Second career

Not all the people can carry their second careers for long.

The sideline work of Zheng, the mobile game lover, lasted for just a half a year. He quit his own business in September when he was caught by his boss playing mobile games at the office. His boss talked with him and required him to focus on work.

"It was embarrassing. But luckily, he forgave me," Zheng said. "I kind of calmed down and came to my senses after the talk. After all, it's impossible for me to give up my main job and become a professional game player."

"I was getting bored and felt little fun when playing games became a job, because sometimes I failed many times before finishing a task in games. It was stressful and I earned dozens of yuan for playing for one client," he said.

"It was not worthwhile to become absent-minded at my main job. It was penny-wise and pound-foolish. So I decided to focus on my own career," he said.

Lu, the teacher, said tutoring students during his spare time is a temporary choice and that he could never regard the avocation as any kind of a long-term career.

"It's exhausting when the sideline occupies a day and a half of my weekend. I sacrifice my time resting or with family to earn extra because I really need the money. If I had a choice, I would have not done that," he said.

Lu has reduced the students he tutored during the weekends from three to one this year because his salary has gradually risen in the past years. "I am not so cash-strapped now, so I reduce the time I spend on my sideline."

Not everybody leaves their sidelines, though.

Unlike Zheng and Lu, Qiu, the WeChat seller, said: "WeChat business is my second career because I have really gained a sense of accomplishment from it and I feel it can be a stable and sustainable business."

Qiu's sideline income exceeds her main job now. She gains a stable payment of about 5,500 yuan each month from her main job.

She bought herself a car worth about 200,000 yuan recently as a new year gift for herself. "It was the most expensive thing I have bought by myself. I couldn't have afforded it with merely the income from only one job."