Growing "fairy grass" on a mountaintop: a young man with a disability and his childhood friend livestream on WeChat

Zhou Feng (right) and Li Tao (left) are picking Dendrobium officinale

At 5 a.m. the day before yesterday, in Qianjiazhuang, Xiyan Village, Dongbaihu Town, Zhuji, at an altitude of more than 400 m, the wind was bone-chilling. On the mountaintop, the lights came on in a row of greenhouses of the Xiyan Yunjian Dendrobium officinale Professional Cooperative. "A customer in Pinghu, Jiaxing, ordered 16 jin of fresh stems, so we have to pick them quickly and deliver them." Zhou Feng, a 29-year-old with a disability, said to the reporter while picking fresh Dendrobium.

Since last year, the price of Dendrobium has plummeted, but Xiyan Yunjian Dendrobium officinale not only did not cut its price, it also attracted regular customers from all over the country to rush to place orders. "On the basis of ensuring the quality of the Dendrobium, and with the help of internet marketing to expand the market, Xiyan Yunjian has carved out its own path in fierce market competition," said Chen Guogang, deputy mayor of Dongbaihu Town.

Returning to the countryside to grow "fairy grass"

Zhou Feng has a hearing impairment. After graduating from technical school, he worked as an electrician in a machine tool factory. In 2011, while chatting with his childhood friend Li Tao, a spark for starting a business came up: their hometown had a good ecological environment, so they could go into ecological agriculture together. At that time, Li Tao was a construction worker. In 2012, the two both returned from the city to their hometown, Xiyan Village, Dongbaihu Town, and pooled 500,000 yuan to grow Dendrobium.

"Dendrobium has extremely high environmental requirements. If it is planted in fields with crops nearby, once pesticides are sprayed for pest control, the drifting smell of the pesticides will affect the quality of the Dendrobium." Therefore, they chose to grow Dendrobium on the mountaintop.

Although they had farmed since childhood, the two had no experience growing Dendrobium. "Holding seedlings like bean sprouts, my hands trembled, for fear that I might break them with one careless move," Zhou Feng said. They took 80,000 seedlings out of the culture dishes, cleaned them one by one, and planted them in the soil. That excitement is still vivid in his memory. That night, the two stayed overnight in the greenhouse on the mountaintop.

They planted Dendrobium and sowed hope. From then on, the two young men became the busiest young people in the village. In summer, they watered and pulled weeds at dawn; in winter, worried that heavy snow would crush the greenhouses, they checked the Dendrobium late at night... In the end, with a 95% survival rate, even agricultural technicians came to "learn from them."

In order to grow the best quality, they waited until the third year before starting to harvest.

No price cut, yet demand exceeds supply

The "fairy grass" is grown deep in the mountains, but sales rely on the internet. The two young men were thoughtful and continuously "livestreamed" every little detail of the growing process on WeChat Moments. In late autumn of 2015, Dendrobium entered its peak harvest season. Many friends on WeChat Moments became customers, and the two young men's "fairy grass" was also sold all over the country.

During that period, the two were as busy as tops every day. They got up at five or six in the morning, skipped breakfast, and went into the greenhouses to pick fresh stems. When they were really hungry, they chewed a few fresh stems to stave off hunger. "Because many local customers place orders the same day and pick up the goods the same day, time is tight." The two were either busy in the greenhouses or rushing along the roads delivering goods.

Qianjiazhuang is on a mountaintop at an altitude of more than 400 m. From the mountaintop to Dongbaihu Town is a winding mountain road, and the most dangerous place is a turn of nearly 180 degrees. Once, Zhou Feng was driving a minivan to deliver goods, and at the sharp turn he collided with a passenger bus. Zhou Feng and the vehicle fell into a rocky ditch several meters deep. Fortunately, although the vehicle was destroyed, Zhou Feng was unharmed. That same year, the two young men filled their pockets and bought a new car. When business was busy, many villagers were hired to help, which increased everyone's income.

Last year, affected by the market, the price of Dendrobium plummeted, but Xiyan Yunjian Dendrobium officinale did not cut its price, and regular customers still rushed to place orders. "I saw it on Moments and was quite moved. This Dendrobium is really good too. Everything I bought is for my own consumption." Customer Mr. Yang from Hainan bought 30 jin the year before last, and since last year has bought another 50 jin.

Now, their Dendrobium has entered the full production period. "Last year's yield per mu exceeded 300 kg, and this year it is expected to be even more," Zhou Feng said.

As we were saying goodbye, the handsome Li Tao and Zhou Feng revealed their little secrets to the reporter. Li Tao had just become a father, and Zhou Feng had also fallen in love.

It must be said: for people who treat life seriously, happiness is always scattered everywhere.