Wang opened a store in 2008 in his sophomore year at university, renting out small spaces in the store to individual sellers.

Never interested in schoolwork, Nie took up administration management as his major at college and started to do business in his sophomore year with friends.

Huang entered the homestay industry when he was a sophomore.

"Since the height of the COVID-19, I've formed a habit of watching Viya's livestreaming session every night and see what I can buy," said Liu Min, a sophomore student in Shanghai who has spent over 10,000 yuan ($1,553) through livestreaming since last year.

Firms ramping up efforts to sell services via paid memberships, virtual performances on digital platformsZhao Xiaohan, a 20-year-old sophomore at Beijing Foreign Studies University, recently purchased two music platform memberships.

Yang Boran, a sophomore majoring in languages at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in South Korea, chose to become a delivery worker in his hometown of Taiyuan, Shanxi province, as he couldn't return to his university due to the pandemic.

"Generally, I only watch my favorite esports club, Edward Gaming, so I just don't want to miss the opportunity," said the 19-year-old sophomore at Hohai University in Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu province.

"I use QQ Music because it has abundant music resources covering various singers, such as Taylor Swift, Jay Chou and JJ Lin," said Gong Zhili, an 18-year-old sophomore at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing.