Liu Yuanjie, wearing a suit and tie, sat in the middle of the venue with focused, mature eyes. This image of a CPPCC member in Yuli County, Xinjiang is very different from the "brother with a fake background" known to netizens. On the Internet, he maintains an honest and simple smile, "Be an interesting person."

Liu Yuanjie told the Red Star News reporter that he was originally from Guizhou, grew up in Suzhou with his working parents, and dropped out of school at the age of 16 , has the experience of working everywhere and starting a business many times. After his business failed in the summer of 2020, he was introduced by a friend and came to Korla City, Xinjiang to live-stream selling fragrant pears. In 2021, he went to Yuli County to sell honey, black wolfberry, etc.

During a live broadcast in the summer of 2022, because his rough appearance was incompatible with the beautiful scenery behind him, netizens questioned that the background had been post-processed. He threw a bucket to prove the authenticity of the background, and was subsequently "crazyly criticized" by netizens, making the meme "the background is too fake" an internet hit.

During the live broadcast, Liu Yuanjie threw a bucket into the river to prove that his background was true

Zhou Bo, the head of the Yuli County E-commerce Office, said that Liu Yuanjie looked naughty and casual online. But he is a person with feelings, ambitions and full of positive energy. Not only does he bring the goods himself, he also helps Yuli County train talents, establish an e-commerce matrix, and promote the development of local agricultural products.

Liu Jia, head of the Foreign Publicity Office of Yuli County, said that Yuli County is rich in agricultural specialties and tourism resources. Liu Yuanjie was elected as a member of the CPPCC. Yuli County cherishes such e-commerce talents.

In 2022, Liu Yuanjie will directly bring more than 10 million yuan in goods. Being elected as a member of the county CPPCC, he feels that he has "a little more responsibility" and his small goal for 2023 is to bring in goods worth 100 million yuan.

“Being a member of the CPPCC comes with a little more responsibility”

After being elected as a member of the CPPCC in Yuli County, Xinjiang, Liu Yuanjie said he was a little surprised, “Suddenly he received a call to attend a meeting.”

On December 26, 2022, he went to attend the Yuli County CPPCC meeting on time and "showed off" his image as a CPPCC member in his circle of friends. In the photo, he is wearing a suit and tie, sitting in the middle of the venue, his eyes focused, mature and steady.

As a result, he became a hot topic again and was reported by People's Daily, CCTV and other media.

Liu Yuanjie attended the Yuli County CPPCC meeting

In July 2022, he was questioned by netizens during a live broadcast that his background was too fake because his rough appearance seemed incompatible with the beautiful scenery behind him. In order to prove the authenticity of the background, he immediately threw the bucket into the river, then ran barefoot into the cold river to retrieve it.

This originally simple live broadcast screen recording became an instant hit on the Internet.

Liu Yuanjie was also surprised that it suddenly became popular. This video directly made him gain 10 million followers on the entire Internet. He originally had less than 1 million fans on several platforms combined, but suddenly became an Internet celebrity with 11 million fans.

He said that all his videos were shot very casually, on the spot, without a script. This is related to his personality. He prefers freedom and just wants to express "interesting".

In the video, he is used to laughing at himself and does not care about netizens' ridicule of his appearance. He also bluntly said that he is indeed "somewhat rough and vicissitudes of life." The profile of his Douyin account "Jianjialimu" reads "height 158cm, weight 158cm".

In WeChat Moments, he left a message, "Sincerity is the surefire skill." During the live broadcast of selling honey, he always tried different ways to get bees to sting him, and then howled while smiling honestly and simply.

During the live broadcast, Liu Yuanjie was always stung by bees on his face

He said that he tried to show his true self and scenes, and authenticity was the key to impress netizens. He was "anxious to prove" that the background of the barrel-throwing video was true, which made netizens make fun of him and started a round of "crazy second creation". The figure slinging the bucket has been cut out in various scenes, appearing in volcano craters, outer space, dancing with members of the dance troupe, and pacing on the wings of a plane without any sense of inconsistency

Why did it explode? Hong, Liu Yuanjie analyzed, "Maybe everyone is just trying to have fun."

Behind the carnival, Liu Yuanjie's sales soared. Some fans joked: "It's better to throw a bucket away than to be stung 100 times by bees."

In the past year, he mainly sold honey and black wolfberry, and directly brought in more than 10 million yuan. After being elected as a member of the county CPPCC, he felt "a little more responsibility" and set a small goal for 2023 to bring in goods worth 100 million yuan.

Liu Yuanjie shot a video selling honey

He and his team members recently shot a video, "Yes, I am a member of the CPPCC, but I am not very proud, I just have more responsibilities. At all, what I am doing has not changed."

In the video, several partners behind him cheered, and he stood in front with a grin, showing two rows of teeth. Then he added: "Handsome or not, I am the representative of good looks."

