I heard Chen Jicang's name for the first time before Yushu.

The little girl in charge of media affairs of China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation said: "You must interview Chen Jicang when you go to Yushu. For three years, he has been staying in Yushu to help the poor.

Chen Jicang, a native of Changde, Hunan, is an employee of China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation. After marriage 14 days, I went to Yushu to participate in post-disaster reconstruction. His long-term fighting in the plateau area has always been cited as a beautiful talk by his colleagues. When Chen Jicang was mentioned, an official of the Poverty Alleviation Bureau of Qinghai Province was full of praise: "I know him. In the year of the earthquake, I lived with him in a board house on the mountain for several months to help the poor. This young man is very practical. " A Tibetan gave a thumbs-up and said in half-baked Chinese, "Chen Jicang, that's interesting."

There are many public welfare people who have a good reputation, but they really eat very little like Chen Jicang. However, if you have high expectations for him, I'm afraid you will be a little disappointed when you meet him.

"Little Man" Chen Jicang

At the end of August, it was midsummer in the south, but it was a little cool in autumn over Yushu on the plateau. On this day, the Yushu agricultural and livestock trading market built on the mountain was completed, which is one of the public welfare projects promoted by Chen Jicang. It is expensive and the construction process is tortuous. It is said that Chen Jicang will be there. I looked around the scene with anticipation. Suddenly someone pointed to a fast-moving yellow figure and said, "Look, that's it."

Chen Jicang is very busy. At that time, he was running around and working as a logistics organizer. He is thin and dark, wearing a yellow sports coat and a "little bee" tied to his waist for publicity. He is as ordinary as passers-by.

Chen Jicang is nearly 30 years old, but he looks a few years younger than his actual age. After being stopped by a reporter, his doll's face showed a shy smile and said with self-deprecation: "I just work part-time." However, the self-proclaimed handyman quickly stood on the podium and immediately reported the market situation to a group of senior officials in a neutral and impassioned tone. Finally, he did not forget to add a request: "The market is facing development problems, and I hope the government will continue to support it so that the people can benefit early and gain more."

Later, after being drunk, Chen Jicang told people that it was not easy for him to organize the completion ceremony. Many local officials expressed their opinions, but few people really played a role. He had to wear several hats, both as a father and a mother, and was finally scolded by an official for his incompetence. Chen Jicang said angrily, "When I was busy at the scene, he was drinking tea in the office!" "

In terms of status and wealth, Chen Jicang is not ranked in Yushu, where senior officials and rich people get together to help the poor, but it is this humble young man from the people who lived in Yushu for three years after the earthquake and planned a public welfare project of 65.438+0.5 billion yuan. In a public welfare city-building movement led by administrative and capital forces, he deeply thought about the demands of the people.

Chen Jicang often goes to Jiegu Town and several nearby villages for investigation. He found that although a modern town is rapidly forming, the life of herders has not changed. They still drive cattle to the grassland to eat grass during the day, drink and play mahjong at night, and borrow from friends if they have no money. The government has rebuilt infrastructure and houses for the victims, but these things can't be eaten as food. They have no means of production and sources of livelihood, and will eventually become poor. What can the people do before the government pays attention to the livelihood of Tibetans?

Experts said that Tibetans should be guided to form villagers' cooperatives and develop the collective economy. However, there is no tradition of cooperative management in Tibetan communities, and the popular practices in Han inhabited areas are quite "acclimatized" in Yushu. This is a common headache for public welfare people who are sent to help the poor: what can you do if you think a good practice is not accepted by the local people?

Enter the Tibetan community

Fortunately, Chen Jicang is more willing to use his head. When he was investigating in Ganda Village, he found that when asked "What do you need", women always asked him to ask his man, while men always asked him to ask the village leaders. Chen Jicang gathered the prestigious elites in the village, thinking of instilling advanced ideas into the big bosses first, and then encouraging them to lead the villagers to a well-off life. But he soon found that it was not easy.

Basan Tashi is a rural elite. He made a fortune from the business of Cordyceps in Tibetan areas with little commercial flavor. It is rare among Tibetans, and he is not an gullible person. In the face of Chen Jicang's proposal, he gently raised his objection: "I have heard of the cooperative model before, and the village has tried it, but it has never been divided into red, and what we do is not what we want to do."

