The story of a China student from a tramp to a farmer.

There is a New South Wales on the east coast of Australia, and there is a Hunter Valley in New South Wales. This is a picturesque place with lush trees and fragrant flowers. Right here. I met Wang Baoquan, a China farmer with rich skin color.

12 In mid-February, Australia was in midsummer. Wang Baoquan is wearing a T-shirt and casual clothes. A pair of big hands are thick and rough, and their faces are tanned. A whole farmer is not a new farmer in the coastal open areas of China, but an old farmer on the Loess Plateau. A blood vessel on his left arm is as thick as a ballpoint pen, and the skin is different from other places, a bit like an eraser. It's not convenient to ask questions when we meet for the first time, so I have doubts for the time being.

According to the unit of measurement in China, the area of this farm is 503 mu. Wang Baoquan doesn't like talking about acres and hectares, but he likes talking about acres. He doesn't grow fruit trees, vegetables or oats. He grows flowers. His Ruihua brand flowers are in short supply in Sydney. He said that this year's Sydney Olympic Games, he wanted to present flowers to the athletes who won the championship in China. I wonder if the China delegation can give him this face.

His farm was bought at 1995130,000 Australian dollars, which is 7.5 million RMB. He said that in recent years, Hunter Valley has developed tourism and the land has appreciated. His farm has been worth 2.6 million Australian dollars, which has doubled. We can also see the attraction of the real estate industry from here. In five years, even if you buy it, nothing will be planted there, and 1 year will produce 260,000 Australian dollars. What can this 260 thousand do in Australia? You can buy a villa-style house with front and back gardens.

But Wang Baoquan is not ready to sell. His career is developing. In addition to buying land, he also invested more than 2 million Australian dollars to build various facilities. He set up two sales outlets in Sydney, listing five or six thousand flowers every day, with a turnover of about 30 thousand Australian dollars. He said that within two years, all the investment can be recovered. He is still throwing it in, and the foundation of a building has been laid. It is a comprehensive building with functions of preservation, storage, packaging, office and staff canteen. He will also build a computer room, which is a fully automatic greenhouse, which can control temperature, water and fertilize.

Perhaps, in his mind, he wanted to monopolize the flower market in Sydney, but he didn't say. I guessed it from what he said. He said that his farm is not large in the local area, but he has mastered the unique skill of growing flowers and the quality of flowers is good. He also cherishes his own brand. Flowers don't go on the market when they are bent, when a petal is dropped, and when they are expired, they don't go on the market. Australian flower consumers are very expert and know exactly what to spend. Some customers are not very picky about it. One of the flowers in a bunch lost two petals, so they wanted to buy it back at a discount, but they didn't sell it in Wang Baoquan, but shipped it back to the farm for destruction. Colleagues know that this China native is not simple and a terrible competitor, so they inquire about this farm through various channels.

It is hard for anyone to think that this ambitious middle-aged man has experienced hardships that ordinary people can't bear.

He left his wife and daughter in June 1990 and came to Australia alone. He wants to find a school to study in, in his words, "go back to gilding so that he can climb up." Australia attracts international students for profit, and the tuition fees are quite high. However, with only 100 yuan in his arms, he can only work to earn money, hoping to earn enough tuition outside his life. He lives in a suite shared by international students in China. He belongs to a bunk in the corner of the living room and pays $65,438+00 a week. After that, look around for a job. I hope not. He didn't find a job. I can't afford the rent, so I have to pack up and leave. Unable to stay in the city, he went to the countryside and began the wandering life of gypsies for half a year.

A circle along the coast of the Australian mainland is Highway 1. With a small bag on his back and his thumb firmly standing on the side of the road, he actually turned a whole circle and went deep into the hinterland several times. A thumbs-up means hitchhiking. Australians are simple and helpful. Wang Baoquan is penniless, so he relies on the local people to give him bread or other things. He said, "It's like begging."

Homeless people have no fixed place. Sleeping on the street is not allowed in Australia. Wang Baoquan spent 29 Australian dollars to buy a small one-person tent and lived in a dense forest far away from residential areas. Every morning, he has to walk for two hours to get to a crowded place to avoid the eyes of the police. One night, he left half a loaf of bread for the next day and hung it on the top of the tent. There is a wild boar in the Woods, not the one with fangs, but a wild domestic pig lost in the early British colonists' home. This thing has a good smell. When it smells bread, it will arch the tent. He said he didn't have a haircut, didn't shave, had long hair and shawls, had a long beard and drooped chest.

Later, I asked his wife quietly, and she said, "He didn't say why he made himself like this. I think he wants to scare people and doesn't want to be bullied. " He is fighting for his life. He does everything, planting trees, weeding, fishing and digging asparagus. In short, as long as someone hires him for one day, he will thank God for giving him a full meal. In June this year, in the southern hemisphere winter, he turned back to New South Wales and came to Hunter Valley.

Here, he found a job and planted flowers on a new farm run by an Australian. He worked in Qian Zhou for 7 days, working 65,438+00 hours a day, and his boss offered him a weekly salary of 65,438+000 Australian dollars. At that time, the labor law stipulated that a worker's minimum wage was above A $0 10 per hour, and he should get at least A $700. But he doesn't care. For him, having a fixed residence and a full stomach is already very happy.

