Young people earn pennies by running stands

“Xiaozheng” has recently become a buzz word on social media. "Xiaozheng” youth refers to young people who earn a small income every day, emphasizing that they don't pursue quick and great wealth. They prefer to accumulate gradually at their own pace, working towards self-improvement and building a future.

22-year-old Guigui and her boyfriend embarked on their second business in February, selling sausages at a street stall. They had run a fast-food restaurant before that. This year, they saw the thriving street vendor market and decided to try selling sausage.

Then, they spent their days watching videos to find better sausage flavors. In order to attract more customers and increase income, they are now planning to make the integration of selling at the stall and online live streaming their full-time career.

"Starting this business and earning pennies give us a sense of satisfaction. There's something special about working hard to build your own business and earning based on your own efforts,” said Guigui. At the end of the day, they usually earn hundreds of yuan.

Among the youth above, there are those just starting careers and others seeking new opportunities in their industries. For example, after completing his studies in automobile maintenance in 2009, Li Gong worked in the automobile industry for eight years.

In 2017, he noticed a local company had expanded its door-to-door car washing service. Thus, he studied door-to-door car washing projects in Hong Kong and Japan but found that there were no profitable companies in China at the time.

It wasn't until around 2019 that he saw car washing prices in Jinan increase from a starting price of 15 yuan to 30 yuan. Then Li kicked off a door-to-door car washing service at 9.9 yuan, and he later began to develop cleaning equipment, reducing the car wash time from 40 minutes to just 8 minutes.

Some people are making money, while others are gaining valuable experience. In recent years, AI voiceovers have become increasingly lifelike, worry voice actors a lot. Peng Xuan, who specializes in dubbing documentaries and entertainment news programs, created her own account on the short-video platform Kuaishou, hoping to broaden her career prospects.

As the economy is recovering, young people are reevaluating their lives. "Xiaozheng" has become a new lifestyle for today's youth. They start making low-cost investments, accumulating gradually and earn a living step by step each day.

Source: China Youth Daily; trans-editing by Wang Yunya