In the original book, it was said that the two children had a traumatic past but anything further than that was never explained. In fact, while reading the book, Fu Jie didn't feel bad for the children, instead, he felt as if they were perhaps one of the luckiest ones in the entire story since they were personally taken in by Elder Dayu who treated them preciously as if they were his own children.
"Please don't pity me or my brother after hearing this," Ah Bai continued with a smile, "Cause I don't believe we are worthy of sympathy. If anything, I feel like we were perhaps very fortunate."
It seemed that the girl had the same thoughts as him.