Huang Zhongjie’s eyes welled with tears when his daughter Huang Wenxiu was honored with a posthumous award at the National Poverty Alleviation Summary and Commendation Conference in February. Her touching story not only moved her father, but has resonated across China.

In 2016, Huang Wenxiu, who graduated from Beijing Normal University with a master's degree, returned to her hometown of Baise, South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and worked in the city's publicity bureau. In 2018, she volunteered to work as the first secretary of Baini village and led poverty alleviation efforts.

Baini is about 200 kilometers, or four hours' drive, from the urban area of Baise. The registered poor households were scattered in hard to reach locations. Huang insisted on visiting them one by one. She helped them with farm work while learning about their difficulties. During her stay in the village for more than a year, she visited these poor households over and over again.

How could the village committees lead the villagers out of poverty to prosperity? Through investigations and studies, Huang and her colleagues found industries suitable for the village, including planting sugar tangerines. Huang and her colleagues tested the waters with an e-commerce program to help the villagers.

In 2018, the Baini village e-commerce service station sold more than 20,000 kilograms of sugar tangerines.

In June 2019, heavy rains poured down in Baini village. Worried about flash floods, Huang returned to the village in the rain at night after she paid a weekend visit to her father, who had just completed surgery. She was killed in a mudslide en route to check on villagers, at the age of 30.

Huang’s spirit has been extolled and inspires people to create a better life for the people of China. Today, Baini village has undergone gratifying changes: smooth roads, prosperous industries and easy access to water. The beautiful countryside that Huang was working toward is becoming reality.

(Painted by Xie Zhigao, translated by An Zhan)