On a midday of August 20th, the temperature soared close to 40°C.
Zheng Yongsong, a combine harvester driver from Henan, finished lunch at the canteen of Guo Hai Village’s Party-Mass Service Center in Zhengji Town, Yicheng City, then slipped into the adjacent restroom—lying on the bed, enjoying the air conditioning, and quickly falling into a deep sleep.
Zhengji Town, home to 100,000 farmers, is a major agricultural hub in Yicheng City. Starting from mid-to-late May, wheat harvesting, rice planting, and early corn harvesting follow one after another, attracting dozens of agricultural machinery drivers from Jiangsu, Henan, Shaanxi, and the local area.
“Before, the hardest part was the midday nap.” After a morning of operating machinery, the farmers who hired them would arrange lunch, but the one to two hours between lunch and the afternoon shift became an “awkward” time for the drivers. “Going back to our lodgings wasted time, and if we lay down, we’d have to get up again soon. If we didn’t go back, we’d have to rest under trees or in corners, but it was too hot to sleep,” Zheng Yongsong said.
Following the in-depth study and implementation of the Central Eight-Point Guidelines, Yicheng City has promoted Party members and officials to vigorously practice the fine tradition of “going to the grassroots,” identifying the pain points and difficulties that concern the public, addressing key small matters around the people thoroughly and meticulously, and delivering the results of the study and education directly to the people’s hearts.
“We just wanted a place to take a nap, with air conditioning and a bed—nothing else mattered.” In May of this year, Wang Yunfeng, the organizational committee member of Zhengji Town, discovered during visits that “difficulty taking a midday nap” was the most common and strongly felt issue among dozens of machinery drivers.
The small matter for the machinery drivers became a major concern for the Zhengji Town Party Committee. After multiple on-site investigations, the town selected Guo Hai Village’s Party-Mass Service Center as a pilot site. At the scene, it was observed that the entrance of Guo Hai Village’s Party-Mass Service Center is spacious, capable of parking more than ten pieces of agricultural machinery at once; one room was converted into a canteen, equipped with water, electricity, and gas, featuring a round table and over ten chairs; next door are two air-conditioned restrooms, furnished with four single beds and four recliners.
Xie Zhenjia, Party branch secretary of Guo Hai Village, explained that during the wheat harvesting season in June, the restrooms were fully occupied every day. Now, with the corn harvesting just beginning, two or three machinery drivers come for a midday nap daily. “The drivers eat well and rest well, and the harvesting fee per mu has dropped from 90 yuan to 50 yuan.”
This approach in Guo Hai Village attracted the attention of the Yicheng Municipal Party Committee and government. Yang Ying, deputy head of the Municipal Organization Department, stated: “The Party-Mass Service Center must fully leverage its service functions.” Taking this as an opportunity, nearly 200 village (community) Party-Mass Service Centers in Yicheng City have strengthened their services based on local conditions.
Wangjiawan Village in Nanying Subdistrict focuses on fruit and vegetable cultivation as its leading industry, but hindered by poor sales channels, fruit and vegetable farmers have long faced high yields without high incomes. Wang Congxin, a major peach grower, said that when peaches are harvested, they first have to find peach dealers, who then contact logistics and transport companies, which in turn arrange vehicles for collection. “Layer after layer, it comes slowly, and the price is low. How can we make any money?”
Learning of this difficulty, Peng Tao, Party branch secretary of Wangjiawan Village, quickly contacted express companies such as China Post and “San Tong Yi Da” (ZTO, STO, YTO, and Best), establishing a comprehensive express logistics service outlet based at the Party-Mass Service Center. Members of the village’s “two committees” take turns on duty, allowing villagers to sell local products and buy goods from outside without leaving home.
“Without middlemen, fruit farmers’ income per mu has increased by over 2,000 yuan, and vegetable farmers’ income per mu has increased by over 1,000 yuan,” Peng Tao said.
Then there is Minzhu Village in Leihe Town. With the summer vacation arriving, over 30 children in the village had no one to look after them. The village set up a summer care class
