Wu Zenghai does not forget his neighbors after getting rich through hard work
On the morning of April 7, Wu Zenghai from Xinguang Village, Laofeng Town, Anqing Economic Development Zone, once again brought several villagers from neighboring villages to his contracted fish pond, teaching them breeding experience hand by hand. In recent years, the area of Wu Zenghai's contracted fish pond has expanded from 50 mu at the beginning to more than 140 mu. The breeding varieties involve different aquatic products such as grass carp, crucian carp, snakehead, and crab. The total annual output is 30 tons, and the total benefit is nearly 220,000 yuan. In addition to getting rich himself, Wu Zenghai also took the initiative to organize and drive the villagers around him who wanted to engage in aquaculture to get rich together, becoming a "famous rich man" in the mouths of his fellow villagers. Because he got rich through hard work and led the surrounding villagers to get rich, Wu Zenghai was also elected as an Anqing Good Person in the second quarter of 2015.
Wu Zenghai told an Anqing Evening News reporter that, in fact, his family was very poor. At the age of 16, he began to travel around Anhui Province, Shenzhen, Jiangsu, and other places to work. He had been a bricklayer and sold vegetables... "At that time, I had no specialty and no skills, so I could only rush around and toil for a living." Wu Zenghai said, "At that time, I always wanted to return to my hometown and do something."
Finally, after years of hard work, Wu Zenghai returned to his hometown with the money he had saved through frugal living, and set his sights on the lotus ponds of different sizes scattered around the village. In mid-2003, through the coordination of the Xinguang Village committee, Wu Zenghai used all his savings over the years to contract 50 mu of fish ponds and engage in breeding aquatic products such as grass carp and crucian carp. In order to take better care of the fish pond, he built a "small house" of three or four square meters beside the pond with straw and bamboo, and he always stayed there no matter whether it was windy or rainy, freezing cold or scorching heat. Hard work pays off. The next year, he smoothly earned nearly 50,000 yuan, obtaining the first bucket of gold in his entrepreneurship.
Just as this fish pond contracted by Wu Zenghai was gradually getting on track, in 2008, due to the need to build a railway, the fish pond contracted by Wu Zenghai was also included in the expropriation scope. At this time, the fry Wu Zenghai had put in had only been there for just over a month. Just when the village officials were thinking about how to visit Wu Zenghai to do his work, he said nothing and moved away the facilities near his fish pond. Seeing all this, the village found another fish pond for him so that he could continue breeding. At present, the total area of the fish pond contracted by Wu Zenghai has reached more than 140 mu. Under the guidance of experts guiding fishery science and technology into households, the breeding varieties also involve many different aquatic products such as grass carp, crucian carp, snakehead, and crab, with a total annual output of 30 tons and a total benefit of nearly 220,000 yuan.
Seeing that Wu Zenghai had made considerable profits in aquaculture, the surrounding villagers were also eager to try. But because they did not understand aquaculture, they wanted to consult Wu Zenghai, yet they worried that Wu Zenghai would not teach them such a "good thing." After Wu Zenghai learned of this situation, he took the initiative to visit them to discuss it, offer them advice, and share his many years of breeding experience. With his help, he ultimately led more than a dozen villagers to engage in aquaculture. Now, they often sit together to discuss and exchange ideas on various aquaculture issues, such as how to better expand the breeding scope, which fish vaccine to use, what the bred fish eat so as to ensure product quality, and which aquatic products have sold well in the market in the past two years.
"When I was working away from home, I was alone far from my hometown. When I was young, I had no experience, suffered many losses, and endured much hardship. But thanks also to some warm-hearted people out there, they taught me a lot. Now that I have the ability to help others, there is no need to hide or keep things secret. Everyone getting rich together makes life better for all, and can also give me a few more colleagues who can help me when necessary. Only by discussing together and sharing experience and insights can we do aquaculture better. Why not do it?" Wu Zenghai told the reporter with a smile.