In front of the live streaming camera, Xiao Zhaohu is passionately sharing his knowledge about tea and related topics. Even though he is 52 years old, his eyes sparkle with joy, and his friendly smile seems to transcend the screen. In a remarkable feat, he successfully passed the entrance exam for a graduate program in tea studies in just 100 days.
Xiao Zhaohu, originally an executive at a media company, felt a desire to break free from the monotony of his life trajectory. With a longing to explore new horizons, he fully immersed himself in the tea industry. In order to systematically study tea and agricultural knowledge, he chose to pursue graduate studies at an older age. As one of the first users of ChatGPT in China, he maximized its utility during his exam preparation, leveraging its capabilities to enhance his learning experience.
Xiao's journey to pursue graduate studies was sparked by a dinner conversation with colleagues, during which one mentioned a classmate who had successfully switched fields to study calligraphy. This conversation resonated with Xiao, who was already contemplating new paths while seeking markets for the tea produced by his father in their hometown in Guizhou Province. Since 2007, his father had been cultivating Zheng'an white tea on several acres of land, yielding around 100 kilograms of tea leaves annually.
In the early hours of September 2023, Xiao Zhaohu experienced a sudden epiphany as the two threads of selling tea and pursuing further education converged in his mind. It was then that he had a moment of inspiration: "Why not pursue a graduate degree in tea studies?"
Transitioning into a new field at his age presented significant challenges, especially regarding memory retention.
To overcome this hurdle, Xiao turned to AI for assistance. He inputted all collected past exam questions into the AI system and used it to generate answers, continuously refining his approach based on his experiences with ChatGPT. He also scanned reference materials into ChatGPT to create a knowledge base, allowing the AI to prioritize using this content to answer questions. Furthermore, Xiao had ChatGPT go through the past exam questions again, adding more specific constraints to optimize the answers. In the week leading up to the exam, he had the AI summarize key points for each question and provide mnemonic devices, which he turned into rhymes or chants to aid his memory, effectively overcoming his memory challenges. The use of AI significantly improved Xiao's efficiency in exam preparation, boosting his confidence in achieving success.
For Xiao Zhaohu, passing the graduate entrance exam was just the beginning of a new chapter in his life. After completing the interview process, he returned to his hometown and embarked on a journey of public service through live streaming to support local farmers. Utilizing platforms like video-sharing apps and social media, Xiao has conducted numerous live broadcasts where he enthusiastically shares his knowledge of tea and promotes the unique tea products of his hometown, Zheng'an. Looking ahead, Xiao aims to inspire more young people from his hometown to join him in promoting local agricultural products through live streaming, thus establishing effective channels for promotion and sales.
Reflecting on his journey, Xiao acknowledges the accumulation of experience he has gained over the past thirty years in the media industry since graduating from college. With life expectancy increasing, Xiao sees his current age of 52 as just the beginning of a new thirty-year journey. In this next phase of his life, he embraces the role of a perpetual learner, eagerly exploring and accumulating knowledge in the tea industry.
Source:Yangcheng Evening News
A 52-year-old tea freshman who was admitted to graduate school and "went ashore".
In front of the live broadcast camera, Xiao Chaohu was introducing tea and related tea knowledge. The corners of his mouth are always in a pleasant arc, and the affinity brought by the smile seems to be able to pass through the screen. Unlike other anchors in the live broadcast room, he is 52 years old this year; What's even more different is that the 52-year-old "uncle" was admitted to the graduate school of tea science in only 100 days.
Xiao Chaohu was originally an executive of a media company, but he felt that his existing life track was single, and "there was an urge to re-plan", so he fully set foot in the tea industry. In order to systematically learn tea science and agricultural knowledge, he chose to take the postgraduate entrance examination at an older age, and he was also one of the first users in China to use ChatGPT, and made full use of it in his exam preparation.
The first time the seeds were planted in Xiao Chaohu's heart for the postgraduate entrance examination, it was from a meal with a colleague. A colleague mentioned that one of his classmates applied for a graduate degree in calligraphy across majors. At that time, Xiao Chaohu was looking for a market for the tea grown by his father in his hometown in Guizhou. Xiao Chaohu's hometown is located in Zheng'an County, Zunyi City, Guizhou Province, his father began to grow Zheng'an white tea in 2007, the tea garden covers an area of dozens of acres, and can produce more than 100 catties of tea every year.
Selling tea and studying in graduate school, the two clues suddenly converged in Xiao Chaohu's mind in the early morning of September 2023. He had a flash of inspiration: "Why don't I take the graduate school of tea science?" ”
Xiao Chaohu needs to learn the professional knowledge of a new subject in a short period of time, which is undoubtedly a huge challenge for Xiao Chaohu, whose memory has declined significantly compared to his youth.
He came up with the idea of using AI to prepare for the exam. Xiao Chaohu asked the AI to help him with the questions. He inputs all the past papers he collects into the AI for the AI to answer, and in the process, he constantly summarizes his experience with ChatGPT. He scanned the bibliography into ChatGPT to form a knowledge base, allowing the AI to prioritize the use of the content in the knowledge base to answer questions. After that, Xiao Chaohu asked ChatGPT to do the real questions again, and added more constraints to optimize the answers. A week before the test, he finally asked the AI to summarize the main points of the answers to each question and give a mnemonic phrase, and then compiled the mnemonic phrase into a song or slip it out, which solved his memory problem. The use of AI has greatly improved Xiao Chaohu's preparation efficiency, and his confidence in going ashore has also been greatly improved.
Going ashore is not the end, but a new beginning. After the retest, Xiao Chaohu returned to his hometown and started his live broadcast of public welfare to help farmers. At present, Xiao Chaohu has conducted a number of live broadcasts on the video account and Douyin. In the live broadcast, Xiao Chaohu always introduces tea knowledge and the special tea of his hometown Zheng'an with a smile. In the future, Xiao Chaohu hopes to drive more young people in his hometown to conduct live broadcasts and build a good channel for the promotion and retail of agricultural products in his hometown.
Xiao Chaohu said: "It has been almost 30 years since I graduated from my bachelor's degree, and in the past 30 years, I have gained some experience in the communication industry. People now live to be in their eighties, and I went from 52 to 80 years old, and there are still 30 years. In the new 30 years, 52-year-old Xiao Chaohu has become a new student again, starting a new exploration and new accumulation in the tea industry.
Text丨Reporter Tan Jiewen Intern Zhang Baoyi
Photo丨Photo provided by the interviewee
Translated by Liu Jiahui