Preface
What is Nostalgia? Some people say that they are childhood playmates; It is a willow that branches in the spring in front of the door; It is a scalper who carries a heavy burden all his life. But for Shen Dan, a single mother, nostalgia is not a complex of reminiscing about the past, but more like a kind of motivation, a kind of hope to lead the villagers "out" of the mountains.
When it comes to single mothers, the first thing that comes to many people's minds is sympathy, in such a fast-paced living environment, how can a single woman take care of herself while raising young children, the burden of life often makes people feel breathless, and collapse and frustration have become the norm of their lives.
But for Shen Dan, she never seems to be weak as a single mother, but relies on her seemingly thin shoulders to support her daughter.
01
In fact, we should have heard a lot of inspirational stories, and Shen Dan, like many inspirational figures, "had a bad start", born in 1987 in a remote mountain village in Wuyi Mountain, Fujian, her parents had to work hard all year round in order to live, and she and her brother became not a few "left-behind children" in the village.
Maybe it's because the grandparents are old, their energy can't keep up, and their parents are not around for a long time, the little Shen Dan is always full of yearning for the big city, but her academic performance can't keep up with her thoughts, and she didn't continue her studies after graduating from high school, but chose to go out to work with her fellow villagers, and embarked on the old path of her parents.
She is not old and has a low education, Shen Dan who came to the city can only engage in the simplest jobs, she has not been taken care of by her family for a long time, she has become sensitive and timid, and always hopes to have a beam of light into her life, and then then, the "light" came, a working boy broke into her life, and ignited a glimmer of hope for her in this indifferent world.
Is he handsome? Not. Good conditions at home? So so. Then why did the sweet-looking Shen Dan fall in love with such an ordinary worker? The answer is very simple, he has a sweet mouth, he can say sweet words, he will say that life will get better, he will say that he will love her for the rest of his life, and he will say that he can bring her the future she wants.
Shen Dan believed that she needed a broad shoulder to stand in front of her to shelter from the wind and rain because she had lacked love since she was a child, but it was obvious that the "harbor" she was looking for was a bit leaky, and her boyfriend's attitude gradually became indifferent after he succeeded, his ambition was far less ambitious than he depicted, and he was used to this kind of life of peace and tranquility.
When Shen Dan's belly grew bigger day by day, she began to feel anxious about the future, she didn't want her child to wander around with her when she was born, she wanted to be stable, but her boyfriend couldn't give her such a life, and even began to quarrel with her because of the trivial things in life, and she didn't care about her sensitive emotions during pregnancy.
At this time, Shen Dan had already seen that his boyfriend had never thought of being responsible for this relationship, and that timely fun was what he was pursuing, but unfortunately he was confused by his sweet words, such a relationship must not last long, even with such a common bond as a child, the relationship between the two still came to a dead end, and finally ended in a breakup.
02
After her boyfriend left, Shen Dan also considered the child's stay, she knew how difficult life she would face if she insisted on giving birth to the child, but she couldn't bear to let this little life who had never seen the sun leave so regretfully, so she still made up her mind to bring her daughter to the world.
The woman is weak, the mother is strong, Shen Dan who has a daughter is full of hope for her friends, with the help of her friends, she escaped the most difficult months, although she doesn't want to be separated from her daughter, she doesn't want her to become a "left-behind child" like herself, but the predicament of the world makes her unable to get out of this strange circle for the time being, so she ruthlessly thought that her daughter was sent back to her hometown, and she started a crazy part-time job.
She has to work two jobs a day and only sleep a few hours a day, whenever Shen Dan can't hold on, her daughter is behind her to support her, so she has a sum of savings in her hands, she is unwilling to be a worker for a lifetime, she wants to start a business, she wants to bring her daughter to herself.
Just do it, in 2012, Shen Dan and a friend discussed the partnership to open a ceramic tile processing factory, she is responsible for the business, the friend is responsible for the technology, the early investment of the factory is borrowed by her, but I didn't expect that the friend who originally promised to make additional investment but because he felt that it was troublesome to do the factory, he directly chose to leave.
Shen Dan never thought that his friend, who has always had a good relationship, would leave so resolutely after it came to the issue of interests, and leave this big "mess" to himself, which was really too much to look up to himself, but after all, he was smashed out with real money, and he had to grit his teeth to do anything.
Without the technical support of friends, Shen Dan learned technology by herself, and she was very sincere in business, and treated workers very well, but she did not expect that the factory would improve slowly, Shen Dan not only repaid the bank loan and the loan of relatives, but also reached what he thought was the ideal state of life - bought a car and a house.
