From farm to table

When farmer Zhang Shuo started his job as a food deliveryman during the slack period in the summer of 2018, he didn't plan to do it for very long.

However, it took the 28-year-old just one year to be promoted as manager of the online services platform Meituan's delivery operations in Hegang city, Heilongjiang province.

Over the past four years, Zhang has helped over 300 poverty-stricken people and provided around 1,000 job opportunities to local residents in the city.

The All-China Federation of Trade Unions recently announced this year's May 1 Labor Medal winners, listing 966 workers in manufacturing, food delivery and ride-hailing.

Zhang won the award because of his enterprising spirit, outstanding performance in poverty alleviation and sense of social responsibility during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Zhang was one of last year's winners of the medal at the provincial level.

On April 30, he was honored with the title of "the most beautiful worker", which is given by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the All-China Federation of Trade Unions.

Finding a job as food deliveryman had not been his plan at first, let alone winning a national honor.

After graduating from Jiamusi Vocational College in 2015, he got a job designing advertisements in the provincial capital, Harbin.

Two years later, he decided to return to his hometown－Dongsheng village in Hegang－to help his aging parents with their rice farm.

"When I found the recruitment information from Meituan in June 2018, I just intended to use the farm's off season to earn some money, I didn't plan on it becoming a permanent job," he says.

Despite an unsatisfactory performance in the first several days, Zhang developed a new understanding of the industry.

"Experienced deliverymen could get a considerable income, especially those who paid more attention to work skills, such as planning the best routes," he says. "So, I tried to seize every opportunity to learn from those whose work stood out."

From only 10 orders in the first day, two weeks later, Zhang was completing over 30 daily orders and, within his first month, achieved a record of 70 orders in one day.

"I found the huge development space that the emerging industry could provide," he says. "Moreover, the income is much higher than that of a farmer, so I decided to stay on and do better."

Zhang paid more attention to improving service quality than increasing the quantity of orders.

A snowstorm in late December 2018 disrupted almost all the traffic in the city and forced deliverymen to take food to the customers on foot.

To prevent the food from getting cold, Zhang put the packages into his coat.

Around two hours later, the customer received his food and it was still warm.

Every time, when he finished an order, Zhang would take away the trash outside his customer's door.

Such attention to detail brought him lots of good reviews.

Furthermore, after six months, Zhang acquired a lot of information about restaurants in the city.

To get more work experience, in the beginning of 2019, he applied to become a marketing promoter.

Leading a five-member team, Zhang spent six months expanding the company's clients from 1,000 to 2,000, covering almost all the catering businesses in the small city.

"Owners of some popular restaurants were reluctant to open online food delivery services because they thought it would do little to promote their business," he says. "I don't remember how many times I would repeatedly visit the same restaurants."

During his visits, Zhang not only promoted the company's service to the owners, but also gave rational suggestions to them about their businesses, which gradually changed their minds.

In June 2019, Zhang was promoted to the position of manager of Meituan's branch in Hegang, in charge of over 200 deliverymen and marketing promoters across the whole city.

Since then, he began to find more ways to help rural residents get out of poverty and increase their income.

"When I read the news about rural revitalization, I first thought about my fellow villagers," he says. "I returned to my village and hoped to gather more young people to join us."

He introduced young villagers to the emerging industry and provided different posts to them.

For those who came from poverty-stricken families, he carried out targeted aid policies, such as providing them with accommodation, vehicles and equipment for free.

More young villagers have been attracted to his team and some achieved a monthly income of over 6,000 yuan ($890).

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020, the platform received more orders for goods from supermarkets.

To ensure the normal life of residents, Zhang and his staff members gave up lots of rest time, even during some important festivals.

Zhang already has plans for the future.

"I hope to recruit more excellent young people and double the size of my team," he says. "As a new form of employment, I believe the platform can provide them with good opportunities.

"We will continue to provide a good service to both the shopkeepers and their customers," he says. "Moreover, I hope to lead more local residents to a better-off life and to contribute to rural revitalization."