Farming lifts up the dream of prosperity, and women yield not to men

Tian Xiuzhen, female, from Zhongzhai Village, Zhongzhai Town, Yanhe County, a deputy to the 11th People's Congress of Guizhou Province, and a provincial-level model worker. Since 2008, she has been raising goats all alone in Langouzi, Zhongzhai Village, Zhongzhai Town. She has now helped 35 impoverished households in the surrounding area to take up goat farming, and her own farm has grown from an initial stock of 188 goats to more than 300 goats on hand, with over 500 sold per year and annual income reaching one million yuan. Tian Xiuzhen's farm has played a two-way leading role in the local industry's development, lifting up the local industry and making her a pacesetter in prosperity who leads an entire region.

Tian Xiuzhen's initial reason for raising goats was her fascination with the grassland in Zhongzhai Village, Zhongzhai Township, Yanhe Autonomous County, her hometown.

Tian Xiuzhen, a pacesetter in prosperity, and her white goats.

The more than 1,000 mu of natural grassland, with forests encircling it like green belts and a mountain pond nestled in the middle, is such a beautiful sight that village girl Tian Xiuzhen dreamed sweet dreams about it since childhood. "It is very beautiful, but back then I didn't know what could be done with it." Speaking of how she felt at the time, Tian Xiuzhen still cannot hide her excitement.

After growing up, Tian Xiuzhen became the wife of a soldier, working with her husband at his station, and she began to plan to return to her hometown grassland to tend goats. As a soldier's wife, she could have followed her husband and taken a much easier job, but in March 2008 she resolutely returned home and joined the grassland ecological animal husbandry project, becoming a goat-herding "shepherdess."

In September 2008, she borrowed 188 foundation ewes from the county grassland center to put in her pen. According to the agreement, after 3 years she was to repay an equal number, and the lambs born to the ewes were to be split with the center on a 70-30 basis.

After becoming a "shepherdess," Tian Xiuzhen experienced the hardships of starting a business. Only she herself could taste the bittersweetness of it all. After repeated failures, her hard work finally paid off. In November 2009, Tian Xiuzhen's first batch of more than 150 lambs was sold, and she received more than 60,000 yuan as her share. This year, she sold two more batches of goats, earning more than 200,000 yuan. Today, Tian Xiuzhen has invested more than 300,000 yuan in the pasture and has become a well-known large-scale goat farmer locally. She plans to expand further and increase the number of ewes to 500. Seeing Tian Xiuzhen's success in raising goats, some farming households have also joined the ranks of goat farming.

Not forgetting her neighbors after getting rich, Tian Xiuzhen, whose business has grown, does not forget to give back to her hometown and actively repays her fellow villagers with the skills she has mastered. Whenever her fellow villagers need help, Tian Xiuzhen enthusiastically helps and serves free of charge as a veterinary technical advisor. Large-scale farmer Yang Shengqiang, with Tian Xiuzhen's help, vigorously developed his goat-raising project, reaching a scale of 243 goats on hand and more than 400 sold per year, with annual income reaching 800,000 yuan, becoming another large-scale farmer after Tian Xiuzhen.

As of now, Tian Xiuzhen's goat farm has more than 300 goats on hand, sells more than 500 per year, and has annual income reaching one million yuan. At the same time, she has helped 35 impoverished households raise goats, each averaging more than 100,000 yuan in annual income, greatly promoting local industrial development and becoming a core force in boosting poverty alleviation.

Over the past few years, Tian Xiuzhen has returned home only 3 times to reunite with her husband and child. She has devoted all her time and energy to developing goat farming and serving her township. In the prime of her youth, she has given her youth and passion, silently supporting her neighbors in escaping poverty, and carefully cultivating the beloved hot soil of her hometown. She said: "I am now 36 years old. Do I look like someone in their 40s?" But in Yanhe, many people call her the "most beautiful shepherdess." A woman, while developing her own business, has helped 40 surrounding farming households take up goat farming, playing an excellent demonstrative and leading role in the development of local goat farming. Her entrepreneurial story has moved countless people who are starting businesses.

Whenever Tian Xiuzhen is mentioned, the villagers all give a thumbs-up and praise her warmly. She has set up a banner of prosperity-leading among farmers, striving to be a pioneer and the best, and is a fine example for local villagers to learn from. Clever people never wait for opportunities, but actively seek them, seize them, grasp them, and use them; only by standing on the shoulders of opportunity can one achieve greater success. Adjust your mindset well, seize opportunities, do not give up, do not lose heart, be diligent and hardworking, grounded and content, and create life's value with your hands and wisdom.