Virtues 'cultivate' family members into better people

Mo Lirong, 50, lives in Sanwu, a town administered by Xingbin district, in Laibin, a city in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. Mo runs a business with her husband, Huang Chaoguang. While discussing her understanding of "family," Mo says, "Family does not mean the house, in which we live. The true meaning of family is that we are together with our sisters, brothers and other relatives. We help other families in our hometown live a better life. Only if every small family lives a happy life, can our home country be great." Throughout the years, Mo and Huang have done their best to help other residents strive to live better lives.

Way to well-off life

Mo has five siblings. Life was hard — as her family was poor —when she was young. From the time she was a young girl, Mo was determined to study hard and try her best to help her family and fellow villagers live better lives.

Mo completed her junior high school education in 1991. At that time, schools in the countryside generally did not have enough teachers. Mo passed the job interview to become a substitute teacher for a school in Sanwu. She worked there for seven years, until more graduates from normal universities chose to work in the countryside.

Mo and Huang established a planting cooperative in 2018. After two years of development, the cooperative participated in an initiative, launched in Xingbin District in 2020. Through the initiative, good-quality paddy rice was planted on 5,600 mu (373.33 hectares) of farmland. One year later, the couple's cooperative established a 1,000-mu (66.67-hectare) green- and high-quality-crop planting base, with support from Xingbin District's agricultural and rural affairs bureau. The couple provided local households with good-quality rice seeds and fertilizer — for free.

In 2022, Mo and Huang established a modern agricultural production park in Sanwu. The park, which encompasses more than 200 mu (13.33 hectares) of land, is composed of a seedling cultivation center, a drying center, a rice-processing factory and a storage center. Under the guidance of Xingbin district's agricultural and rural affairs bureau and farm machinery department, Mo and Huang operate the park with unified standards in seedling selection and cultivation, rice transplantation by machines, disease and pest management, harvesting, drying and marketing.

"We did a lot of work when we chose the types of paddy rice to be planted. We hoped to produce more good-quality rice, and by trading with business partners from other places, we hoped to help more villagers in our hometown create wealth," Mo recalls.

By December 2022, more than 600 households in Sanwu had participated in rice planting, by working with Mo and Huang's cooperative. The couple's cooperative has been named a "women's model base in scientific agricultural production in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region" by Guangxi Women's Federation.

Taking good care of family

Most of Mo's siblings work outside of their hometown. Given their work obligations, they cannot return home frequently to look after their parents. Mo, who lives in the town, shoulders the responsibility of taking care of her parents and her in-laws. Mo says elderly family members require companionship. No matter how busy she is, Mo takes the time to cook for, chat with, and do the washing for her parents and in-laws. If they fall ill, she cares for them at home and, if needed, takes them to the hospital. "She often visits us to check on what we need. She is the closest child to us," says Mo Jia'neng, Mo Lirong's father.

Mo Lirong and Huang have three children — a daughter and twin sons. The children have grown up in a happy and harmonious family's atmosphere. The couple pays considerable attention to their children's education. They want to set a good example, by guiding their children to be understanding, show filial piety, and lend a helping hand to people in need. Their daughter, Huang Shaoyan, has enrolled in London School of Business and Finance. The twins passed the college-entrance exam last year, after which one enrolled in Guangxi Police College and the other in Zhejiang University of Technology.

Mo Lirong's family has become richer, and the family has been living a better life in recent years. Mo Lirong never forgets to help other residents. In 2018, the cooperative, run by Mo and Huang, organized several charitable events. The couple collected donations, including clothes, and then delivered the items to children of impoverished families in Sanwu, Sishan and Liangjiang. They also bought oil and cotton-padded clothes, which they gave to residents in several neighboring villages.

Mo Lirong believes family virtues can "cultivate" them, so they become better people. Her family is well-known in Sanwu, because each member of the family is diligent and kindhearted. The family was named a National Most Beautiful Family in May 2022.

Photos Supplied by Interviewees

(Source: The Department of Family and Children's Affairs of the All-China Women's Federation/Women of China English Monthly April 2023 issue)