When talking about live streaming (直播), you might think of makeup vloggers and movie stars. But Zeng Qinghuan (曾庆欢), a 30-year-old woman who has sharp minds from Xinhua County in Loudi, Hunan, has turned her whole village into a live streaming room and used e-commerce (电商) to help her people live a better life.

Known as “Xiangmei Xinbao” on Douyin, Zeng now has more than 3 million followers and almost 40 million “likes”. ①During the past two years, she has posted about 370 short videos. They show the culture and life of people in her hometown. Through live streaming, she has sold more than 100 million yuan worth of local agricultural products, like fermented tofu, preserved pork and dried sweet potatoes.

②曾庆欢以前学习时装设计并在大城市工作。She returned to her village to care for her sick grandmother, but later found that she could also build a career (事业) there. “I’m a daughter of the great mountains. I can also be a contributor to rural development in this new era (时代),” she said.

Zeng hopes her experience can encourage more young people to return to their rural hometowns and make a difference. In 2021, after she became a deputy (代表) of the Loudi Municipal People’s Congress (市人民代表大会), she put forward a proposal (建议) called “each village has one product and one live streaming host of its own”. She plans to help cultivate (培养) 100 social media influencers (网红) for her county within three years, and now two villages have taken part in the project. The woman full of creativity said proudly, “Soon the rural areas will become a big stage, and being a farmer will be seen as a respectable job, too.”

After becoming a successful person, Chen Liangwei, who was once a left-behind child (留守儿童), came back to his hometown in Hunan and started a school to help others. Born into a family of farmers, Chen lived with his grandfather as a child, because his parents had to leave home to work in cities. As he grew ①________, Chen also went to cities to study and work.

“Every time I came back to my hometown and saw the left-behind children, I felt very sad,” he said. “They were just like the younger me.” In 2016, Chen started Qihang School in Hunan. Most students in Qihang School were left-behind children, and many of them were quiet and shy. To help these students become more outgoing. Chen set up (设立) over twenty interest groups at the school.

Five years ②________, a chorus (合唱团) was set up at the school. All its members were left-behind children. Wang Yulin, a music teacher at a university, taught the children to sing every week. “Children in the chorus do a great job. Now I’m so happy for them,” Chen said.

We are glad to invite you to our volunteer appreciation dinner at the Chicago Yacht Club.

We thank you for your time and hard work spent in planning the club’s many activities. In the past year we held two big competitions and offered free training to hundreds of students. All these couldn’t be done perfectly without your efforts. Your job makes the group stronger and more successful. We hope more volunteers like you will join our club.

During the party, the manager of our club will give a talk to share his stories about volunteer jobs with you. After that, you can enjoy good music and delicious food. You can also enjoy a dance party. Hope you have a great time.

Date: Sunday, August 10th

Time: 6:30 p. m. -8:30 p. m.

Place: Chicago Yacht Club, Monroe Street Station

Please let us know before August 1st if you would like to join. You can bring a friend here with you.

You can contact（联系）us by calling 312 857 7686 or visiting www. Chicago Yacht Club. org.