Definition: Peasant: 1. A member of the class constituted by small farmers and tenants, sharecroppers, and laborers on the land where they form the main labor force in agriculture. 2. A country person; a rustic. 3. An uncouth, crude, or ill-bred person; a boor.

You unsurprisingly choose the third option. Uncouth, crude and or ill-bred people are probably not especially productive in their working life.

We do know that in China, rural people flock to the cities (where they have diminished welfare provisions and 'rural' status, do the work and are then expected to return to their homes in the country.

Vance does not get the benefit of the doubt.