The boss in the village doesn't trust a foreign teenager. At this time, Chen Jicang fully carried forward the tradition of "submit to humiliation" of Hunan people, and ran to the village every three days to drink and chat with Tibetans and call them brothers. He did not forget to tell the big bosses repeatedly that the farmers' cooperative is the person in charge of the democratic election, and the villagers are the masters of the country, and the money they earn is their own. After several visits, Tibetans found this young man of Han nationality really "interesting" and there was some truth in what he said, so they set up a cooperative according to his words, and Basang Tashi was elected as the first chairman.

With the cooperative, Chen Jicang called the big bosses together while the iron was hot to discuss what advantages the village had and what the cooperative could do. Seize business opportunities, which is what Businessman Basan Tashi is good at. He suggested: "In post-disaster reconstruction, there are many places to repair houses, pull bricks, pull cement, pull sand and build transport teams!"

The formation of a transport team was not in the original plan of the Foundation for Poverty Alleviation, but Chen Jicang felt that this idea met the needs of Yushu city development and could also guarantee the livelihood of Tibetans. Under his coordination, China has adjusted the public welfare projects for poverty alleviation, allocating 2.48 million yuan to purchase vehicles locally, and also investing 480,000 yuan as the project start-up fund.

His proposal was supported by a large sum of money, and Basan Tashi's enthusiasm also came up. He gave up the Cordyceps business and started to pull business for the team. Thanks to his efforts, the villagers in Ganda Village got dividends that year. At present, the transportation team in Ganda Village is developing well. As of March this year, it has earned more than 90,000 yuan.

The story that happened in Ganda Village is just one of Chen Jicang's achievements. In many villages around Yushu, he always did as the Romans do, and soon became one with the local Tibetans. During his three years in Yushu, in addition to the transportation team, he also tossed a vegetable shed, a cow base and a farmer's market. Local governments, funded enterprises and local Tibetans are very satisfied with these public welfare projects.

In the eyes of Tibetans, Chen Jicang looks like a saint. He comes from a fertile plain area, but he is willing to eat and live with herders on the plateau. He brought organizational methods, funds and even policies beneficial to the villagers from the government, but he didn't want to return. However, is this really the case?

The bitterness and joy of strangers

Wine is a good thing. If it weren't for wine, it's hard to imagine that Chen Jicang, who usually smiles shyly and speaks cautiously, would vent his inner anguish and lofty sentiments so thoroughly.

That night, Yushu agricultural and livestock trading market was completed, and the last public welfare project that Chen Jicang painstakingly managed was also completed. He ushered in the moment of retirement. Chen Jicang's old Tibetan friends gave a banquet in Yushu New Town, which was full of nostalgia. Chen Jicang refused to come, and the wine dried up. At this time, Chen Jicang is no longer cautious. "To be honest, I didn't expect to stay in Yushu for so long, but I just felt that I must do something!"

"But I owe my family too much." Speaking of which, Chen Jichang paused, his face twitched violently, and his voice soon turned into tears. "That year, my mother was diagnosed with cancer for the first time, but I was not with her, so I had to fly back. I have been chanting for her on the road. " At some point, Chen Jicang burst into tears. He said that his mother's condition improved, but he soon had to go back to work in Yushu and failed to take care of her sick mother. He often feels guilty.

Chen Jicang said that in the days of Yushu, looking at the snowy grassland, he has been thinking about whether it is worthwhile to spend three years in this remote place. He also said that he had a hard time in Yushu, but at some moments, he could touch the true meaning of life. Yushu is very remote, and the nearest big city is Xining, the capital of Qinghai Province. But it takes 10 more than an hour's drive on the way. "I have driven many times. On the Panshan Highway, I saw wolves, yaks, antelopes and vultures, and saw the endless Xinghai on the grassland. " When he said this, Chen Jicang slowed down and looked into the distance, as if he had returned to that silent starry night. "At that moment, I felt the thickness of life. I want to understand that life lies not in its length, but in its thickness. I stayed in Yushu for several years and it was worth it! "

Chen Jicang's life in recent years has been hard and wonderful, but it is lamentable that he will continue this hard and wonderful journey-after he came down from Yushu, he was sent to Lushan by the Foundation.

"I don't know how long I will stick to it. Maybe one day, I will not do public welfare. " When I said this, the banquet broke up and people gradually separated. "I also want to take care of my family and take care of my life, but there will always be public welfare in my heart."