An owner (right) of a movie theater in Fuyu county, Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, made a living as a "goose shepherd" along with his employees for almost half a year after the movie business was hit badly by the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo: Screenshot from Pear Video

 

An owner of a movie theater in Fuyu, Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, made a living as a "goose shepherd" with his employees for almost half a year after the movie business was hit badly by the COVID-19 epidemic.

The owner, surnamed Zhao, raised nearly 20,000 geese and crabs in a pond of about 2.7 hectares which he owns along with all the employees from his movie theater since the outbreak started, said Zhao in a video posted by Pear Video on Sunday.

He said that he had been managing to guarantee that all his employees could earn 50 percent of their previous salaries in this half year.

"The staff members have been working for me for so many years. I can't just leave them," said Zhao.

China announced to reopen cinemas in low-risk areas starting from Monday, which, in Zhao's words, was a light that he finally saw at the end of the tunnel. 

Though some people were touched by Zhao for his responsibility, others cared more about how he would deal with the geese and crabs.