Chinese teenager thanks adoptive mother for funding medical care

Ye Huanzhi found Lele as a newborn in April 2008, noting his malformed ears. She raised him as her own despite modest means. Lele was later diagnosed with congenital microtia, a condition that significantly impacted his hearing. Doctors indicated that surgery could cost up to 300,000 yuan (US$44,000), a sum Ye Huanzhi, who worked as a taxi driver, struggled to afford.

More than 12.9 million students across China participated in the gaokao, the national college entrance examination, held from June 7 to 9. Ye Huanzhi waited outside the exam venue for Lele, dressed in a red qipao and holding sunflowers and his favorite drink.