But life doesn't want to let go of this somewhat poor single mother, although she was once "backstabbed" by a friend, but Shen Dan's trust in her friend seems to be innate, at the request of a friend, she helped the other party as a guarantor, and the result is obvious, the friend ran away, and she went bankrupt.
In addition to the loss of the factory, house, and car, Shen Dan had an additional 800,000 foreign debts on her back, and she was faced with a choice again when she returned to the pre-liberation overnight, whether to continue to stay in the city to find the possibility of a comeback, or to return to her hometown to find a spiritual home, her daughter's comfort made her see a turning point in her life, and she wanted to return to the small mountain village that gave birth to herself.
03
It was 2018, and she was already in her thirties, and she returned to her hometown with her daughter, and she knew what it meant, which meant her own failure; It means that I went around in a big circle, and finally returned to the original point; It means that as a single mother, she has to endure gossip from all over the country.
But for Shen Dan, these things that originally lingered in her mind, when she stepped on the land of her hometown, seemed to all drift away with the wind, when she returned home, her mother brought out bowls of familiar meals, she suddenly had inspiration, what is "homesickness", it turns out that the attachment to home is "homesickness".
coincided with the rise of short videos at that time, Shen Dan began to record her daily life in her hometown, every grass and tree here seems to be different from the city, when these pictures were shared through her account, they immediately attracted many onlookers, and then she knew that people who worked hard in big cities were not unwilling to return to their hometowns, but it was difficult for them to make a choice if life was not easy.
In fact, at the beginning, she didn't want to make money with these, but just wanted to share the most real hometown life, so that more people could feel the charm of her hometown, so in her hands, a side dish, a bonsai, a handicraft, a cup of tea, etc., this kind of thing that seems to be the most common thing in life, but it has become her most real material.
Because of the filming very carefully, her video attracted more and more fans, and after she spent 5 hours shooting the video of the mushroom blooming, the 2.88 million likes finally let everyone know that there was such a strong single mother in the depths of the mountains, and Shen Dan himself would never have thought that one day he would be "confessed" by fans all over the Internet because of his farm work.
04
In fact, when these videos were filmed at the beginning, they were also criticized by the villagers, they thought that Shen Dan was not wrong, Shen Dan did not explain, she knew that as long as she could persevere, then she would definitely usher in a return, and this return was not for herself, but for the entire hometown.
With the popularity of the video, gradually some fans proposed to buy the products she had filmed, bacon, mushrooms, tea, chili sauce, etc., where there is demand, there is supply, since then Shen Dan is no longer a simple sharer, but a provider of resources, she used her own way for the first time to help the products of her hometown out of the mountains.
Seeing that the number of fans is increasing, and Shen Dan's popularity is getting higher and higher, at this time, many institutions want to bring her "IP" under their command, but in the face of the temptation of interests proposed by the other party, Shen Dan is unmoved, she knows that this will maximize her interests, but she may not be able to grasp the future direction, she still hopes that she can grasp it at the source.
So she set up her own team, from the production, processing, sorting, circulation and other processes of the product must be in her control, so as to ensure the income of farmers, but also to ensure the quality of the product, more importantly, capital is unable to understand her dependence on "nostalgia", can not give the answer she is looking for.
With love there is expectation, with expectation there is responsibility, after Shen Dan's model gradually took shape, blind dates from ten miles and eight villages came to her to help sell their products, for Shen Dan, this is the most sincere trust, she is willing to help, he saw farmers laughing because of selling their products, she will also send the most gratifying smile.
epilogue
In 2022, the total annual sales of the agricultural product brand operated by Shen Dan will exceed 70 million, and she used her personal experience to tell that she can make a difference when she returns to her hometown, and her daughter often says that she is a "superman", but Shen Dan knows that life is like a roller coaster, and ups and downs are the norm.
Fortunately, she finally returned to her beloved hometown, and through her own efforts to help the hometown of the old folks to get rich, who said that single mothers must need the help of others, as long as there is light in the heart, dreams in the heart, and expectations in the heart, all the resistance will turn into a condiment of life, which is the "sour, sweet, bitter, spicy" life.
Sources of information:
The information in this article comes from Chinese women2023-08-17 "Shen Dan: From a single mother to tens of millions of Internet celebrities, all the way to counterattack and live a legend"; CCTV 2021-09-02 ""Homesickness" Shen Dan: Let Homesickness No Longer Worry Villagers No Longer Worry" and other official media news, but in order to improve the readability of the article, the details may be polished, please read sensibly, for reference only!