Li Axin preserved egg plant, Jianxi, Luoyang

At the Li Axin preserved egg plant in Jianxi, Luoyang, the owner's face shows an ease he could not have imagined a few years ago. Back then he was the busiest worker in the plant: eight hours a day, bending and hauling heavy loads as a matter of course, with back and leg pain simply accepted as normal. He had to do everything himself and dared not hire more people — “I couldn't afford that many wages.” By the time he reached fifty his body was close to giving out and the business was about to hit a ceiling. The turning point came two or three years ago with a new machine — a silent but powerful partner that rewrote the plant's script.

After the upgrade, capacity rose sharply. Today Li Axin works just over four hours a day and produces far more than he used to in eight full hours. Half the time, double the output — an efficient model that laid the foundation for growth, and the plant has expanded steadily since.

More valuable than the capacity gain was the liberation of the person. Every heavy task used to depend on human muscle, tying up his time and energy; now the machine takes on all the hard, tiring steps. He is free of hauling, free of physical exhaustion, and no longer has to trade his health for the business.

The time and energy saved let him change how he thinks and what he does. Where he once worked heads-down all day with no time to consider management, he now steps back from the line and plans the business as an owner should.

He taught himself marketing and built an online sales channel on Douyin, marking nationwide delivery points and positioning the market precisely. At the same time he refined the product and planned its direction, hiring people and delegating responsibility — a smooth transition from frontline worker to overall manager.

“My body is free and my mind is completely free too. I can make money, I can keep good people, and I no longer have to grind through every single step myself.” That is his own summary of the change.

The upgrade did more than reduce effort — it lifted earnings. Automated production cut labour and waste costs, product quality became consistent, customers and sales grew steadily, and overall margin improved markedly.

Where he once worried that his body would fail past fifty and the business would end, he is now free of physical limits and full of confidence: “I can keep this business going until I'm eighty.” Replacing people with machines let a small workshop leave rough-and-ready operation behind and take a sustainable, expandable path.

Li Axin (right) talking with the Xianyun team