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author | southern window reporter zu xiaoqian

intern | an shengqi liu shuyu

editor | xiang you

"it seems like a guy rented me his own job."

two years after graduating from a 211 university with a degree in journalism, mumu quit her job at a newspaper and became a freelancer, making a living by ghostwriting. however, a recent "big client" left her a little confused.

"he has been asking me to write for him seven or eight times a month for three or four months in a row, including for wechat moments, tweets, and occasional speeches and reports." mumu accidentally saw his own work and "discovered that i had contracted all the copywriting for his products this month."

but when mumu received a monthly salary of no less than four figures from this client, he suddenly realized something - it was nothing more than making money. if you rent a house, there is always a "sub-landlord". why can't the cowherd transfer the work to the "sub-landlord"?

from entering the industry to "entering the earth", from entering the market to being driven out of the market, as an effective deployment of human resources in the gaps between jobs, the "two cows and horses" practice shared by mumu on social media quickly received tens of thousands of likes, and the comment area became a decentralized recruitment site. everyone joked that "every day they do a job that makes them want to die, but the purpose is to make a living", and began to sell their skills to each other.

paying for work

chen mo, who works in finance, decided to outsource the first job of writing the script for the annual meeting. at the end of last year, when she was exhausted from closing the accounts, the hr department came to the department and asked, "if you don't host, you have to dance." she became a soft target after just six months of employment.

"then i certainly can't dance."

chen mo accepted the job, but she couldn't finish it no matter how hard she tried. she "didn't even want to look at the computer," so she simply searched for "ghostwriting" on the internet. an undergraduate student majoring in chinese language and literature quoted her 50 yuan, which she thought was reasonable. when she received the reply from the other party that "the manuscript will be produced as soon as possible," she instantly "heaved a sigh of relief."

chen mo has thought about seeking help from artificial intelligence, but "using ai also requires thinking and time. you have to input written language in a standardized way to guide it."

it is more convenient to communicate with others. as long as she pays for two cups of milk tea, she can be an unreasonable party a and make "random" requests to the other party during meals and breaks.

the second day, er niuma gave chen mo feedback on the script, and he was very satisfied: "he understood that i didn't want to talk too much on stage. even if he had spent a lot of time writing it, he would cooperate and cut it out immediately, and then help me connect the upper and lower parts."

trust has been established since then. if she has to host again this year, chen mo is ready to send a wechat message to this "first-class ox and horse" she has certified without hesitation: "hello, the new year is here again."

stills from "the annual meeting can't stop"

tangmian has also maintained a three-year cooperative relationship with a "second cow horse". she works in a state-owned manufacturing enterprise, and her position is human resources training. in fact, her main job is to make ppts. most of the time, she does it herself. "if i can do 60 points, i can satisfy the leader, but when the work needs more than 90 points, i will outsource it."

she saw the ppt displayed on the homepage of this "er niuma" on xiaohongshu, which was pleasing to the eye and "very impressive", so she contacted him and quoted him a price equal to her daily salary, about 300 yuan. when the leader gave instructions, she took a screenshot and sent it to "er niuma" and asked him to help modify it according to the leader's requirements.

tangmian has his own way of communication: "if you make requests to him directly, he may feel that he only earns this little money and you keep nagging him." but screenshots represent the leader's will, "he may change his stance, thinking that everyone is an employee, so he will work faster and have a better attitude."

if the work is not accepted by the leader, she will tell this "second cow horse", "he will scold the leader with me". the "second cow horse" will return her money, usually 20 to 30%, sometimes more than half. tangmian feels that renting out her job is "using one day's salary to catch three days' worth of fish, which is quite cost-effective".

stills from "nagi's new life"

however, huang tao, who was doing an audit, looked for a "second cow and horse" just to save her life. after working on four small projects for 25 consecutive days without a break, she developed a high fever of 39 degrees due to a bacterial infection. during the week when the fever did not go down no matter how much medicine she took, she coughed violently every time she answered or made a work call, "suspecting that she had asthma."

in recent years, the industry has been in turmoil, everyone in the industry is in danger, and everyone is thinking about reducing costs and increasing efficiency.

