Chinese Angel: Chen Xiao

When chatting with Chen Xiao, I have the feeling that she is very similar to the heroine of the French film Emily Angel. She is as beautiful, as lovely, as kind, and as emotional, as has a story. When she looks at you with her big eyes, there is some lingering sadness...

On the Internet, Chen Xiao is regarded by many people as a model of entrepreneurship among college students, but the first thing she said to me was, "Actually, my story has nothing to do with entrepreneurship."

Chen Xiao's story began in the difficult winter of 2008 when everything went wrong...

Reason: I just want to leave some good memories for myself

In the winter of 2008, due to the financial crisis, Chen Xiao's small clothing store at Communication University was struggling to survive. Her mother, who helped her with the business, complained, worried, and became increasingly haggard every day. Chen Xiao felt very sorry to see that she had dragged her down so much.

Their love for her boyfriend also came to an end this winter. The business was not good and life was in trouble. However, the boyfriend could not give her any comfort, but also blamed her -- why did the business become like this? Why are people so irresponsible?

All her dreams seemed to be broken. About love, career, and future, she thought of leaving Beijing and returning to her hometown Huaihua. She wanted to get married and have children in that small city for the rest of her life, although boring at least it was a safe choice. But before leaving, she had so much not to give up, on Beijing, where she studied, fell in love, and went through all kinds of hardships for her dream. She thought, at least, before leaving, want to own youth years, leave something?

So that night, she posted a post on Mop.com: "... Before I thought I could do anything, as long as I want to do it I am nothing, also can't do anything, tired, very tired...... I like the network, like this virtual world, I just want to live in the network, with all the net friends to arrange my remaining life. Because of you, I still have something to live for. Maybe I can do something for you. Tell me and I'll help you finish... After I finish, I will take a picture of the process and post it here, so that everyone knows that I am living under your arrangement..." At the end of the post, Chen Xiao attached a copy of her ID card and her real mobile phone number.

It was an idea born out of the great depression, and she had not expected such a warm response. The first caller was a boy who asked Chen Xiao to make a "victory" sign. "I knew he wanted to give me a little encouragement by this way." She did and posted her picture on the forum.

Process and do not stop, there is a girl to find her, because his job is busy, there is no way to accompany his sick grandmother, she wants to accompany my grandma go to the hospital for Chen xiao, please take the place of infusion, have a boy, and his beloved girlfriend separated, his girlfriend is a student of China agricultural university, he Chen xiao, please go to agricultural university life one day, Because he wants to see his beloved girl is reading in what kind of environment and life, in this way, he can feel close to her, and a mother movingly entreated the Chen xiao puberty to her rebellious refused to write a letter, the son of school because she now almost has no way of communication, and the son see she is like an enemy - "you are all young people, He might hear what you're saying..."

The days lasted for about 10 days. The enthusiasm of Internet users and the number of people in real need of help made Chen Xiao realize that this was not something she could stop at any time. She had to live up to the trust and encouragement of so many people. The problem was, that she needed a living too, and helping people like this for free wasn't going to last long. "You can charge some money. Red Cross staff are also paid. You have to survive before you can help others," one enthusiastic netizen suggested.

Chen Xiao accepted the suggestion and set her rates at 8 yuan for eight minutes, 20 yuan for an hour, and 100 yuan for a day. At the same time, many media began to pay attention to this matter, with the headline "post-80s girl sells the rest of her life online." Chen Xiao doesn't care about this. "If you say I can sell, I can dig gold. I can truthfully say that my monthly income is about 30D0 yuan, which can just maintain my life in Beijing."

Surprise: The Internet is also a place for love

This episode of her life, almost live on the Internet, has had more impact on Chen Xiao than the sum of her previous 20 years of life. "I am a very pessimistic person, skeptical of everything, let alone the people and things I meet in the virtual world of the Internet." But by helping others do what they want, she gets in touch with the tenderest and most affectionate parts of humanity, and there are stories so beautiful that she can hardly help cheering.

She remembers a couple married for more than 20 years. The wife got breast cancer and was about to go to the hospital for a total mastectomy. The husband approached Chen Xiao and asked her to help him collect smiles and good wishes from 20 strangers to encourage her after the surgery. Chen Xiao, who spent a day collecting 19 smiles, counts herself as number 20, and says to the wife, "Cheer up. You have such a good husband. Don't give him to others."

