The fishing girl Zhang Qin's life on the sea battling wind and waves
On the morning of June 11, golden sunlight spread across Nanyi Lake, and the egrets perched in the reeds called out joyfully. In the middle of the lake, a young woman rowed a wooden boat and, together with the fishermen, began a day of work. Nanyi Lake, the largest natural freshwater lake within the territory of Xuancheng City, Anhui Province, is surrounded by mountains on three sides, with vast misty waters. Villagers living along the lake have made a living by fishing for generations. By the beautiful shores of Nanyi Lake, a female university graduate was pursuing her own distinctive path in life.
Zhang Qin working alongside the fishermen.
A youthful dream
Zhang Qin, 23 years old, was born in Hubin Village, Feili Township, Langxi County, by the shores of Nanyi Lake. In June 2008, after graduating from Wuhu Education College with a major in computer networking, she sought work everywhere, sending resume after resume to job fairs and talent exchange centers, but all fell on deaf ears with no reply.
Zhang Qin had no choice but to return to her hometown. Gazing at Nanyi Lake, which had raised her, the unhappiness from her job search was gradually washed away, and at the same time, a beautiful idea began to stir in her heart.
She solemnly said to her father: "Dad, transfer to me the water area you are about to give up. I want to go into aquaculture." Her father was greatly astonished, thinking this was simply wishful thinking. It turned out that Zhang Qin's father had contracted more than 2,000 mu of water surface at Nanyi Lake, farming hairy crabs and fish. Because the lake water stayed high year-round and would not recede, the hairy crabs fell ill and died. He was preparing to give it up as soon as the contract period ended. Besides, hadn't raising his daughter through university been meant to help her escape the "farming life"? And now his daughter wanted to return to the countryside to do aquaculture -- that would not do! But unable to withstand his daughter's repeated requests, her father had no choice but to make a "three-point agreement" with her: the hairy crabs and fish in the more than 2,000 mu of water surface would temporarily be farmed by her, and if by the end of the year she had not "lost everything," he would hand the water surface over to his daughter; otherwise, she would abandon the idea forever and continue looking for work in the city.
Through wind and rain
From then on, Zhang Qin, like the several fishermen she hired, ate and slept on the boat. Every day she poled a small boat out onto the lake with the fishermen, following them to the aquaculture base to observe water quality, measure water temperature, watch how the fishermen released feed according to fish density, and carefully record the techniques the fishermen taught her. During the day, Zhang Qin fed the fish, observed their growth, humbly asked the aquaculture workers for advice, and worked with them to find the causes of the hairy crabs' illness; at night, she searched online for "remedies" to cure the hairy crabs, and read books on aquaculture. She also invited professional technicians to guide her on site and learned from specialized crab farmers. One fisherman told her the experience he had accumulated over many years: "To raise fish, you need clear water." So Zhang Qin and the fishermen piloted a boat to a faraway place to haul back aquatic plants to improve the water quality, and scientifically mixed feed to "strengthen the sinews and bones" of the hairy crabs... The fishermen's diligence, tenacity and intelligence deeply moved Zhang Qin. She worked tirelessly, and the crab disease was finally brought under control. Zhang Qin smiled with relief.
Zhang Qin treated the 10 fishermen she hired as her own uncles and elders. Besides paying them a monthly wage of 1,000 yuan, she also bought them personal accident insurance. Every week she went into the city to buy groceries and cooked for her fisherman uncles herself. In her spare time, she mended fishing nets with the workers, and when buying feed, she carried it alongside them. Though dealing with lake water and wind and waves all day was bitter and tiring, Zhang Qin was very happy, because she was doing what she wanted to do. However, an unexpected difficulty suddenly arrived.
One day last October, a rainstorm burst the embankment of the aquaculture area. If it was not blocked in time, the consequences would be unimaginable. Zhang Qin put on her raincoat and went out onto the lake with the fishermen. Seeing the strong wind and high waves, the fishermen all advised her not to go. But Zhang Qin resolutely picked up a bamboo pole and fishing net, faced the wind and waves, and rowed her small boat toward the aquaculture area in the middle of the lake. She and the fishermen braved the wind and waves, loading and carrying mud, and diving to plug the leak. After more than an hour of hard struggle, the breach, more than 5 m long, was finally blocked. By then, Zhang Qin's clothes were soaked through, and it was impossible to tell whether it was lake water or sweat. She had no strength left at all, and was helped ashore by the fishermen...
More than four months of wind and rain, more than four months of rising early and working late into the night, and Zhang Qin finally reaped hope and joy. Because the crab shells were thin, the roe rich, the meat tender and the flavor delicious, the hairy crabs Zhang Qin raised were warmly welcomed by customers in Changzhou and other places, becoming a "hot commodity." By the end of 2008, Zhang Qin had helped her father recover 200,000 yuan in costs and had also earned nearly 200,000 yuan.
Zhang Qin's unexpectedly good "report card" let her father see his daughter's deep love for and ability in specialty aquaculture. So he abandoned the idea of having his daughter return to the city and confidently handed the more than 2,000 mu of water surface over to her.
And at this time, Zhang Qin was brewing an even bigger plan in her heart.
Establishing three-dimensional aquaculture, leading her fellow villagers to prosperity