Returning home to grow vegetables and start a business again: How Shiyan Town in Chongqing does it

On April 22, walking into a vegetable base in Group 5 of Shiyan Village, Shiyan Town, a "sea of vegetables" came into view. In the drizzle, the glossy vegetables looked fresh and tender, full of vitality.

The base owner, Zhou Lei, had just returned from delivering vegetables to Dianjiang. His face was full of joy, with no sign of fatigue: "Both truckloads of vegetables sold out. I'll continue tomorrow."

"We owe it all to him. The village's land has not been left abandoned, and the left-behind elderly have work too," said Yu Lihe, the village Party branch secretary, gratefully.

Zhou Lei, 34 this year, is from Shiyan Village, Shiyan Town. In 2014, after working away from home for years, he brought all his savings back to his hometown and leased more than 250 mu of land to grow vegetables.

As a white-collar worker, he had escaped the farm, so why did he turn back and become a vegetable farmer? Relatives and friends were puzzled, but Zhou Lei did not waver. Because deep in his heart, he had always kept a secret.

In the year his father passed away, their plain and simple life was broken. The family's main breadwinner was gone, his younger brother was still in school, and his mother was often ill, so life became tight. Neighbors reached out one after another, letting him feel care and warmth and helping him through the hardest period. "These things may seem trivial, but I have always remembered them."

Later, he went out to work. Through his diligence and steadiness, he entered management, with a monthly income of more than 6,000 yuan, and his work and life were stable.

When he returned home for the Spring Festival in 2013, he saw large tracts of land abandoned, with only the elderly, the weak, women and children left in the village. The villagers who had helped him back then were not living as well as one would hope. He saw it and kept it in his heart, and soon afterward, the idea of returning home to grow vegetables sprouted.

"The state strongly advocates developing agriculture, and the village's infrastructure is gradually improving, so farming should work," Zhou Lei persuaded his family. Another reason was to be grateful to his hometown and repay those who had helped him.

In 2014, the vegetable base was established. The workers were all from the village, including 3 poor households, more than 30 people in total. "Thanks to him, my family finally shook off poverty last year," said villager Yu Changqing. Zhou Lei took good care of the villagers, arranged easy work, and they earned nearly 1,000 yuan a month, so life became more regular.

What moved Yu Lihe, the village Party branch secretary, most was that at the end of last year, when the annual rent was about to be paid, the vegetable base had only just gotten on track. The early investment had used up all of Zhou Lei's savings, and he had even borrowed money. They had thought the rent might have to wait until the next year, but Zhou Lei borrowed money everywhere and scraped together more than 150,000 yuan to pay the villagers' rent in full. "I know they would not press me, but people must keep their word. Be a good person first, then do things," Zhou Lei said.

"I must grow the vegetables well to repay everyone's help," Zhou Lei told the reporter. In the two years of growing vegetables, the town government and the agriculture committee helped him build a production access road, and the district supply and marketing cooperative and town agricultural machinery personnel provided free technology and fertilizer. Village officials and villagers were all very supportive... At present, his vegetables are mainly sold to Chongqing's three major wholesale markets as well as large supermarkets in Dianjiang, Fuling, Jiangjin and other places, and there is no worry about sales at all.

"At present, I am preparing to establish a cooperative. I want to adopt a base + farmers model, where villagers only handle growing and I handle sales, leading villagers to increase income and become better off," Zhou Lei planned this way.