“Cold Sister”and Her Rabbits

by+Liao+Qiqi

Soon after feeding her rabbits， she injects them with a vaccine – every day.

In April 2014， Leng Lifeng and her husband quit their white-collar jobs in the city to join the team of new-type professional farmers. They returned to their hometown， Fuxi Village in Dongxing District of Neijiang City， Sichuan Province， and with the 400，000 yuan they had raised， began running a rabbit warren spread over 750 square meters.

The couple knew nothing about raising rabbits but learned of the business potential through investigation. “Its a big-ticket business，” the wife recalls. “Rabbits reproduce quickly and they are in short of supply in the city market. That made people purchase from outside Neijiang. Therefore， I made up my mind to raise rabbits.”

Like her peers， Leng （meaning “cold” in Chinese） had also previously worked hard to earn her living in the city. However， she felt that her dreams could hardly come true in a place other than her own hometown. “I had dreamed of running my own business back home，” she grins. “I worked outside for seven years， but still thought that the land where I grew up is the best. I feel so comfortable with my families， relatives and friends around.”

To learn the business， the couple traveled a lot to learn how to raise meat rabbits and purchased heaps of books. Once the warren was ready， they demarcated their responsibilities： The husband was in charge of work at the home base， including reproduction， and the wife external affairs， mainly marketing.

Soon， their business was thriving. Within one year， the rabbits in hand were 480， and those for sale， 3，800， making over 200，000 yuan.

The first flush of success did not make them rest on their laurels. Leng wanted her own brand； and she registered “Lengmei（Cold Sister）” as her trade mark and applied for quality authentication， for her products， including diced rabbit and rabbit heads.

Leng knows the power of the internet. She opened shops online at Taobao and WeChat， Chinas famous e-commerce platforms， to sell her products further afield in places such as Guangzhou， Qinghai， Hunan， and Henan.

She didnt do it only for money. “We provide rabbit meat which is fresh， hygienic， and additive free，” she explains. “Hot weather makes it more difficult to preserve. We thus take orders only from within the downtown area.” Its common to see her refuse countless orders from outside Neijiang.

Besides expanding her business， Leng also supplies rabbit meat free to disabled veterans， the handicapped， and families plagued by poverty， and helps them with rabbit-breeding skills， including vaccination and disease control.

Lei Shibi， for example， is a village elder， who received a couple of rabbits. “Lei has problems with her feet， and her family could hardly make a living earlier，” notes Leng. “I wish to see more people like her on their way to prosperity by raising rabbits.”

To take more villagers along and make a difference to her hometown， this July， she registered a cultivation cooperative with eight households.

“Im going to contract the abandoned land around to plant organic fruits and vegetables so that rabbit dung can be fully used，”Cold Sister continues. “Besides， we have a fish pond. So we can draw visitors by way of rural tourism if our neighboring villagers join hands to establish a leisure farm with food， fishing， fruit and vegetable picking， and chess and cards.”

Cold Sister is not cold at all. Rather， she is in hot pursuit of business prospects. “I love my hometown and am passionate about being a professional farmer here.”