions. She is no longer as fast as she was, she ate and slept less, but that did not stop her from doing her daily duties as the main caretaker of the orphanage. Elder Yi still insists on teaching the children herself and puts them all to bed at night regardless of how tired she was.
Determined to make herself useful, Zi Yue picked up skills that could be of value when she moves out of the orphanage at fourteen. For four years she practised her carving skills to perfection, along the way she also taught the children close to her age who were also preparing to move out one or two years after her. When it was ready for her to move out, everyone in the orphanage gathered to send their first resident off.
Elder Yi gave her a sum of money and told her that if she didn't like the outside world, she is always welcome to come home to the orphanage. For the first time after the death of her parents, Zi Yue cried like a baby for over an hour before she set off on her journey.
Luckily for Zi Yue, she was smart and her crafting was good, so she started her own business, with half of her earnings always giving back to the orphanage.
--
"Yue-Jie, you are here too?" a young boy around the age of 15 walked towards Zi Yue.
"Yi Xiang, it has been a while, where is Yi Lan? How is your new job?" Zi Yue smiled as she asked him.
"Good! Yi Lan is working today, so he will not be coming over...Our job? Yes yes...Our boss is good to us and he praised our crafting skills often. This is all thanks to Yue-Jie and her great teaching!" He answered earnestly, happiness in his eyes.
"No such thing. It is both your hard work that is paying off ahh! I am so proud of both of you!" Zi Yue rubbed the boy's head and her heart felt full.
Yi Xiang and Yi Lan are orphans from different parts of the continent. The reason why both adopted the Yi Family name was that they were only infants when they were brought into the Orphanage. Many children do not have any memory or any clues about their name and background. Elder Yi wanted them to have proper names, thus, she named the children after her own family name, hoping that they would feel a sense of importance and belonging when they grow up.
"Speaking of which, I have good news, our boss is willing to recruit crafters directly from our orphanage once they hit fourteen! Now the children here would have good employment prospects if they were to desire." Yi Xiang happily announced, excited to share the good news.
"Wha...What?! You are really capable, Yi Xiang! Who is your boss? I think our orphanage needs to thank him personally!!" Zi Yue's voice went up by a pitch from excitement.
"Master Mu from the Mu Family, Mu Xu." He replied