In Anling Town, Huaiyang County, Zhoukou City, Henan Province, 16 orphans who were originally strangers have been adopted by a kind-hearted person and formed a special "big family". The kind-hearted person is named Li Jian.
Two days ago, when the reporter came to Anling Town Experimental Primary School for an interview, he learned that the school was founded by Li Jian three years ago in debt. The rules of the school are surprising: non-left-behind children and orphans are not accepted; orphans at school are provided with food, accommodation, and clothing free of charge.
Li Jian, 37 years old, accumulated more than 400,000 yuan because of raising cattle. In November 2000, after selling the last batch of cattle, Li Jian returned to his hometown with his wife and children and opened a store in the town. He planned to raise funds to establish a primary school that only admitted orphans and left-behind children.
Li Jian said that once, when he went to a rural nursing home to handle affairs, a pair of orphans living there touched him. The 16-year-old sister, who should have gone to school, chose to accompany her younger brother to study instead. This incident deeply moved him.
In 2007, he raised more than 3 million yuan and finally established Anling Town Experimental Primary School. He hired excellent teachers with high salaries, and the classrooms and dormitories were equipped with air conditioners and color TVs. Since then, Li Jian and his wife have also moved into the campus. However, his old house at home was almost empty.
Since then, he began to investigate the situation of orphans in various towns. When he had taken in more than 20 orphans, the expenses started to become a burden, but whenever he saw pitiful children, he still chose to take them in. To date, he has taken in more than 50 orphans, many of whom have advanced to county middle schools. Here, the study and living expenses of the orphans are all free.
Now, there are 16 orphans living in the school, the oldest being 13 years old and the youngest only 6 years old. For the adopted orphans, Li Jian treats them as his own children. If they are sick, he finds a doctor; if their clothes are dirty, the life teacher washes them. His wife also tirelessly helps him take care of the children.
When talking about the adopted orphans, Li Jian said: "They are all good children. Even if there are another 16 such children, I won't think it's too many."