Recently, the news of "92-year-old grandma paid off 20.77 million debts in 10 years" has once again appeared on the hot search, touching countless netizens.
At the age of 81, she had a debt of 20.77 million due to blind expansion, but she refused to go bankrupt and resolutely chose to repay her debts. After 10 years, she finally paid off all the arrears, and now at the age of 92, she still has not changed her original intention.
So, as an ordinary old man, how exactly do you do it?
Photo of Chen Jinying's grandmother
Starting a business from scratch
In 1931, Chen Jinying was born in an ordinary rural family. At that time, there were few opportunities for girls to receive education, and Chen Jinying's parents could not afford to pay for her tuition, so she had to drop out of school early to work as a farmer at home.
At the age of 16, according to the customs of the village, Chen Jinying was stuffed into a house she was not familiar with by her parents and began a long and difficult married life.
Photo of Chen Jinying's grandmother
Although her mother-in-law's family is not a wealthy family, Chen Jinying still lives a life of non-stop work, getting up early every day and doing heavy physical work, taking care of children, serving her mother-in-law... It seems that having children is her destined fate in this life.
However, curiosity and thirst for knowledge made Chen Jinying have higher expectations for life, and one year, a doctor came to the village, and Chen Jinying often went to listen to him diagnose and treat the villagers.
Seeing that she was smart and studious, the doctor took the initiative to teach her some simple medical skills, and Chen Jinying vowed to learn more medical knowledge in the future and change her fate with her own hands.
53-year-old Chen Jinying seized a business opportunity - the "blue ocean" market of the elderly down jacket industry. She decided to start her own business and designed down jackets for seniors that were both warm and comfortable.
At the beginning of the business, Chen Jinying only had 3,000 yuan of start-up capital, she rented a private house, bought a few sewing machines, recruited 10 masters, and began the road of entrepreneurship.
At that time, the Lishui down jacket market was almost a blank, Chen Jinying seized this business opportunity at once, her "Xinghua down" factory focused on the customization of down jackets for the elderly, focusing on quality, tailoring, and because of the price of the people, it soon opened up its popularity among the elderly.
Chen Jinying's business idea is the word "single-mindedness" - to specialize in one thing and use his understanding of the industry to serve and impress customers. Soon, "Xinghua down" became famous in the Lishui area. When the business was at its most prosperous, the annual sales of the factory exceeded 10 million yuan.
However, just when his career was taking off, an unexpected accident dragged Chen Jinying into a situation from which he could never recover...
When the peak falls into the trough
At the peak of his career, Chen Jinying's "Xinghua Down" factory was in the limelight for a while. Her elderly down jacket products are in short supply in Yeosu and the surrounding area, and many dealers are vying to cooperate with her.
At this time, a large order from abroad came to the door - an overseas customer took a fancy to the quality of Xinghua factory's products and hoped to order tens of thousands of down jackets at one time.
Chen Jinying was overjoyed, and she was keenly aware that this was a rare opportunity for her career to reach a higher level. In order to complete this big business, the existing production capacity of the Xinghua plant is far from enough.
Chen Jinying decided to expand boldly, she raised 16 million yuan through bank loans, private fund-raising, etc., purchased 6,000 square meters of land in Lishui, and built a modern workshop covering a huge area.
On the day of the completion of the new factory, Chen Jinying burst into tears, she stood in front of the brand-new factory, looking forward to the Xinghua down jacket will be worn by more and more elderly people, and she will also lead the company to a new journey.
She even began to plan to expand the territory of Xinghua Down to surrounding provinces and establish her own sales network and brand channels.
On the one hand, with the influx of many competitors, on the other hand, the rapid development of e-commerce and the rise of new shopping methods have also brought a huge impact on the physical manufacturing industry.
Xinghua Factory's life is sad day by day, orders plummet, capital turnover is not effective, and employee wages cannot be paid, Chen Jinying is in a hurry, but some of her business ideas have not been able to keep up with the pace of market changes.
As before, she insists on designing products according to the traditional preferences of the elderly, focusing on durability and durability, rather than catering to fashion trends. As a result, there is a huge backlog of inventory that cannot be sold at all.
Chen Jinying realized that he had made a mistake: he expanded his production capacity in a big way when the market was still uncertain, and he was burdened with heavy debt, and now it is too late to shrink the scale.
She is anxious every day, while continuing to produce and ship, she has to raise money and working capital everywhere. But it was still unsustainable, and the capital chain eventually broke.
In September 2011, 81-year-old Chen Jinying had to face the brutal fact that she owed a huge debt of 20.77 million yuan. Looking at the pile of IOUs in his hand, the gray-haired old man felt deep helplessness and hesitation for the first time.
In this life, she has grown from a rural woman to an entrepreneur through her own efforts, and has won numerous praises and respects. But now, it all seems to have come to naught, and only heavy debt remains.
Just when Chen Jinying was at a loss, someone persuaded her to file for bankruptcy as a way to escape her debts. After all, it is really unbearable to bear more than 20 million arrears at such an advanced age.
But Chen Jinying flatly rejected the offer. "If you owe money, you must pay it back, and you must be trustworthy!" This is her life credo, no matter how difficult the situation is, she must not give up.
