The label of "Peking University graduate" is an unattainable symbol in the eyes of many people. Often, it is assumed that Peking University graduates either become corporate executives or work as civil servants at the local level.
However, there is one person who has broken this impression, and he is Chen Sheng, who graduated from Peking University in 1984. After graduating, Chen Sheng chose to give up a stable life and start a business from scratch. Surprisingly, in just three years, he created a fortune of 11 billion yuan and called himself a "butcher".
After his career is successful, Chen Sheng hopes to return to his hometown village and lead the local villagers to become rich. However, he faced oncoming insults and accusations from the villagers, and was even criticized for being "ungrateful". What did Chen Sheng do after returning to the village to make the villagers so angry?How did Chen Sheng, who was self-made, accumulate such a huge fortune in just three years?
One evening in 1993, in a small mountain village in Zhanjiang, Guangdong. The village chief led the villagers to sit in the courtyard of the Chen family, and standing in front of him was Chen Sheng, the pride of the village who was admitted to Peking University. What Chen Sheng held in his hand was the admission letter of Peking University, but there was no joy on his face.
I can't afford to go to college. Chen Sheng said bitterly, "The tuition fee of Peking University is too expensive, and I have to pay more than 8,000 yuan at the beginning of the semester, and my family can't make up this money at all." ”
Chen Sheng's family is very poor, his parents are farmers, and he can barely make ends meet. In order to save money for studying, Chen Sheng has lived an extremely frugal life since he was a child, and he rarely even has a new schoolbag and new shoes. Before the college entrance examination, he was bent on being admitted to university, so that he could change the fate of himself and his family. As a result, he got his wish and was admitted to the coveted Peking University, but he encountered difficulties in paying tuition fees, which made Chen Sheng extremely desperate.
Chen Sheng, don't worry. Seeing this, the village chief hurriedly stood up and encouraged everyone, "Everyone is a family, let's get together to help Chen Sheng pay his tuition, so that he can go to Peking University to study as he wishes!."”
So the villagers took out their only savings from their pockets one by one, although their own families were not rich, but they were happy to help Chen Sheng realize his dream of going to university. Some took out dozens of dollars, some made dozens, and even some took out one or two dollars, and everyone did their best. Chen Sheng looked at their selfless dedication, and then thought of his family situation, and couldn't help but burst into tears.
Finally, with the help of the villagers, Chen Sheng barely scraped together enough tuition for the first year of Peking University. On the day of parting, the villagers gathered around him to see him off, and they all told Chen Sheng to study hard and not to disappoint everyone's hard work. Chen Sheng knelt on the ground and kowtowed to the villagers one by one, bowed deeply, turned around and left his hometown with excitement and determination, and began his study at Peking University.
The study life at Peking University was very difficult for Chen Sheng, who was born in a poor family, but he successfully completed his studies by relying on his diligence and intelligence. At the moment when he received his graduation certificate from Peking University, Chen Sheng couldn't help but think of the scene when the villagers sent him off four years ago, and felt extremely gratified.
When the job was assigned, Chen Sheng was easily assigned to the municipal party committee office and became a civil servant. The 9-to-5 job was still new and interesting for him when he first entered society, but within a few months, Chen Sheng felt bored. He longs to change his fate through his own efforts, instead of just living an ordinary life.
So, he resolutely chose to quit his stable job as a civil servant and start his own business. At first, Chen Sheng did not go well, he opened a bookstore, worked as a dumpster, and sold eggs, but he lost a lot of money. However, he did not let this slump, but accumulated lessons and thought about a better way forward. Finally, in 1993, Chen Sheng successfully established his first real estate company by relying on his savings and network resources in the past few years.
The first few years of entrepreneurship stumbled, but Chen Sheng gradually occupied a place in this track with his keen business acumen and extraordinary courage. Three years later, Chen Sheng is already one of the top real estate company owners in the region, with a net worth of hundreds of millions of yuan, and has successfully promoted to a new generation of real estate tycoons.
However, greater opportunities and challenges await Chen Sheng.
One day in 1997, during the inspection of the national leader, he took some vinegar and Sprite to drink, and this novel combination immediately attracted imitation from everyone. The craze for acetate drinks in Zhanjiang soon swept every corner of the country.
Keen to see business opportunities, Chen Sheng decided to carve out a world in this field. He decisively took out the funds in his hand and invested in the research and development and production of a local specialty vinegar drink. This drink is called "Heaven and Earth No. 1", although the name is a bit rustic, but the taste is very unique.
As soon as the product was launched, it was sought after by the market and returned empty. In the first three months, it achieved profitability, with sales of up to 20 million yuan. And several old companies in the beverage industry have been left far behind by this sudden newcomer. For a whole year in 1998, dealers had no inventory, and the goods would be sold out as soon as they were purchased.
After a series of hot encounters in the market with short supply, Chen Sheng has also risen rapidly from a small role to become the leader of the regional vinegar beverage industry. Many industry giants like Coca-Cola are jealous and want to cooperate with him or buy Tiandi One. But Chen Sheng did not choose to sell the company, but insisted on operating independently and growing it. Tiandi No.1 later successfully entered the national market, competing and cooperating with major brands.