What is remarkable about this man is that his hardships have not eroded his ambition. He doesn't care about the immediate gains and losses, works hard, and starts working hard every day before the sun rises until he can't see his fingers. He studies hard. I didn't have the conditions to learn gardening theory, so I did experiments with several pots to observe and compare the amount of water and fertilizer, when to water, when to fertilize, what fertilizer to apply, temperature and humidity. Picking flowers, he worked for several local white workers and planted flowers. He is a senior engineer without a title. The boss began to give him a raise, 1 hour to 25 Australian dollars. It can be said that the boss's farm was made by him.

1995, has become a permanent resident and is eligible to borrow money from the bank. At this time, Wang Baoquan not only learned the skills of planting flowers, but also had a clear understanding of the market situation. Unlike other Asian immigrants, he planted large vegetable fields and operated on a small scale, accumulating capital one by one. He caused a sensation without saying anything. He borrowed 2 million Australian dollars from the bank, found a partner from China, raised more than 6.5438+0 million Australian dollars, and bought a farm at the beginning.

He succeeded. He didn't study economics, but he successfully wrote a big article on economics. He said that many people focus on cities, but they don't know that rural Australia is full of opportunities. Australians are lazy and not smart. With the fighting spirit and intelligence of China people, there are still many great articles to be done in rural Australia.

In Australia, I met two kinds of China people. One is that the motherland is useless, and they are ashamed of their China origin. They don't like to take reason when they see yellow skin, and they are afraid of being touched by backwardness and poverty, just as the rich in the old society were ashamed to associate with poor relatives. The other is that I am far away from my motherland and miss China more and more. Everything is fine. Wang Baoquan belongs to the second category. He hired 12 Australian white workers. At first, those guys looked down on him because what they learned from the local news media was a backward China. Australian China people came here illegally by fishing boats to share their wealth and civilization.

Once, the underground water pipe broke down, and several workers couldn't fix it for a long time. He jumped down and took a muddy water to repair it. Standing there dripping wet, call all the workers, point to their noses and say, this is your job, I'm the boss, I look like a periophthalmus today, and you should be ashamed. The workers were persuaded by him. He can not only grow flowers, but also do something, such as electrician and mechanic. It's amazing.

This year, Wang Baoquan selected two "senior producers" and spent 20,000 Australian dollars to arrange a trip to Shanghai. Two white boys came back from Shanghai and said that China was very different from what they expected. Shanghai is more prosperous than Sydney. They don't want to come back. Shortly before we met, Wang Baoquan got a video of the 50th National Day military parade from somewhere. He was so happy that he called all the workers together and said that he would resign today and watch the video. The workers were dumbfounded. They have never seen this potential faction in their lives. Since then, they have served not only Wang Baoquan, but also China. Wang Baoquan said that he is engaged in political work, and it is impossible to engage in enterprise management without political education.

Now, these workers are obedient and flatter him when they see him. Both he and his wife say that foreigners' flattery is very interesting. They are very eye-catching and don't avoid people at all. For example, when Wang Baoquan has something in his hand, they will immediately rush to take it from him, as if their boss was extremely guilty when he was exhausted. They will also give Wang Baoquan some snacks in front of everyone and say that my mother made them specially for you. Wang Baoquan said to me, "It feels great to manage foreigners. I like to hire foreigners. " Words are a joke, but national pride is strong.

Just as he was about to show his talents in Australia, a headache disease entangled him. Both his kidneys are broken and he must rely on dialysis to maintain them. The blood vessels in the left arm are made like this to clear the blood. The doctor connected the two blood vessels. He said he was tired. In the process of wandering, working and starting a business, he is desperate. After a day's work, I can't straighten my waist at all, and my whole body is curved when I walk.

Baoquan, Baoquan, may you live a long life, and let us see greater achievements of a Chinese descendant in a foreign country!

Author's note:

This article was published in Global magazine in 2000 and widely reprinted by domestic and Hong Kong media. At that time, I gave Wang Baoquan a pen name Wang Pengshou. On the one hand, I wish him a speedy recovery and a long life. On the other hand, Baoquan doesn't want to appear in the domestic media. Later, I found out that he was wary of reporters and said he didn't want to be reported. I repeatedly persuaded him to promise not to use his real name, and he reluctantly agreed. In the subsequent telephone contact, he asked me several times what I needed his help, and said, "I will definitely do as you promised my teacher." I said nothing happened. He doesn't mind revealing his real name. 200 1 I drove five hours to see him.

His condition continues to deteriorate and he is going to Shanghai for a kidney transplant soon. I wish him success in the operation and ask him to call me after the operation. Since then, I haven't heard from him, and I dare not call him. I picked up the phone several times and put it down. In 2003, my term ended and I will return to China soon. I called him to say goodbye. A foreigner answered the phone and said I had the wrong number. My heart suddenly tightened. Unwilling, I called his cell phone again and heard a familiar voice. I am ecstatic. He said that his condition is still very serious, but he hasn't had an operation yet. Now he must have dialysis every day. The government imported a dialysis machine for him from Germany, trained him and taught him how to use it.

He's dealing with the funeral. He has sold his farm, bought a house in Sydney and bought a convenience store for his wife. He said that the survival rate of kidney transplantation is not high, and the life of his wife and children must be arranged before the operation. I said, you sound good. He said that he was born a soldier and was not afraid of death. He always talks like this when the ambulance comes. Up to now, I haven't heard any further news from him.