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My husband and I grow orchids,
but this could be our last year.
We've had a really difficult time.
This is our story.
Orchids are like children.
We spend a lot of energy looking after them,
always hoping that they will bloom and be beautiful.
So …
every year,
when the flowers finally open,
it makes us really happy.
This is my father.
He came from Hunan to help us sell the flowers.
You've done it all wrong!
Oh, no wonder. He was drinking Baijiu today.
This is our cat, that has yet to catch a single rat.
And this is me.
Chinese New Year is our most important festival.
Everybody buys beautiful flowers to celebrate.
This year, Winter has been much colder than usual,
and I am even more afraid of power cuts.
Now …
all of our equipment relies on electricity -
from the fans and heaters
to the fly nets and awnings -
everything depends on electricity.
My husband is a bit paranoid.
It has been a really cold year,
so he has nightmares of power cuts.
Two years ago,
we lost 20,000 orchids in a single day.
He spent a fortune on an oil-powered generator,
just in case.
Now that we have a full stock,
a day-long power cut like that could finish us.
So he still wakes up in the middle of the night,
scared that our business is gone.
It's better for me to sell lots of orchids at once.
But most of our customers are just normal people,
wanting one or two pots for their home.
Our wholesale customers simply aren't coming.
We keep calling them,
asking when they will come,
but they haven't responded yet,
And so we wait.
In this industry, the selling period is very brief.
It's all concentrated just before Chinese New Year.
So this is our most important time.
We work so hard all year,
just to be able to sell the flowers now.
So this is an incredibly critical time for us.
We still have so many flowers in the greenhouse.
I am getting really worried that we won't sell them all.
Although I'm reluctant to admit it,
I am worried too.
Chinese New year is just two days away,
and although this year we have more flowers than ever,
it's been very cold.
And we haven't been able to sell them.
The past couple of days have been a bit warmer,
but we could still lose it all and have to move back to Taiwan.
Which one do you want?
Get me that list!
seven, eight, nine, ten …
Here, you take her.
35 yuan each!
You can buy a few more pots - no problem!
Fill the truck! Fill the truck!
Don't waste the petrol money!
The flowers are selling now because the weather is better,
and we've also had no problems with the electricity.
I'm over the moon! So so happy!
I remember when we sold our last flower.
I really couldn't believe we had done it.
I thought this was going to be our last year.
Cheers!
My husband's oil-powered generator.
We haven't used it yet.