Near the Spring Festival, villagers in Tian Xin Township, Wuding County, Yunnan Province, began to prepare for the Spring Festival. Among them, it is essential to marinate a ham. In the village, the ham pickled by this woman named Xu Yongfen is very special. The sliced ham is ruddy and bright, with clear oil patterns. This kind of ham is of high quality.

In order to let reporters see why her ham is special, Xu Yongfen came to the countryside on the mountain in Yunnan.

Xu Yongfen: We use this kind of pig as raw material for ham, because it is a free-range pig. It drinks mountain spring water and sleeps on a pine mat.

The pig leg used by Xu Yongfen is not an ordinary staple goods, but a wandering pig on the Yunnan Plateau. However, a few years ago, it was very troublesome for her to collect pig's legs. She needed to lead a horse to walk dozens of kilometers of mountain roads and run several villages a day to collect at most 20 pig's legs. This is always a headache for Xu Yongfen.

Xu Yongfen: I used to go as far as 20 kilometers to collect it. In fact, after running so far, I only received six or seven legs, which is seventy or eighty pounds.

Reporter: Six or seven legs? Three pigs, that is.

Xu Yongfen: Yes, I can't help it.

In 2006, an accident happened in front of Xu Yongfen's eyes. Since then, Xu Yongfen's life has been completely changed, transforming her from an ordinary rural woman into a female boss of an enterprise with annual sales of 70 million yuan.

Villager Ni Lixiong: bold, cautious and steady. We see these points in our eyes.

Employee Wang Guifen: She is brave, to be honest, she is bold, because she dares to think what others dare not think and do what others dare not do.

Villager Long Shangyun: Her woman is bigger and bolder than the man. Definitely. Often on TV, she was rated as a national model worker and a national model worker. Look.

Xu Yongfen is an ordinary rural woman. She started her own small business without graduating from primary school, raising pigs, cattle and opening restaurants. Until she was nearly 40 years old, her life was also very dull. But in 2006, Xu Yongfen witnessed a car accident and changed her life.

On that day, it was the day when the countryside went to market. People from the whole town gathered on the main road of the village to go shopping, and people and cars were mixed together. Suddenly a villager who came to the market was kicked in the chest by a horse in front of Xu Yongfen.

Xu Yongfen: That man got up. He said nothing was wrong. His back was all dusty and he hit his brain. In the evening, when he was not feeling well, his family sent him to the hospital, and he was gone and died the next day.

Make money if you are wrong.

This matter would have been forgotten by others, but Xu Yongfen made a very bold decision directly because of this matter, which surprised the fellow villagers.

Villager Long Shangyun: That is to say, alas, silly her.

Husband Xu Jiayin: They all say that she is too stupid.

Friend Zhao Ximei: You are afraid you are stupid.

Reporter: What do you mean?

Friend Zhao Ximei: It means a fool.

In August 2006, Xu Yongfen heard that the grain store in the village was going to be sold, so he bought it with a credit guarantee loan of1800,000 yuan. This is equivalent to more than 20 times of Xu Yongfen's annual net income.

Xu Yongfen: At that time, my annual income may be around 40,000 to 50,000, and 60,000 to 70,000.

Reporter: A year's income?

Xu Yongfen: One year's income is.

Reporter: Less than 100,000 yuan.

Xu Yongfen: Less than 100,000.

It's not surprising to buy a grain depot, because this grain depot is located on the only main road in Tian Xin Township, which is a prime location, and speculation in land can also make a steady profit. It's strange that Xu Yongfen insisted on transforming the grain institute into a farmer's market. The villagers all said that whoever did this would lose money.

Villager Xu Chao: rotten tile house, a rotten factory building. Get some housing or build something.

Villager Xu Ying: You can't make money, and you can't make money by the market. If you use it as a farmer's market, there is no way to do it. Because the rural streets have always been driven on the street, I have never thought about the whole farmer's market and set up a shed for others.

Friend Zhao Ximei: It's ok to be a farmer's market in the county, and it should make a lot of money. But in towns and villages, especially in a small town like Tian Xin, we were very worried at that time, and maybe her funds would not come back for a while.

