The story of Li Shanghou, a young man from Xiapu, returning home to start a business

"This year I plan to build 4 new chicken coops, increasing the annual number of free-range chickens raised from more than 2,000 to more than 6,000." A few days ago, in Shuimen Township, Xiapu County, Li Shanghou, a young man who returned home to start a business, said happily. After several days of continuous rain, he deliberately got up early, disinfected the nursery room, and then hurried to the construction site on the mountain to check on the progress of the new chicken coops. Recalling the early days of his entrepreneurship, Li Shanghou still remembers it vividly.

Returning home to start a business despite obstruction

Li Shanghou is from Chengtian Village, Shuimen Township, Xiapu County, a remote and impoverished place. After graduating from Fujian University of Technology in 2006, he entered a company in the provincial capital as an equipment engineer with a monthly salary of 3,000 yuan. His life was fairly comfortable, but as a restless person he always longed to carve out a world of his own.

Li Shanghou said that in his spare time he often watched CCTV's "Road to Wealth," and gradually the idea of returning home to start a business took root in his heart. In March 2010, Li Shanghou told his family that he wanted to go back to his hometown to raise chickens, and met with strong opposition. However, his mind was made up, and he resolutely resigned, carrying 600 chicks purchased from Nantong back to his hometown.

Li Shanghou's father looked at the chirping chicks in front of him with a livid face. He said: "Fine, since you want to come back to raise chickens, then take over the family pig farm too, and you will also be responsible for repaying the pig farm's debt of more than 100,000 yuan." His father tried to make Li Shanghou retreat in the face of difficulties.

Like his father, relatives and friends also kept gossiping, but Li Shanghou did not shrink back. Instead, he became even more determined to succeed.

Facing difficulties head-on and clearing a path through thorns

After the 600 chicks were brought back, Li Shanghou built a simple chicken coop at the foot of the mountain for raising them. Due to a lack of funds, on ordinary days he picked some wild grass that pigs ate and mixed it with rice bran to feed the chickens. Through his careful budgeting, the first batch of chickens was successfully marketed in September 2010. Li Shanghou was full of drive and soon bought another 800 chicks, but unexpectedly he then suffered a heavy blow.

"After the chicks were injected with the avian influenza vaccine, they were originally supposed to wait half a month until antibodies against avian influenza developed in their bodies before they could be released for free-range rearing. At the time I did not understand, and after only 3 days I released them into the woods. As a result, they all became infected and died." This blow caught Li Shanghou off guard, but it also made him understand that starting a business with only Passion is difficult to succeed. He began browsing forums, buying books, and often consulting and learning from the staff at the veterinary station... constantly enriching and expanding his knowledge of poultry farming.

In 2011, Li Shanghou borrowed 8,000 yuan from a classmate and bought 600 chicks again. Li Shanghou introduced that this batch of chicks was raised in the nursery room for one month, then began free-range rearing. During the day they moved and foraged freely in the woods, and after sunset they were fed some rice. After half a year they were successfully marketed, and some were given to relatives, friends, and classmates to taste. "Although I did not make money, because the taste was delicious, people spread the word and built a very good reputation, successfully opening up the sales market," he said.

In 2013, Li Shanghou set out to expand the scale of breeding, bought a truck, and built 3 new chicken coops. In 2015, he also formed the Shanye Agricultural Professional Cooperative, using the Internet to carry out simultaneous "online + offline" sales, with an annual marketed volume of more than 2,000 free-range chickens and revenue of 160,000 yuan. In 2016, Fujian Province carried out the "Hundred Enterprises Linked to Hundred Villages" activity. Fujian Zongheng Group was paired to assist Chengtian Village. Li Shanghou learned that Zongheng Group had multiple hotels under it, with an annual demand for nearly 7,000 free-range chickens. He seized the opportunity, established a cooperative relationship with the group, and began order-based production, ushering in another spring of development.

Driving villagers to increase income and become wealthy

As his breeding business developed, Li Shanghou began thinking about helping villagers develop production, increase income, and become wealthy.

In 2016, Chengtian Village carried out a new round of targeted poverty alleviation work, and Li Shanghou joined the assistance team through the connection of the village two committees. Through household visits, Li Shanghou learned that some people had fallen back into poverty due to illness, and some were unable to develop production due to a lack of funds and technology. In order to help the people, he mobilized poor households to raise local poultry. He passed on the scientific breeding techniques and management knowledge he had mastered over the years to poor households, and according to their wishes provided poultry seedlings free of charge, signed assistance and cooperation agreements with them, and promised to purchase products at no lower than the market protection price.

Weng Qiying, a low-income household recipient, is nearly 70 years old. Her daughter has married into another village. Both she and her husband are disabled and unable to work. Their only source of livelihood is the 2 mu of tea garden at home. Because it was neglected, the yield was low and the price was low, and the income obtained was hard to sustain them.

In early April this year, Weng Qiying and her husband adopted more than 10 chicks from Li Shanghou. Every two or three days, Li Shanghou went to their place to check the chicks' growth. His conscientious and responsible attitude gave Weng Qiying and her husband a "reassurance pill," and they gained confidence in escaping poverty through breeding. In mid-April, the couple adopted more than 60 more chicks.

Like Weng Qiying and her husband, more than 10 poor households in the village, driven by Li Shanghou, also began raising poultry one after another. At present, the cooperative's business model of driving poor households has been generally recognized by the villagers, and has also attracted more and more farmers to request joining the cooperative. More than 20 farming households have already joined.