By Wang Xintong

Wealth in Rice Husk Ashes

By Wang Xintong

Apoor boy in Jiangxi has become an Environmental Millionaire with an annual income of 10 million Yuan.He was determined to start a business with the ashes of rice husk when he was insulted in his wedding.

A Penniless Bridegroom After graduation in 2000 fromatechnicalsecondary school in Nanchang,the 21 year old XuanQuanwasassignedtothe Jiangxi Yiyang County to serve as the Secretary of the Communist Youth league.He got to know Li Dan,the principal of a local elementary school, whom he fell in love with at first sight.But the parents of Li Dan were against their relationship as they think that Xuan Quan did not have a decent job.Li Dan's parents reluctantly agreed to their marriage after Xuan Quan loved Li Dan devotedly for 3 years.

When picking up the bride on wedding day, Xuan Quan did not offer 5000Yuanasthe "Thanks Token for Raising"to her parents according to the local customs,as all his savings were spent.The parents of Li Dan complained that he should not marry their daughter without providing the cash gift.They thought that their daughter made an awful mistake. HoweverLiDanhelpedhimout through some friend by providing the cash out of her own pocket.

Xuan Quan felt sorry for not being blessed and determined to set up his own business to prove that he can provide a betterlifeforhis beloved wife.

Xuan Quan noticed that a rice pro cessing plant in the town was providing rice husks to fuel boilers to a factory in early 2004.An idea hit upon him that he might earn money though dealing with the"yellow garbage".His mother supported his idea with 50 thousand yuan of her savings.Xuan Quan promoted the rice husks of his hometown to factoriesusingboilersinneighboring provinces of Henan and Anhui,and those factories suggested cooperation after he set up his technical team to reform boilers into equipment exclusive for rice husk burning.

Xuan Quan harvested an amount of five hundred thousand Yuan in 2006.

The Pink Ash

In July 2006,Mr.Zhang Xuesong,director of Anhui Xuancheng Cement Plant told Xuan Quan that a Taiwan businessman was searching for a sort of pale pink grey ash made from rice husks and provided it as a sort of"heat preservation agent"of molten liquid to steel plants.The Taiwan businessman could provide technical drawings and promised to buy the ashes of rice husk at 1600 Yuan per ton. XuanQuanknew that,tomostpeople, rice husks could only be usedasthefuelfor burning and other than that,it was almost useless.The ashes of the rice husks were also a source of pollution to the farmland and water. XuanQuanpersuadedMr.Zhang Xuesong to cooperate with him at his hometown and started a company.

He constructed the plant in the Caoxi Town of Geyang County and entered an agreement with the Taiwanbusinessman to produce the magical pale pink grey ashes.Those factories which cooperated with him agreed to provide rice husks free to the door of hisplant.Theprojectrolledon smoothly as both the fund and the raw materials were abundant with the right technology.

The first batch of product were about to be ready after smoldering in the kiln for about two dozen days.All workersandXuan squatted in front of the kiln with eager hearts. Buteverybodywas stunned the moment the kiln door was opened as there were only black ashes!There was not a single sign of pale pink grey ash.With an iron shovel,Xuan Quan tried in vain to dig around every corner of the kiln for the pale pink grey ash.He sank down desperately.

Xuan Quan repeated the failure for dozens of times and he even felt de ceived.But he knew that qualified products were successfully produced in foreign countries with the same technology.

At that stage,all Xuan Quan's savings,together with the four hundred thousand borrowed money,was gone. All workers left and Xuan shed tears in the empty plant.

"Don't give up halfway!It is not a big deal and let me help pay the debts if you really fail."His wife encouraged him to restart.

Succeed and Furthermore

Xuan Quan found the five resigned workersandpromisedtothem:“Please help to have the last try.I will pay off each of you before the Spring Festival no matter we succeed or not.Wehavebeen working on it for a year and let us give it one more try!"His earnestnesswonthesupport from the workers.

Xuan Quan scrutinized the whole production process and finally focused on the ventilation pipe of the kiln.It was designed too small and thin that caused poor ventilation of the kiln.All the ventilation pipes were soon replaced.

On the eve of the Spring Festival in 2008,after 20 days of smothering,the door of the kiln was opened by Xuan Quan with trembling hands.He rushed into the kiln and turned over the ashes with a shovel.He found that this timewas different from before.Though the surface of the ashes was black as before,but it was too hard for the shovel.Workers screamed out as they see the pink ashes underneath the black layer!

The pale pink ashes were packed and sent to the Taiwan businessman to be used as the material of covering agent of liquid steel.The Taiwan businessman was very satisfied with the quality and made bigger orders.The quality of Xuan Quan's ashes became better and better,and the sales kept increasing both in Taiwan and the main land.The company sold out over four million yuan by 2008.

Xuan Quan did not settle down.He started a new venture in 2010:to invest all his savings and a five million Yuan bank loan,altogether ten million Yuan,in deep processing rice husks. It turned out that Xuan Quan felt that the narrow application scope of the pink ashes limited the development of the industry and his business depended too much on the customers.He had to broaden the usage of the rice husk ashes in order to have more say in business negotiations.

Potential Discovered

In the next two years,Xuan Quan traveled all over the research institutes and universities in Jiangxi and Sichuan province to consult experts and access and review numerous data.Finally in early 2013,he produced a rare product in the domestic market with the wasteof rice husk ashes named"white car bon black"or silica.

It is a white powder with silicon dioxide as the main chemical component and can be used as filler,a reinforcing agent or a friction agent.Previously white carbon black was only made of quartz sand.The invention of quality white carbon black made of rice husk ashes surprised everyone.

The market of white carbon black products is vast beyond imagination.It can be used in rubber,plastics, paint,paint coating and daily cosmetics.When mixed in the feed,it is a beneficialadditivefor animal growth.It serves as a friction agent in the toothpaste and can whiten the teeth.In 2014,Xuan Quan cooperated with manycompaniesfromhomeand abroad and the annual sales of white carbon black reached 30 million yuan with a net profit of over 10 million yuan.

The scale of Xuan Quan's company doubled and redoubled in two years. The production base covers an area of 500 acres and has a staff of more than 800.The base can treat 100 thousand tons of the solid waste of rice husk ashes per year,with an annual output of 30 thousand tons special white carbon black and 12 thousand million tons of cover agent for molten steel.

Xuan bought his wife a car and promised to spend more time with his family and drive the family to travel around the world.

His parents-in-law felt embarrassed andrequestedXuanforexcuse. "Please do not be angry with us.We hurt your feelings when you marry our daughter Dan.But all we wished was that the daughter should marry and live well."Xuan smiled back generously and said sincerely to them:"Please do not mind.In fact,I should thank you for your stimulation. Without it,I may be still a clerk or small business man.It was you who inspired my potential and I am thus lucky to stand higher with a broader and more beautiful view."

(FromTimes FinanceVol.16 2015. Translation:HeQiang.Illustration: Yan Guilai)