Plan B

"It's terrific that I can earn money for playing games," Zheng said. When he passed a game level for others, he would take a screen shot and post it on social media, together with the payment collection record, to tell his friends he could offer the service.

"Many people want to pass game levels because they want to get new items, but they lack skills or don't have time to keep playing," he said. Now and then Zheng would get an order from his friends.

"The little business added some color to the dull routine of my job," he added. Zheng has been an office clerk at a power plant in Fujian province for about three years since his graduation.

According to the Zhaopin report, about 85 percent of respondents didn't get a promotion last year. About 62 percent said their salaries remained the same, 21 percent got a pay raise and 17 percent had their pay cut.

Lu Jie has been a private high school teacher in Beijing for four years and he also works as a private tutor during his spare time to earn extra money. He gives one-on-one homework tutoring three times a week, with each time lasting about two hours.

"My payment as a schoolteacher has not been high in the early years of my career, so I have earn extra to support myself. It's tiring but luckily I have a way to gain money, otherwise, I would have lived a more frugal life," the 30-year-old said.

Qiu Xiaoai, the makeup seller in which WeChat, has set the business as her Plan B for long time. "I am always an obedient daughter and many steps of my life were arranged by my parents," she said.

Qiu said she studied a major that she was not interested in college and after graduation, she chose a stable job in her hometown in 2017, under her parents' will.

"I'm interested in makeup and I wanted to do something in the fashion industry, but that was not allowed by my parents," she said, adding that "I gave up, but I have kept it in mind that someday I will give it a try."

When Qiu had a little disposable income after working for a year, she started to carry out her Plan B. She purchased makeup of overseas brands in bulk at low prices and began selling them to her friends at market price via social media. The business cashes in.