After successful entrepreneurial practices in the fields of real estate and beverages, Chen Sheng had the idea of shifting the battlefield to the food industry. Although the local chicken market is beautiful, the competition is also fierce. Chen Sheng also encountered a lot of resistance here, and the sales of local chickens were not smooth.
In the face of difficulties, Chen Sheng did not retreat, but turned his goal to the field of pigs. He gave his newly launched pork brand a resounding name - "No. 1 Soil Pig". Sounds very authentic and down-to-earth.
In order to launch this new brand locally, Chen Sheng came up with a very innovative marketing idea. He asked his employees to pick a few large pigs, put safflower garlands on their heads, and then led them through the city's main streets. Pedestrians gathered around, attracted by such a peculiar advertisement. Soon the name "No. 1 Earth Pig" spread to every corner of the city.
This wave of sales, coupled with the high quality of the product itself, quickly opened up a local reputation. At first, only a few pigs could be sold, and it didn't take long for "No. 1 Native Pig" to become a top local pork brand, with more than a few hundred slaughtered per day, far exceeding ordinary pork. More and more high-end consumers are choosing to buy this high-quality local pork as a status symbol.
In 2008, Chen Sheng recruited Lu Buxuan, an old alumnus of Peking University, and other partners to open China's first slaughtering school. This field was originally not taken seriously, but under Chen Sheng's advocacy and drive, more and more young people gradually chose to step into this seemingly low-end industry. Chen Sheng has solved the problem of lack of talents urgently needed in the domestic breeding industry, and also made his pork industry chain more complete, firmly sitting on the throne of the leading boss.
Time flies, more than ten years have passed, Chen Sheng has achieved great things on the road of business step by step from a Peking University student from an ordinary family, and has become a top rich man worth more than 100 million. Although he has made countless achievements in Vanity Fair, the scene of the villagers seeing him off when he was a child is still vivid.
In 2011, as a successful man, he decided to give back to his hometown and repay the kindness of the people in the village back then. As a result, Chen Sheng began to spend 200 million yuan in his hometown to build a modern new rural demonstration area. A total of 22 farmhouses are planned in this new village, each of which will receive a 280-square-meter high-end villa, and a 5-acre lychee orchard, where each family can raise 500-1,000 fat pigs. In this way, the annual income of the villagers can reach a well-off living standard.
As soon as this plan was announced, it caused a stir in the village. Everyone said that Chen Shenggong retired without forgetting his roots, and he also deliberately repaid the villagers who funded him to go to school that year. The people in the village were very happy, and they all said that life could be much better now. Many villagers also took the initiative to come to the door, saying that they wanted to join this feedback program, hoping to get a share of a house.
Chen Sheng was also very pleased to see that the plan had received such an enthusiastic response. He began to devote himself wholeheartedly to this construction project, looking forward to the day when the project will be completed soon and the villagers will be able to live a good life as soon as possible.
However, the good times didn't last long.
Three years later, the houses in the new village were almost completed. When Chen Sheng took the time to go back to his hometown to inspect, he thought that the villagers would be full of joy, but he didn't expect to be greeted by the unreasonable demands of the villagers.
I have two sons, you have to arrange two apartments for me!”
What about my old house?Don't you pay for the demolition?I'm going to live in this new house too!”
I've been working outside for several years, you can't help but give me a house!”
What shocked Chen Sheng even more was that several families came directly to the door and asked for more real estate arrangements for various reasons, and after being refused, they angrily damaged some of the facilities of the new house!
Faced with this sudden and chaotic scene, Chen Sheng was at a loss. He originally thought that the villagers would happily accept his selfless gifts and live a good life, but he never expected that everyone would immediately expose a strong selfish psychology, and there is no bottom line for you to fight for me. This is similar to the group of villagers who funded themselves without complaint and regret. Chen Sheng couldn't tell what kind of township this was in for a while.
He was deeply affected and even didn't dare to return to his hometown again for a while, because as long as he showed up, countless villagers would surround him and have their own opinions, and you would come and go and entangle. The 258 beautiful villas are so vacant, and no one will accept them when they are about to be completed, which makes Chen Sheng extremely headache.
Who's going to have to fix this mess?
In view of the seriousness of the situation, in the end, with the active intervention and mediation of **, this house separation turmoil was calmed down. The county set up a special team to visit the village, and after layers of communication and straightening out the complex relationship network, it finally successfully organized the villagers to draw lots and divide the houses according to the regulations on May 1, 2018.
On that day, Chen Sheng also returned to his hometown again to participate in the delivery ceremony of this villa. When he saw the villagers' expressions of joy or disappointment, he had mixed feelings. I wanted to give back to my hometown, but I got into trouble, but with the active coordination of **, this matter finally ended successfully.
I hope that everyone will live in harmony, take care of each other, and jointly build a beautiful new countryside. Chen Sheng told the villagers.
The 258 villas were finally completed on schedule and handed over to the villagers who really needed them. Although there were all kinds of twists and turns in the middle, Chen Sheng did not give up his original intention. Through the joint efforts of all parties, the needy villages will be revitalized.
Chen Sheng's story tells us that there will inevitably be thorns on the road to success, but as long as we never forget the way we came from and stick to our beliefs, we will definitely reach the other side of the beautiful shore.