Back to 2008: I Helped My Dad Become the Richest Man

The excitement of the piglets entering the pen lasted less than two days before the Luo family deeply understood the meaning of Grandpa Liu's words: the test had only just begun.

Pig farming is completely different from what they imagined. It's not simply about feeding pigs; it's an extremely complicated, arduous, and demanding systemic project that requires a great deal of effort.

The family's biological clock has been completely disrupted by the pigs.

Every morning at five o'clock, before dawn, Luo Xinde and Li Minxia have to get up.

The first thing Luo Xinde did was to inspect the pigsties. He checked the condition of each piglet one by one to see if they had diarrhea, were lethargic, or were huddled together and listless.

Grandpa Liu had taught him that pigs can't talk, but all their health problems are revealed through these details.

Li Minxia then plunged into the feed room. Piglets have very delicate digestive systems, so the feed ratio must be precise. Corn flour, soybean meal, and premixed feed—each ingredient must be weighed precisely, then mixed with warm water to form a paste. The water temperature cannot be too high or too low; if it's too thick, the piglets won't like to eat it, and if it's too thin, they'll easily get diarrhea.

Six o'clock is the time for the first feeding.

Luo Xinde pushed his feed cart, adding feed to each pigpen. The sounds of two hundred piglets scrambling for food were deafening.

Li Minxia followed behind, observing which column was being eaten quickly and which was being eaten slowly, and wrote it all down on the small blackboard hanging on the wall.

After the meal, the most tiring task came – cleaning the pigsty.

Pigs produce a lot of waste, so the sty must be cleaned twice a day, otherwise it will smell terrible and breed bacteria.

Wearing high-top rain boots and holding a high-pressure water gun, Luo Xinde washed the waste from one bin to another. The excrement flowed down the slope into the sewage ditch and finally collected in the biogas digester outside.

After rinsing the pigsty, quicklime had to be sprinkled on it for disinfection. By the end of the whole process, Luo Xinde's back was almost broken, and he was soaked through, unable to tell whether it was water or sweat.

In the morning, Luo Xiyuan and Luo Wen went to school. The farm work was entirely the responsibility of Luo Xinde, Li Minxia, ​​and Grandpa Liu.

Grandpa Liu spent most of his time observing and providing guidance, occasionally grabbing a handful of feed to smell it, or squatting down to check the color of the pig's feces.

Luo Xinde is the CEO and Chief Physical Fitness Officer, and he takes care of all the dirty and hard work.

After working there for a few days, Li Minxia made a major decision. She went to the textile factory in town and resigned.

"I'm not going to work," she told Luo Xinde. "The factory wages aren't even enough to cover the daily expenses of our pig farm. Things are so busy at home right now, I have to stay and help."

She completely transformed from a factory worker into the CFO and logistics manager of "Roosevelt Farms." She was not only responsible for ingredient preparation and cooking, but also managed the farm's finances. Every expense and every income (although there was none yet) was meticulously recorded in a small notebook.

In the afternoon, Luo Xiyuan and Luo Wen returned home from school. They threw down their schoolbags and immediately got to work on the farm.

Luo Xiyuan's main job is studying and researching. She moved all the books on pig farming she could find to the farm office and would immerse herself in them whenever she had free time.

She also persuaded her father to spend a "huge sum" to buy a second-hand computer and install an internet connection. This was in the rural area in 2008, when computers and the internet were still rare commodities.

The villagers all thought the Luo family was wasting money by buying a TV box to play with.

But Luo Xiyuan knew that this computer was her window to future information and knowledge. Every day, she would check the latest pig farming techniques, market trends, and disease prevention information online. She would organize this information, discuss it with Grandpa Liu, communicate with her parents, and continuously optimize the farm's management plan.

She became the farm's true "brain".

Rowan became the farm's "data recorder".

His daily task is to take his little notebook and record the feed intake of each pig in each pen, the daily medication, and the weekly weighing data.

"Sister, the pigs in pen number three have gained an average of 4.5 kilograms this week, which is 0.3 kilograms more than last week."

"Two pigs in pen number seven have reduced their feed intake today, so Grandpa Liu fed them some oxytetracycline."

His records became the most direct data basis for Liu Ye and Luo Xiyuan to judge the health status and growth rate of the pig herd.

A family is like a sophisticated machine, with each person having their own place and performing their own duties, all working at high speed towards the same goal.

These kinds of days are tough.

Luo Xinde's shoulders and back were covered with plasters from long hours of labor. His hands, rough and cracked from years of contact with water and disinfectant, were also covered with cuts.

Li Minxia's face no longer showed the leisure she had when she worked in the textile factory, but rather the weariness of being exposed to the elements. She was constantly busy, running around the pigsty and kitchen.

But no one complained.

Because they can see hope every day.

Under their meticulous care, the pink piglets changed every day. From being just over ten pounds when they first entered the pen, they slowly grew to thirty or forty pounds, and then fifty or sixty pounds. They became stronger and stronger, and their coats became shinier and shinier.

Every evening, the happiest time for the family is sitting at the dinner table, listening to Luo Wen report on the day's "achievements".

"Today, the pigs consumed a total of 450 kilograms of feed, an increase of 10 kilograms compared to yesterday! No diarrhea has been reported!"

"We vaccinated the pigs this afternoon, and they showed very little stress and are in good condition!"

Every time they heard good news, the fatigue on Luo Xinde and Li Minxia's faces would vanish, replaced by satisfied smiles.

Luo Xinde often stood alone in the pigsty late at night, watching the pigs sleeping soundly, and smoked one cigarette after another.

Looking at these little lives, he felt like he was watching his crops slowly grow. He could sense that his life was gradually changing for the better. This sense of accomplishment in creating his own future was something he had never experienced while working on construction sites.

That day, Luo Xiyuan returned from town with some news.

"Dad, Mom, I went to the credit union today. Director Zhang said that our farm is operating well and has a good credit record. If we need to expand, they can provide another low-interest loan of 100,000 yuan."

"One hundred thousand?" Luo Xinde and Li Minxia were shocked by this number again.

"Yes." Luo Xiyuan nodded. "Moreover, I've heard that pork prices in the city have risen again recently. The purchase price of live pigs has now exceeded seven yuan and fifty cents per kilogram."

She looked at the fat pigs in the pen, which had already grown to over 100 pounds, her eyes gleaming.

"At this rate, by the time our pigs are ready for market, the price will likely rise to eight yuan, or even higher! Dad, Mom, our decision back then was right!"