Create a livable and workable rural environment. Photo by reporter Wu Wenxin
Gao Ye (left) and Zhou Pengfei (right) sort out the goods. Photo by reporter Zhu Liyang
The cold and cold vegetable industry in Xiji County has shown large-scale development. Photo by reporter Wu Wenxin
After the reconstruction, the town of Taibao was renovated. Photo by reporter Wu Wenxin
People who have lived in rural Xiji County are more sensitive to dates, especially dates. Literate people marked various symbols on the wall calendar to make time for a certain day early.
That day was the day to go to a nearby township to catch the market. One four seven, two five eight, three six nine, each township market transaction date is fixed, not the same.
In the years of inconvenient transportation and scarcity of goods, every market rush is like rushing to a festival. Children's bazaars are particularly impressive, and in times of scarcity, bazaars are the most likely places to receive rewards from elders.
Gao Ye, the owner of the Tiantianle supermarket in Jiangtaibao Town, Xiji County, clearly remembers: "Jiangtaibao Town is a single-day set. The first piece of sugar I ate was bought by my father in 1988 at the Jiangtaibao Market. ”
In 1988, 6-year-old Gao Ye followed his parents from Mu Rong Village to the Jiangtaibao Market several times in the early morning, shuttling through the flow of people and goods, thinking that he had come to the most prosperous place in the world. She saw that the vendors were also pushing trucks, driving ox carts, and riding donkey carts from Nihe Township, Malian Township, Xitan Township, Xinglong Township and other places, pulling all kinds of goods to find favorable locations. People who rush to the market do not rush to buy the goods they need, but ask for prices along the way of the market, and then turn around and ask back, shop around, and choose the best. The person who buys the cattle and sheep puts his hand into the sleeve of the seller, and the two touch their hands to trade, using gestures to determine the success or failure of a transaction...
Gao Ye's fathers and grandparents were the most traditional farmers, "counting accounts more than the number of fingers, even if it is not clear." At that time, the market was like a parallel world in her eyes, which made her envious and made her have a sense of business: "Doing business in the market not only increases income, but also provides another way of life for farmers who work in the fields all day." ”
In the townships, it is not easy to take a different path from your father's generation.
In 2009, after graduating from junior high school, Gao Ye and her husband Zhou Pengfei returned to Xiji's hometown after working outside the home for many years. The two men, who were no longer good at farming, learned to raise sheep, because they could not raise the essentials, and the sheep were raised less and less.
What to do? Gao Ye thought of going to the market to do small business, "less capital, good turnover." Zhou Pengfei unloaded the door of the sheepfold at home, welded a shelf more than 2 meters long, 2 meters wide and 1 meter high with steel bars, inserted the door panels, and set up stalls to sell vegetables.
For the next 6 years, Mr. and Mrs. Gao Ye witnessed every sunrise in the town of Jiangtaibao.
"At that time, vegetables were sold, and the markets and most crowded places in the town could only be grabbed early." Zhou Pengfei said that there is no other shortcut, "can only rely on hard work, set up stalls earlier than others, and collect stalls later than others." Because of the quarrels of stalls, it is not uncommon.
Now this kind of thing will never happen again. In 2014, China reformed the poverty alleviation mechanism and promoted targeted poverty alleviation. The Taibao market town construction project was listed as one of the 30 key market town construction projects in the whole district in 2014, becoming a key construction project of new urbanization identified by Guyuan City, and the newly built market was neatly divided into operating booths and business buildings. Gao Ye and her husband Zhou Pengfei's Tiantianle supermarket is the first merchant in the town to enter the new market.
In 2009, the two mouths sold no more than three or four kinds of vegetables, including tomatoes, peppers, and cabbage. The cost of each dish for the two people is controlled at about 1200 yuan, "more will have to press the goods, the dishes are not fresh, and they cannot be sold."
"The town of Jiangtaibao is about 30 kilometers away from the county seat of Xiji, and Zhou Pengfei and I drove a tricycle to the county farmers' market at 2 a.m., which took about 1.5 hours on a single trip." In order to pick out better goods before others, Gao Ye and his wife rushed with the stars every day.
