The entrepreneurial story of Xiao Yuhe, a disabled man: Holding up a blue sky with his own hands

Xiao Yuhe and his wife

December 8 was a special day for Xiao Yuhe of Qingshan Village, Chengguan Town, Puding County. At the citywide on-site meeting on entrepreneurship and employment for disabled people, he spoke as a "model of self-reliance" for disabled people with the speech "Starting a Business Alone to Promote Development and Compose a New Poem of Life." Xiao Yuhe told reporters: "This is the first time in my life standing on such a stage, telling disabled friends about my own entrepreneurial experience. This is both an honor and a responsibility, spurring me on to continue working hard and lead more disabled friends onto the road to prosperity."

The 48-year-old Xiao Yuhe currently owns Yuhe Colored Tile Factory, Yuhe Planting Farm, and Guizhou Yutai Kang Environmental Protection Tableware Co., Ltd., and is already a boss with tens of millions in assets. Looking back on more than twenty years in business, Xiao Yuhe has too many feelings and hardships to recount. No matter how difficult the road ahead, he always firmly believes that "the road will get better and better, and things will get smoother and smoother!"

Due to a car accident, Xiao Yuhe was left disabled in his legs and shoulder bone. His wife has been half-paralyzed for many years due to rheumatoid arthritis and has been bedridden for a long time. In order to maintain the family economy and to treat his wife's illness, Xiao Yuhe once went out to work as a laborer, and he worked in the live pig sales business for more than ten years. Gradually, Xiao Yuhe found that competition in the live pig selling business was growing and business was sluggish, so he pondered for years over what to switch to. Once in Pingba he discovered a factory making colored tiles. When he learned that new rural construction was underway and that demand for collected tiles was large with good prospects, the smart Xiao Yuhe was moved inside. After discussing it with his wife at home, he began conducting a market feasibility survey and used more than 2 mu of family land to set up a colored tile factory. With the help of the Puding Disabled Persons' Federation, after many times borrowing money from the credit union and seeking support from relatives and friends, he finally raised 340,000 yuan in start-up capital to set up the factory, purchased equipment for making colored tiles, and put up a simple workshop. In order to master the technique of making colored tiles, he spent 5,000 yuan to hire two technicians from "Rongchang Machinery Factory" in Henan Province to provide guidance in making colored tiles. Hard work pays off, and he quickly learned the entire production technique for making colored tiles.

In December 2010, the colored tile factory began operating and producing. Because the colored tiles were of solid quality and reasonably priced, they were not only sold to Xixiu District, Liupanshui, and the areas around Puding's urban area, but also shipped far to Bijie, Zhijin, Xingyi, and other places. The colored tile business was booming. By February 2012, he had not only repaid the 340,000 yuan in debt, but also renovated and added a second floor of 300 sq m of housing, and at the same time repaired the factory building occupying more than 2 mu.

From March 2012 to February 2013, sales revenue from colored tiles reached 1.14 million yuan, with net income of more than 400,000 yuan. The 5 disabled people at his factory could each receive a monthly wage of 2,000-3,000 yuan. Years of hard work had earned him others' respect, and he began to have a smile on his face.

With the help of the Puding Disabled Persons' Federation, in March 2011 Xiao Yuhe also founded Puding County Yuhe Planting Farm, investing 300,000 yuan to plant 200 mu of pear trees. The next year, he interplanted more than 60 mu of the Chinese medicinal herb Platycodon grandiflorus (balloon flower), 25 mu of Atractylodes macrocephala (largehead atractylodes), and more than 10 mu of Peucedanum praeruptorum in the planting farm. In 2015, income from the planting industry reached more than 200,000 yuan, providing employment for 5 disabled people.

Xiao Yuhe said: "My mother is blind in both eyes, I became disabled because of a car accident, and my wife is also disabled. I especially understand the hardships of disabled people, so creating employment platforms for disabled people is something I must always uphold."

This year, with the repeated care, encouragement, and help of the Anshun City and Puding County Disabled Persons' Federations, Xiao Yuhe invested 10 million yuan to build Guizhou Yutai Kang Environmental Protection Tableware Co., Ltd. The company covers an area of 8,100 sq m. The project is expected to be completed and go into production next year, and plans to arrange centralized employment for 60 disabled people. The project uses corn as a raw material, and the environmentally friendly tableware produced can be eaten. The eco-friendly waste can also be crushed and fed to livestock. It is a project with good development prospects and good social benefits.

Xiao Yuhe's spirit of unremitting self-improvement has inspired many disabled people around him. Often there are people who come to learn techniques or to work and earn money, and Xiao Yuhe is able to help those in need within his means. His story has become a much-told tale locally. His wife said: "I really hate that I am so disappointing. Sometimes when I look at his hardworking figure rushing about, my tears keep flowing. We should be grateful for his kindness to disabled people and to me." This year, Xiao Yuhe was honored by the Provincial Disabled Persons' Federation and the Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security as an advanced individual and provincial model of self-reliance for disabled people. He said: "I always firmly believe that nothing in the world is difficult for one who sets his mind to it. I will continue to work hard to open up a blue sky for disabled people to start businesses on their own."