Why is Ling Gangji's black mud pond glittering with gold?

His wealth is in the mud, and getting it out is no simple matter. He is 30 years old but has ten years of entrepreneurial experience. Two heavy setbacks, two fresh starts, and he staked two years on a gamble. See how Ling Gangji of Chongqing became an entrepreneurial star through the snakehead fish industry.

During the interview, Ling Gangji took the reporter straight to his breeding base, saying his wealth was in this mud.

Ling Gangji: I say it is gold, it shines, it is all money.

But as soon as the reporter stepped into the pond, they sank into mud waist-deep.

Reporter: Ah, this mud is already up to my waist.

Ling Gangji: Are you moving?

Reporter: Ah, this leg is out. How do they walk so fast?

Ling Gangji: They walk in the mud pond all the time.

Reporter: No, I'm stuck again. My shoe is stuck in there.

Ling Gangji: One, two, up you go, one, two, up you go. Good, you're out.

In this mud pond where every step is a struggle, the reporter did not spot a single fish.

Ling Gangji: The fish have all burrowed down to the bottom of the mud. Because they are not at the water's surface, and the temperature is not high now. And this mud is soft, so they burrow down toward the bottom. If we scoop like this, we might still bring one out. Look, here is a really big one.

Reporter: So can this fish live in the mud?

Ling Gangji: It only hides in the mud temporarily, it still has to breathe fresh air.

Reporter: Then why do we have to drain the water to catch this fish today?

Ling Gangji: This fish pond today is a pond planted with lotus roots. When there are lotus roots, we cannot go into the pond to catch fish, because it would damage the lotus roots. Now that we have dug out the lotus roots, we can go into the pond to catch fish. For catching fish, because the density is not too high, we have to drain the water to catch them, which makes it a bit easier.

In this fish pond, Ling Gangji not only raises snakehead fish but also interplants lotus roots. In fact, when Ling Gangji first started raising snakehead fish, he was just like the reporter, finding it hard even to walk in the pond, let alone catch fish.

Ling Gangji: At first I did not know how to catch them either. As soon as I grabbed at a fish, it would flee. As soon as I grabbed at a fish, it would flee. But later, after catching many, I mastered the technique. Gradually, I could catch one with one hand, catch one with one hand, one at a time. It is a process of practice making perfect.

Reporter: I am not even walking now, I am kneeling.

Ling Gangji: Slow down, slow down.

Reporter: Kneeling spreads the pressure over a larger area. No, I am going to fall flat. It is so deep here.

Ling Gangji: Stand up first.

Reporter: I can't stand up.

Ling Gangji: Are you up?

Reporter: I'm up.

Reporter: Digging out fish is really hard work.

Ling Gangji: Look, our worker's face is covered in mud.

Reporter: Your face is covered in mud now too.

Ling Gangji: Am I muddy too? That is the true color of the working people.

Reporter: The worker catches fish so fast.

Ling Gangji: Can you catch one?

Reporter: Can't catch one.

Reporter: This one, this one, rinse it a bit.

Ling Gangji: It's fine, no need to rinse.

Cover its eyes. Impressive. Caught it in one go.

Reporter: Cover its eyes and it stops moving.

Ling Gangji: It's not moving, look.

Under Ling Gangji's guidance, the reporter gradually learned to catch fish too. The reporter suggested a contest with Ling Gangji to see who could catch faster.

Reporter: Come on, shall we start?

Ling Gangji: Start.

Reporter: This way makes it easier to catch.

Ling Gangji: Another one, they are all down in the mud.

But before the reporter had caught more than a few, they could not move again. Meanwhile, Ling Gangji had already caught a full bucket.

Ling Gangji: Now I still often go into the pond to catch fish myself. Working alongside the workers, leading them like this gives more drive. Looking at the fish I raised myself, catching them feels good in my heart, I'm happy.

After great effort, the reporter also caught a bucket of snakehead fish and came ashore looking a total mess.

Reporter: Finally back on land, I love seeing this hard ground.

Ling Gangji: Why is there a "2" on your forehead?

After pulling these snakehead fish up, Ling Gangji quickly washed them clean and loaded them into the vehicle. Then he sped off with the fish toward the next destination.

Ling Gangji: Red soup for you two. Scoop it bigger.

What Ling Gangji serves his guests is a red soup snakehead fish hot pot that he developed himself. And the snakehead fish in the pot is the very fish he had just pulled out of the pond that morning. Ling Gangji is not only an expert at snakehead fish farming in Chongqing, he has also opened 8 restaurants in Chongqing. His entrepreneurial story has moved many people locally.

Liu Jia, Secretary of the Communist Youth League Committee of Yongchuan District, Chongqing: Ling Gangji is a very enterprising and perceptive young entrepreneur. This young man can endure more hardship than ordinary young people of his age and has more of a fighting spirit and a persistent pursuit of his entrepreneurial dream. This moves us very much.

But this young man who moves others revealed regret about his past experiences during the interview.

Ling Gangji: I think I was rash, too unstable, this person was too unsteady; in fact, others, I guess everyone saw me that way too. At the time I just did not know it. If I had the steadiness I have now, I might have taken many fewer detours.

So why does Ling Gangji say he was too rash in the past? And how did he become a local role model for young entrepreneurs?

Ling Gangji is now 30 years old and already has ten years of entrepreneurial experience. In his friends' words, entrepreneurship is his greatest hobby.

Classmate Huang Bo: This guy just has no interests or hobbies, his greatest hobby is making money. He has very little spare time; most of the time he is busy managing his business, his affairs, building his ventures.

Huang Bo is Ling Gangji's university classmate, and in his eyes, Ling Gangji was different from other classmates from the moment he started university. In 2005, Ling Gangji was admitted to Chengdu University to study art design. As soon as he enrolled, he assembled computers and even opened an advertising studio. He was the first person at the school to drive to class in a car bought with money he earned himself. Starting in his junior year, Ling Gangji spotted the business opportunity in these glowing advertising characters that had just become popular in Chengdu, and borrowed 200,000 yuan to open an advertising production company.

Ling Gangji: At that time there were fewer than a hundred in Chengdu. Selling this kind of venue. Because for the entire Southwest region, demand was huge, and the profit margin was also huge. This drove me to do it quickly. Otherwise, once there were more, there would be no place to stand.

By 2009, Ling Gangji, about to graduate from university, had already earned more than 500,000 yuan, and he was planning to open an even bigger advertising company after graduation. Who would have thought that the upheaval that followed would make his then-girlfriend and now wife He Wei feel that life was as thrilling as winning the lottery.

Wife He Wei: It felt like winning the lottery. Maybe our life has been a bit more up and down, full of excitement.

One day in May 2009, one of Ling Gangji's workers accidentally fell while installing advertising characters and became disabled. This not only landed Ling Gangji in a lawsuit, but the more than 500,000 yuan he had earned over four years of university all went into compensation, and he also fell more than 200,000 yuan into debt.