The tough woman of the orchard works hard, and women are in no way inferior to men.

She is the caring and capable secretary of more than 2,000 villagers in Liantang Village, Leping City, the chairperson of a cooperative managing more than 1,000 mu of pear orchard planting base, and was once elected a provincial model worker and named an outstanding Chinese economic woman. She is Wei Qiuxiang, the famously prominent leader of the fruit industry in Leping City, known as the "tough woman."

However, when we met Wei Qiuxiang in person, we were still greatly surprised. She is petite, with shoulder-length hair and a delicate face, and she speaks softly and gently. Where was there even a trace of a "tough woman"?

"I am not a tough woman, but I truly am not afraid of hardship." When mentioning her "elegant nickname," Wei Qiuxiang smiled gently, as if the hardships of many years ago had long since vanished like smoke. Wei Qiuxiang had been optimistic since childhood and excelled in school. After graduating from junior high school, she was admitted to a key high school but was unable to attend, and instead went to work early. Over more than ten years, she helped out on a farm, waited tables in a restaurant, sold insurance, and even passed the exam to become the village's family planning specialist. Although she did not save much money, she broadened her horizons, tempered her will, and increased her courage.

In 2001, Wei Qiuxiang, then only 30 years old, and her husband Wei Haican took a fancy to the barren hills of Liantang Village in their hometown of Zhongbu Town, resolutely contracted 50 mu of barren hills, and traveled to Xianju, Liyang, Fuyang and many other places in Zhejiang to inspect fruit tree cultivation. They successfully introduced and planted the new variety Cui Guan pear developed by the Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Just as the couple was preparing to throw themselves wholeheartedly into the endeavor, in early 2002, Wei Haican was diagnosed with end-stage uremia, and only a kidney transplant could save his life.

In rural areas at that time, many people simply did not believe that a kidney transplant could save a person's life, and relatives and friends also advised Wei Qiuxiang to give up so as to avoid "losing both the person and the money." However, the petite Wei Qiuxiang made up her mind: "As long as there is even a glimmer of hope, I will sell everything I have to get my husband a kidney transplant!" She tried every possible way to borrow money from classmates, friends, and relatives, scraped together the medical expenses, and alone accompanied her husband back and forth to hospitals in Shanghai for examinations and matching. During the more than three hundred days of waiting for a kidney source, Wei Qiuxiang endured days and nights of torment. Perhaps her firmness and persistence moved heaven, because in March 2003, a kidney source was found, and Wei Haican successfully underwent kidney transplant surgery.

Wei Qiuxiang saved her husband from the brink of death, and under her meticulous care he continued to live for another 9 years. During these long 9 years, Wei Qiuxiang bore pressure that even a strong man would find hard to shoulder, especially financial pressure. Her husband's surgery and hospitalization costs, post-discharge medication costs, and regular follow-up examination costs totaled more than 500,000 yuan. At that time, rural areas had not yet implemented cooperative medical care, so it all had to be repaid on their own. The orchard's early production investment required a large amount of funds, and their son studying in the city also needed money. What was to be done? Wei Qiuxiang had no choice but to steel herself, develop fruit production, and demand money from the barren hills to repay the debt.

Many years of village committee work experience and her good personal qualities gave Wei Qiuxiang an unusual vision and courage. In order to master the scientific cultivation techniques for Cui Guan pears as quickly as possible, while caring for her husband, she bought many professional books and materials and studied them hungrily, and invited experts to formulate an overall plan for the orchard's development and to guide land plowing, seedling cultivation, and other techniques. In just a few short years, Wei Qiuxiang learned the full set of fruit-growing skills, including bending branches, pruning, fertilizing, pest removal, and bagging, and became a widely known "local expert" in pear cultivation.

"Even though I am small, my courage is not small at all!" Recalling her entrepreneurial journey, Wei Qiuxiang was very proud. During the fruit trees' growing period, sometimes when she was busy late into the night, she still dared to walk home alone through the pitch-black mountain forest for one kilometer. In 2007, when the fruit trees bore their first bumper harvest, she dared to take workers to the fruit wholesale market in Fuzhou, Fujian, to promote their products. Later, in order to expand the orchard planting, instead of waiting for the agricultural support department to send people to help, she resolved to learn while doing and do while learning, and single-handedly handled the project plan, application materials, and account management. When fruit growers mention Qiuxiang, there is not one who does not give a thumbs-up.

Over several years, Wei Qiuxiang's fruit trees grew better and better, and driven by her example, many villagers also began to take up fruit cultivation. In order to improve the level of fruit cultivation and better resist market risks, Wei Qiuxiang once again showed her boldness. She first expanded her own planting area from the initial 50 mu to 200 mu, and at the same time led the villagers in building orchards on all 1,300 mu of the village's barren hills. She initiated the establishment of the Jiangxi Bailü Fruit Planting Professional Rural Cooperative, successfully registered the "Yuantian" trademark for Cui Guan pears, and implemented unified distribution of production materials and unified technical guidance. Today, the cooperative has 113 fruit-growing households, total assets of more than 4.8 million yuan, and last year produced more than 2 million jin of fresh fruit, achieving annual sales of more than 10 million yuan, with an average annual income of 56,000 yuan per member household. The fruit industry of Liantang Village has already become the leading industry for villagers to escape poverty and become prosperous, and Wei Qiuxiang has become a veritable bellwether. Last year she was elected secretary of the village Party branch. The professional cooperative she leads was also rated a demonstration farmers' professional cooperative of Jiangxi Province.