But Xu Yongfen is very confident. I plan to build a market and let everyone come in to set up stalls, so that the safety of the villagers can be guaranteed, and I don't have to run around collecting pig legs myself. Moreover, there are at least 400 stalls in the market, and the money for renting stalls is enough to repay the loan.

Xu Yongfen: I can sell stalls, and the interest can be paid back. Every day, someone sets up a stall inside, and I can charge.

After a year of construction, the farmers' market officially opened at the end of 2007. In the past six months, Xu Yongfen was really dumbfounded. The farmer's market can't accommodate all the vendors, and there are no fewer stalls on the main road outside. The congestion is still congestion. Moreover, there is a local traditional custom of gathering every seven days (Chuangye. com: www.Cyone.com.cn/), which has been going on for many years, and this has not changed with the completion of the farmers' market. Such a big market can only be opened for 52 days a year, and the money will be collected for 52 days, and the rest of the time can only be left there.

Villager Xu Ying: The road is not the market yet, not yet. There are still stalls on the street. As you can see, the change is not great.

Reporter: This is still the case.

Villager Xu Ying: It's not like this now, it can't be accommodated, and it can't be accommodated in that place.

Xu Yongfen made such a big deal, and as a result, building the market didn't solve the traffic problem, didn't make any money, and made the whole town see a big joke. After the excitement, Xu Yongfen was extremely disappointed.

Xu Yongfen: I only collected 20,000 yuan in the first year, and I borrowed1800,000, with an interest of nearly 100,000 yuan. How can that be? There is still a lot to be done.

The rest of the time, Xu Yongfen used it to hold a wedding banquet. However, the income of the whole market is not enough to repay the interest.

Husband Xu Jiayin: Borrow a little from relatives and friends, as well as from my salary. My salary is only more than 1,000 yuan, and I have to support my family, but I can't help it, because the interest on this loan must be paid back on a monthly basis. We also have to talk about the credibility and bank loans. Without this credibility, people dare not support you, so life at that time was quite difficult.

At this point in the market operation, it is difficult for Xu Yongfen to ride a tiger. It is difficult to give up and continue. The only thing that can give her some comfort is her little ham workshop.

In Yunnan, as soon as the winter solstice arrives, every household begins to kill Nian pig and marinate ham, which can be marinated and enjoyed next winter. It is an essential home-cooked dish for people in the mountains of Yunnan.

Before Xu Yongfen built a farmer's market, he had a ham workshop to help other ham factories process it. He earned only two yuan a catty, sold about 20 tons a year and earned tens of thousands of yuan. Just after the winter solstice in 2008, it was the peak season for selling ham, but it was incomprehensible that Xu Yongfen didn't even plan to sell ham.

Dealer Swarin: When we came to pull ham, there were three or four cars to pull ham, but she didn't sell it. We said there was ham, and you didn't earn money. You were afraid you would become stupid.

Already in debt, there is no hurry to make money at this time. What does Xu Yongfen want to do? How did she achieve an annual sales of 70 million yuan after six years?

When transforming the farmers' market in 2007, Xu Yongfen went to Kunming to attend an agricultural exhibition. A ham that cost as much as 2,600 yuan and could be eaten raw attracted her attention.

Xu Yongfen: In the past, my ham only cost more than 100 yuan, more than 200 yuan, and theirs cost more than 2,000 yuan, which was more than ten times the price. I was really surprised and couldn't think of it. I said how to sell such an expensive ham.

It is said that it is a kind of ham that can be eaten raw after three years of natural fermentation. Xu Yongfen tasted it and found that this kind of ham tastes better raw than her one-year-old ham. Similarly, selling ham, people's hams can be sold for ten times after three years. Xu Yongfen is envious and wants to try it. But this is equivalent to three years of capital pressure to realize it. She didn't have the economic strength at that time.

Xu Yongfen: It will take more than 100 tons of ham for three years, so this more than 3 million yuan is equivalent to sitting there and not moving. At that time, my conditions were immature and I had no money.

Xu Yongfen calculated that it was unrealistic to rely on his own ham, which earned only two yuan a catty, to repay the loan. To pay back the money, she has to rely on the more profitable three-year ham.

