By growing golden fruit, Wang Anyong leads the villagers to prosperity together

"Young man, the loquat is a treasure from top to bottom. Fragrant flowers in winter, fine fruit in summer!" These were the first words Wang Anyong, secretary of the Party branch of Lüyin Village, said when I met him in the Xina loquat grove.

The thick green loquat leaves seemed to be vying with the winter itself, clustering together to bring a touch of vitality to the desolate countryside. Looking closely, the tips of the branches were dotted with small white flowers, and Wang Anyong was holding pruning shears, concentrating on pruning the loquat grove. When the topic turned to loquat cultivation, he immediately became animated, stopped his work, and began telling me about his experience growing loquats.

"Back in 2008, as a village cadre, I went with a delegation to Mianyang, Sichuan, to study and learn, and the development of the countryside there really gave me a shock. It may sound funny to you, but I saw them being lazy and relaxed at home, yet they all lived in small buildings, and some families even drove cars. I felt very unbalanced! We work hard on the land all year round, but every year, after food, housing, and social obligations, there is barely anything left in our hands! When I asked around, I learned that they grew loquats and had long since made their fortunes by selling them!"

Wang Anyong thought: others can get rich by growing loquats, while we still rely on traditional corn and rice to make a living, and we even have to hope heaven will be kind, so that only with favorable weather can life be a little better. Why not try growing loquats? With a try-it-and-see attitude, Wang Anyong first used his own mountain land to test-plant 2 mu of a new loquat variety, becoming the first person to eat the crab.

"When I planted loquats, the villagers even laughed at me. I saw that in Sichuan they planted one tree every two to three meters apart, but I was nervous, so I planted one tree every five to six meters. When the villagers saw it, they laughed and said to me: 'With that planting method of yours, you can forget about eating loquats; eating leaves and bark is more like it!'"

The next year, the loquats began to bear fruit one after another, but the results were not very good. In the third year, although the branches were full of loquats, some of the fruit developed "sugar heart," rotting from the inside. Wang Anyong wondered whether something had gone wrong at some stage of cultivation.

"I consulted experts on growing this new loquat variety, and only then did I realize there were so many tricks to loquat cultivation!"

The new loquat variety is grown using "dwarfing and close planting," which requires pruning. Useless branches and excessive vegetative shoots must be pruned away, otherwise they absorb nutrients and affect the loquats' growth. When the trees bloom, pesticide must also be applied; when they bear fruit, the fruit must also be bagged; and fertilization techniques are even more particular.

"After learning the techniques, I did as the experts said. That year happened to be a severe drought, and the crops the villagers planted basically had no harvest, but that year my family's loquats did very well. From selling loquats alone, my family earned more than 20,000 yuan."

Having tasted the sweetness of success, Wang Anyong was convinced that growing loquats was a good means and a good method for making a fortune. As a village cadre, he had to work with the villagers to fatten their wallets and live a better life together.

In order to help the villagers get rich together with him, Wang Anyong went door to door doing the villagers' ideological work. But when he entered the first household, he was splashed with a basin of "cold water." The villagers were very conservative in their thinking and found it hard to step outside the circle of traditional industries. They all believed that "food is the first necessity of the people" and that "having grain in the granary is the only real truth," and they refused to plant no matter what, afraid that after planting loquats they would have no grain to eat.

Wang Anyong used his own earnings from growing loquats as an example to urge his fellow villagers to free their minds and change their thinking. In this era, it is not about who has more grain; the key is to make money. After being persuaded, some villagers' thinking loosened somewhat. For those who feared they would have no grain to eat after planting loquats, Wang Anyong advised them to first use half of their land for loquats and the other half for grain, so as to relieve their worries.

Afraid that his fellow villagers would stumble in the same place he had, Wang Anyong coordinated with the town and held a loquat cultivation training class, teaching villagers techniques such as pruning, fertilizing, spraying pesticide, and bagging. Wang Anyong also did not keep his knowledge to himself. Whenever the villagers encountered problems in cultivation, he would personally go to look, teach, and help.

Hard work pays off. Through Wang Anyong's efforts and with the encouragement of the country's good policies, many households in the village began growing loquats and set off on the road to prosperity.

"In our village, loquat cultivation previously reached more than 3,000 mu. Now, because of planning, part of it has been requisitioned, but there are still more than 1,000 mu. Let me do the economic math for you. Previously, when we grew corn, in a good year we could earn 700 to 800 yuan, but after deducting land preparation, labor, fertilizer, and so on, one mu of land yielded at most 300 yuan. Now, with loquats, taking my family as an example, with more than ten mu of land, the annual income is at least 70,000 to 80,000 yuan, seven or eight times the previous income! Look at our village. Haven't many households built tall buildings?"

When he heard me ask about sales channels, Wang Anyong curled his lips slightly and said, "Young man, wherever there are flowers, bees will come!"

"The loquats our village produces are delicious, and we have never worried about sales. Word of mouth is the best advertisement. If it tastes good, why worry that no one will buy it? When the loquats ripen next year, come, and I guarantee you will turn back at every step and your mouth will water the whole time! Our village's loquats are basically still unripe, and buyers are already coming to place orders!"

At present, the loquats of Lüyin Village have already gained some fame, and loquat cultivation has achieved a win-win in both ecological and economic benefits. The villagers have all made their fortunes by growing loquats and are living good lives. Whenever Wang Anyong is mentioned, the villagers affectionately call him "the guide in the loquat grove."

On the way back, I glanced back, and the stretches of loquat grove were lush and green. Although it was late autumn and winter, I seemed to see that in the late spring and early summer of the coming year, in the loquat grove, green leaves and golden fruit would set each other off beautifully, with abundant harvests!