In the video, there is a man wearing a polo shirt and big shorts, with a towel hanging around his neck and a straw hat on his head. He is Zhang Xiaoyu. In the fields of Zhangdongkeng Village, Zengcheng District, Guangzhou, Zhang skillfully harvested rice while dancing the classic moonwalk to the rhythm of Michael Jackson's music. The fusion of rural customs and classic fashionable music, combined with the humour and closeness of Zhang Xiaoyu, and the video's retro style, these factors contributed to the success of Zhang's video account "First-tier Rural Xiaoyu Brother"("一线农村小余哥" in Chinese), attracting over 700,000 fans in just over a month.

Those who are familiar with Zhang Xiaoyu may not recognize Zhang in the video with a farmer's appearance. Because in their memory, he is always clean and neat in a suit. However, Zhang Xiaoyu is quite comfortable as a farmer: "I was born in the countryside." He has a saying, "The meaning of life lies in tossing around," and his next "tossing around" will be in the countryside.

In 2017, Zhang Xiaoyu started his business and became the CEO of a company. In 2023, he took off his suit and returned to the fields, becoming a modern farmer. In his eyes, the beautiful natural scenery and the simple and genuine relationships among neighbours are the irreplaceable advantages of living in the countryside.

Currently, Zhang Xiaoyu has already had over one million fans online, with a stable increase in views. Fans enjoy watching his videos depicting authentic rural life, as well as his close and humorous personality. They also engage in discussions with him during his live streaming about the ideas and directions for rural revitalization.

Zhang Xiaoyu believes that his popularity is both accidental and inevitable: "At the beginning, we tried various styles of video shooting until the tenth video became a success. In fact, this achievement comes from my familiarness with the rural area, including its current drawbacks, for I was born here."

Zhang also helped villagers with his wisdom. Some agricultural products are sold at a low price or without market. Zhang observed that a significant reason is the lack of information on the market. Therefore, Zhang hopes to build a bridge between villagers and consumers through his own efforts, allowing farmers to benefit more through direct subscriptions and pre-orders.

On June 24th this year, Zhang Xiaoyu actively participated in the first Litchi Cultural Festival held in Zhangdongkeng Village. He attracted investments, contacted sellers, and built bridges between sellers and consumers. "All the litchis were sold out this year, and the prices were good," he proudly said. "If you treat farmers sincerely, they will treat you well too. It was a warm experience at that time. Wherever I went, the farmers would quickly give litchis to me in gratitude. They knew that I was helping them."

In addition, Zhang also hopes to teach farmers some promotion and marketing techniques needed in the new media era: "For example, teach them to film short videos at Douyin (Chinese version of TikTok). They can learn through training how they should handle the consumers brought by the video and how to turn the views of videos into their incomes."

张小余：脱下西装走向田间 跳霹雳舞的新农人

视频里，穿着POLO衫和大裤衩，脖子上挂条汗巾，再加上一顶草帽，张小余出现在广州市增城区派潭镇樟洞坑村的田里，他手法娴熟、大汗淋漓地割稻，忽而又踩着Michael Jackson音乐的动感节奏，跳起大众熟悉的霹雳舞经典舞步……农村质朴风土人情与经典时尚舞曲的融合，再加上张小余塑造的诙谐、接地气的形象，配合颇具复古风情的色调，张小余的视频号“一线农村小余哥”开通一个多月就吸引了70多万粉丝。

对于熟悉张小余的人来说，视频里一副农民模样的他稍显陌生，记忆里他都是一副西装革履、干净利落的形象。但张小余却很适应农民身份：“我就是从农村出来的。”他有句名言，叫“人生的意义在于折腾”，他的下一场“折腾”便是要投入到乡村当中去。

2017年，张小余下海经商，成为西装革履的商业总裁；2023年，他脱下西装，来到田间，转型成为新农人。在他看来，乡村的好山好水、质朴的邻里人情，都是乡村不可替代的价值所在。

目前，张小余在全网的粉丝量早已过百万，播放量稳定增长，粉丝们喜欢看他视频中真实的乡村生活，又喜欢视频中他的接地气和诙谐幽默，还会在他直播时一起探讨乡村振兴的思路和方向。

张小余认为自己能火是偶然也是必然：“开始，我们不断尝试各种风格的视频方式，直到第十条视频时我们的流量就开始暴增，其实归根到底是因为，我是从农村出来的，我熟悉农村的一切，包括它现在的痛点。”

张小余观察到，农产品价格低廉或者卖不出去，很大一部分原因是农民们获得的市场信息不流通、不对等。于是，张小余希望能通过自己的努力，搭建起村民和用户直接对接的桥梁，通过认购直销的方式，让农民们获益更多。

今年6月24日，派潭镇樟洞坑村举办首届荔枝文化节。拉投资、找商家、搭桥梁……张小余深度参与其中。“今年的荔枝全部卖完了，并且价格还不错。”他很自豪：“你真心对农民好，农民也会对你好。那段时间很温暖，走到哪里，哪家就赶紧把荔枝送来给你尝尝，他们知道你是真心在做事的。”

除此之外，张小余还希望能够把一些新媒体时代所需要的推广营销技术教给农民们：“比如让他们也学会玩短视频、玩抖音。当流量来了，怎么接得住，又怎么去变现，这都是可以通过培训学会的。”

文｜羊城晚报全媒体记者 谢小婉 实习生 彭可嘉 张永奇
图｜受访者供图
译｜白心怡
责编 | 王楠
校对 | 赵丹丹