Aiyidaxi came from Aksu and grew apples.
At first glance, Li Long had not thought he belonged to an ethnic minority, apart from his name. Then the older man told his story.
Aiyidaxi had actually been a Han Chinese child. When he was four or five, his parents had been taking him back to their hometown, but he had become separated from them while changing trains in Aksu. Hungry and exhausted, he had wandered to the outskirts while searching for his parents. A Uyghur couple had taken him in and given him an ethnic minority name.
His memories from the age of four or five were still very hazy. The couple could not speak much Chinese, but they had always told Aiyidaxi that his Han Chinese name was Ganggang. If his parents ever came looking for him, that name would serve as proof.
The Uyghur couple had even kept the clothes he had been wearing. They had not made Aiyidaxi call them Dad and Mom, either, because they felt that once he grew up, he should still go and look for his birth parents.
His adoptive parents had two boys and a girl, and Aiyidaxi had married the girl after growing up. He had not gone searching for his birth parents, choosing instead to put down roots locally.
After farmland was contracted to individual households, Aiyidaxi had begun growing the apples his area was famous for, leading his fellow villagers in growing them too. He had even gone to the Wu City Fruit Wholesale Market to find buyers, helping the villagers prosper alongside him. He could be considered a local pioneer in building prosperity.
Now Aiyidaxi spoke Chinese well, and his Uyghur was even more fluent. He said he was a Han Chinese man raised by Uyghurs, and he wanted