Shopping To Rock Climbing: Chinese Woman Rents Her Time To Clients For "Meaningful Things"

A woman in Beijing, China, has come up with the unique hobby of renting her time to strangers to engage in "meaningful things" with them for one yuvan, which is approximately Rs. 11 INR. A report in the South China Morning Post (SCMP) said that 26-year-old Peggy has advertised her services on the Chinese social media site "Xiaohongshu" since last month.

Peggy shared that she wanted to "accompany people to do things they wouldn’t dare to do alone" in order to "feel alive." Peggy is an immigrant originally from the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in northwest China. She tried to find work there after her graduation but wasn’t successful. She returned to Beijing in 2021 and accepted several jobs that she didn’t appreciate. 

China Woman Rents Her Time

Finally, she began offering her time to strangers in an effort to "find the meaning of life." She said that she was eager to "challenge herself" with this opportunity. According to the SCMP report, Peggy has three customers, including a recent graduate who is "lonely" and wishes to go rock climbing, a programmer who is shy but wants to see balloons in a park, and a man who wants to go to McDonald’s Children’s Day event.

Peggy shared that in order for her service to be valuable to others, she doesn’t accept clients who only want to have lunch with her. The news portal stated that one client had asked Peggy to accompany her shopping because she wasn’t comfortable with the way she looked. The client had claimed to be fascinated by Peggy’s bold and daring dressing sense.

Peggy shared that she was shocked to know that the client had intended to wear a camisole when she used the word "daring." So Peggy told her that everyone has the freedom to dress as they like, and no one deserves to be body shamed.

Peggy claimed that she asks for a minimum fee of one yuvan, which is mere to offer "a sense of ritual." She noted that any expenses incurred during her working hours with the client are shared with them.

Woman Rents Her Husband

In other news, a woman who resides in the Buckinghamshire town of Bletchley developed the idea to rent out her husband for a little money to meet the rising cost of living. Laura Young came up with the concept after hearing a podcast about a man who made a living assembling flat-pack furniture for others. So she made the decision to rent out her DIY-obsessed husband, James, who is skilled at everything related to housework and gardening. She opened a website called "Rent My Handy Husband" and advertised her business on Facebook and Nextdoor.

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