A Pole Through the Years: My Life and Journey in the Supply and Marketing Co-op

In 1979, a shoulder pole was Qian Zhixiong’s only chance to escape his farming roots. He gave up his first love and carried a debt of gratitude, rising from the bottom amid the supply-and-marketing boom. As the tide of the times swept in, he raised the banner of the “shoulder-pole spirit” and pioneered an employee-shareholder system, refusing to let a single brother lose his job. From shop assistant to leader, he guided everyone through the stormy waters of the market economy. Forty years later, the shoulder pole passed into his son’s hands. One end launched a new venture in e-commerce cold-chain logistics, while the other remained tied to his father’s original ideals and promises. This is an epic written with a shoulder pole, bearing witness to how ordinary people shouldered an entire era.