He Escaped Poverty by Raising Sheep, and Now He Wants to Be a Boss

Ran Longdi cradles an injured lamb, preparing to drive the flock up the mountain to graze.

Ran Longdi feeds medicine to a sick lamb

Ran Longdi counts his earnings in the sheep pen after just selling a few sheep

Ran Longdi has slaughtered the New Year pig and hung the pork to dry, preparing to make cured meat.

On December 6, several consecutive days of winter sunshine made 62-year-old Ran Longdi, a villager of Group 1, Yanjia Village, Shanghuang Town, Wuxi County, very happy: "The weather is good, so the sheep in the pen can go up the mountain to graze."

In 2012, Ran Longdi built a simple sheep pen in his backyard and raised 10 sheep. At the end of last year, the rural road was built right up to his doorstep. Seeing the increasingly convenient transportation, he expanded his sheep-raising scale to 100. Due to market fluctuations, this year's mutton prices were not as good as hoped, but Ran Longdi was not worried: "With the road built, I have confidence. I plan to keep the sheep until prices recover next year before selling, and I won't sell them cheap like before."

Once the Rural Road Opened to Traffic, He Escaped Poverty by Selling Sheep

After busying himself all morning without even having time to eat breakfast, Ran Longdi's business came knocking. This was a customer from Wuxi County town. Last year Ran Longdi had delivered sheep to him, and this year he drove over to pick them up himself. In no time, Ran Longdi sold two sheep at 8 yuan per jin, earning 1,200 yuan.

However, just a few years back, selling a single sheep was not so easy for Ran Longdi. "In the past, the village was all mud roads, and cars simply couldn't get in. I had to walk one or two hours to restaurants and vegetable markets in town to ask if they wanted sheep. Only if they did would I borrow a motorcycle to deliver them," Ran Longdi said.

In November 2015, the Yanda Road connecting Yanjia Village in Shanghuang Town with Daquan Village in Gulu Town opened fully to traffic, and this brought Ran Longdi his first dividend from the road's opening. "One month after the road opened, all 50 sheep from last year were sold, and most customers drove to my home to buy them. Last year alone I earned more than 40,000 yuan from selling sheep," Ran Longdi said.

It was precisely by relying on income from selling sheep that Ran Longdi's family shed the label of impoverished household last year.

The Road Brings Confidence, and He No Longer Sells Sheep Cheap

At the beginning of this year, Ran Longdi built a larger sheep pen behind his house and bought 100 lambs. Ran Longdi said the village has lush forests and the resources to raise sheep. Now that the road is open, as long as he works a bit harder, he is sure to live a good life.

But with only a little over a month until Spring Festival, Ran Longdi had sold less than half of his sheep. Apart from breeding sheep, more than 40 remained unsold. "On one hand, this year's market conditions are not great and mutton prices are low; on the other hand, I really don't want to sell the sheep cheap like this," Ran Longdi said. Last year the market was good, and live sheep generally sold for 13 yuan per jin, but this year only 8 yuan per jin. "A few years ago when the road wasn't built, even if prices were low, as long as I didn't lose money, I would find a way to sell the sheep before Spring Festival. Now it's different. With the road built, I don't worry about not being able to sell the sheep, and I have the confidence to wait for prices to recover."

Ran Longdi did the math: this year he had already sold more than 30 sheep and earned nearly 30,000 yuan. The remaining 40-plus, once prices recover, would sell for another 40,000 to 50,000 yuan. He could earn 70,000 to 80,000 yuan a year, doubling last year's income.

The Road Brings Business Opportunities, and He Dreams of Being a Boss

"Everyone is being encouraged to start small and micro businesses. I want to set up a sheep-raising operation," Ran Longdi now has a new entrepreneurial dream.

Near noon, Ran Longdi received a phone call from his son, who works far away in Guangzhou. He told his son that the village road is now built, and doing business at home is no worse than working away. He hoped his son would not go out again after returning for Spring Festival.

Ran Longdi said he plans to discuss it with his son after he comes home and set up a micro-enterprise raising sheep, gradually expanding the flock to 150 next year. "The village is also going to organize us to learn about online sales. I hear that after placing an order online, it can be delivered to other places in two days, letting city residents eat Wuxi's mutton," Ran Longdi said.

Data

4 years of newly built and

renovated rural roads: 41,000 km

Over the past 4 years, the city invested a total of 40 billion yuan, newly built and renovated 41,000 km of rural roads, bringing the total mileage to 123,000 km. Road network density reached 149 km per 100 sq km, ranking first in the western region. Among these, more than 18,000 km of smooth-access projects for administrative villages were completed, adding 2,152 administrative villages with smooth access, and more than 8,000 administrative villages citywide achieved smooth road access. It took the lead in the western region in implementing the access project for merged villages, completing the 10,000 km construction task 2 years ahead of schedule, comprehensively resolving the problem of no road access in 2,606 merged villages, and achieving 100% access for merged villages with 300 or more households. With the roads open, buses also came in, and people can catch a ride right at their doorstep.

　　Notes

Poverty Alleviation Through Transportation

Blooms Across the Land of Bayu

In the battle against poverty, transportation goes first. Today, more than 8,000 administrative villages in Chongqing have smooth road access, changing the previous situation of difficult travel and difficult transport for rural residents, stimulating the vitality of rural industrial development, and putting impoverished villages onto the fast track to escaping poverty and becoming prosperous.