Ren Shuyuan, a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC) from Qinjian village in Baiquan county, Qiqihar, in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, was recently invited to sit in on the 19th session of the 14th NPC Standing Committee. At a deputies' meeting during the session, she gave a face-to-face report to senior officials on her performance of duties over the past few years.

"The NPC Standing Committee chairman showed great care for grassroots deputies, listening attentively to our voices and encouraging us to faithfully perform our statutory duties and exercise our democratic rights," she said after the meeting, "I felt like being valued and cared for by a family member.”

Born and raised in the countryside, Ren has a deep attachment to the black soil of her homeland. This rural woman in her 30s, who is often seen with her hair tied in a ponytail, is not only the head of a local vegetable planting cooperative but also a leading figure in promoting rural prosperity in local communities.

Her entrepreneurial journey began with a simple yet heartfelt motivation: "I'm a farmer's daughter, I just want to do something practical for the farmers, so their pockets can grow fuller."

Winters in Qiqihar are long and bitterly cold, and drying vegetables has long been a household tradition in Qinjian village. Fresh string beans, eggplants and potatoes are dried for winter storage, which both preserves them and gives them a distinctive flavor. Ren saw potential in these dried vegetables, hoping to sell them online and address long-standing difficulties faced by villagers in selling produce and increasing incomes, while forging a new path to prosperity.

The road was anything but smooth. Ren's efforts initially met with skepticism from many of her fellow villagers. To win their trust, she helped them sell and source goods free of charge, riding her electric bike across muddy fields to pick up goods door-to-door. She even covered the logistics losses out of her own pocket.

In the early days, local products could neither enter supermarkets nor be sold online without trademarks or required certifications. Ren often took buses to sell them at the market in the county, carrying baskets full of dried vegetables and eggs.

She recalled a particular incident. After learning that an elderly villager was unable to sell her string beans, Ren hurried to purchase them, even though she was more than three months pregnant at the time. On her way back, a sudden downpour turned the dirt road slick with mud, and she fell from her electric bike.

Looking back, she admitted that she was frightened afterward, but she also realized that those beans were more than just produce; they carried local farmers' hopes for a better life.

Behind her perseverance lies a story of struggles and resilience — misunderstandings, setbacks and the loneliness of forging a new path. Yet, it is also a testament to the tenacity of the rural woman who is determined to make her community prosper.

In 2018, Ren established the Shuyuan Vegetable Planting Specialized Cooperative, adopting a "cooperative plus farmer plus base" model. Starting with just five member households, the cooperative has since grown to include 160 households. It has enabled households lifted out of poverty to increase their average annual income by 3,000 yuan (around $428), while also providing women in the village with employment opportunities at their doorstep.

In late autumn, the experimental plots and courtyards of Qinjian village are filled with bountiful harvest of beans, radishes and mustard greens. Once left to rot in the fields, these crops are now processed and branded, becoming sought-after products nationwide.

Through Ren's efforts, local specialties have been transformed into a thriving industry, turning the fertile black soil into a tangible source of income. The once skeptical voices have turned into praises, with the cooperative's success serving as a powerful response to her belief that "true wealth lies in the collective prosperity of everyone."

After being elected as an NPC deputy, Ren always carried a well-worn notebook filled with the concerns and aspirations of her fellow villagers. She listened to farmers, discussed the need for agricultural subsidies and stable grain prices and documented the urgent need for road improvements. These grassroots voices were meticulously recorded and refined and then transformed into practical suggestions submitted to the annual NPC sessions.

Her suggestions, including offering targeted subsidies to high-performance agricultural machinery operators, strengthening price regulation of key crops in major grain-producing areas, accelerating the development of rural transportation infrastructure, building graded rural road networks and better connecting logistics stations, have drawn the attention of relevant authorities, leading to tangible solutions.

Ren said that in the new year, she will continue to stay rooted in the community, remain close to her fellow villagers and make the people's voices better heard, making sure that work at the grassroots level is carried out with even greater dedication and effectiveness.

Ren's story is a vivid, living illustration of whole-process people's democracy at the grassroots level.

It is not an abstract concept but a reality reflected in the worn pages of her notebook, the hardened village roads and the smiles of her fellow villagers. Nor is it an empty slogan. It is a commitment embodied by NPC deputies like Ren, who measure the land with their footsteps, shoulder responsibilities in ordinary posts, and ensure that the voices of the people are heard, their needs addressed and their rights and interests protected. It is the most genuine and direct manifestation of people being the masters of their country.

Ren Shuyuan (center), a deputy to the National People's Congress, introduces local specialties via livestream with fellow villagers. [Photo provided by Ren Shuyuan]