At the end of 2008, Xu Yongfen sold three frontispiece houses that matched the farmers' market, raised more than 400,000 yuan and began to harvest pig legs crazily. In less than a month, she has stored 20 tons of pork legs and batches of good salt, and no one will sell them, just waiting for a blockbuster three years later. But her longing only lasted for 20 days. When Xu Yongfen opened the warehouse to check the ham as usual, he found that the situation was wrong.

Xu Yongfen: As soon as I opened the door, I smelled the smell of ham. Ham bubbles like a balloon. I said what's going on, I still have a glimmer of hope, and I think it doesn't matter. There are a few bad ones, and I said most of them are good.

It's normal that a few hams are damaged occasionally when curing ham, but when Xu Yongfen opened the warehouse and continued to walk inside, the more he walked, the colder he became. There are 2000 hams in the warehouse, and almost all of them are flatulent.

Xu Yongfen: There are not many good ones. My legs are weak when I see that scene. What should I do? Planned should be able to make money, why all of a sudden like this, I do farmers' market also lost, toad in the hole also lost.

Xu Yongfen gave away the tolerable ham, and the rest was reluctant to throw away, so he had to digest it himself. Family members and workers ate rotten ham every day until they felt sick.

Employee Xu Lianmei: If it stinks, you can't eat it. How much stinks can you eat it? Eat every day until you don't want to eat.

Employee Wang Guifen: We are worried about her, too. We are worried about her. But we dare not say in our hearts, because we are employees. We dare not say that at that time, the ham was pickled and broken. She kept holding her head and she was always in pain.

In the eyes of outsiders, Xu Yongfen has such a large piece of land as a farmer's market, so he should not be short of money. However, the difficulties at home are only known by his own family, and Xu Yongfen can't tell the bitterness.

The second son, Xu Qi: In the first year of college, the ham stinks in the first year. When I was in college, I went to college in July, and the money at home was relatively tight. Even the tuition fees for going to college were borrowed from student loans.

Xu Jun, the eldest son: But for the outside world, why are they so rich, they still do this, so they don't understand it outside, so I didn't understand it at that time. I thought it was a joke, so I didn't do it at that time, and then my brother did it, a student loan.

Xu Yongfen: People seem to think that I have done such a big thing. On the doll, I feel that you can't get a hundred yuan. In fact, I have always owed my children.

After the pain, Xu Yongfen decided to try another batch of ham. The difference is that this time she has a magic weapon to win.

This is a small warehouse built by Xu Yongfen halfway up the mountain. This ordinary-looking cement house is closely monitored. In it, there are all three-year hams accumulated by Xu Yongfen in recent years. Why can this little dark room become Xu Yongfen's magic weapon?

After the first failure of curing ham, Xu Yongfen has been looking for the difference between that cured ham and the past.

Xu Yongfen: Because I used to pickle ham at an altitude of 2,200 meters, now I have changed the location and pickled it at an altitude of 1600 meters, so the temperature is five or six degrees worse.

After excluding seasons, raw materials and techniques, the only difference left is altitude. Xu Yongfen used to pickle ham on the mountain, but now she has moved to the farmer's market. The altitude difference is 500-600 meters, which caused the temperature to change, which made her suffer a big loss. This time, Xu Yongfen put the ham in the farmer's market and changed the salt every other month. After three months, it was transported to the warehouse on the mountain for storage.

Reporter: How many times is this smeared with salt?

Xu Yongfen: This is the first time, the first time to smear salt.

Reporter: How many times should I wipe it?

Xu Yongfen: Rub the small one three times and the big one four times. Slowly soak it in, and the salt will not be salty.

In three years, Xu Yongfen saved half of each batch of ham and sold the other half of the working capital. After three years of natural fermentation, the first batch of preserved hams were covered with thick mold, which made the pork leg show another taste, which was a sign of ham maturity and also meant that Xu Yongfen's persistence was successful.

Xu Yongfen: You can eat it when the skin is cut off.

Reporter: Did it look like this after it was cut open?

Xu Yongfen: Yes. You can eat.

Reporter: Eat directly? Eat raw?

Xu Yongfen: Yes, it's quite fragrant. You eat a piece. You eat.

Reporter: I don't dare to eat. Raw.

Xu Yongfen: It doesn't matter, you eat and have a look.

Reporter: Raw?

