Gao seems to make every minute of his life count and his life goes like clockwork.

He opens his delivery app at 10 am on the dot, when delivery demand usually begins to surge.

He rides across the city's highways and byways on a motorcycle till the late afternoon when orders peter out.

Gao then uses the space of less than two hours to run some errands for his family before going back up online at 4 pm.

His second shift mostly lasts for five hours and finishes at 9 pm.

Yet, Gao doesn't call it a day, since he has insisted on studying for two or three hours for the legal qualification test before going to bed.

"I want to prepare myself early, so I will have more time for things like internships," he says.

Born in a village in Kaifeng, about 80 kilometers away from the provincial capital, Gao was deeply influenced by the down-to-earth spirit and determination of his parents.

"They were peasants and worked very hard to keep our family afloat," he says.

To ensure their two sons received a good education, Zhang's parents moved to Zhengzhou and made a living by first delivering furniture at a local building materials cluster and then set up a small shop selling furniture.