Fengdu college-graduate village official starts her own orchard and fulfills her dream of prosperity

Most parents hope their children will find a stable job in the city after graduating from university, and Qin Meiling's parents were no exception. But after graduating from university, she went to Jinjiaping Village in Gaojia Town to serve as a college-graduate village official, and with more than 200 mu of land and more than 200 steel frames, she propped up the "dream" of herself and even the entire Jinjiaping Village.

A fire sparks entrepreneurial passion

Strawberries are normally a spring and summer fruit, but recently this writer tasted fresh strawberries in Jinjiaping Village, Gaojia Town. In a neat row of greenhouses, plump, red-tinged strawberries hung on the branches, still rolling with glistening dewdrops.

This orchard, filled with grapes, watermelons and strawberries, is the greatest dream in Qin Meiling's heart, and the origin of this "dream" was a fire.

When Qin Meiling first arrived in Jinjiaping Village in the summer of 2012, it happened to coincide with high temperatures and drought, which made fires very easy to start. People often say, "Whatever you fear is what you get," and in her second month in the village, a fire broke out. "An elderly person was cooking at home. The meal was ready, but he forgot to put out the fire, and it ignited the firewood in front of the stove. Because the weather was dry, the flames spread and burned that whole nearby area." Recalling that fire, Qin Meiling still felt lingering fear. Although no one was killed or injured, it left a shadow in her heart. "After the fire, the neighbors who came to help in the village were all either elderly people or children. There was almost no sign of young people. It was then that I felt frightened afterward. Elderly people have trouble with their legs and feet and run slowly. If another natural or man-made disaster happened, could we still be sure to be this lucky?" Qin Meiling squatted in the strawberry greenhouse, pulling weeds while telling this writer, "At that time I wanted to build an industry that could drive the employment of dozens or even hundreds of people and attract more young people to come back to the village." Once the idea of "starting a business" sprouted, it was like a seed buried in the soil. As time passed, it slowly germinated and grew, and eventually took deep root in her heart.

Facing setbacks without regret and without giving up

"The young people in the village went out to work, and a large amount of land was left idle. I thought, could I do something with this land?" Qin Meiling said. After the Spring Festival in 2013, Qin Meiling put her idea into action. Together with Hu Sanzhong, who wanted to develop melon and fruit planting in Gaojia Town, she transferred more than 150 mu of land to plant grapes, develop sightseeing picking, and registered and established the "Fengdu County Guangwei Melon and Fruit Professional Cooperative."

Qin Meiling is a typical city girl. She loves to laugh and loves to dress up. If you had not seen her with your own eyes wearing rain boots and trudging through the strawberry greenhouse, it would be hard to connect her with this orchard. "We just want to develop this orchard to a certain scale, able to accommodate 100 people for employment, so that more young people who have gone out to work can be attracted back, and while building their hometown, they can also take care of the elderly and children at home," Qin Meiling said.

To realize her dream, Qin Meiling poured a great deal of energy into the orchard. Having never done farm work, she spent every free moment in the orchard, learning from the villagers how to dig the soil, plant, fertilize and weed.

Busy with work and also having to manage the orchard, sometimes Qin Meiling felt the burden on her shoulders was too heavy. Fortunately, watching the grape vines grow day by day and bear fruit swept away her exhaustion.

It is often said that planting depends on the weather, and just when Qin Meiling was full of ambition and preparing to go all out, a drought that occurs once in 40 years left her suffering greatly. "Last June we suffered a rare drought. The grapes that had already been slowly turning red were dried out over a large area. At that time I felt a sense of defeat." Qin Meiling said that facing the drought, her heart was full of fear and worry. She was afraid her first business venture would fail, and even more afraid the villagers would be disappointed in her.

Thinking of that fire and the lonely, helpless left-behind elderly in the village, Qin Meiling told herself she absolutely could not fail. Together with village officials, she searched everywhere for water sources and also studied water-saving irrigation methods online, and finally brought the drought under control.

Persisting in the dream finally brings the dawn

Thanks to Qin Meiling's persistence, in 2013 the orchard produced more than 30,000 jin of grapes and sold them for more than 300,000 yuan, achieving a strong start. In 2014, it produced 45,000 jin of fruit and sold it for more than 500,000 yuan.

This year, Qin Meiling also transferred 60 mu of wasteland and planted new grape varieties and strawberries, and through measures such as off-season greenhouse cultivation and variety improvement, she brought strawberries to market earlier, so that city residents can also eat fresh, delicious strawberries in winter. "Look, the strawberry seedlings outside are only this tall, while those in the greenhouse are already bearing fruit. They can officially go on sale around New Year's Day, and picking can continue until May this year." Qin Meiling said that because strawberries are a "rarity" in this season, one kilogram is expected to sell for 50 yuan.

As of now, Qin Meiling's "Guangwei Melon and Fruit Professional Cooperative" has attracted 37 farming households to join, and as many as 40 workers work in the orchard year-round, 17 of whom are migrant workers who have returned from other places.

Last November, with the help of the more than 200 mu orchard, Qin Meiling won second prize in our county's fifth "Entrepreneurship Cup" self-employment competition. "We college-graduate village officials go to the grassroots to do practical things for the villagers and lead more villagers to escape poverty and become prosperous," Qin Meiling said. Her dream is being realized little by little, and in the not-too-distant future, Jinjiaping Village is bound to reap abundant fruits.