Remarks on the 20th Anniversary of the Founding of Huacheng Agriculture
Liu Lianhua
Unconsciously, Huacheng has gone through twenty springs and autumns. On the occasion of celebrating the 20th anniversary of the founding of the company, I am more interested in memories. Why did I set out? Why persist in entrepreneurship?
More than 20 years ago, I started as a small business hawker, then acquired state-owned grain stores and county cotton and linen companies. I now have more than 100 people on my staff, serving several major textile mill customers, raising various fruit tree seedlings, and earning a lot of money every year. Every day I go to work at eight o'clock and finish work at seven o'clock. After get off work, I would play cards with my colleagues, and whoever won would treat me to dinner, then go to karaoke or wash my feet, and then have supper afterward. This went on for a long time. This may seem like happiness to outsiders, but I am actually struggling inside. I often think at night, is this my life?
During the Spring Festival of 2002, I thought about it for a whole week and felt that I could not be satisfied with the status quo. I decided to find a new starting point and start a business. I know that starting a business is tiring and difficult, and many end in failure. But I know that if I don't devote myself and don't fight hard again, I will regret it when I get older.
In September 2003, I officially registered Lixian Huacheng Cotton Forest Co., Ltd., which was later changed to Huacheng Agriculture. I contracted more than 6,000 acres of Dashan and Yanzhou, the original tea garden villages that were deserted due to constant wildfires at that time, and embarked on my agricultural tourism journey.
After the company was established, the primary issue before it was financing . I remember the first person to invest was Ding Wenying. She took out all her family savings of 30,000 yuan. I gave her a blank note, which was cashed out ten years later. She never asked once in the past ten years, and the company did not pay dividends once. Of course, what she got in the end was 450,000 yuan, which was 15 times the principal. But how many people can have this trust?
I remember that during the SARS epidemic in 2003, when people stayed behind closed doors to prevent infection, the price of cotton in my warehouse was directly reduced from 15,000 yuan per ton to 9,000 yuan. At that time, a customer from Guizhou happened to buy cotton and transported it to Yichang in Hubei, but was stopped by the industrial and commercial department.
My driver at that time was Xiao Guo, who was actually the executive general manager. He did everything, just like a handyman. He was busy until midnight every day, and sometimes he could only sleep on the sofa in the office. After learning the news from Yichang, Xiao Guo and I rushed there overnight and argued with each other. After much trouble, we finally got the industrial and commercial department to release the cotton. Under the circumstances at that time, many merchants did not believe that we could take out the cotton at first. This brilliant attack gave us a good reputation. Later, all merchants from other places came to me to buy cotton.
I will never forget the fire in 2005. I was burned by and was admitted to the hospital. The trees all over the mountain were burned out. Leaders from several government departments came to see me. Sun Shengxiong, then director of the Forestry Bureau, brought seedlings with his subordinates. The villagers spontaneously went up the mountain to help clean up the ruins and replant seedlings. More than 300,000 trees were replanted that year.
Unexpectedly, we encountered a severe freeze disaster later, and all the fruit seedlings at the company's Lushan base froze to death. I stood in the snow and wanted to cry without tears. Xu Xin, then a member of the Standing Committee of the County Party Committee and Minister of United Front Work, rushed over and comforted me to continue working, and helped me settle the 20,000 yuan for seedlings. No matter how many difficulties and setbacks we encounter, noble people always appear to help us and support Watson at critical moments. I will remember them in my heart one by one. Because of you, Watson has only been able to have twenty years. Let me express my deep gratitude here. Thank you!
Hard work pays off. In 2008, Huacheng Fruit Seedlings became nationally famous.But at that time, due to the internal unspoken rules of the seedling industry, ordinary seedlings were rebranded and sold at high prices, which caused great harm to fruit farmers. However, I insisted not to do this, and published a report in the Southern Fruit Tree publication "Huacheng Fruit Seedlings Only have high-quality products, no new products". After breaking the news about the fruit seedlings' transformation, I was ostracized by the fruit seedlings industry. The association kicked me out as a traitor. The original fruit tree and fruit seedlings team took all the information and resources and left Huacheng, leaving only the well-deserved guardian of Pengshan - Teacher Yang Zuxuan. The situation at that time was very bad. No one wanted the seedlings, so they could only be used as firewood.
