After graduating from college, Tang Sheng failed the civil service exam.
His girlfriend tried to persuade him to stay, and his prospective mother-in-law, who worked in the government system, had arranged a promising career for him. But Tang Sheng resolutely returned to the hometown where he had grown up.
Just then, the village was holding an election for local officials, and he was voted in as deputy head of the production team by a landslide.
He installed streetlights, built fishponds, repaired roads, introduced new crops, and developed tourism. He even dissolved the clan rivalries that had divided the village for a century, uniting everyone to work together toward prosperity.
Starting out as a humble village official, he found an unconventional path into the world of politics.
