Auntie Yee was a retired silk worker. After many years of working in the silk industry, she decided to establish the girls' house. This took an entrepreneurial mindset. Yee's business was a success and all the beds in the girls' house were occupied. The girls all called her Auntie Yee and looked up to her. Yee was a good role model. She symbolized independence. For many, she was also a mother figure because they had lost their own mothers or left them behind when they joined the silk trade.