How the man who makes money from fish skin did it

Program highlights: With over 1000 degrees of myopia and a grinning face that never closes its mouth, he is the "Mr. Bean" whom everyone laughs at in the city of Shaoxing. Mr. Bean raises fish unusually; others have their special skills, but he has a fish-catching gadget. An accidental discovery let him multiply the price of fish 5 times. An ordinary grass carp worth 20 yuan could be sold by him for over 100 yuan. His fish skin cannot be torn apart or pulled apart, and it sells for over a million a year. See how Ma Weiqiang of Shaoxing, Zhejiang, discovered a business opportunity in fish skin and created wealth.

On October 28, 2015, when the reporter came to Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province, for an interview, Ma Weiqiang was holding a tasting event here. The format of this tasting event was very special: participants not only had to be blindfolded, but also had to guess what exactly they were eating while unable to see.

Ma Weiqiang: Blindfold all your eyes.

Citizen: I can't see.

Ma Weiqiang: That's the point, you're not supposed to see. Blindfold yourselves, don't peek. Today we're mainly holding a tasting event. Blindfold your eyes, and I'll let you try this thing. Guess what it is, and if you guess right, I'll give you some small rewards later.

Ma Weiqiang is a small business owner in Shaoxing City, and he can always come up with many fun ideas to attract business. After announcing the rules, Ma Weiqiang hurriedly distributed the food. At this point, everyone was blindfolded and had no idea what they were about to eat.

Ma Weiqiang: Guess what this thing is. Come on, young lady. Taste what's inside.

Citizen: Did I pick it up?

Citizen: Did I pick it up? Where is it? Why can't I feel it?

Citizen: I can't pick it up. How am I supposed to eat it?

Ma Weiqiang: Do you know what this thing is?

Citizen: I can't tell by eating it. Let me feel it. Is it starch skin or some kind of skin? It's slippery.

Citizen: A little sweet, a little sour, a little spicy, like cold-dressed seafood fish.

What was in the cup was a new dish Ma Weiqiang had just developed. Some guessed it was noodles, some said fish. As for what it actually was, no one could say. Seeing everyone eating enthusiastically, Ma Weiqiang got excited and promptly brought out another new dish for everyone to keep guessing.

Ma Weiqiang: Taste it, the second dish. This is the same kind of thing, is it the same?

Customer: Not the same. Just now it was boiled, now it's cold-dressed or something, but it's very chewy.

Customer: Like shredded jellyfish, but jellyfish isn't like this either.

What exactly were they eating? Everyone guessed for a long time without any result. In the end, Ma Weiqiang simply had everyone remove their blindfolds to see for themselves. But who would have thought that after seeing what was in the cups, everyone suddenly became a bit frightened.

Reporter: What kind of skin is this?

Customer: I don't know either. It looks like frog skin.

Customer: I really can't eat this. It's a bit scary, it looks like snake skin.

Customer: A bit like snake skin.

What everyone ate was actually just ordinary fish skin. Because fish skin is rarely made into a dish on its own, many people could not recognize it by taste. By making fish skin snacks, Ma Weiqiang achieved sales of over a million yuan in 2014.

Ma Weiqiang, 40 years old this year, is a well-known small business owner in Shaoxing City. Because he wears glasses with over 1000 degrees of myopia and likes to giggle foolishly whenever he has nothing to do, everyone gave him the nickname "Mr. Bean." "Mr. Bean" Ma Weiqiang wears a happy face wherever he goes.

Friend: His glasses look really funny. Don't you think? He's carefree and looks silly. We all call him Silly Two, and he makes everyone laugh.

Ma Weiqiang: Though the shop is small, it has everything.

Everyone who knows Ma Weiqiang knows that he is a true joy-bringer. Because he is good at business, he can not only sell ordinary grass carp worth over 20 yuan for over 100 yuan each, raising the price 5 times. He also built a fish fry breeding base in Shaoxing City that combines aquaculture and leisure, leading more than 20 farmers to raise fish together. In addition, Ma Weiqiang owns 2 restaurants in Shaoxing City and has reached a cooperation with a school to contract its cafeteria. Ma Weiqiang is the object of envy among those around him. However, during the interview, the reporter found that behind his smile there was not only much bitterness that ordinary people cannot understand, but even on his wrist, two scars left by suicide could be seen. So what exactly had Ma Weiqiang been through, and how did he discover a business opportunity in fish skin and create wealth?

This is Ma Weiqiang's hometown, Gulai Town, Shengzhou City, Zhejiang Province. On this day, Ma Weiqiang made a special trip back to visit his son, who was still in school. Father and son had not seen each other for more than half a year. Once, Ma Weiqiang failed in starting a business and owed more than 200,000 yuan in debts in his hometown. He could not even come up with his child's tuition.

Ma Weiqiang felt extremely guilty. In extreme despair, he chose to commit suicide. In September 2003, in this very room, Ma Weiqiang cut his wrist. If his father had not discovered it in time, he could not have survived to now.

Ma Weiqiang: At that time I really did not want to live anymore. A person from a rural mountain area, starting a business like this, failing like this. Now when I think about it, I truly let my old dad down. Whenever I see these two places, the scars, they remind me that I must be strong, find a way, and find another way. In everything I do, I must put in more effort than ordinary people.

The suicide caused severe trauma to Ma Weiqiang's body. Because he had once lost too much blood and his brain had been deprived of oxygen for too long, his reaction ability and speed of movement declined a lot compared with before.

To support his family, Ma Weiqiang went out to work. After drifting for 7 years, in March 2010, he heard people say that raising grass carp had low costs and brought money quickly, so he contracted a fish pond covering more than 50 mu on the outskirts of Shaoxing City, wanting to make money by raising grass carp.

Knowing nothing about fish farming, Ma Weiqiang was like a living Mr. Bean. Working while wearing glasses with over 1000 degrees of myopia, he was not only clumsy, but often even managed to fall into the water himself while casting a net. To raise the fish well, Ma Weiqiang worked very hard, but before he could even learn to cast a net, something went wrong in the fish pond.

One day in September 2010, Ma Weiqiang was cutting grass in the field when suddenly he heard a loud splashing commotion coming from the fish pond. Feeling that something was wrong, Ma Weiqiang hurried over to look. Who would have thought that the entire lake surface was shimmering with waves, and tens of thousands of fish were thrashing desperately. The scene stunned him completely.

Ma Weiqiang: "They all jumped up with a splash. This year I thought the fish had been raised very successfully, and it was sure to be a big harvest year. I never expected that after a few minutes they all sank down again. I was completely stunned at the time."

In just about ten minutes, all the fish in the pond had died. Only then did the stunned Ma Weiqiang suddenly remember that when installing the aerator, in order to save money, he had not hired a professional electrician and had installed it entirely based on his own experience. The aerator accidentally leaked electricity, and the fish were electrocuted to death. In less than half a year of fish farming, he had lost more than 30,000 yuan.