huang tao said that because the partners felt that the audit fee was too low, the same workload would have been assigned to two or three people in the past. now, not only does she have to complete it alone, but the project cycle has also been greatly compressed. reimbursement of necessary project expenses such as takeout, transportation, and express fees for client information exchanges has also become difficult.

huang tao's schedule did not give her time to breathe. the audit procedures in her link could not be completed, and the subsequent analysis, review and report issuance had nothing to rely on. her partner resigned, and the next project was still waiting for her to arrive on site, so she had no choice but to take on the responsibility. she rented a house in beijing, with a monthly rent of 2,000 yuan. the subway transfer to work was slow, taking 1.5 hours one way. the high fever also deprived her of physical strength, "i felt dizzy when walking." the subway stopped operating at 23:00, and she almost never got off work before 23:00. the daily taxi expenses were often around 150 yuan.

in june, the firm where she worked also began to cut salaries, and her actual income was almost halved, to "less than 200 yuan a day."

even though she had squeezed out all her time to work at her own expense, she still couldn't finish the work. in early june, the project was suddenly subject to random inspections, and the work that was supposed to take a week had to be completed in two days. her leader was sent out to command remotely in xiamen. she couldn't stand it anymore, so she took a taxi to the hospital, with one hand receiving an iv and the other hand answering the constant calls.

stills from "i'm fine in my hometown"

"it doesn't matter whether i get paid or not. i just hope someone will help me. no matter who i find, no matter the cost, as long as i can complete this job."

she contacted a colleague with whom she had a good relationship and said, "i will honestly say that i have reached my limit and i really cannot finish it. i will pay you a few thousand dollars and you can do the job for me." the colleague was in a break in the project, so she called a taxi for him and asked him to sit next to the seat in the infusion room and pick up her computer. "i told him which part needed to be changed and how it should be changed, and then he made the changes."

she worked all night for two days in a row, and her colleague also stayed up all night with her. it was already past 6 a.m. when she finished. she called a taxi to send her colleague home, and then returned to the institute at 11 a.m. to print and bind the work.

huang tao paid for her colleague's three meals and fruits, and transferred about 2,000 yuan of work fee to her colleague, but the kind-hearted colleague did not accept it. "a debt of favor is also a kind of payment," she felt bad, so she bought desserts and prepared small gifts for her colleague.

"everyone has problems. the next time a colleague is facing a tight project, i will definitely step up to help," huang tao thought. at the same time, she could no longer ignore the reality: "there may be a real problem in our industry."

philosophy of leadership

after this experience, huang tao found that leaders often have no empathy. "i have tried my best, and even did parts that i should not have done, but the leader seemed to think, hey, you are doing a good job, so if i put some pressure on you, you can do more."

tangmian often complained to her boss: "his requirements are incredible!" once, the boss needed to make a promotional video, and wanted a group of people to run forward and rush into the office building. "from the top to the middle and then to our leaders, there are many ideas, and they want it to be high-end, impressive, and have the tone of successful people." tangmian saw that everyone was worried about this every day. the colleague who studied art design "worked hard for three days, but no picture could achieve the effect the boss wanted."

"well, let me think of something." tangmian was only responsible for training, but she judged others by her own experience and decided to help her colleague find a "second-rate person". the first "second-rate person" was about the same level as her colleague, so "let him go". she decided to go all out and found three "second-rate people" through evaluation screening on xianyu. she sent a group message to the leaders about the needs and asked them to quote a round of prices. one of them gave tangmian clear instructions for shooting the scene. she finally finalized this person and cut the price from more than 500 yuan to 280 yuan.

stills from "i get off work on time"

"i also painted a pie for him. if the leader is satisfied, we will get a bonus and share it in due time." although there was no bonus for the video in the end, the customer liked the video and left a message to the head of the company and senior executives, praising the creativity of the video. the leader of tangmian was so happy to receive the recognition from the group that he bought things for his colleagues.

during her time at tangmian, the most productive work was also done by her "two cows and horses". she had a very professional training material that needed to be converted into a mind map, so she found a senior liberal arts girl to sort out the technical content. she told her frankly that she couldn't do it.