Originally I just wanted to travel to Xinjiang, but now I have taken root in starting a business

25-year-old Liu Yuanjie was praised by netizens Ridiculing that he looks 45 years old, he joked that he is "much older mentally." He said that when he started his business, all his friends were those born in the 1970s. He did not go to bars, play mobile games, and did not live the lifestyle of a 25-year-old.

Liu Yuanjie told the Red Star News reporter that he was originally from Guizhou and grew up in Suzhou with his working parents. He dropped out of school at the age of 16 and had the experience of working everywhere and starting a business many times. He said that he had a hard time when he was a child. His parents rented a small house outside the factory in Suzhou. The family only had one loft bed. When he was in junior high school, he and his brother slept on the upper bunk, and his parents slept on the lower bunk.

After not going to school, he also started working and went to construction sites and factories. The best job is to work in a mold factory, with five insurances and one housing fund. He originally wanted to work hard, but due to knee joint problems since childhood, he would fall if he stood for a long time, and was later fired from the company.

For a year, he stayed at home and taught himself UI design, graphic design, etc., and also tried to write online novels. Then he started his own business in Suzhou, with ups and downs. In July 2020, after failing to start a business again, Liu Yuanjie was introduced by a friend and went to Korla, Xinjiang to help a grower sell fragrant pears. He decided to give it a try and travel to Xinjiang to relax himself.

In one month, he helped several growers sell more than 30 tons of fragrant pears. It was at this time that Alimu met him, a young man from Korla. At that time, Liu Yuanjie didn't want to appear on the camera, he just wanted to do some behind-the-scenes work. When selling fragrant pears on Douyin and other platforms, Alimu appeared on the scene.

After staying in Xinjiang for more than a month in 2020, Liu Yuanjie returned to Suzhou and continued to work. In August 2021, he went to Xinjiang again and started selling honey with Alimu, and the account "Jiangyu Alimu" was registered.

Zeng Rui is a girl from Yibin, Sichuan, and is Liu Yuanjie’s partner and friend. She originally ran a company in Shenzhen and provided intellectual property services. In 2019, Liu Yuanjie approached her to register a trademark, and the two met. In the summer of 2021, Liu Yuanjie promised that "selling honey in Xinjiang will be 100% successful" and "fooled" Zeng Rui.

Zeng Rui said that they stayed in Korla together for about two months, and then went to select products. They felt that the environment and resources in Yuli County were good, and then went to Yuli County.

Zeng Rui feels that although Yuli is far away, it does not feel strange. It is more relaxed psychologically than in big cities, and even has a "sense of home". Liu Yuanjie also likes the countryside there. It is very comfortable to stay there. Sometimes running in the wilderness against the wind feels particularly free and relaxed.

Liu Yuanjie likes the sky and wilderness of Yuli

After returning to Suzhou at the end of 2021, Liu Yuanjie went to many places across the country to learn about the honey market. He said that since he wanted to do this, he must understand it deeply. He has decided to take root in Xinjiang and insist on being an e-commerce company of agricultural specialty products.

He often only sleeps for three or four hours during filming

In Zeng Rui’s view, Liu Yuanjie is a particularly hard-working person. He looks very simple and casual, but he is very serious and dedicated in his work.

With Liu Yuanjie, Zeng Rui was sometimes surprised by his perseverance. She was stung by bees many times during the filming process. Each time it hurt and swelled so much that it took several days to recover. She still has psychological shadow, but Liu Yuanjie was stung every time during the live broadcast, and his eyes were swollen to a slit. "It makes me heartbroken to think about it."

Alimu left their team for a while. Liu Yuanjie said that the young man was afraid of being stung by bees.

For a long time, the team consisted of just Liu Yuanjie and Zeng Rui. Liu Yuanjie is responsible for live broadcasting and operations, while Zeng Rui sometimes helps shoot videos and is responsible for customer service most of the time.

“Sometimes when I see a bad review in the middle of the night, I have to reply quickly and explain.” Zeng Rui said that she often keeps replying to messages while holding her mobile phone. And Liu Yuanjie is even busier. He has to be responsible for live broadcasting and editing, as well as selecting products, negotiating cooperation with beekeepers and companies, and doing operational work.

The first time Zhou Bo met Liu Yuanjie was in 2021. Liu Yuanjie was looking for product cooperation and found the person in charge of the Yuli County E-commerce Office. Zhou Bo felt that the first impression of this young man was that he was unattractive, but he soon discovered that Liu Yuanjie was "sentimental and ambitious" and was very experienced in the field of e-commerce.

Zhou Bo told the Red Star News reporter that Liu Yuanjie is a very pragmatic person, always busy at work, and easy to get along with.

Liu Yuanjie said that when he started his business in Suzhou, he worked on an Internet platform, e-commerce, and later media. He did have a lot of "trial and error" experience in this field.

Many of the videos he releases on the platform are recorded and edited from clips he found interesting during the live broadcast. The works may look a bit rough, but they strive to be interesting. He said that roughness was not important, and laughed at himself, "I am rough, so how can I make my works exquisite?" But in fact, he is very serious and attentive.

