“He often suffers from bed-wetting，” she told the doctor. “Theboy is pretty nervous about that and I don’t know what’s wrong withhim. The doctor conducted a physical examination on the boy. “Nothingwrong，” the doctor said. “He is lacking Yuanqi （vitality）， that’s it. “What is Yuanqi?” Jiang Enli asked， struck by these esotericwords. Yuanqi， a concept from Chinese Taoism， is not heard in westernsociety. Looking at the perplexed Mom， the kids burst into giggles.
“Don’t laugh at me， kids. Tell me what Yuanqi is，” Mommy insisted.
Not knowing how to explain to her in plain Chinese， the doctorassured her it was an easy， curable problem.
Next it was the turn of He Yuan， the shy little boy she had takenhome from Zhugu Village four year before， now the closest to her.
“He Yuan suffers from laziness，” the kids uttered simultaneously.
“Yes， he does. He Yuan， you are lazy， so you suffer from lazinessdisease， right?” she joked with the boy. Lying in Mom’s arms and actingspoiled， He Yuan grinned with delight. The taciturn boy， fond ofreading and composition， was always among the list of top scorers inhis class.
“He always complains of dizziness，” she told the doctor.
“It is nothing serious. It will be fine once he’s taken some medicine， the doctor assured her after he finished the checkup. Jiang felt atgreat ease upon hearing this.
In the past four years， in order to better understand her kids， Jianghad developed a great interest in learning Chinese culture and theChinese language. Now she can speak fluent Chinese with a Lijiangaccent. To Jiang Enli， this was the only real obstacle to bringing up thenine kids. She had to understand and take care of nine children fromnine different backgrounds with different personalities. Thereforenothing was trivial with regard to her children. They became the mostimportant part of her life. The loving care from their adoptive motherhad helped the children clear up the shadows that hung over their earlychildhood. The loving care had bound the youngsters closely withMom. The kids always kept their hearts open to Mom and there wasnothing the kids would keep secret from her.
365 Days a Year
All year round for the last four years， Jiang got up very early everymorning， prepared the kids for breakfast， and then saw them off toschool. It is the most bustling time of the day： Mom hugs each of themand says goodbye and the kids， with the warmth of Mom’s body， go toschool in high spirits.
“Be careful！” She never forgets to exhort the kids to be cautiouswhen crossing the street. She will linger outside until the kids are outof the lane and out of her sight. Then she will tidy up the rooms withLittle Zhang， the family cook. The two-story building is located in aresidential community in the north part of the small city. On the firstfloor are the children’s bedrooms， and on the second are study roomswith books and musical instruments like a piano and violin， donatedby her friends and charity organizations.
154 At lunch， children come home again for a meal. Jiang would minglewith them after lunch， teaching them handicrafts， or telling themstories. She has many hobbies and has gradually passed them on to thekids. Knitting， for example， is her consummate skill and， in her opinion，a good way to build up dexterity.
With the kids all asking Mommy for tutoring， like little birdschirping together， the short break is a sweet and happy moment forher. In the family， all the children， boys and girls， have to take part inD.I.Y. handicrafts in order to strengthen their physical coordination.
“That’s not right. Do it like this，” Jiang patiently advises Xiaojun，who seems to be all thumbs in knitting. Of the four boys， He Yuan isthe most adroit， as he is in most subjects. When he has already finisheda small piece， his brothers are still tinkering with their knittingneedles. Every day the family will do some activities for a little whilebefore the kids go back school.
The busiest time of day is when the kids come back from school.
The courtyard is always filled with laughter and excitement. Over thelast four years， Jiang has passed most of her days like this. Busy as sheis， she derives a great deal of enjoyment from helping kids reading anddoing homework.
Cheerful Zhuzhu， the youngest daughter who joined with Mom atthe age of four， is in first grade. “We shall strive to be stronger and relyon ourselves; we shall master all skills needed in serving the people. Zhuzhu is reading aloud.
“Wow， you understand this big piece now！” the delighted Momgives her a kiss on the cheek.
The little girl gazes at Mom with deep feeling， and smiles withgreat pride.
