He decided to run for head of the Peizhai village neighborhood committee, pledging to improve their livelihood. In April 2005, he won by a landslide.

Reaching a consensus, the villagers started to flatten the barren hill in the south of their village. In three and a half years they leveled more than 6.7 hectares of land and built new houses for all. A draw was used to distribute the houses. In the winter of 2008, all 153 households moved to their two-story houses.

Water supply was the next issue Pei Chunliang dealt with. With only one well, Peizhai village was one of the two most impoverished places in Huixian. Local residents drank rainwater and the water they stored in cisterns.

In eight years, the water shortage, which was a serious issue for generations in the village, was solved, as deep wells were dug, water-lifting projects were done and a reservoir was built.

Pei Chunliang donated 51 million yuan to the fund of more than 60 million for building the reservoir.