He Weihong, an impoverished household member in Macheng, Hubei, gets rich by raising goats
Pictured: The goats raised by He Weihong
"Chirp, chirp..." The birdsong is crisp and pleasant; "Baa, baa, baa..." The bleating of goats echoes through the valley.
Following the bleating of the goats, the mountain path winds along, steep and treacherous. Rounding the ridge brings you to Hujia Mountain, three or four li northeast of Xiajia Shangwan in Shanshuping Village, Sanhekou Town, Macheng.
What meets the eye: light wind and thin clouds, emerald waters and blue skies, and among the green grass, scattered dots of grazing sheep. This place fully evokes the spring scene of "the sky vast and wild, the wilderness boundless, the wind blows the grass low and cattle and sheep appear."
On the morning of March 27, led by He Mingtao, Party branch secretary of Shanshuping Village, our group quickly met the protagonist of the story -- He Weihong, an impoverished household member of Shanshuping Village, Sanhekou Town.
Amid such beautiful scenery, the conversation with the shepherd was naturally relaxed and pleasant.
He Weihong, around forty years old, dark-skinned, full of energy, with an honest look on his face. Beside the flock, the simple, honest shepherd began to tell his herding story.
It turned out his life had been very hard and very difficult.
In 2010, his father was working at a construction site in another place. One day, a crane that suddenly fell took the life of his father who was working at the time. Not long after, upon learning the news of her husband's tragic death, his mother suffered a sudden cerebral infarction; most of her blood vessels were blocked and she lost her ability to work.
From then on, the entire family's source of income fell entirely on He Weihong alone, and the heavy burden of life pressed him so hard he could barely breathe.
He Weihong thought long and hard. He was not highly educated, but he was in good health, and as long as he could endure hardship, it was not impossible to escape poverty. He analyzed: Shanshuping Village belongs to a hilly area, with rolling mountains and abundant vegetation, very suitable for raising goats.
So he discussed with his wife, who had married in from elsewhere where they had worked together, about starting their own business, and they decided to develop goat raising.
In 2013, the couple scraped together 10,000 yuan and bought more than 10 breeding goats from a farmer in Huangtugang Town. Through a year of effort, they finally grew the flock to 50 goats.
But the good times did not last long: his mother's condition suddenly worsened and she was hospitalized, his wife's health also had problems, and the two children needed to go to school. The heavy financial burden once again shattered this young man's hopes.
Just then, the sunshine of the Party's poverty alleviation policies shone into the mountain gullies of the impoverished mountainous area.
On August 23, 2015, through investigation, Shanshuping Village found that He Weihong's family was in great difficulty due to illness, schooling and various other reasons. After precise identification, He Weihong's family was included in the scope of impoverished households.
In response to He Weihong's problems of lacking funds, lacking technology and having no housing, town and village officials from Sanhekou Town and Shanshuping Village prescribed the right remedy and helped He Weihong solve his practical difficulties.
In 2016, through education poverty alleviation funds, each child was given a subsidy of 1,000 yuan per year to ensure the children could attend school. On May 17, a small loan of 30,000 yuan was arranged to help him develop and expand his breeding business. At the beginning of this year, at the Bifengchong resettlement site in Sanhekou Town, he was provided with 100 sq m of housing, solving the difficulty of his family having no place to live. In addition, for difficult matters such as choosing a site, building goat sheds and coordinating relations among villagers, the town poverty alleviation office and village officials always showed up at He Weihong's home at the first moment.
Zhan Yin'an, political commissar of the city's People's Armed Forces Department, went deep into He Weihong's home many times each year to inquire about his well-being, solve practical difficulties, have heart-to-heart talks with him, and often sent him consolation money.
The Party's good policies and the sincere care of leaders once again reignited He Weihong's dream of raising goats. He made up his mind to seize the opportunity and develop the goat-raising industry.
In the early days of starting his own business, he exchanged experience with experienced specialized goat-raising households on one hand, and studied goat-raising techniques from books on the other. How to prevent disease, how to care for lambs, how to breed for high quality... After a year of exploration, He Weihong finally found a new path suited to getting rich by raising goats.
He Weihong grazes the goats in the mountains, where they eat tender leaves and drink mountain spring water. Not only is this green and ecological, but the goat meat is also delicious, and the market for his goats opened up.
Although every day around eight or nine at noon He Weihong has to drive the goats up the mountain, and at five or six in the afternoon he goes up the mountain again to find the goats and return them to the pen, through wind and rain without ever stopping, he never complains of hardship or fatigue and always takes delight in it, because his dream and interest have kept supporting him.
Right in the middle of the conversation, a woman was seen walking over from the mountain opposite. "A smile so dimpled, beautiful eyes so bright, plain colors made resplendent." The lines from the Book of Songs do not seem excessive to describe her. A radiant smile, beautiful eyes, and a red face tinged with light pink.
Secretary He said that woman was He Weihong's wife, whom he had married from Jiangxi. Such a woman married to an impoverished household deep in the mountains? Curiosity made the author want to find the reason they were so well matched.
"Marrying into the countryside is not frightening; it is enough that his character is good. A family not being wealthy is not frightening; it is enough that he is hardworking. Relying on our own two hands and enduring hardship, life will always get better. I did not mind his family's poverty, did not mind the smell of goats on him, and only cared that he has ideals..." Her rapid-fire answers left one unable to keep up.
It was still Village Party Secretary He Mingtao's addition that suddenly made everything clear: "Being poor is not frightening; what is frightening is poverty of ambition. Because he has ambition, he has the charm to attract a beautiful girl from a wealthy place to our mountain gully. A change in thinking is the key to escaping poverty.
"He Weihong actually had the dream of raising goats very early on, only conditions restrained him. Since he got rich by raising goats, he seems like a different person. Not only has his personality become cheerful, he is also more hardworking, trying his hand at everything from breeding to farming. Last year alone, income from planting exceeded 10,000 yuan, and now the flock has grown to at least 150 goats. Calculating it out, the annual income is 36,000 yuan. Under his influence and leadership, impoverished households in the village have also begun to develop distinctive breeding and planting." the village party secretary happily told the author.
This reminded the author of the scene not long ago when Zhan Yin'an, political commissar of the city's People's Armed Forces Department, was visiting impoverished households. Commissar Zhan went deep into He Weihong's home and had a heart-to-heart talk with him. Hearing that He Weihong did not wait or rely on others but escaped poverty and became rich, Commissar Zhan said kindly: "Where there is a dream, there are miracles. Your approach of exploring a new path and taking off the hat of poverty is very good."
It turns out that on the scales of He Weihong's love, his dream of being a shepherd was also the biggest weight.
When talking about his life plans, the shy He Weihong revealed his intentions, his face beaming with a happy smile.
He Weihong decided not only to expand the goats to 300, but also to develop chicken raising and duck raising according to local conditions,goose raising, forming a distinctive breeding industry chain. Together with his wife, he wants to link his own dream with the economic growth of Shanshuping Village, working diligently and enduring hardship without complaint, leading more people to realize the dream of getting rich and achieving the value of life.
On the road out of poverty, the Party flag shines red in the heart. Just as the author was preparing to leave, He Weihong submitted an application to Party branch secretary He Mingtao expressing his wish to join the Party.