It is not unusual to rent out one's apartment or some belongings, but for Liu Hui, a young man based in Chengdu, the capital city of China’s southwest Sichuan Province, he is going one step further by renting himself out full-time to make a living. 

Back in 2012, inspired by a story of an American man who rented out everything he had at home, including his T-shirts, microwave and sofa, Liu Hui decided to rent himself for fun. 

According to Liu Hui’s advertisement, he can do anything for his clients within the law, with the lowest price at 66 yuan (about 10 US dollars). He has been leasing his services out since 2015, and has published more than 500 stories of his experiences on his Wechat account, one of the biggest social media platforms in China.  

“On average, I can make a monthly income of 6,000 to 7,000 yuan (about 870 to 1000 US dollars), sometimes I could make more than 10,000 yuan. I would go crazy if no one rents me for a week, because it will enter a vicious cycle- if no one rents me, I cannot update my stories online, then no one would follow me, and there won’t be any income,” said Liu Hui.

He has encountered clients with all kinds of requirements, including many odd ones. He was asked to help save money for half a year, to let a girl confide in him for three months, comfort a stranger, go fishing, or even to take a bath with a man.  

The man who rented Liu to take a bath together said he was moved by Liu's passion for life, so he decided to supported Liu's idea. 

How has this bizarre take on the "service industry" been able to last so long? Liu believes that in modern society, trust is hard to come by, but sought after by the public. Even though people keep discovering new things for fun, they feel bored and frustrated by modern living, and need a release of pressure and emotion.  

When asked why she hired Liu to send her greetings every day for half a year at 1,500 yuan (about 220 US dollars) , Xiao Xiao, who lived in the US, said “maybe because there was no one outside of my circle of friends willing to talk with me.”

Why would clients pay for “useless” or “boring” things without any economic return, such as asking Liu to stand for ten minutes, or run ten laps? Psychology Associate Professor Wang Fang with Beijing Normal University said clients do indeed get satisfaction in this way.

“When an economy develops to a certain degree, boring consumption occurs as people spend spare money to satisfy some unnecessary demands, just for fun. For example, people watch live stream of other people eating. The other possibility is people like to feel satisfied when ordering others do things under his or her own control.”