Young mother goes from debt to ten million yuan a year in two years

Three years ago, at the age of 23, she had her first bitter taste of life: her family fell apart, she was 100,000 yuan in debt, and she felt lost and helpless. She stumbled into starting a business, and never expected that the orchard was growing a treasure that would bring her ten million yuan a year. After just two years in business, she accomplished what many local people had failed to do in more than a decade. Lu Ting of Danleng, Sichuan, a 26-year-old girl, has a wealth story unlike any other.

In Danleng County, Sichuan Province, every year in mid-March, a special fruit enters its harvest season. Some call it "ugly duckling," and others have given it a very fashionable name: "Buzhihuo" (Shiranui mandarin). It looks like an orange, and also like a misshapen tangerine.

During the peak harvest season of Shiranui mandarins, the pickers have to harvest at least 2,000-plus jin of fruit every day.

Villager Wang Pingzhen: There are two members of the picking team: it's to make money, no matter how hard the work, we're willing to do it, wouldn't you say so.

Wang Zerong: We earn more than before, the price is higher, the price is better.

Many people say that for the money they made from Shiranui mandarins, the person they should thank is Lu Ting. A post-90s girl, she became a local celebrity in Danleng County thanks to the "Shiranui." In just two short years, with no savings, no experience, and 100,000 yuan in debt, she sold her way to ten million in wealth. She set in motion an industry that had not developed locally in more than a decade.

Shiranui grower in Danleng County, Sichuan Province: Thanks to her, our fruit, our good fruit, sells for a good price.

Shiranui grower in Danleng County, Sichuan Province: What was the heartfelt thing I said? I said, Boss Lu, you have brought us ordinary folks a great blessing. Now our fruit, having fruit is a good thing; this place, we mainly rely on this Shiranui, and now life is improving bit by bit.

Lu Ting's entrepreneurial experience inspired many local people. Two years ago, Lu Ting was still seen as a loser: she had just graduated from university when she married, had a child, and then divorced, had never worked a single day, and was saddled with 100,000 yuan in debt, depending on her parents to get by.

Yet in two years, Lu Ting became a winner in life. Self-reliant and strong, she used several unexpected methods one after another to sell a worthless fruit for more than ten million in wealth. The "Shiranui," which once could not fetch a price, saw its value rise more than tenfold and became everyone's "wealth fruit."

In December 2013, the tangerines at home had turned red, but Lu Ting's sky was gray. She had just ended her brief two-year marriage and returned to her parents' home with her 2-year-old son.

Lu Ting: When we divorced, we were still in debt. I owed more than 100,000, he owed more than 100,000, and that's how we divorced.

As soon as she graduated from university, Lu Ting married and had a child, and never worked a single day. After the divorce, she especially needed an income to support herself and her 2-year-old child.

Lu Ting: There was simply no plan, no planning of any kind. What can I give my son now, I would think about that, and I felt like I was really quite a failure as a mother.

But reality was crueler than she had imagined. For seven months straight, Lu Ting could not find a suitable job. Her family was broken, and she could not even support her son. Lu Ting felt she was a tragedy. But she never expected that in the next two years, she would actually make her fortune from the locally worthless Shiranui.

The Shiranui belongs to the citrus family and was first introduced to Sichuan Province in China from Japan around 2000. It peels easily, has a sugar content comparable to lychee, and tastes crisp and sweet with no residue.

Lu Ting: You've surely never seen this one, it's like a lemon, do you think it's especially sour?

Reporter: Right, the color is different, yellowish, like a lemon.

Lu Ting: You can try it.

Reporter: Isn't it sour? It looks very sour.

Lu Ting: It's not sour, try it, it's extra sweet, sweet. We call it the crispy Shiranui, because it's quite crisp.

Reporter: Is it also a Shiranui?

Lu Ting: Yes.

In Danleng, Shiranui trees can be seen everywhere. The 20 mu of Shiranui at Lu Ting's parents' home had been planted for more than ten years, and Lu Ting rarely came, but she knew the fruit was not worth much money. Once October came, to prevent insects and freezing, the Shiranui had to be bagged like this, and Lu Ting, idle at home, helped with the work.

Lu Ting: You bag them one by one, every single one has to be bagged. One bag costs four or five fen, and adding labor, the cost of each bag comes to one or two jiao.

Planting costs are getting higher and higher, and only after a year of careful tending can the Shiranui be harvested. After more than ten years of hard work growing Shiranui, the price had barely changed, and the growers were all at a loss.

Luo Jiaquan, a Shiranui grower in Danleng County, Sichuan Province: At home they were simply rotting, rotting and spoiling. What's the main reason they couldn't be sold? It's that the sales side is too poor.

Luo Jiayu, a Shiranui grower in Danleng County, Sichuan Province: Back then this thing just couldn't fetch a price, one yuan or so, two yuan (per jin), and I had grafted a lot, then tore them out again.

Lu Ting: Back then the price was two yuan or so, one yuan or so (per jin), it happened. You tell me how much you could earn from this, you really couldn't earn much.

How could Shiranui sell so poorly? Lu Ting was puzzled.

One day, she took a few photos of Shiranui with her phone and posted them to WeChat Moments. To her surprise, many friends said they had never seen "Shiranui," and some even said that Shiranui sold for more than ten yuan per jin elsewhere. Such a high price surprised Lu Ting, and she wanted to go see for herself.

Lu Ting's mother Liu Qunying: One evening, she said, Mom, I'm setting off. I said, where are you going? She said, I'm going to learn about it, to bring a few bosses back to cooperate or something. She said she had checked online, which place is a big place, which place wholesales fruit. I said, okay, go by yourself, just don't get lost, I said, when you go, just don't get scammed, that's all.

But a month later, her daughter had not come back, yet several people showed up at Lu Ting's home. After just a few words, they proposed to order 5 million yuan worth of Shiranui. The figure of 5 million yuan gave Lu Ting's mother a fright.

Lu Ting's mother Liu Qunying: Of course I was surprised at the time. She called me, Tingting called me, saying a boss from Beijing had come to look at the Shiranui. Those people drove straight to our home, they were the bosses.

Reporter: Tingting still hadn't come back.

Lu Ting's mother Liu Qunying: At that time Lu Ting still hadn't come back.

The 5 million yuan order really was brought back by her daughter Lu Ting. But how did Lu Ting, who had never even had a job, manage it? This takes us back to a month earlier.

In November 2013, Lu Ting took the more than 1,000 yuan her mother had given her and made her first stop at the Beijing Xinfadi Agricultural Products Wholesale Market. She stayed for half a month straight. A stranger in a strange place, she approached everyone to talk about Shiranui. Stall owners, truck drivers, she let none of them slip by.