"At that time, there were potholes all the way, and the car hit the rocks and rolled to the side of the road." Zhou Pengfei sighed, "Like now, Gujiang, Xisan and other tourist roads, industrial roads, and village roads are in all directions." Drive a car out of the county town on the Ximao first-class highway, even if the speed limit, 1.5 hours can run a round trip. ”
In 2011, Xiji County's development of cold and cold vegetable industry has a strong momentum, and more and more peers sell vegetables. With a certain amount of savings, Mr. and Mrs. Gao Ye took out 3,000 yuan of capital to transform and sell fruits, and the shelves are seasonal fruits such as peaches, "to avoid competition, but also to meet everyone's higher requirements for quality of life."
For a period of time, Gao Ye's fruits could not be sold out, and other stalls could not be opened. Gao Ye laughed and said the secret of his business: "First, get the goods early. We have sold vegetables, have experience, everyone is in the same market to receive goods, we are the first batch to pick, others go behind, good goods are picked away. The second is to stay familiar customers. Adults bring children to ask 'apples are sweet or not', and I let him taste one. An apple sells for a dollar or two. Other stall owners are not so generous, some say that small businesses do not allow picking, but I let customers pick. ”
Business is good, not idle, Gao Ye simply cut his hair short, work is convenient. She was also the first female stall owner in the bazaar to wear a skirt. The short hair and long skirt have become a scenery of the fruit stall in the market of Taibao Town.
It is precisely because of the large number of regular customers that when entering the new market in 2014, Gao Ye had confidence. I just moved into the new market, and there was no one around. A relative reminded her: "Doll, it is said that after the construction of the town, the vendors in the old market have moved to the new market, and they don't know when they will be able to move over." Such a long street, you open a supermarket. 150 square meters of supermarket, put so many goods, sell to whom? Gao Ye replied, "Old customers, they will come looking for them." New customers, but whoever has come to buy something, I believe will come back a second time. ”
The town of Jiangtaibao, a small northwest town, really attracted the world's attention on July 18, 2016. That morning, General Secretary Xi Jinping inspected Ningxia, and the first stop was to Jiangtai Fort in Xiji County, to visit the monument of the Red Army Long March Division, and to visit the Red Army Long March Division Memorial Garden and Memorial Hall. He said affectionately that the Long March of the Red Army led by our Party composed a heroic epic of great pride and affection. The great spirit of the Long March is a vivid reflection of the revolutionary style of the Chinese Communists, and we must constantly inherit and carry it forward in the light of the new reality. The new Long March to promote the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics must be continuously relayed and carried out for a long time, and each generation of us must take its own Long March.
"Since 2016, the flow of people in Taibao Town has not been interrupted." Gao Ye said that since then, the supermarket business has been getting better and better every year, with a maximum daily turnover of about 18,000 yuan, and "foreign customers account for 50%."
According to the data, Jiangtaibao Town, a town with a total area of only 112.8 square kilometers, has welcomed 2.6672 million tourists with red education since 2017. As the hottest red tourist destination in Ningxia, the number of tourists in a day here exceeds the number of tourists in the year before 2016 combined.
At 22:00 on June 19, the streets of Taibao Town were brightly lit, and tiantianle supermarket was still open. "In the past, when selling vegetables and fruits, I was greedy and greedy in the morning, but now I am still not allowed to be idle when I open a supermarket." Gao Ye joked, "Sometimes the business is too busy to take care of, and when the sale of goods collapses, I wonder when I can get old and retire when I am old." ”
Saying so, ushering in the delivery is not ambiguous. While taking out the collection code to let the customer scan the code to pay the bill, Gao Ye gave him a discount: "A total of 23.5 yuan, the fraction is not wanted, just give 23 yuan on the line." ”
"It's not a day to drive the people of Taibao Town to the market now. Restaurants and supermarkets welcome the world's guests, day and night, can not catch up with the market. Gao Ye said. (Reporter Zhu Liyang)