The returning leader leads the mountain village folks to common prosperity

The wealth-building "leading goose" who flew back to the mountain village

In Lulin Gou Village, Huima Town, Daying County, new vitality has emerged over the past two years: roads are open, the water is beautiful and the fish are fat, and spotted deer roam in herds... The person who brought about these changes is Zhao Yijie, a returning entrepreneur. A boss who left the mountain village has turned around to become the "leading goose" driving villagers to prosperity, and he has staged an extraordinary tale of entrepreneurship.

From 1 stall to 5 storefronts

A young man from a poor family fights his way to become the "leather shoe king"

"It took more than 20 years to jump out of the 'farm gate,' but only a few months to jump back into the 'farm gate.'" When the reporter met Zhao Yijie, he had just finished a breeding skills training session. A gray coat, a dark-tanned face, and an iPhone 4 that had long since fallen out of fashion revealed a plainness inconsistent with Zhao Yijie's status.

In 1991, Zhao Yijie, who had just graduated from the animal husbandry program at Guihua Vocational Middle School, returned home to raise rabbits. Over two years, his breeding scale expanded from a few dozen to several hundred, attracting many breeders to come and "learn from him," and he even held training classes.

However, rabbit farming did not go smoothly. In 1993, the rabbit farm, which had already expanded to a scale of over a thousand, began to see large numbers of deaths. With inadequate technology and insufficient funds, the rabbit farm soon reached a point of struggle. Zhao Yijie not only lost 50,000 yuan in savings, but also spent the compensation his father had received after being injured. After the breeding farm closed, Zhao Yijie came to the urban area of Suining City with only 800 yuan to make his way. From a sought-after rabbit-raising expert to a down-and-out street vendor, the huge gap did not make him give up, but instead made him face challenges even more actively.

400 yuan to rent a room, 400 yuan to rent a stall, and he could only stock goods on credit. In this way, Zhao Yijie set up a street stall on Yufeng Street. On the first day, Zhao Yijie earned 30 yuan. In the first month, Zhao Yijie earned more than 1,500 yuan. Unlike other stall owners, Zhao Yijie liked to observe in his spare time how well the vendors on the street were doing. He soon noticed that several leather shoe stores were doing very brisk business. Through his efforts, he later opened a leather shoe store at the Yucai Road intersection.

Relying on hard work and willingness to put in effort, the leather shoe store quickly expanded to 5 storefronts. Zhao Yijie opened a "leather shoe supermarket" and became a widely known "leather shoe king."

Many ups and downs in the business sea

A millionaire returns home to serve as the "leading goose" for prosperity

After 2003, the commercial environment in Suining underwent new changes. The emergence of a group of large shopping malls such as Moore Spring Department Store, Yongyi Department Store, and Shenghuatang brought shocks to the traditional market. Zhao Yijie's leather shoe supermarket bore the brunt. With customers plummeting and labor costs rising sharply, Zhao Yijie decisively decided to close the leather shoe supermarket. After that, he opened a feed factory and also worked in real estate development, becoming a veritable millionaire.

Though prosperous, he never forgot his hometown. Every time he returned home and saw the barren land of his hometown, Zhao Yijie always felt heartache.

In 2013, the No. 1 Central Document proposed the concept of "family farms" for the first time, and encouraged and supported the transfer of contracted land to specialized large-scale operators, family farms, and farmers' cooperatives. It was in this year that Zhao Yijie returned to his hometown, Lulin Gou Village, and successively established Sichuan Zhengfa Aquaculture Co., Ltd., Sichuan Zhengpin Agricultural Development Co., Ltd., and Sanhe Family Farm, preparing to make a big move in agriculture. With inconvenient transportation and scarce resources, although he had grown up in the countryside since childhood, what industry to develop stumped Zhao Yijie. To this end, he visited multiple provinces and cities to investigate. He found that in recent years, the international trade volume of deer antler velvet and deer products had continued to expand, and prices had continued to rise. In the end, Zhao Yijie decided to take the path of specialized breeding, raising sika deer and pheasants, which have significant economic benefits.

In 2014, a breeding farm with a scale of 800 sika deer was completed in Lulin Gou Village. In 2015, the first batch of 200 sika deer raised in the initial phase underwent their first antler velvet harvest, with an output value of more than 2 million.

However, Zhao Yijie's vision was not limited to this. As a dryland village not near rivers, Lulin Gou Village was greatly restricted in agricultural development. In order to change the water shortage situation, Zhao Yijie boldly proposed aquaculture. He said: "Since we lack water, let's store water. With water, both animal husbandry and crop farming can develop."

This move, which the villagers regarded as inconceivable, brought enormous changes to Lulin Gou Village. Today, the village's more than 300 mu of fish ponds not only store irrigation water for farmers, but also bring huge economic benefits. "Last year alone, income from aquaculture reached 500,000 yuan," Zhao Yijie said with a smile.

The development of agricultural industrialization changed the countryside and also enriched the villagers. Zhao Jihu, a technician at the fish ponds, was one of the beneficiaries. Zhao Jihu can receive a fixed salary of more than 3,000 yuan each month, and his wife Li Yunfang is a technician at the pheasant breeding farm. "Now we don't have to go out to work. We earn money and can also take care of the elderly and children at home."

In Zhao Yijie's company, more than 20 workers are all local villagers. After the land transfer, they became "agricultural workers" on this land. In addition to receiving transfer fees and wages, they can also obtain dividends by joining with land shares.

In December 2015, relying on the breeding farm and family farm opened by Zhao Yijie, the Daying County Qipin Breeding Professional Cooperative was officially established, with 381 member households. The cooperative drives farmers to increase income and become prosperous through sika deer, pheasant, and aquaculture.

Pregnant female deer in the farm pens are about to give birth, fish in the ponds are growing vigorously, colorful pheasants are happily foraging on the hills, and the broad embankment reserves development space for leisure and sightseeing agriculture behind it... "The scale of the breeding farm has now reached 600 mu, with nearly 16 million invested. In the next phase, I will also expand the field and develop leisure and sightseeing agriculture," Zhao Yijie said with a smile.