Xu Yongfen: Mmm, it smells so good.

Reporter: I'll try some.

Xu Yongfen: Well, you taste it. The same.

Reporter: It's a little milky.

Xu Yongfen: Mmm, it smells quite good.

Reporter: It doesn't taste like raw meat.

Xu Yongfen: No, it has been (fermented) ripe and mature for three years.

Reporter: How much is it on the market?

Xu Yongfen: It costs 160 yuan a kilo.

Reporter: How many three-year-old hams do you have here?

Xu Yongfen: There are more than 10,000.

Reporter: How much is that worth?

Xu Yongfen: It's worth more than 10 million yuan.

In the middle of 20 1 1, the first batch of three-year hams saved by Xu Yongfen began to go on sale, because there were no similar products in the local area, which attracted the attention of many dealers. This kind of high-priced ham with raw food as a selling point occupied the local middle and high-end market at once, and all the 50 tons of three-year hams that Xu Yongfen had collected were sold out. Together with one-year hams, the sales in that year reached/kloc-.

Dealer Lu Hongli: This three-year-old ham tastes fresher than the one cooked for one year, and it is not salty at all. The average ham is salty, and this three-year-old ham tastes fresher.

Dealer Shi Hualin: Most of them are bought and given away, and these are bought and given away. Just out of curiosity, ham can be eaten raw. Today, I ordered another ten tons, and sold out in a few days, three years of ham.

In 20 12, driven by three years of ham, Xu Yongfen's ham brand gained great popularity in the local area. The demand of her products was increasing regardless of one year's ham or three years' ham (pioneering network: www.Cyone.com.cn/). By 20 13, Xu Yongfen added ham ready-to-eat snacks, with sales exceeding. But by 20 14, the annual sales of Xu Yongfen's enterprise actually increased by 20 million yuan. How did she do it?

At the end of 20 12, Xu yongfen took a fancy to a local specialty, Wuding Zhuang chicken. This is one of the six famous chickens in Yunnan, because its breeding cycle is as long as one year, and its meat quality is stronger than that of ordinary chickens, so it is almost a necessary chicken on the dining table of local people. However, Xu Yongfen found that there were no ready-to-eat chicken products in the local area. She wanted to seize this business opportunity and what flavor she could make. She had no idea at all, so she asked her family and friends to buy all the cooked chicken products on the market.

Xu Yongfen: I bought a lot, look.

Reporter: A big bag full.

Xu Yongfen: What braised chicken? This beggar chicken.

Reporter: Roasted chicken.

Xu Yongfen: Roasted chicken, beggar chicken. Bought a lot, bought it for research. Because at that time, I didn't think of making any flavor and selling it in the market. Then all I have to say is that it sells well in the market, buy it back and make it according to their ingredients.

I bought other chicken products just to see the ingredient list on other people's packaging. People wrote what Xu Yongfen did, but they always felt that it was not right to do it.

Employee Xu Lianmei: We eat a little for the public, but it's different from our side anyway.

Employee Wang Guifen: That's the smell. After eating it, it's not so fragrant anyway.

After testing for half a year and imitating others, Xu Yongfen feels more and more that it has lost its characteristics. What taste is suitable for Wuding Zhuang chicken? Just when she was in a hurry, a group of friends from other places came to have dinner with her and let her find her way.

Xu Yongfen: He said, your cold chicken is delicious, so I think the taste of itself is around us, so we don't know yet, and we still go everywhere to refer to others'.

Cold chicken is one of the most common dishes made of Wuding Zhuang chicken in Tian Xin, and there will be cold chicken when rural families open a banquet and cook pig-killing dishes. Moreover, the method is very simple, and there are only three seasonings: pepper, tsaoko and salt. Xu Yongfen didn't expect that the best way to reflect the delicious taste of Wuding Zhuang chicken was around. She quickly changed the seasoning formula. After a year's experiment, at the end of 20 13, she finally made a ready-to-eat product that not only kept the meat texture, but also had the delicious taste of Wuding Zhuang chicken.

In 20 14, Xu Yongfen opened two specialty stores in the county town, and the products of Zhuang chicken were also sold to the whole country through the internet. Together with the sales of ham, the annual sales have reached 70 million yuan.

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