On January 30, four miniature tractors donated by Zhou Xiaodong, the most beautiful retired soldier in the country and a model of supporting the army in Hainan Province, were transported by land and sea to Treasure Island, East Island, Coral Island and Jinqing Island in the Xisha Islands, adding manipulators to the vegetable basket project of the officers and soldiers guarding the island. Along with the various islands, Zhou Xiaodong carefully selected vegetable seeds to adapt to the island's climate.
Zhou Xiaodong is a breeding expert who came out of the military camp and has been fond of the army for more than 30 years. Since 1997, he has used the model of "rice from the north to the south" to try to plant rice from the northeast with good taste and high yield to the south. From north to south, from low to high, to the limit of crop planting, from the Mohe River in Heilongjiang at 53 degrees north latitude step by step to Tianjin, Sichuan, Hainan, and all the way to Yongxing Island, Sansha City. Year after year, he continued to eliminate varieties that were not adapted to the soil and water, and selected and bred six varieties that could still maintain stable traits and taste the same as the original after environmental changes.
The success of the north-rice southward migration experiment in the Xisha Islands is of great significance. Located at 16 degrees north latitude, which is close to the latitude of 11 Southeast Asian countries, the results of this research will lay a solid foundation for agricultural cooperation among Belt and Road countries. Zhou Xiaodong said frankly that without the strong support of the officers and men guarding the Xisha Islands over the years, his ultra-early-maturing rice "Zhou Xiaodong No. 1" would not have been so smoothly bred.
Zhou Xiaodong clearly remembered that when he tried planting on the island for the first time, he was blown away by a typhoon, and Zhou Xiaodong was so distressed that he wanted to cry. Xu Bin, the cooking squad leader of a certain department, gave Zhou Xiaodong an idea and asked Zhou Xiaodong to plant rice in a flower pot, and he raised it. If there is no typhoon, move outside, and if there is a typhoon, take the house. A spark can start a prairie fire. It is the seeds in this pot that have now drifted to all corners of the motherland. During the days of breeding rice seeds in the Paracel Islands, I formed a deep friendship with the officers and soldiers stationed there. Gradually turning his personal gratitude into a force to support national defense construction, while successfully breeding super-early maturing rice seeds, he raised himself into a seed to support the army on the island where the clouds and waves were rolling.
When Zhou Xiaodong saw that the fresh water needed by the officers and men guarding the island was very short, he did everything possible to help the troops purchase internationally advanced seawater desalination machines through his friendship, and the desalinated water reached the national drinking water standard. In May 2015, he coordinated with relevant technical personnel to take the imported seawater watermaker and sail for 15 days on the Navy Yuntaishan supply ship to install and debug the seawater watermaker on six islands and reefs in Nansha. When he saw that the officers and soldiers guarding the island had plenty of fresh water, his heart was as comfortable as a sweet spring.
The demand for meat, eggs, milk, and vegetables has been a long-standing problem for the officers and men guarding the island for many years. He drew up a solution plan, and he first provided the island with the technology to grow fruits and vegetables. He transported eggplant, peppers, cucumbers, and tomato seedlings that had been raised in Sanya to the island and instructed the officers and men to grow vegetables. The soil on the island was not suitable for growing vegetables, so he transported the improved soil and fertilizer from the experimental base to the island, and worked with the officers and soldiers guarding the island to build Nanniwan on the sea. Meat, eggs, milk, and some vegetable varieties could not be produced on the island, so Zhou Xiaodong's work boat procured some for the officers and men every time he traveled back and forth between the island and Sanya. Over the years, he has sent more than 120,000 catties of fresh vegetables, more than 10,000 catties of pork, and more than 10,000 catties of eggs to officers and men from Sanya. He became good friends with many officers and men guarding the island, and his home in Sanya became a post station for officers and men to go up and down the island and their families to come to the team, providing them with a lot of convenience.
In addition to providing material food for the solution, Zhou Xiaodong also sent them spiritual food. In July 2012, the island defense unit established the "Sansha Lei Feng Class" on Woody Island. After hearing their deeds, Zhou Xiaodong was very moved, and immediately called Lei Feng's comrade-in-arms Qiao Anshan and said: "The officers and soldiers of Woody Island learned from Lei Feng, and they did not help the old and the young, but only saved the dead and the wounded. "There are many typhoons in Xisha, and the small island where officers and soldiers are stationed is a safe haven for passing fishermen. In 2013, super typhoon "Butterfly" made landfall in Xisha and dozens of fishing boats capsized on Chenhang Island. The officers and men carried out rescue work overnight, and in the face of 17-level winds and torrential rains, they used ropes to tie one end to a tree and the other to their waists, moving forward step by step, throwing the lifebuoy into the sea one time and again and again, being knocked down by the waves, falling and bleeding, completely ignoring ......After four days and three nights, more than 260 fishermen in distress were finally rescued. After listening to their advanced deeds, Qiao Anshan, together with Deng Fenglan, a national model worker, specially came to Yongxing Island from Fushun, Liaoning Province, to give a report to the officers and men on learning from Lei Feng.
In November 2018, Zhou Xiaodong was awarded the honorary title of "The Most Beautiful Veteran" by the Propaganda Department, the Ministry of Veterans Affairs and the Political Work Department of the Military Commission. In August 2019, Zhou Xiaodong was awarded the honorary title of "Model of Patriotism and Support of the Army" by the Hainan Provincial Party Committee, Provincial ** and Provincial Military Region. On October 1, 2019, Zhou Xiaodong was invited to participate in the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. In June 2023, Zhou Xiaodong was awarded the title of "Outstanding Communist Party Member of the Two New Organizations" by Sanya City.