Getting Rich Raising Sheep: The Feisty Lili Uses Her Sharp Eye to Find a New Path to Wealth

In front of the camera she is a bit shy; but when it comes to haggling on behalf of clients, she is anything but wishy-washy. There was a time when she was so poor she could not even afford a bag of tangyuan. But when she seized an opportunity, she earned over 100,000 yuan in just half a month. Now she goes her own way, raising only the sheep that others turn their noses up at, yet once she has raised them, people scramble to buy them. What clever tricks does Wang Lili of Dorbod, Daqing have up her sleeve? How does she use sheep to win wealth and change her fate?

This is today's protagonist, Wang Lili. As soon as the reporter arrived, word was that she and her husband not only raise sheep locally, but are also a famous sheep-broker duo.

Client: Once you cross the border between Hebei Province and Shandong Province, even there, if you ask the sheep raisers about "Little Shandong," they all know him.

Reporter: You all know him?

Villager: We know him.

Reporter: Little Shandong?

Villager: As soon as he called yesterday I knew. I forgot his phone number, I just know Little Shandong. Everyone knows him.

Wang Lili: Whenever people mention it, everyone knows Daqing's Little Shandong. Because my family used to run a restaurant called Old Shandong, so he got the nickname Little Shandong.

The husband-and-wife team helps out-of-town buyers purchase sheep. Her husband Wang Laijun is out handling client contacts, while Wang Lili stays home handling contacts with local sheep dealers.

His name is Cheng Fugui. Today he made a special trip from Suihua City, Heilongjiang Province, 300 kilometers away, to ask Wang Lili to help him buy 300 sheep.

This is Dorbod Mongol Autonomous County in Heilongjiang Province. To quickly recoup their funds, local farmers usually sell their sheep to dealers once the sheep reach around 50 jin. The dealers then sell them through sheep sales outlets to buyers from various places. The buyers take the sheep back to fatten them for 3 to 4 months, until they reach around 110 jin, and only then can the sheep go on the market.

When buyers come here to purchase sheep, they all have a habit: they first find a local sheep broker, both to vet the sheep for them and to make communication easier. And Wang Lili is a well-known local broker.

As soon as the dealer herded the sheep into the pen, Wang Lili immediately went up to inspect them. She said that when she helps clients buy sheep, she never uses a scale to weigh them, because her family has a living scale.

Wang Lili: My husband is pretty impressive. Usually, if it is a few hundred sheep, he drives over, does not even get down into the pen to feel them, just circles the pen twice, and then we go straight to the farm owner, the person selling the sheep, and negotiate the price.

Reporter: Just by walking around the pen once, you know how heavy that group of sheep is?

Husband: For a group of sheep like this, I can basically tell the average weight.

Reporter: In a bit, weigh one for us, give us a demonstration. Let's see how accurate you are.

Wang Lili: Don't drop the ball.

Reporter: Have that guy bring the scale over so we can test it.

Wang Lili said that when it comes to judging sheep, her husband is the best; he has never misjudged one.

Husband: This one, 63 and a half jin.

Reporter: 63 and a half jin. Still that accurate.

Wang Lili: Why even bother with the half jin.

Everyone: Weigh it, see if it's accurate. 63 and a half jin. 64 jin.

Reporter: 64 jin, you are amazing.

These dozen or so are all lambs around 50 jin, within 12 months of age, exactly what Wang Lili wants to buy.

Wang Laijun has checked the size of the sheep, and now it is time to negotiate the price. But after only a few words, the two sides locked horns over ten yuan.

Buyer: How much is it now?

Dealer: Not a cent less, just 360 yuan per sheep.

Buyer: Is that what you said?

Dealer: Yes.

Buyer: 350 yuan per sheep, if not, load them up and haul them back.

Dealer: No, really no. You see, you are stubborn, but I am even more stubborn than you.

Wang Lili: When you two stubborn people meet, I am out of ideas too.

Dealer: Then there is no way, no way at all.

Wang Lili: They sincerely want to buy sheep, right? They have made an offer. They have already raised it for you too, you cannot quibble over ten yuan.

Dealer: It is not about quibbling over ten yuan. The price I am asking has already hit rock bottom.

It turned out that buyer Cheng Fugui offered 320 yuan per sheep, while the dealer wanted 360 yuan each. To balance both sides' interests and close the deal, Wang Lili discussed it with the buyer and got him to raise his offer to 350 yuan per sheep. But the dealer held firm at 360 yuan per sheep, not a cent less. His words "not a cent less" instantly brought out the buyer's stubborn streak.

Seeing that it was about to rain, and once it rains, the sheep in other dealers' hands would get soaked and become hard to estimate by weight, Wang Lili did not want to let down a client who had come from so far away. She knew that at 350 yuan per sheep, the dealer would definitely still make a profit.

Wang Lili: How could you not make money? Don't be too greedy, close enough is good enough, what more do you want? If you keep holding out like this, the deal really will fall through. You say your asking price of 360 yuan has not dropped at all, while they have raised theirs from 330 yuan per sheep to 340 yuan, then to 350 yuan. It is impossible to go any higher.

After much coaxing, the dealer still refused to come down by 10 yuan. In order to save time and go look at the next truckload of sheep, Wang Lili had no choice but to give up. The bargaining had gone on for nearly an hour, all for nothing.

However, just as we were about to leave, we do not know what Wang Lili said to that dealer, but he suddenly changed his mind.

Wang Lili: If I had not mentioned my sheep farm in Taikang County, you still would not sell to me, right?

Dealer: Right.

Reporter: Why? You know her family's sheep farm?

Dealer: I know her family's sheep farm, I just have never been inside.

Reporter: So now you are willing to sell to her again?

Dealer: No, it is what she said, that if I go to her sheep farm she will let me have a cup of water. Chat a bit, have a cup of water, that is worth over a hundred yuan, right? If I go there for a cup of water, maybe I will go there.

Wang Lili: And even a hotpot meal, right?

Dealer: And a meal or something.

As soon as Wang Lili mentioned her own sheep farm, the dealer changed his mind. After nearly an hour, they finally bought just over 10 sheep. To gather the 300 the buyer wanted, Wang Lili said she would have to be busy here for two more days.

Eight years ago, by helping southern buyers purchase sheep, Wang Lili once earned over 100,000 yuan in half a month. Now, besides working as a broker, she also does what out-of-town buyers do, buying sheep from dealers to take back and fatten. But the reporter noticed that the sheep she buys to raise herself are all sheep that others do not want, yet once raised, they are very popular.