XI'AN -- A stool, two hair clippers and five pairs of scissors made up all the equipment of what might be the world's smallest barbershop: a portable, on-the-go kit that hairdresser Ren Peng hauls across farmlands and village lanes every week.

"It is getting hot out here, would you like a free haircut?" Ren called out to an elderly woman tending to her crops during visit to a village in Xixiang county, Hanzhong city, Northwest China's Shaanxi province.

Chen Yuzhen, who had been spraying pesticide on her corns, hobbled toward him. Ren wrapped a protective barber cape around her and started the cut: the electric clipper hummed steadily, and scissors clicked back and forth in a smooth rhythm. In no time, Chen's shaggy hair was clipped into a tidy, short cut.

As the nearest barbershop sits around 2 kilometers from her home and Chen has limited mobility, she had not gotten a haircut for nearly two months before this free doorstep service.

For nearly a year, Ren has been crisscrossing more than 80 villages, trimming hair for over 800 elderly residents.

Ren, now 37, left home to become a migrant worker in his teens, and learned hairdressing skills in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province. He returned to his hometown Xixiang in 2015 and opened his own barbershop in the county seat.

In the years to come he witnessed huge changes across the once-isolated mountainous region, most notably the construction of asphalt roads connecting the remote villages to the outside world. Yet the improved connectivity has also made it easier for young locals to leave the area in search of higher-paying work. The elderly were finding it more and more difficult to get haircuts because the village barbershops had closed.

On May 13, 2025, during a trip back to his home village, he saw his elderly neighbor walk for over an hour on a mountain path with a cane just to get a haircut at the township market. "I have the haircutting skill, so I can help them," he told his wife, and the couple decided to spend one to two days per week traveling to villages to offer free haircuts for seniors.

The initiative had a rocky start, with cautious elders, worried about fraud, rejecting his offer over and again. Sometimes he drove two or three hours and waited on just a handful of customers. After multiple attempts, he managed to find a way: to win their trust by chatting with them and helping with farm work first before providing the service.

Ren's first goodwill gesture paid off on June 23, when he helped a 70-year-old local load six sacks of potatoes onto a truck. The man not only came to get his hair cut later, he brought his wife and seven other elderly neighbors along too.

After that, Ren and his wife started helping local seniors with farm chores while making their haircut rounds: hauling soil, harvesting corn, digging sweet potatoes, and chatting as they worked. "They were happy, and we felt full of purpose," he said.

The farther the mountain village, the more locals needed their service.

Over the past year, the couple has ridden tens of thousands of kilometers on their motorcycle to reach remote communities, sometimes traveling 100 km from the county seat to Dahe township.

"In farming season I leave super early for the fields, as rural elders always get their work done in the cool morning hours," said the hairdresser.

The work is exhausting, but to the couple, the villagers' warmth is far more rewarding: "Stay for lunch!" "Come back when persimmons are ripe, we'll save you some!" Some seniors would press chestnuts and walnuts into their hands as a token of gratitude, while others would insist they take cartons of milk, fruit and even clothes home with them.

For the left-behind elderly in the village, the couple offers far more than just haircuts. Their regular trips help seniors feel less alone and add a little warmth and energy to their lives.

Invited by 84-year-old Qu Jingyuan, Ren paid a home visit to cut hair for his bedridden wife. Usually a man of few words, Ren made a conscious effort to strike up casual conversations with the elderly couple.

"I'll be back again in two months, and will give granny another trim then," he promised the family as he said goodbye.

"Even though we have less time to run our barbershop and earn income now, we've gained a sense of happiness that no amount of money can buy," Ren noted.