Returning home to grow vegetables and start his own business, a disabled teacher from Yongnian takes the road to prosperity
He has had a hard fate. In his youth he suffered two accidents: in one, the forearm of his left arm was amputated, and in the other, four-fifths of his spleen was removed. Yet he has a strong will despite his disability. He dropped out of school several times for health reasons, but never gave up studying, and eventually became a university student. He loves to study things deeply, taught himself seedling-raising techniques, and became a widely known expert among farmers in vegetable seedling cultivation. He strives constantly for self-improvement and insists on starting his own business. He now runs a supermarket and holds shares in two seedling companies. He is Liu Yongxian, a farmer and seedling expert from Hexibao Village, Xihezhuang Township, Yongnian County.
In 1974, Liu Yongxian was born into an ordinary farming family. From childhood he loved to study things deeply and loved reading, and his grades were always among the best. But fate is unpredictable. In the winter of the year he turned 12, because of an accident, the forearm of his left arm was amputated, and he could only rely on his right hand for eating, dressing and daily life. Even so, he still faced life with a smile.
Three years later, misfortune struck again. While in the second year of junior high school, little Yongxian was riding a bicycle to school with one hand when he slipped into a roadside ditch because the road was slippery after rain, rupturing his spleen. After he was taken to the hospital, four-fifths of his spleen was removed. This made little Yongxian's constitution even weaker. In the second semester of his first year of senior high school, he had to take a leave of absence and stay at home.
During the three and a half years he was out of school, he did not give up studying. While teaching fifth- and sixth-grade math at the village primary school, he also taught himself senior high school knowledge. In 1997, Liu Yongxian walked into the college entrance examination room together with other senior high school students, scored a good result of 484 points, and was admitted to Handan University to study economic management, fulfilling his university dream.
During university, Liu Yongxian also used every available moment to study earnestly. With perseverance and persistence beyond what ordinary people can imagine, he not only successfully completed the study tasks of all his courses, but also obtained a College English Test Band 4 certificate, laying the foundation for future employment and entrepreneurship.
As soon as he graduated from university in 2000, he applied on his own to Handan Radio and Television University. During that time, he married Li Jianying, a young woman from Quzhou. With the birth of their child, one person's income could hardly cover the family's living expenses in the city. He resolutely chose to resign.
After returning to his hometown, Liu Yongxian applied to Yongnian No. 7 Middle School and was hired as a senior high school English teacher, teaching for 6 years. In June 2007, the whole county cleaned up and reorganized privately hired teachers and teachers outside the official staffing quota. Once again, a life choice lay before him. After learning of his situation, his third elder brother Liu Xinxian, who was engaged in vegetable seedling cultivation, extended an invitation: "Come home and work with me!" From then on, Liu Yongxian formed an indissoluble bond with vegetable seedling cultivation.
To adapt to his new role as quickly as possible, he learned about seedling cultivation techniques and information through the internet, actively took part in the technical training held by the county agriculture and animal husbandry bureau, and paid his own way to Shandong to learn seedling cultivation and management techniques. Through unremitting efforts, seedling cultivation problems such as low germination rate, low survival rate and poor uniformity were solved one by one.
Because of his solid skills and good character, when the village formed a vegetable planting professional cooperative in 2010, he was invited to buy shares. They strictly followed pollution-free standards to grow tomato, green pepper and other seedlings, which not only improved the working environment but also raised the quality of the seedlings. He kept pace with the market, constantly innovating and delving deeper. From the original single-variety seedling cultivation, he continued experimenting to expand into new varieties, new techniques and new projects. Early this year, a goji berry planting company in Julu, Xingtai contacted him after hearing of his reputation and proposed cultivating "Black Pearl" goji berry seedlings. At present, they have already supplied two batches of 6,000 "Black Pearl" goji berry seedlings.
Now Liu Yongxian has welcomed the spring of running his own business, with an annual income of 160,000 to 170,000 yuan, and he lives a very happy life.
Speaking of future development, Liu Yongxian is full of confidence: "Next, I plan to expand vegetable seedling cultivation into horticultural seedling cultivation, for example turning chili peppers, cucumbers and so on into bonsai, which can be both ornamental and picked for eating. In addition, we must also seize the huge business opportunities from the tourism development of Guangfu. I plan to take advantage of the reconstruction and opening to traffic of the Mingli Line, rely on the advantage of being close to Guangfu, transfer some more land, and develop a mulberry-picking industry."