Wind and rain on the way to repay debts
Faced with a huge debt of 20.77 million yuan, Chen Jinying had no choice but to sell all his assets. She first sold the factory and land of Xinghua Down Factory at a low price, and then sold two properties under her name.
Watching the home built by herself change hands brick by brick like this, Chen Jinying's heart was like a knife, but in order to pay off the debt as soon as possible, she signed the transfer contract with tears.
However, the proceeds from the sale of assets can only repay part of the debts of banks and loans, and there is a funding gap of 2.77 million yuan, all of which are interest-free money that Chen Jinying has lent to relatives and friends over the years. This money, which she originally planned to use for her retirement, has now become a heavy burden.
After friends learned of Chen Jinying's experience, they expressed their willingness to hold off before asking for an account. But Chen Jinying waved his hand and said resolutely: "It is a matter of course to repay debts, and we must pay them off as soon as possible no matter what." In this way, she gritted her teeth and decided to start from scratch and make a comeback.
Without the factory, Chen Jinying is like having no roots. But she was not intimidated by the predicament in front of her, but with years of business experience and connections, she scraped together to raise 100,000 yuan in start-up capital, rented a small workshop, and started a down jacket business again.
On the first day of construction, Chen Jinying looked around, this dilapidated small workshop was really very different from the magnificent Xinghua Down Factory. But she knew she had no choice but to start all over again. She recruited a few capable old employees, and contacted several reliable down suppliers, sewing samples stitch by stitch.
However, the market is changing rapidly, and the previous sales channels have long been interrupted, in order to open up the situation, Chen Jinying decided to go out on his own to run the sales channel. She first found a few clothing agents who were old acquaintances, hoping that they could help her sell down jackets.
Who knows, after seeing the sample, the agents shook their heads: "Boss Chen, your style is too old-fashioned, the elderly don't like it now, we can't sell such goods." "
Seeing that the goods in the warehouse were backlogged one by one, and the wages of employees could not be paid, Chen Jinying was in a hurry. In desperation, she had no choice but to set up stalls on the streets and parks by herself. In the bitterly cold winter, the 82-year-old gets up at 5 o'clock in the morning every day, and stands at the stall all day.
The old man sat alone in the corner, with a thick down jacket in front of him, and kept shouting at passers-by. Occasionally, someone took a look at it and tried it on, and she introduced it politely: "This down jacket is warm, and it is just right for us seniors." You buy one and get you a 20% discount. "
In this way, Chen Jinying came and went in the wind and rain every day, and became a frequent visitor to the street park. Sometimes, she can't sell a few pieces in a day, but she never gives up, because she knows that she still has a debt of 3.5 million on her shoulders, and she can't give up easily.
The creditors did not let her go, and the debt collectors came to the door twice in three days, making difficult words and even intimidating. Once, more than a dozen reckless debt collectors broke into Chen Jinying's rental house, surrounded her, and shouted for money.
Integrity and persistence in exchange for a turnaround
When the news of Chen Jinying's repayment in her 80s spread, her spirit of defying difficulties and insisting on integrity deeply touched all walks of life.
The media have reported the deeds of this "debt-paying grandmother", and the public has also given her great sympathy and support. The name "Chen Jinying" became a symbol of morality for a while, and people affectionately called her "honest grandma".
Chen Jinying rekindled hope, some merchants took the initiative to contact her to help her sell inventory down jackets through online stores, and many self-media also vigorously promoted Chen Jinying in their official accounts and videos, calling on everyone to support this old man who adheres to justice.
With these helps, Chen Jinying's sales finally improved, and she rented a small workshop in Lishui again and restarted production with a few old employees. Old customers also returned again, and through their word of mouth, more people knew the story of the brand and paid to express their support.
With the turnover, Chen Jinying can repay the bank loan as planned. She didn't dare to spend a penny, and all her income was directly credited to the arrears account.
Finally, in 2021, the 90-year-old Chen Jinying crossed out the last account, and she paid off all the huge debts of 20.77 million yuan!
On this day, Chen Jinying took out all the stacks of IOUs and put them on his bed. She gently stroked the yellowed papers, recalling the hardships she had experienced on the way to repay her debts in the past ten years.
The power of character behind "Honest Grandma".
Chen Jinying is known as "honest grandma", this title is not easy to come by, it condenses the value pursuit and personality strength of the elderly, and is a summary of her noble character.
In the face of more than 20 million huge debts, some people advised Chen Jinying to go bankrupt, but she firmly disagreed. "It is only natural to repay debts. In her opinion, the money can be repaid slowly, but the word integrity must always be in mind, and there must be no slackness.
In this way, from the age of 81 to 90, Chen Jinying spent 10 years to fulfill his promise. In these long years, there were too many opportunities to choose to give up, too many times she was physically and mentally exhausted and wanted to retreat, but she persevered.
With 10 years of action, Chen Jinying vividly explained what is the true meaning of integrity. Those who are sincere, the heart and mouth are one, words and deeds are consistent, and those who believe in it win the trust of the people and win respect.
Resources:
- Guangming.com Xinhuanet: December 10, 2022 [92-year-old grandmother paid off 20.77 million in 10 years......!
[2] CCTV: March 10, 2021 [Yinuo "Jin Ying"! 90-year-old "honest grandmother" spent ten years to repay 3.5 million yuan in debt]