From the People’s Daily app.

This is Story in the Story.

On a winter afternoon, 40-year-old Lin Guohua was invited to visit a prison in East China's Zhejiang Province, where he was an inmate two decades ago, to speak to more than 100 prisoners. One of the prison guards made him tea and another added water to the pot politely.

Lin is no stranger to the environment here. In 1992, as a teenager, he got into a fight and stabbed a person to death, and spent the next six years in prison.

Lin currently runs a glass processing plant, and has cumulatively recruited more than 500 reformed prisoners since it opened in 2000. Most of his employees have been jailed for felony crimes such as homicide, robbery and drug trafficking.

As a model of successful transformation, and a volunteer to provide ex-cons with employment opportunities, Lin is sometimes invited to give lectures at the prison, and uses the chance to recruit for his glass factory.

Today’s Story in the Story will look at how an ex-con builds a glass processing business staffed by former prisoners, and the difficulties they met when handling the business and integrating into the society.

Prisoners seek work information from companies which offer positions to released inmates on May 24, 2012 at a prison in Xingtai, North China's Hebei Province. (Photo: Global Times)

The factory employs and accommodates a large number of inmates and was once known as a local "rehabilitation shelter." It has also caused Lin headaches in management.

"In my factory, people call each other by their short names but not full names," he said, "because in prison we are usually called by our full names, which sounds very rigid.

Now in the factory, everyone is equal, free and relaxed. Gradually, the communication between newly released prisoners and longer-term employees is less estranged and more integrated."

The glass factory once had more than 100 people at its peak. The management of new employees is always the primary headache for Lin.

"It's hard to manage, and there is a limit to the amount of support the government can give to solve the underlying problem," Lin said.

In the process of handling disputes, Lin noted the root of conflict lies in boasting. The workers like to brag to each other about their saga and anecdotes in prison.

Lin therefore laid down two inexorable laws - no boasting and no talking about the past. Violators could face a fine of 2,000 yuan ($290).

Lin knows that workers' love of bragging stems from their low self-esteem and a lack of confidence in fully integrating into society.

The challenges and pressures faced by the glass factory are not only from the prisoners but also from competitors and neighbors.

Lin Guohua, an ex-con, visits a prison in Zhejiang Province to recruit for his Jiaqing Glass Processing Plant in 2014. (Photo: Global Times)

Soon after opening, a competing glass factory spread the message that it is bad luck to allow ex-prisoners to decorate people's new houses.

A local resident said that nearby conservative residents still struggle to accommodate their presence, saying ex-offenders living in the factory always bring a sense of "danger." Rumors and reports against them have even caused the bank to stop lending to them for a time.

A local police station senior official later stood up for the factory and successfully fought to keep it open. The police promised to give maximum support, as long as Lin could guarantee the smooth operation of the factory.

At an opinion-gathering meeting held by local governments, he proposed the elimination of discrimination against those released after serving their sentences, and the removal of the requirement of "no criminal record" in recruitment brochures. About 500 local businesspeople said they are willing to answer his call.

He also suggested that ex-prisoners be allowed to fill widely vacant security guard positions, but none of his recommendations were officially accepted.

Lin feels that many people coming out of prison indeed wish to live a good life. However, society lacks opportunities and guidance for them.

In his speech to the prisoners, Lin started by saying, "Many of you used to be gang leaders, but your time is over, my brothers."

"It's now a society under the rule of law," he warned, adding that today's China is a cashless society, which makes the crime of theft more impossible.

"Do not get hung up on the idea that society never gives up on you. There is fierce competition outside, and as men, we have to face the reality," he said.

He hung a banner in the middle of the factory roof, saying, "Only hard work can make you successful."

It's a cliche, but he wishes people in the factory to take it as gospel truth.

(Produced by Nancy Yan Xu, Grace Xinyi Song, Lance Crayon, Brian Lowe and Da Hang. Music by: bensound.com. Text from Global Times.)