A seed must deeply root its roots into the soil to grow into a towering tree with lush branches and leaves. A good cadre is like a good seed, and the land he roots in is the great cause and the beloved people. Xu Limin, former Standing Committee Member and former Minister of Propaganda of the CPC Pujiang County Committee in Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, was such a good seed. On the day of the month, Xu Limin passed away due to illness at the age of . On the day of the month, the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the CPC released his advanced deeds and posthumously awarded him the title of "Model of the Times."

Photo shows Xu Liming (center) participating in the "Culture into Campus" event (archive photo). Xinhua News Agency.

You can't just sit in the office and tell me what to do

In the year, the mountainous areas of Pujiang County faced severe water shortages, with Yuzhai Township being particularly affected. Residents could only pool money from three to five households to connect water pipelines in the valleys. Xu Limin, then the Deputy Party Secretary and Township Head of Yuzhai, overcame objections and took the lead in raising funds. Within two years, the Shenqingyuan Reservoir was built, completely resolving the drinking water issues for the natural villages and approximately 10,000 residents of Yuzhai Township. This initiative also spurred local industry and the development of the village collective economy.

To select a site for the reservoir, Xu Liming and Zhang Haiping, the former director of the Agricultural Office of Yuzhai Township, climbed over every mountain peak in Yuzhai. At that time, transportation was inconvenient, and they could only walk up the mountains, drinking mountain spring water when thirsty. Zhang Haiping once suggested that he alone could go to survey the area and send photos back. Xu Liming refused, saying, "Can you do a good job just by pointing and gesturing in the office? I need to see it myself to feel at ease!" During the height of summer, Xu Liming was tanned and thin, and the villagers jokingly said, "This is no official, this is clearly a farmer."

Seeking long-term interests for the people

To promote village development, the village officials of Xinguang Village in Yuzhai Township planned to demolish old houses to build new ones, but Xu Limin intervened. "This is a cultural relic, a treasure left by our ancestors, it must not be touched!" The cultural relic Xu Limin referred to is the Yigu Hall built in the village years ago.

"If it weren't for Minister Xu's decisive intervention, we almost lost our treasure." Zhu Yutang, the former village head of Xinguang Village, felt both relieved and ashamed, admitting that his awareness of cultural relic protection was weak at the time.

Under Xu Liming's initiative, Xinguang Village restored and protected ancient buildings such as Yigu Hall, Ershijiujianli, Shuangjing House, Guifang Xuan, and Chiquan. The village, with its ancient charm, gradually gained fame, attracting tourists in droves and gradually establishing a rural tourism model of "tourism + IoT + agriculture + entrepreneurship." Seeing the villagers' bulging wallets, Zhu Yutang happily said, "Fortunately, Minister Xu had a long-term vision, allowing us to protect the ancient buildings and develop rural tourism. This path was the right one."

Continuously innovate mass work methods

How to strengthen the flesh-and-blood connection between the Party and the people? In a certain year, Xu Limin led the officials of Yuzhai Township to come up with a new approach: the "One Card and Five Lists" work method. The "People-to-People Service Card" that publicizes officials' mobile phone numbers allows villagers to "find and call them at any time"; the "Household Livelihood List" filled out by households establishes a livelihood ledger for the village they are stationed in; civil disputes and letters and visits are recorded and reported on the "Civil Mediation List" on the day they occur; whether weekly work is completed or not is filled out on the "Work Progress List"; participation in village-level team activities is recorded monthly on the "Team Analysis List"; listening to the voices of the people, the "Development Suggestions List" is compiled and reported.

Every time he visits the villages, Xu Liming carries a stack of "Household Livelihood Forms" as he goes door-to-door, understanding the living conditions of the farmers through casual conversations and home visits. What difficulties do they face at home? What suggestions and demands do they have for the government? He records them all meticulously, gradually becoming a "living map" of the area through accumulated efforts. Xu Liming is committed to immersing himself in the community, listening to the people, and addressing their needs, striving to implement work that benefits the people, warms their hearts, and aligns with their wishes, truly reaching the hearts of the masses.

"Do you know your neighbors?" Xu Limin asked this question during a city community survey. To break the barrier of urban residents almost never interacting with each other, Xu Limin led the initiative to introduce the lifestyle and decision-making practices from rural courtyard homes (i.e., independent compounds of a certain scale) into urban communities, innovatively promoting new era civilization practices.

Minister Xu led us in innovating the "Red Courtyard" work mechanism, exploring the use of public welfare to achieve grassroots self-governance practices of shared joy, benefit, safety, virtue, and prosperity among residents. Wang Honggang, director of the Spiritual Civilization Guidance Center of Pujiang County, introduced that multiple "Red Courtyard" initiatives have emerged in the urban communities of Pujiang, where activities like "I Do Something for My Neighbor" and "Assisting with Small Wishes" have gradually led to neighbors greeting each other, more days of helping one another, and closer hearts. Under the impetus of this work mechanism, Pujiang has become one of the most active counties in volunteer service in the province, with over ten thousand registered volunteers.

Always keep the people in mind

In order to promptly respond to the demands of the public, Pujiang County had established multiple online complaint channels, but the efficiency of response and disposal was generally low. After identifying the issue, Xu Liming swiftly integrated the online governance sections of various platforms across the county and introduced the new "Warm Sentinel for Public Sentiments" online platform.

The word "warm" was specially added by Xu Limin, who hoped to solve problems for the masses and bring them warmth. During the platform's design process, Xu Limin often pondered: "Is this convenient platform easy for the people to use?" Many of the modules and functions on the platform were his ideas. For instance, he realized that many elderly people could not type but could speak the Pujiang dialect, so how could they report issues to the platform? To address this, the platform added a dialect voice complaint module.

Does the platform really help the people solve problems? Xu Limin is not satisfied with just attending meetings and listening to reports; he also conducts field investigations. During his investigations, he discovered issues and anonymously reported them to the platform: "There is no railing on a greenway under construction by the Pujiang River, posing a safety hazard," and "The public welfare advertisements in this park are damaged." The reported issues were promptly addressed and resolved on the same day, proving that the platform is truly effective, which put his mind at ease. Colleagues admire Xu Limin: with such a down-to-earth and proactive leader, what problems cannot be resolved?

Since its launch, the "Warm Watch" program has received over 10,000 appeals and suggestions, with completion and satisfaction rates exceeding 99.9% and 99% respectively. It has been recognized as a practical case of the "Outpost" project for online ecosystem in Zhejiang Province.

Political reputation lingers after one's departure, and public opinion is freely expressed in casual conversations. After the death of "earthy cadre" Xu Limin, people fondly remember and reminisce about him: "He followed the will of the people, won their hearts, and truly served the people well," "Some pass away lighter than a feather, while others are heavier than Mount Tai. Xu Limin is undoubtedly the latter."