Zhu Fude, a man with a disability: making liquor + raising pigs, a path to prosperity
Recently, a reporter from this website visited Liuying Town, Santai County, Sichuan Province, for an exclusive interview with Zhu Fude, an entrepreneur with a disability.
Zhu Fude, 52 this year, has a level-2 physical disability. He is not tall, dresses plainly, has a dark face and a simple, honest smile. Though disabled, his spirit is strong; with a bold, enterprising attitude and a firm belief in life, and with the government's support, he has brewed out a "road to happiness" through making liquor + raising pigs. When I met him, he was using his big, calloused hands to grip a shovel and work in the pigpen, while the pigs in the pen went "oink, oink" and snorted "puff, puff," making a ruckus.
Looking back on Zhu Fude's entrepreneurial journey, I became more and more interested and asked him: "What is your secret to success?" His answer was: "You have to be able to endure hardship, you have to dare to act, and then come up with good ideas in your head, and you can build something!" Zhu Fude said: he took the right path! What he gained was not only money, but also the value of himself as a person with a disability.
Zhu Fude is straightforward by nature and quite talkative. As I chatted with him, his eyes flashed with wisdom. He said that more than 40 years ago, while playing with firecrackers, one accidentally exploded, causing a disability in his right hand. He dropped out of school before finishing primary school and stayed at home. As an adult, he saw that grown-ups would drink liquor every time they ate, and if any family had some event, it went without saying. To make a living, he borrowed money from relatives and friends and went many times to Mianzhu, Shifang, Suining, Luzhou and other places to inspect and learn liquor-making techniques on site. Later he started a liquor workshop, and through wind and rain, he kept at it for more than ten years. Seeing that the profits were not large, he gave it up.
In 2013, Santai County, together with the Mianyang City Disabled Persons' Federation, launched a "people's livelihood project" to help people with disabilities find employment and start businesses, and vigorously developed supportive policies for breeding. From then on, with startup funding support from the county Disabled Persons' Federation, Zhu Fude invested 50,000 yuan and created a breeding base with more than 50 head of cattle sold per year, with an annual profit of more than 30,000 yuan.
Making liquor + raising pigs is a steady earn, never a loss
"Opportunity always favors the prepared mind." Once, by chance, he saw a piece of information on TV: making liquor and raising pigs is a steady earn, never a loss, and by using distillers' grains to make high-efficiency feed, the "zero-cost pig-raising method" can earn hundreds of yuan more per pig than traditional pig raising. Thinking that raising cattle takes too long a cycle and yields little profit, Zhu Fude was thrilled to see this news. Wasn't this a startup project tailor-made for him?
Making liquor + raising pigs not only lowers the cost of raising pigs, but also draws on his mature liquor-making skills. A heart moved is better than action.
In 2014, with startup funding support from the Santai County Disabled Persons' Federation, he invested more than 150,000 yuan and converted the cattle pen into a farm that can hold more than 200 pigs. Excited, Zhu Fude used his spare rooms and, relying on traditional techniques, took up his old trade again and resumed traditional liquor making. This allows multiple uses of resources: distillers' grains are made into highly nutritious complete feed to feed the pigs, greatly reducing breeding costs. Each year he can sell more than 400 fattened pigs. Because he uses traditional techniques to make liquor, the workshop produces nearly 100 jin of liquor a day. "Use conscience, brew good liquor." The liquor brewed is not only pure in quality and clear in color, but also fragrant in taste, with a full range of varieties at over 40 degrees, over 50 degrees, over 60 degrees and over 70 degrees. Zhu Fude did not hire professional salespeople like other large factories, nor did he go to the market to promote. Through customers telling one another after buying, he won unanimous approval from consumers, and the price is moderate. Now, demand exceeds supply, and customers must place orders in advance.
At present, annual net profit reaches more than 40,000 yuan.
One flower blooming alone is not spring; a hundred flowers blooming together fill the garden with spring
Zhu Fude treats making liquor + raising pigs as his career, and his wallet has grown fuller. In the local area, he can be considered a boss of no small size, and his days are lived with relish. Many people do not understand him: he is a person with a disability, why take on so much?! But Zhu Fude believes that he does not regret the path he has taken at all, and that for a person with a disability, being able to realize his own value is the greatest happiness. In order to reduce the burden on the country, at present, besides himself, he has hired two workers, one of whom is a young man with a slight intellectual disability. This not only solves his own employment but also drives other people with disabilities to develop and prosper.
At present, besides himself, the liquor workshop has hired two workers, one of whom is a young man with a slight intellectual disability. This not only solves his own employment but also drives other people with disabilities to develop.
"I am a person with a disability. I never expected that making liquor + raising pigs would give me the happiness I have today, and my days are no worse than others'... Thanks to the government, which helped me get through one difficulty after another." Zhu Fude said gratefully, his face full of pride.