Farmer Chen Qinghai and his world of flowers

The softness and beauty of flowers have always been deeply loved by many women. However, in Shiwuji Township, Xianxian County, there is a farmer who loves flowers as much as life itself. From starting out in fresh flower wholesale to returning to his hometown, transferring land and growing greenhouse flowers to lead others to prosperity, he lives a flower-like happy life. He says flowers have spirit; as long as you take good care of them, they will bloom beautiful flowers to repay you.

A chance encounter - a chat reveals a business opportunity, embarking on a journey to find flowers

The reporter was quite lucky and managed to meet Chen Qinghai smoothly. This busy man is always "elusive" all day long, hard to catch.

On the way to the planting base, the reporter casually asked a few questions about the benefits and market of fresh flowers, but the entrepreneurial "hardships" Chen Qinghai casually mentioned sparked the reporter's interest.

Chen Qinghai got involved with fresh flowers quite by chance. Years ago, Chen Qinghai had been working as a CNC operator at a foundry in Cangzhou city. Although the money he earned could make ends meet, he always felt unsettled inside. "What future is there in working for others your whole life? You have to find a way to do something for yourself." His restless mind was always "stirring."

Once, he took his child to a flower shop near his home to "visit," and during the chat, the shop owner complained to him: "Although fresh flowers sell well, sourcing them is such a hassle. Driving to Tianjin and Beijing to stock up myself - not to mention how much the costs increase, it's just too exhausting."

The speaker meant nothing by it, but the listener took it to heart. "Since fresh flowers are so scarce around here, I might as well be a 'matchmaker' - bring flowers from elsewhere and wholesale them to flower shops." Chen Qinghai discovered a "new continent" and was as happy as a child.

In whatever trade you do, you must learn it. At the very least, you need to understand all the varieties. Chen Qinghai's first stop was the flower capital - Kunming. Having never traveled far before, he boarded a train alone and embarked on his journey to find flowers.

During the day he went around the various markets pestering flower farmers for information, and at night he slept in free communal bunk beds near the markets. After finishing with Kunming, he went on to Guangzhou, Shanghai... From south to north, after more than three months of adventures, he knew the varieties and habits of flowers like the back of his hand. Chen Qinghai, who had never known anything about flowers, had become an expert.

The first snowfall of the winter of 2001 was unforgettable to him to this day. He ordered 100 kg of fresh flowers from Kunming, shipped them by air from Kunming to Beijing, then from Beijing to Cangzhou. After waiting for two days, Chen Qinghai finally received his "treasures," and his business was launched from that moment on.

Every flower shop has its own regular customers - how could a stranger gain their recognition? And if he delayed any longer, the flowers would wilt and the money would be lost. Chen Qinghai steeled himself and went into action.

He went around the flower shops in the city but was rejected by all of them. Chen Qinghai didn't have time to feel discouraged; he racked his brains for a solution. The bitter cold of deep winter was harsh, and to protect the fresh flowers, he carried them close to his chest and rode his motorcycle back and forth again and again. "Why don't you try ordering just one bunch first? I'll give you 2 yuan off per bunch. How about it? Just give it a try." If one trip didn't work, he'd go a second time, letting the other party see his sincerity. His earnest persuasion eventually won over quite a few customers.

Two setbacks - though still shaken, he never forgot his original aspiration

"Nearly a hundred flower shops in the Cangzhou area are supplied by me." He said this without boasting, beaming with pride.

Chen Qinghai had a stubborn streak in his bones. When he first started wholesaling fresh flowers, he had quit his job and weathered the risks to make it through.

But just as things were looking up, his heart grew restless again. It generally takes two days for fresh flowers to get from Kunming to Cangzhou, and their freshness is somewhat affected. "If I plant them nearby and sell what I grow myself, wouldn't that kill several birds with one stone?"

Through a friend's introduction, he chose a location in Ningjin, Shandong, where the acidic soil was just right for the flowers' preferences. He transferred 140 mu of land, built 39 greenhouses, and Chen Qinghai confidently opened up his "second battlefield."

Nothing ever goes smoothly. Just after harvesting one round of perfectly good flowers, heavy rain came, and because the terrain was low-lying, the water accumulation was severe. Watching the water rise past half the height of the greenhouses, Chen Qinghai was so dejected he looked like a frost-bitten eggplant, unable to lift his head. Five or six hundred thousand yuan went down the drain just like that.

Fortunately, the wholesale business was there to support him, so Chen Qinghai didn't lose everything. Although he continued to do wholesale on his own for the next two years, he still hadn't given up hope.

There was a stretch of abandoned greenhouses in the Goupu area of Wuqiao; repairing them directly would save quite a bit of money. Chen Qinghai rented 10 of them, spent over 200,000 yuan fixing them up, and started all over again. But after harvesting flowers for just 1 year, they were flooded by heavy rain again. People often say "fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me; there won't be a third time." Having stumbled twice, Chen Qinghai should have finally settled down. But although he said he absolutely wouldn't plant anymore, what he truly thought inside was really hard to guess.

Long-term planning - a special love for flowers, building a "paradise on earth"

A fall into a pit, a gain in your wit. Wherever you fall, you must get back up from there. Chen Qinghai's stubbornness kicked in again. Refusing to admit defeat, he was determined to stage a "comeback."

Chen Qinghai's hometown - Shiwuji Village, Shiwuji Township, Xianxian County - most villagers make a living from farming. These days, although the income from farming is limited, every household is reluctant to give up this way of life.

To turn things around by farming requires investment, and there are risks - this is also the key reason most people barely get by. These worries of his fellow villagers were exactly what Chen Qinghai focused on thinking about.

After his last failure in Wuqiao, another five or six years passed. Chen Qinghai's fresh flower wholesale business had never stopped, and he had saved up quite a bit more money. With money in hand, his heart grew restless again - forget others, he couldn't even control himself.