I still remember that Yao Na, who came here in her teens, first worked in Linli Cotton and Linen Finance, and then did things unrelated to finance. They were two completely different jobs, but she was not afraid of hardship and fatigue. She worked for more than ten years and was able to do everything. For the sake of the company, in order to solve the company's shortage of funds when purchasing materials, she spared no effort to apply for multiple credit cards, sometimes for urgent needs of the company, and personally advanced funds many times. She never worried about whether the company could pay back. In order to save expenses, a girl also learned to repair and install work, which is not easy.
There is also the hard-working Liu Bing, who went from being a bricklayer to managing the engineering department. He was the hardest and most tiring but the most criticized. He always planned carefully for the company, but due to the reduction of investment, the results were different, and another person silently took the responsibility. There is also Hu Junjie, a wise and well-organized young man who has worked hard for ten years in agricultural tourism and has become my effective assistant. There are also a group of villagers from the village, such as Deng Zhuxiu, Tang Yan, Xiao Jianping, who have become outstanding employees since the opening of the garden, participated in crowdfunding for the restaurant, and now are the owners of the village. You can see them everywhere showing their spirit of ownership, working hard and working together through thick and thin.
Along the way, we have experienced times of high spirits and moments of crisis, but we have never stopped and moved forward. We must be grateful to each of our unknown and hard-working employees, including Huang Zhouming, Xiao Guo, Ma Wanjun, Sun Juan, Cheng Gui, Huang Jian, Binghua, etc., who have left and worked hard for Watson & Band, as well as many Watson & Band partners who are currently working hard, have worked hard, fulfilled their responsibilities, and devoted their wholehearted efforts to illuminate Watson's twenty-year entrepreneurial path.
On this road, we have experienced the risks of ignorance of policies such as the cotton policy reform turmoil, land reform, renovation of greenhouses, and speculation. We were also cheated out of everything because our trust was trampled on. We were left penniless due to lack of experience and market fluctuations. We also had to change careers and start over due to major changes in the industry. We have also survived disasters such as floods, fires, extremely cold ice and snow, and continuous high temperature and drought. We have tasted all the flavors of life and enjoyed the happiness after every small goal is completed, every effort is recognized, every good partner who is conducive to the company's development joins, and good ideas and methods make the project a success!
Over the past twenty years, in addition to my gratitude, I would also like to express my deepest apologies to those colleagues who have been criticized, hurt, wronged, and did not receive fair treatment, but who have always struggled in obscurity. I am a person who pursues perfection too much. I never appreciate others. I always like to forcefully persuade, criticize and refute others. Sometimes I get angry and furious for no reason. Whenever I think of these things in the dead of night, I always feel uneasy. We don’t care about gains and losses, but why do we come all the way with me?
This is an impetuous era. Many people want to take advantage of opportunities and gain more with less work. In fact, everyone at Huacheng knows that only hard work will bring you true sweetness. Today, Watson & Band has reached a turning point. The choice is in each of our hands whether to go against the current or stay where we are.
Colleagues who are still working hard with me, please believe that all the hard work will eventually pay off. The establishment of an enterprise is inseparable from entrepreneurial partners who are active and diligent and go through thick and thin; the development of an enterprise requires the continuous infusion of fresh blood. Huacheng will always welcome you with open arms! Only when talents from different backgrounds, experiences, and levels gather together to collide and inspire each other can we achieve something successful.
We don’t have a father named Li Gang, so we have to rely on ourselves for everything. All the suffering and pain we have experienced, the passions and dreams we have are our greatest wealth. I believe that in another twenty years, when our children grow up and become sensible, we will be qualified to tell them that we have worked hard, struggled, and persevered for our lives. We have proven our ability and worth, and we have reached the heights we can achieve. Looking back at the life we have lived, we will not regret it.
In the new twenty years, how and where will we go? What can we rely on? Only two words. struggle! Respect you for your struggle. With you, in another twenty years, I believe that Pengshan will eventually move towards glory. At that time, looking back, all the suffering and fatigue we have experienced will turn into joy and happiness.
Let’s go hand in hand! Thank you all!
In Pengshan on December 30, 2022
Editor: Meijun
Reviewer: Yao Na
Final review: Liu Lianhua
