A devoted son returns home to sell "liquid gold," with annual sales of 8 million
He was originally in the real estate business, but a trip to a country market left him in tears. That incident made him determined to return home and start a business, planting ten thousand mu of roses. He guaranteed 14.5 million yuan in loans for villagers to build villas, yet faced criticism. The rose essential oil he processes is called "liquid gold," with 1 gram selling for more than 600 yuan. In four years, he built a circular economy chain for the rose industry in his hometown, helping 12,000 people become prosperous. See how Li Huayong of Yunnan returned home for love and achieved a fortune dream as brilliant as roses.
As the saying goes, "Loyalty and filial piety are hard to reconcile." Friends in front of the TV who are striving away from home, how long has it been since you went home to visit your parents? Today we will tell you a story about a devoted son returning home. The protagonist is named Li Huayong. He was originally in the real estate business elsewhere, but to accompany his aging parents, he returned to his hometown, Bole Township, Qujing City, Yunnan Province. When he first came back, his monthly income was only 72 yuan. Later, he discovered a business opportunity and started a business in his hometown again. In 2016, the company's annual sales reached more than 8 million yuan.
This is the ten-thousand-mu rose planting base in Zhanyi District, Yunnan Province. At 4 a.m. in the rose field, flower farmers wear headlamps while picking roses. All the flowers they pick must be sent to Li Huayong's processing factory. The rose picking period lasts 40 days. How much raw material Li Huayong can purchase for the entire year depends entirely on these 40 days. He has strict requirements for the roses picked by the farmers.
Li Huayong: Because every morning, as soon as the flower meets the wind, it opens relatively quickly. So we definitely start at 4 a.m. and try to finish picking while it remains half-open. This one, if we were to pick it now, is our current standard: the petals have just opened, and the fragrance inside has not yet evaporated.
Li Huayong is not only particular about the flower shape; he also has strict requirements for the time it is sent to the processing factory.
Li Huayong: Hurry and finish picking in the morning, and once picked, send it to our processing workshop as quickly as possible.
Reporter: So from picking to sending it to the processing workshop, how many hours must it be kept within?
Li Huayong: We basically have to complete it within 4 hours.
Although Li Huayong's requirements are harsh, the women here love roses, the men here love roses, children as young as a few years old love them, and even elderly people in their sixties and seventies love them.
Villager Zhao Zhongfu: Roses are money trees. In the past, people talked about money trees, money trees, but I never saw one. Only now have I truly seen that this is a money tree.
Villager Dong Sanbao: Picking flowers feels quite fun.
Reporter: What is fun about it?
Villager: It is fun and you can make money. Rose flowers are very fragrant. Even after washing your hands when you go back, the fragrance is still there. Look, so fragrant.
Picking roses leaves fragrance on your hands. The villagers say that the person who gives roses and has fragrance left on his hands is Li Huayong. Because he brought roses to the local people. Relying on his rose industry, he helped 12,000 local people become prosperous. In 2016, Li Huayong's rose planting area expanded to more than 10,000 mu, and sales reached more than 8 million yuan. He said planting ten thousand mu of roses was the most romantic thing he had ever done.
Li Huayong: Many people say Pisces is very romantic, but I do not think I am romantic. Still, I definitely did something big. Planting a ten-thousand-mu sea of roses is the most romantic thing I have ever done.
For this romance, Li Huayong paid countless hardships.
Li Huayong: I think when I was originally in the countryside, I did not feel it was that bitter, but when I came back to start a business and rebuild this rose industry, it felt even more bitter. Some things are too painful to look back on, and I do not want to recall them.
Why did Li Huayong say this? Behind the seemingly romantic planting of ten thousand mu of roses, what exactly did he go through?
Starting in 2011, Li Huayong started a real estate business in Xishuangbanna. In the eyes of the people in his hometown, he was a capable man who had made it out of a small mountain village.
Qian Yuqiong, villager of Xiaoluolang Village: More than 1.8 million, I had never even heard of it, to buy a car. I just felt he was a big boss. In our minds, he was very rich.
Dong Jianhua, villager of Xiaoluolang Village: At that time, the villagers spread the story that Li Huayong used a pickup truck to haul money, hauled a truckload of money, saying it was to pay wages to migrant workers at the end of the year.
Through sheer drive, Li Huayong accumulated more than 80 million in assets.
In June 2013, Li Huayong returned home to celebrate his parents' 60th birthdays. The day after the birthday celebration, he accompanied his mother to the township for a country market. In Li Huayong's memory, his mother walked quickly, and it was always his mother who walked ahead and then stopped to look for him. But this time, it was he who stopped and turned back to look for his mother. When his gaze passed through the crowd and landed on his mother, he felt that his mother had truly grown old.
Li Huayong: In the past, my mother's image was very tall and strong, but at that time, you saw that your mother had become very thin and small, and when she walked, her back was already a little hunched. She could no longer keep up with you. She had already grown old. That is to say, you could no longer see that kind of, how should I put it, you could no longer see the way she looked when she was young. I was deeply affected.
His parents did not grow old only after their 60th birthdays; rather, from that day on, Li Huayong realized they had grown old. As the eldest son in the family, he had an idea. He wanted to return to his hometown and start a business beside his parents. He sold his shares in the real estate company to someone else. He resolutely returned home to accompany his parents.
Li Huayong: After coming back, accompanying them for 20 years, 30 years, or even longer. I feel that no matter how successful you are running a business outside, no matter how well you do yourself, I think this is quite meaningful. Even more meaningful.
Li Huayong returned to his hometown. His mother was very happy, but what he did not expect was that he and his father began a cold war that lasted a full year.
Father: I feel annoyed just seeing him. Go away. Anyway, I have three sons.
What exactly did Li Huayong do that made his father so angry?
This is what Xiaoluolang Village looked like before renovation. The villagers all lived in adobe houses. The village had no cement roads, and when it rained, there was mud everywhere. When everyone heard that Li Huayong had returned, they wanted him to find a way to lead everyone to prosperity. Before Li Huayong had even figured out what business to start, he first ran for village villager group leader. Although the monthly salary was only 72 yuan, the boast he made was not small.
Li Huayong: I slaughtered a sheep, invited all the villagers, and gave a speech: I have returned, and I will definitely make sure that within three years every family has a villa, and I will double your income.
At first, Li Huayong had not figured out what business to start in his hometown either. While serving as village villager group leader, he looked for projects. Once, while chatting with friends, he discovered that the rose essential oil market was good, and he had the idea of making rose essential oil. What attracted him was still the price of the essential oil.