Rural Taobao shop owner delivers a speech at the United Nations
Original title: The "computer-savvy" daughter-in-law from elsewhere
Caption: Wang Qian shares her experience and insights on Rural Taobao at the United Nations podium. (Online illustration: E-commerce Online)
Caption: Wang Qian poses for a photo at Alibaba's Rural Taobao exhibition hall. "Making rural areas better" is also her wish. (Online illustration: E-commerce Online)
"Everyone in the village thinks of you and dotes on you. No matter how much money you earn outside, you can't buy this much love." These are the heartfelt words of Wang Qian, who returned to her hometown to start a business as a Rural Taobao partner.
Last year, Wang Qian, who was working in foreign trade in Jinhua, Zhejiang, received a phone call from her father: "Building bridges and paving roads benefits future generations. You studied computers and understand e-commerce. Going back to the village to teach the villagers about e-commerce is also something that benefits future generations."
Her father's words stirred her longing to return home. With her rich e-commerce experience and internet knowledge, Wang Qian quickly passed the exam to become a Rural Taobao partner and returned to Mazhuang Village, Dawu Township, Zhecheng County, Henan Province, her husband's hometown.
"When I first went back, I was very uncomfortable. Walking to the service station on rainy days, my pant legs would be covered in mud. The villagers didn't understand either. They thought buying things online was a scam." Wang Qian was not from Mazhuang Village. It was her husband's hometown, but it was completely unfamiliar to her. She chose to come here because her father said Mazhuang Village was struggling and needed someone like her to return. But faced with the villagers' gossip, sitting in the nearly empty village Taobao service station, Wang Qian still could not hold back her tears. "I came to do good. Why would they say that about me?"
If you can't change the environment, change yourself. Wang Qian's Mandarin was quite good. She began proactively helping villagers host weddings and evening parties, and teaching children English. After gradually getting familiar with the villagers through these interactions, one or two households began coming to her to buy things.
"I used to work in clothing trade, so I know what kind of clothes suit them. I helped the villagers take their measurements and suggested they buy styles with good value for money that suited their body shapes. Everyone was very satisfied after receiving the goods, and there were almost no returns." Gradually, the villagers began to trust this daughter-in-law from elsewhere who could "work" a computer. More and more people came to Wang Qian to buy daily necessities online through the service station.
Wang Qian also became the village's shopping "bellwether." When villagers saw small packets of sunflower seeds and puffed rice on Wang Qian's table, they bought the same. After the Spring Festival, when everyone had eaten too much greasy food, they saw her drinking water with lemon slices and followed suit. She encouraged middle-aged women in the village to buy face masks, and later even 70-year-old women began buying them too. Under her guidance, the villagers started using washing machines, replaced old televisions with LCD color TVs, and several households even bought cars online.
Serving the villagers is an important part of a Rural Taobao partner's work. Wang Qian helped install and assemble everything the villagers bought online. She once assembled more than 200 shoe cabinets in a row, and also assembled baby strollers, children's beds, tables and chairs.
After e-commerce entered the village, it also spurred the building of a beautiful countryside. Wang Qian said Rural Taobao brought not only quality products from all over the country, but also gave villagers a glimpse of the outside world. They were no longer insular and old-fashioned, and became proactive in seeking policies and resources.
In the year since returning to Mazhuang Village, a cultural square was built. Wang Qian found the music herself and choreographed dances, encouraging the village women to join her in square dancing. A new primary school was built in the village, giving children access to a better education. They also broadened their horizons through the internet and gained more information.
"My child also came back to the village with us. He will study and make friends at the new school, and like us when we were young, spend a beautiful childhood in the fields." Wang Qian said she will stay in the village all along, helping villagers learn e-commerce, helping local clothing enterprises find orders online, and selling local specialties such as chili peppers, garlic, peanuts and broad beans across the country.
In April this year, as a Rural Taobao partner, Wang Qian stepped onto the podium at the United Nations. At the headquarters of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Switzerland, she told officials from countries including Egypt and India and UN staff about her rural dream. "My wish is that everyone working away from home can come back, and we can start businesses together in the village, so that children all have their parents by their side and the elderly can be cared for in their old age." (Staff reporter Bai Xueyan)