She was born in Kaoshan Village, a remote mountain village in northern China. Her mother died during childbirth. Villagers gossiped that the baby was cursed, while her father carried her through the snowstorm, going door to door begging for milk. Only one elderly woman living alone offered half a bowl of rice water, saving her life. A teacher who came to the village to provide educational support named her Xiuya, meaning 'beautiful sprout'—the more barren the land, the harder one must strive to grow. With the villagers' support and her teacher's encouragement, she worked her way out of the mountains, step by step. After graduating from university, she gave up a city job and chose to return to her village, leading the villagers in growing mushrooms and building prosperity. The girl who survived on rice water eventually transformed life for everyone in Kaoshan Village.