As a vital force for rural revitalization, youth engagement in rural development is of great significance for addressing the shortage of rural talent. This paper first employs an “embeddedness-agency” analytical framework to examine the mechanism through which youth participation in rural areas promotes rural revitalization. It argues that the construction of embeddedness effectively helps young people integrate into rural communities, while the construction of agency enables them to empower rural development. Second, drawing on the vivid practices of Yiwu City, Anji County, and Yuhang District of Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province, this paper provides an in-depth analysis of three typical models of youth engagement in rural development. The study finds that, in the youth committee model of Yiwu City, young people entering rural areas demonstrate high institutional embeddedness and strong social agency, participating in grassroots governance through institutionalized channels and fostering new industries and new business forms. In the youth entrepreneurship model of Anji County, young people exhibit high relational embeddedness and strong practical agency, relying on market-oriented mechanisms to tap rural resources, develop industries, and achieve mutual benefits for both individuals and villages. In the youth operation model of Yuhang District, young people demonstrate high resource embeddedness and strong value-oriented agency, revitalizing collective assets through professionalized operation and promoting stronger villages and wealthier residents. All three models achieve the “integration of endogenous and exogenous forces” and the “balance between self-interest and public interest” through the synergy between embeddedness and agency, thereby advancing comprehensive rural revitalization and common prosperity. The Zhejiang experience shows that it is necessary to consolidate the foundation through the Green Rural Revival Program, address weaknesses through the attraction, cultivation, utilization, and retention of talent, promote integration through two-way engagement, and enhance attractiveness through capacity upgrading, so as to provide policy support and practical pathways for youth engagement in rural development.