A musician with broken wings puts down roots in the countryside to chase his dream

Shao Yongshen inspects the grapes about to hit the market in his field.

"When God closes a door, He also opens a window for you." Shao Yongshen, 36 this year, was once a freedom-loving musician, but a sudden car accident cut short his music dream. After enduring the pain of disfigurement and losing his voice, Shao Yongshen was reborn like a butterfly breaking out of its cocoon and found a new direction in life. The vineyard he built has become a demonstration base for rural youth entrepreneurship in Sihui City.

A car accident changed his life

On June 21, on a muggy afternoon, Shao Yongshen sat in his vineyard, chatting and laughing with friends. His son kept darting over to his side, calling out, "Dad, come play with me," and Shao Yongshen always gently coaxed him away. Looking at the more than 130 mu of grape fields before him, Shao Yongshen felt his current life "can't be called a success, but it's quite happy." His biggest worry right now is that this year's grapes will be delayed in reaching the market because of too much rain. Fortunately, no heavy rain is forecast for the coming week, and the vineyard will welcome its picking peak in July.

Shao Yongshen was originally from Binheng Town, Guangning County. At 21, he left home to make his way in the world, trying his hand at being a bar DJ and a pesticide salesman, among other jobs, before finally setting his sights on the promising prospects of the grape industry and building a vineyard in Sihui. He described his younger self as "young and reckless, free and unrestrained," so on his first trip away from home he became a bar DJ, sometimes taking the stage to sing, dreaming of developing a career in music.

"My voice wasn't as hoarse as it is now, and I looked very different from how I do now." Shao Yongshen said it was all because a car accident changed everything. In 2002, he and a friend accidentally collided while riding a motorcycle. The accident happened to occur in front of a hospital, so they received treatment in time and their lives were not in danger, but Shao Yongshen was left with fairly serious aftereffects. "At the time my face was covered in blood, my teeth were broken, and my voice was affected. After countless surgeries, my right eye went from a double eyelid to a single eyelid, and false teeth were fitted where my teeth had broken, but my voice could never go back to what it was. Even now I still slur my words a little when I speak." Shao Yongshen described these experiences lightly, yet they left others gasping.

Shao Yongshen said the bar business places great importance on appearance, especially for positions like DJ and singer, which demand perfection even more. After the accident, when he returned to the bar he could only do inconsequential work such as lighting technician or sound engineer. Depressed, he shut himself in his room for a month to think about the direction of his life.

"Even if I hadn't been disfigured, I couldn't have worked in a bar for long, because this line of work is always a young person's game." In the end, Shao Yongshen figured things out and once again set out on the "road to making his fortune."

Starting from nothing with 15 yuan

"Poverty makes you think of change" was the main reason Shao Yongshen emerged from his gloom. Shao Yongshen was the youngest of five siblings, and from childhood his father had arranged everything for him. His father wanted him to work in a government office and to help his older brother run a factory, but he couldn't stick with either. At odds with his family, he took 15 yuan and became a salesman at a pesticide and fertilizer factory.

"I still remember wearing that same outfit for a whole week when I first left home." Speaking of the hardships of those years, Shao Yongshen, now a vineyard owner, was not the least bit reluctant to talk about them. In earlier years, mandarin oranges were the pillar industry of Sihui City's agriculture, driving the growth of the pesticide and fertilizer industry. During his work, Shao Yongshen got to know many old friends. These good friends lent him money to set up a pesticide wholesale company, and he began to start his own business.

"But the good times didn't last. Mandarin oranges were hit by citrus huanglongbing, and the whole industry faced a crisis." Shao Yongshen's pesticide wholesale company also suffered when customers defaulted on payments.

By chance, Shao Yongshen attended a seminar held by an unofficial pesticide organization and learned that growing grapes is highly profitable and, unlike citrus, doesn't suffer "total annihilation" once infected, and has lower demands on soil and weather. "This may be able to lead Sihui's agriculture out into a new world." These words from the experts moved Shao Yongshen.

Although Shao Yongshen came from a rural family, because he had been the family's key protected child since childhood, he knew nothing about farming. "I had just seen others grow the 'Manicure Finger' variety before, and I thought the fruit was bright red and very beautiful, and very sweet and fragrant, so I grew it too." In 2009, Shao Yongshen rented 13 mu of land in Xiamao Town, Sihui City, and began his vineyard life.

Committed to growing every bunch of grapes pollution-free

Growing grapes was not as simple as he had imagined. When he first planted the initial crop, Shao Yongshen used simple, primitive, extensive management methods, and in the end the grapes died, costing him more than 200,000 yuan.

"In the past, I would have just shaken off both hands and moved on to the next thing." After years of tempering, Shao Yongshen had also become much more mature and steady. He was in no hurry to till the land; instead, he drove off from Sihui and visited well-known vineyards in Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Zhejiang, Shaanxi and other places, learning from others' management experience and improving his own growing techniques.

During this time, he discovered that in the process of growing grapes, the soil, fertilizer, pruning, trellising and other steps are all crucial, and he also understood what had caused his failure. "Guangdong has a lot of rain, and the water is fairly acidic, which inhibits the growth of grapes and causes the plants to wither and die." Shao Yongshen set up V-shaped trellises in the grape fields, which not only protect against rain but also ensure light and ventilation.

At the same time, Shao Yongshen was no longer growing grapes just "for the sake of growing them." He began to think about raising the industry's added value. "Only after I started growing grapes did I realize the importance of food safety, so conscientious growing has always been the core value of our vineyard."

Shao Yongshen said he moved the vineyard to Shikeng Village, Longtou Villagers' Committee, Dengcun Town, Sihui City (now part of Zhenshan Subdistrict, Sihui City).

Not only does it rely on Dengcun Town's

title as "China's No. 1 Folk Papermaking Village," but also because the area is one of the places in Sihui City with zero industrial pollution. "The innate advantages of water source, soil and air environment, plus our use of pure farmyard manure, ensure the pollution-free growth of the grapes." As Shao Yongshen led the reporter into the vineyard, the reporter saw a banner hanging on the trellis reading "Committed to growing every bunch of grapes pollution-free."

In addition, Shao Yongshen also tried growing crops such as Taiwan large green jujube, figs, okra and roselle, striving to build the vineyard into an agricultural sightseeing tourism base integrating fruit picking, dining, leisure and entertainment, providing people with a place to escape the hustle and bustle and enjoy tranquility alone.

"Company + farmers" plays a demonstration role

Expanding from just over ten mu to more than a hundred mu, and transforming from a rural boy into a vineyard owner, Shao Yongshen became one of the leaders of Sihui City's grape industry. In 2013, under the guidance of the Sihui City agricultural department and the Communist Youth League municipal committee, the Sihui City Xinrui Professional Planting Cooperative was established at the Xinyuan Vineyard, and it created the "Sihui City Rural Youth Entrepreneurship Demonstration Base," attracting young people with growing skills and returning migrant workers to join the local "three rural" ranks. Shao Yongshen is the head of the base.

At present, Xinyuan Vineyard grows twelve varieties of grapes, including Yellow Rose, Hutai No. 8, Giant Rose, Red Rose, Yongyou, Summer Black, Radiance, Golden Finger and Manicure Finger. Shao Yongshen said, "I hope that through my trial planting, I can be the first to blaze a trail for other farmers interested in grape growing, so they can avoid detours." He believes that varieties such as Hutai No. 8, Summer Black and Victoria can achieve high yields under extensive management. Under a zero-pollution, pollution-free growing model, his vineyard can reach a yield of more than 800 kg per mu.