She has worked hard since she was a child, but fate always plays tricks on her.

In order to study, she began to help her parents at the age of 6. When the season for selling citrus comes, she often has to get up at two or three in the morning and walk more than ten miles of mountain roads to help her mother carry the citrus to the street, and then rush to school. Even so, she was forced to drop out of school when she was in junior high school because her family still couldn't afford her education. My mother said that this baby of mine grew up hungry, not fed, and his life was miserable.

In order to change her destiny, she worked as a construction worker, set up a street stall, sold small hotpots, contracted to grow bitter bamboo in barren hills, raised chickens and pigs... She tried dozens of projects, but they all failed. In the end, even she herself couldn't remember how many failures she had experienced.

"You must not fall down, you must stand up." She encouraged herself like this every time she failed.

Until one day, by chance, she ate a vegetable with a special taste, which gave her a premonition that her fate would change.

That is a very common vegetable in her hometown of Yibin, Sichuan. It is called kohlrabi, which is a type of mustard. But what she ate was pickled by a friend named Chen Jiahua using ancestral techniques. The taste was very unique, spicy, salty and crispy, but not as salty as traditional pickled kohlrabi. It could even be eaten as a snack. She thought that if she could develop it into a product, many people would like to eat it like herself.

She proposed the idea of ??cooperating in the development of kohlrabi to Chen Jiahua, but she did not expect that the other party would not give any room for negotiation and refused immediately. It turns out that the Chen family's craftsmanship is passed down from ancestors. The Chen family's ancestors have rules. The unique skill of pickling kohlrabi is passed down in a straight line. Even if there are no children, it is not allowed to be passed on to others.

Such rejection did not make her discouraged, because she had already experienced failure and would not look back easily.

She went to Chen's house frequently, but she didn't insist on talking about cooperation every day. Instead, she just helped with housework and chatted. As time passed, she became closer and closer to the Chen family. Finally one day, the Chen family was moved by her sincerity and agreed to cooperate in setting up a kohlrabi processing factory.

She was very excited after winning the first battle. She immediately used the 40,000 yuan she scraped together to buy 7 tons of kohlrabi, and started experimenting with turning kohlrabi into products at her home.

The traditional method of making pickles is to string kohlrabi one by one and hang it in the yard to dry naturally. Hanging tons of kohlrabi was obviously too labor-intensive. In order to save labor and effort, they decided to improve the process and lay them all flat to dry. Seven or eight days later, when she picked up the kohlrabi and inspected it with great interest, she suddenly felt a chill in her heart. It turned out that the side of the kohlrabi facing down had rotted and deteriorated because it could not come into contact with the air.

Seven tons of kohlrabi were all thrown away before being pickled. However, the reason was obvious. Instead of being discouraged, she raised funds everywhere, purchased another 5 tons of kohlrabi, and studied and adjusted the drying method. This time they built a special iron stove, hoping to dry the kohlrabi before it went moldy. However, the dream was full, but the reality was skinny. The experiment failed. Ton after ton of kohlrabi was dumped, and all the borrowed money was wasted.

What does it feel like to lose all your money? It hurts, I feel so uncomfortable that my friend wants to give up. She was also distressed, but she had no way out. Although she did not have enough capital, she had enough foreign debt.

With her insistence, the experiment was started again, but it returned to the most primitive method-artificial hanging on strings to dry. In order to save labor, she became the main labor force, and she almost tried her best for the last hope. Sometimes they worked until early in the morning. Everyone couldn't stand it anymore and fell asleep. She insisted on finishing the vegetables on hand, and her fingers were broken, but she didn't even make a sound.

The skewered kohlrabi needs to be hung on a rack and dried for 20 days before it can be made into pickles. The most primitive method turned out to be the only method, and the dried kohlrabi was finally made into a product. When the spicy and delicious taste filled her mouth, she couldn't help but burst into tears.

The experiment was successful. She borrowed money again and bought back 10 tons of kohlrabi. Looking at the strings of kohlrabi hanging on the shelves, it was like a charming landscape. She felt that the wealth of her dreams was getting closer and closer to her, but the joke played on her by fate was far from over.

In March 2007, floods caused by continuous rainfall raided her factory, and all 10 tons of kohlrabi that were about to be pickled were submerged in the water. A few days later, the water receded, leaving her in a mess. All the kohlrabi that was soaked in water had to be thrown away, and carts of vegetables were pulled out. Her heart was broken. At this time, she was penniless and owed a lot of debt. When she returned home and saw her elderly parents, she was speechless.

Her spirit of not being afraid of hardship and persistent pursuit has won the trust of her partners. This time Chen Jiahua’s family extended a helping hand. After going through all the hardships, in early 2008, the kohlrabi product carrying the dream of wealth was finally launched. In just a few years, the company's sales revenue reached 25 million yuan.

She is Shi Zhengqin, the chairman of Yibin Huarui Food Co., Ltd.

For those who are struggling to think about the secret of success on their entrepreneurial journey, Shi Zhengqin may be able to give a gratifying answer. She said: "Opportunities are the same for everyone. "Failure is not terrible. What is terrible is that when you fall down, you don't want to get up."

What is success? Success means failing but never giving up.