She remembers a father who invited her to witness the birth of his son. She went to the hospital with my camera, difficult to let her see a woman, a woman struggling in a childbed while scolding her husband, who said he insisted on children, but when the doctor told her that if you don't have your belly children there will be a dangerous time, she immediately to his teeth hard, finally, the biting his lips... Or the man who, with tears in his eyes, leaned over his wife as she was wheeled out of the delivery room, stamped a deep kiss on her forehead and said, "You've suffered, my dear!"

She still remembers a couple who were about to break up. The boy came to Chen Xiao and asked her to be the leading actress in the video "Happy Breakup". When Chen Xiao went to see the girl with the CD of MTV and a bunch of roses, the girl put the CD into the CD drive, when she saw the boy singing to herself: "Happy breakup, I wish you happy, you can find a better......" There was a smile on her face, but the tears came down in big drops. It was the most romantic breakup Chen Xiao has ever seen.

While helping others fulfill their wishes, Chen Xiao herself has received a lot of attention and love from netizens.

What touched her most was one time when she accidentally said she had a cold on the forum. Later, a netizen offered to buy her a day and specifically told her, "You don't need to do anything for me on this day. I just want you to have a good rest for a day."

At another time, there is a net friend asked his sister to buy an electric bike, after she was chosen, notify the other party, the other party paying, when she asked his sister's address to the other party to make the store delivery, the other party told him: "the younger sister is you, ah, this car is for you, so you go out by bike every day, will take it easy!"

At that moment, Chen Xiao's heart a warm nose sour almost moved to tears.

Gain: Most like the feeling of being needed

Of course, the network is not all romantic and warm stories, some are very trivial, such as asking Chen Xiao to help you find a window where you can sell Guilin rice noodles, such as picking them up at the railway station in the early morning, such as helping people choose clothes... It's hard, it's boring, it's hard. Sometimes in Beijing city to rush about for a day, or can not complete the task assigned by the net friend, she will be a little discouraged, but also have the intention of quitting. But often seeing other people's words of gratitude and smiling faces, she felt that how to pay is worth it.

By completing the tasks assigned by her netizens, Chen Xiao feels that she has made progress. She is more patient, more tenacious, more tolerant, more outgoing, more capable, and, it seems, more considerate of others.

Chen Xiao cited the time she saw a shy middle-aged man selling fried stinky dried tofu at a farmer's market near her home, apparently for the first time. Chen Xiao bought one and tasted it. It was awful, but she gave the man, who was looking at her nervously, an encouraging smile. "It's not bad. She carried the bag of dried bean curd a long way until the man could no longer see her and threw the stinky beans away. She said: "Maybe he just laid off from the work unit, his wife is also laid off, the child is still studying, he needs to make money, he is full of courage to come out to set up such a small stand, if I throw the stinky beans into the garbage can in front of his face, he will be hit, perhaps will be depressed......"

The biggest change is the change in her attitude towards life. She used to be like all the post-80s, who were self-interested and believed that the world should revolve around her and cursed everything if she was hurt a little. But now she will first consider the situation of others and believes that the real meaning of life lies in being needed by others.

She donated all the proceeds from "Chen Xiao 8 Minutes" to charity. She also made it a rule that if netizens ask her for help in public welfare matters, she will not take any money.

Her mother felt the most about her change. She always felt that there was no way to communicate with her daughter before, but now her daughter will call her every day, ask her questions, and listen to her uncontrollable nagging patiently. The mother had an incredible surprise: "It seems that overnight, the child has grown up." From her initial worry and opposition to her daughter's small cause, she now supports her: "As long as my child does not do anything illegal and is beneficial to others, I, as a mother, will be satisfied."

Many people ask if Chen Xiao, who has a good business, will raise the price. She is adamant that she won't. "I don't do it for the money, I just want to make my life more meaningful.

As for the future, Chen Xiao doesn't know how long she will keep doing this job. "Maybe one day, no one needs me anymore and I will leave and start a new life, but I am sure that the life I will start after this will be better and more fulfilling than the one before this."

About love, she said that she once saw two of her best friends get married and divorced within a year, which made her a little afraid of love and marriage, but much more beautiful love and marriage on the Internet changed her pessimism, so now she is looking forward to love. "I don't think I could say no to someone who would buy me out for life." When she said this, Chen Xiao had clear eyes and a sweet smile.