Orphan story - The girl with an easy smile

A man picked up an abandoned girl and raised her as his own. The man is a Han but the girl has Caucasian features. The girl is now 10 years old, has rosy cheeks, big rounded eyes, and a high nose. She is shy but smiles easily, and often. Very pretty and pleasant.

When we visited her, at around 11 am in the morning, we were surprised to see a man sleeping on the kang. We were told the man is a brother of the girl’s adoptive father; and that he is deaf but healthy otherwise. We thought we heard it wrong initially, but apparently she sleeps in the same bed with the man.

There was a woman around, whom we thought to be the father’s wife. It turned out she was married to another man, who had subsequently died. She is now living together with the adoptive father but they are not officially married. Complicated, isn’t it?

We noted that the father did not speak a lot with the girl. And when he did, he spoke to her rather harshly. The girl did not say anything to the father while we were there. Neither did she make any attempt to approach or touch the father.

The charity felt that the girl would be better off in the orphanage. But the father was reluctant to let her go, saying that the place would be quiet if she were to leave. In that case, there may not be much that can be done - although the situation does not look ideal for the girl.