In the early morning at Kanglingyuan Village, dewdrops still clung to the cherry trees as a figure appeared on the village path. She is Yang Rukai, a selected and transferred cadre from the Beijing Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision. Nearly a year of village-based training in Kanglingyuan Village, Shisanling Town, Changping District, Beijing, has allowed her to deeply understand village conditions, temper her work style, and enhance her capabilities through practice.
Upon arriving at Kanglingyuan Village, the clean and elegant village environment immediately challenged Yang Rukai’s preconceived notions about rural areas. The village Party Branch Secretary Yang Chunbo’s remark — “Our village now has a university graduate; we’ll have more hands to get things done” — gave her a genuine sense of the warmth and expectations at the grassroots level, further strengthening her resolve to take root at the base and serve the people.
Since beginning her village posting, Yang Rukai has upheld the belief that “whether big or small, the people’s affairs are the most important; whether meticulous or thoughtful, the people’s concerns must be at the center.” She has accumulated experience and strengthened her sense of responsibility through handling practical matters and everyday tasks.
Safeguarding the Bottom Line of Safety: Trading Vigilance for the People’s Peace of Mind
There are no trivial matters in grassroots work; safety must be firmly guaranteed. Shortly after her arrival, the village entered a critical flood season period. Following Secretary Yang Chunbo’s instructions, Yang Rukai immediately threw herself into the work. Although Kanglingyuan is a plain village, flood prevention remains a top priority every year. On her very first day of reporting for duty, she accompanied Secretary Yang on visits to key households and inspected critical areas such as river channels, ditches, old and dilapidated houses, and low-lying waterlogged road sections.
From being an “observer of rain” to a “guardian against rain,” this shift in role deeply moved Yang Rukai. It was her first real experience that protecting the safety of the people is the first major test for a village cadre. Thanks to round-the-clock patrols and duty shifts, along with sufficient stockpiles of bedding, drinking water, and other flood prevention materials, villagers were able to pass the flood season with peace of mind, and their lives and property were largely protected.
Focusing on Small Matters of People’s Livelihood: Warming Hearts in the Countryside with Sincerity
The original aspiration is seen in everyday life, and responsibility is revealed in the details. During her village stay, Yang Rukai stayed close to the people and cared deeply for the elderly, earnestly addressing heartwarming livelihood issues. Last year, for the Double Ninth Festival, considering that many elderly villagers lived alone with their children working away from home year-round, she proactively suggested organizing a respect-for-the-elderly dumpling-making activity. The idea received strong support from the village committee.
During preparations, Yang Rukai accompanied village committee members to the market stalls, learning how to select well-balanced fatty and lean meat suitable for elderly tastes and carefully choosing accompanying ingredients. On the day of the event, villagers gathered together, dividing labor and cooperating. The sounds of chopping fillings and cheerful conversations blended into a warm rural atmosphere. Villagers patiently taught her hand-in-hand how to make auspicious “ingot dumplings.” Under their guidance, she gradually mastered the skill, and one plump, exquisite dumpling after another took shape. After the dumplings were cooked at noon, the village work team packed them in insulated containers and delivered them to the homes of elderly residents with limited mobility.
This simple, traditional warm-hearted activity not only enriched the villagers’ spiritual and cultural life but also strengthened unity and harmonized neighborhood relations. Through day after day of sincere effort, villagers changed their address for Yang Rukai from the somewhat distant “that selected and transferred cadre” to the warm and simple “Yangzi.” In the rural land, she found a sense of belonging and felt the weight of this “examination.”
Empowering Industrial Revitalization: Using Innovation to Solve People’s Difficulties
Industrial revitalization is the foundation and key to comprehensive rural revitalization. Kanglingyuan Village has long focused on cherry cultivation, with more than 240 mu (about 40 acres) of picking orchards and 58 farming households growing premium varieties such as Early Big Fruit, Red Lantern, and Beauty Early. This is a vital industry for increasing villagers’ incomes. However, during her research visits, Yang Rukai keenly identified the farmers’ harvest worries. Affected by climate change, cherries ripen in concentrated bursts. With their short shelf life and difficulty in storage, sales difficulties left the growers deeply concerned.
To solve the problem of fresh fruit sales, Yang Rukai leveraged her strengths as a young cadre and innovative thinking, proposing the use of new media to expand sales channels. With strong support from the village’s Party and government committees, she joined village cadres in becoming rural spokespersons. They went deep into the cherry orchards to shoot promotional videos that vividly showcased the superior quality of the village’s cherries and the charm of its rural industries. The promotional content was successfully published and, leveraging the influence of official platforms, attracted a large number of consumers. As a result, the abundant fruits successfully left the village and reached broader markets.
As her village posting draws to a close, Yang Rukai says that the grassroots level is the place closest to the people. In this “training ground,” as a young cadre she must continuously accumulate experience and strive to transform from a “three-door cadre” (from home to school to office) into a “three-capable cadre” (capable of handling affairs, solving problems, and getting things done). She is determined to write her own chapter of youth on this fertile soil of the grassroots.