Zeng Rui sometimes couldn't stand Liu Yuanjie's seriousness. Sometimes in the middle of the night, he suddenly remembered that he wanted to go somewhere to shoot a video, and he always left right away. "I feel like I'm working all the time." Zeng Rui said that they spent most of their time in Yuli County, but they also went to many places in Xinjiang.

Liu Yuanjie and Zeng Rui went to many places to look for filming locations

Liu Yuanjie said that because he was too busy, he often only slept for three or four hours at night.

He said that the popularity was a bit unexpected, but the development in Xinjiang was expected, but there were a lot of hardships and difficulties in the middle.

Before it became popular, although there were not many fans, Zeng Rui felt that the products were generally selling well. After "The background is too fake" became popular, they suddenly became even busier. The team finally started to recruit people, including dedicated customer service, photography, etc.

Liu Yuanjie introduced that there are currently 14 people in the team, all of whom are "post-95s" and "post-00s". Many are novices. Liu Yuanjie did a few days of training, and then they gradually started to work.

Liu Yuanjie said that he plans to spend this Spring Festival in Yuli, and plans for 2023 will be started in advance.

Become "a cherished talent in Yuli County"

According to the official website of Yuli County Government, Yuli is also known as "Luobunur", which is derived from "Lop Nur", which means " "Lake with abundant water and grass", with a total area of ??59,200 square kilometers. In recent years, Yuli County has accelerated the construction of a modern economic system and comprehensively promoted rural revitalization. Based on Yuli County's resource endowment and unique advantages, it has taken oil and gas exploration and development, new energy, equipment manufacturing, and aerospace as the main directions of industrial development, and led rural development with industrial revitalization. .

Liu Jia, head of the External Publicity Office of Yuli County, introduced that Yuli County has vigorously cultivated the "Three Luo" industries featuring Apocynum, Apocyamus, and Luobu people's village scenic spots, and launched Apocynum honey and Apocynum tea. , black wolfberry, roasted whole lamb, fragrant pear paste, small oil naan and other agricultural products, the industry drives the high-quality development of the county economy and promotes rural revitalization to a new level.

Liu Jia told the Red Star News reporter that Liu Yuanjie’s election as a member of the county CPPCC is a measure taken by Yuli County to optimize the business environment, cherish talents, and retain talents. Liu Yuanjie sells goods live and becomes an Internet celebrity, playing an important role in the development of local agricultural specialty industries, tourism and cultural promotion.

“Yuli County has always attached great importance to the development of the e-commerce industry and has a good e-commerce foundation.” Zhou Bo said that in August 2022, the Secretary of the Yuli County Party Committee also held a discussion with the county’s e-commerce anchors, Liu Yuanjie Also included in the invitation.

Zhou Bo introduced that Yuli County is one of the first batch of national-level e-commerce comprehensive demonstration counties in rural areas in Xinjiang. It began to explore development in 2015 and now has an e-commerce industrial park and an e-commerce association. There are many former Individuals engaged in e-commerce gradually moved upstream to become factories and enterprises.

Zhou Bo believes that e-commerce has brought changes to the agricultural specialty industry in Yuli County. In the past, they were all primary products, but e-commerce needs to be sold on the shelves. On the one hand, it increases sales, and on the other hand, it also promotes the industry. scale and standardization of products.

Zhou Bo said that after Liu Yuanjie became famous because of his "fake background", he brought greater traffic, "which is equivalent to installing a larger engine on the original basis." Yuli County Commerce and Industry The Information Technology Bureau introduced in a document that Liu Yuanjie sold 50 tons of honey and 30 tons of black wolfberry in just two months, directly selling the honey and black wolfberry in Yuli County in short supply.

“He is the talent our Yuli County needs.

"Zhou Bo told the Red Star News reporter that Liu Yuanjie not only brought the goods himself, but also worked with the E-commerce Association to organize training for all young people who are willing to live broadcast. Currently, 4 online trainings and 12 offline trainings have been held, and Yuli County has been initially established. Self-media matrix.

In the autumn of 2022, when Populus euphratica was at its most beautiful, a self-media matrix composed of 12 people promoted the Luobu Village Scenic Spot. In less than two months, the exposure of the scenic spot increased from 60 million before. 240 million.

Zhou Bo told Red Star News that Yuli County’s next plan is to establish a rural revitalization live broadcast base under the leadership of Liu Yuanjie to allow more people to join this field.

Liu Yuanjie said bluntly that in Yuli County, e-commerce anchors are not so "involved", and his business has received strong support from the local government. Today, in addition to being a member of the Yuli County CPPCC, he is also the president of the Yuli County Apiculture Association. As the vice president of the Bazhou Self-Media Association, Liu Yuanjie told Red Star News that he has established in-depth cooperation with many beekeepers and companies in Yuli County. “Now we are working together to make the cake bigger. ”

Red Star News reporter Yang Lingtu according to interviewees

Editor-in-charge Tang Huan and editor Peng Jiang