How did Li Zhicai become the golden phoenix of Wutong Village?
"Since moving in in 2013, I have never gone back to my home in the county town. Five to seven days after the chicks hatch, they must be vaccinated, once every seven days; miss one and the whole batch is done for. During that time, I get up twice every night to heat the chicken coop and check whether the temperature is right. If it is too high, I open the windows; if too low, I close them." On April 12, Li Zhicai, chairwoman of the Dafa Ecological Breeding Farmers' Cooperative in Qinglong County, Guizhou Province, told a reporter from China Women's News with a smile.
"Others rise at the crow of the rooster; we rise earlier than the chickens and go to bed later than they do." Several losses still make Li Zhicai shudder when she thinks of them, so much so that she guards the chicken coop every day; only by watching the chickens can she feel at ease.
She dropped out in the first year of junior high school and went to Guangzhou to work. Life in Guangzhou was not easy, however, and two years later she returned to her hometown, where she met her current husband, Xu Hailong. After the Spring Festival, the two went to work at a hatchery in Guiyang.
"A year later, we got married, and we had spent all the money we earned from working," Li Zhicai said with a smile.
To make a living, Li Zhicai borrowed money from her mother and bought 1,600 chicks. From then on, Li Zhicai and her husband began raising chickens on their own to get rich.
To create better living conditions for their child, Li Zhicai and her husband came to Qinglong County town. They sold vegetables wholesale and worked in a supermarket; after earning some money, the couple again planned to raise chickens. However, the freezing weather that swept across southwest China in 2008 left the young couple with not a penny to their name.
It was not until the second half of last year that Li Zhicai's chicken farm began to improve.
"Why build the cooperative in Wutong Village group?" Li Zhicai's answer was a little unexpected: "The mountains and waters here are beautiful. With a good environment, the chickens grow well too."
"Although Guangzhao Town has beautiful mountains and waters, the farmers' economic awareness is poor and economic development lags; it is a typical agricultural and ethnic minority poor township." Deng Ruilan, head of Guangzhao Town, told a reporter from China Women's News that Li Zhicai and her husband not only wanted to get rich themselves, but also led 54 nearby poor households to get rich together.
"For the 54 poor households, each gets 200 to 300 chicks. Chicks sell to others for 10 yuan each, but not a cent is charged to the poor households; that alone is over 100,000 yuan." Xie Yihui, chairwoman of the Qinglong County Women's Federation, told a reporter from China Women's News that not only that, but when the chickens grow up, she is also responsible for buying them back, and all the money from the sales goes to the poor households, without her earning a single cent.
For Cen Kamei, Li Zhicai also regularly delivers corn, "so the chickens won't starve to death again."
"To build this cooperative, the town not only gave 50,000 yuan in support funds, but also gave 150,000 yuan in subsidized loans, and even helped us contact big clients and sign a 600,000 yuan contract." Li Zhicai's smile carried seriousness: the government has given us so much help, so it is only right that I help these dozens of poor households.