Resident cadres working in rural areas is an institutional arrangement with distinct emotional attributes，and its effectiveness ultimately lies in the improvement of rural governance. Based on the field research of L village in North China，and trying to build an analytical framework of “moving people with emotions”， this study divides the whole process of the effective implementation of the system of resident cadres working in rural areas into two successive stages：emotional connection and emotional mobilization. Emotional connection gradually unfolds along the hierarchical pattern of rural governance power， starting with the emotional support the resident cadres receive from the village party secretary， followed by establishing emotional connections with village backbone members and ordinary villagers， reconciling the differences between external institutions and internal emotional orders. Emotional mobilization focuses on solving the rural governance problems， starting from reaching emotional consensus between resident cadres and rural branch secretary and rural backbone，and then mobilizing the subjectivity and sense of participation of ordinary farmers，reuniting the village as an organic entity with a strong emotional atmosphere. “Moving people with emotions” highlights the significance of emotion in rural governance and the system of-resident cadres working in rural areas and also has an enlightening value for strengthening rural governance and enhancing the governance capacity of resident cadres in the context of rural revitalization.