"she has been doing this for a long time, and every day is so hard." tangmian told nanfengchuang in a tone of seeing through the world, "but this matter is not for her, but for me." she felt that the girl "has a stronger sense of contract, which is why she is so self-defeating." the "second ox horse" found the "third ox horse", and the girl finally asked her boyfriend, who majored in science and engineering, to help. the boyfriend also wanted to give up many times, but was persuaded by the girl. in the end, tangmian paid less than 900 yuan and bought the full set of mind maps and ppt.

in the eyes of her boss, tangmian's work was both effective and innovative, but she "actually did nothing, it was all done by others." she was unhappy when her boss occasionally assigned her tasks such as producing "e-business show" and corporate culture videos, as these were not part of her job.

"it's meaningless!" she felt that many things were "completely formalistic", but she quickly changed her mind: "so what if it's not within your scope of responsibility? you may only do this once a year. you may think it's meaningless, but to the leaders and the unit, it is meaningful."

tang mian's attitude is "first, don't get angry, second, don't get too tired". "many people don't know how to adapt", she said earnestly. after five years of being beaten by society, she finally learned a set of workplace survival philosophy to adjust her mindset towards the leader, "don't argue. if the leader wants you to draw a flower, you can find someone who can draw flowers for the leader and let him draw it. you spend some money to get the job done, don't quarrel with the leader."

"you are an ordinary person, and so is the leader. he may be a little stupid, but he has become a leader just because he has worked in this place for many years. you should be more tolerant of him and respect him. don't tell him that his wild ideas are not acceptable right away. take it easy. things will turn out well if you take it easy. if you say you have found a way to solve them in two days, it will not meet the leader's requirements..."

"don't have any problems with your work attitude. it's okay if you have some problems with your work ability."

stills from nothing but thirty

some cows and horses cannot accept the whip of their leaders and decide to transform themselves into "full-time second cows and horses". liang yue was responsible for brand marketing before leaving. "in addition to writing plans, i also have to do miscellaneous work." the communication cost within the group is very high. her leaders always accept the instructions of the big leaders. a small change is like a butterfly flapping its wings, which increases the subsequent details that need to be handled for the entire event exponentially.

"a very important point in planning is to be aggressive," liang yue said, "you have to protect your creativity and ideas." the plans she is responsible for are often finalized in meetings and resource negotiations are in place, but the top leader "suddenly has an idea" and temporarily proposes a change of format. the leader always agrees directly and randomly convenes employees to discuss and modify them.

"it's speechless. the resource contact section is the most uncomfortable. if we let someone down this time, they won't cooperate next time." liang yue felt overwhelmed and chose to resign when she had accumulated a stable customer base and ensured a minimum monthly income of 5,000 yuan. without a fixed leader, she believed that she would have the freedom to choose her clients.

do you really need this job?

according to liang yue's observation, one of her clients is event companies. they have a small team and a stable number of customers, so they are unwilling to hire an extra planner. "the salary for hiring a planner is 8,000 to 10,000 yuan, but if you outsource it, you can only get 3,000 to 4,000 yuan a month."

another type of client is office workers, most of whom work in the real estate industry. holiday activities are extremely intensive, and they often encounter situations where people have to go on business trips but the work at hand is not completed. in this case, they will outsource. in addition, when it comes to complex sections such as year-round marketing activities, they "will also think it is better to spend two or three thousand yuan to hire more professional people to do it."

when screening clients, liang yue trusts her instincts. "when asking about their needs, if i feel that they are difficult to work with and will call me in the middle of the night to change the plan, i will just reject them."

it is her principle to modify the proposal up to three times for free. the client is not her boss. what he pays for is 80% of her creativity and 20% of her service. "if i am asked to cooperate with his work requirements and habits like an employee, what is the difference between that and going to work? i don't even have the salary and benefits of an employee."

after a year of working as a "second ox and horse" as she wished, liang yue felt that "she looked free, but in fact she was the least free." the small number of orders and the failure to meet the monthly income target would make her anxious, and the peak of orders would drain her out of money.

her most exaggerated record was working in front of the computer for 26 hours straight, "without leaving her seat except for drinking water, going to the toilet, and eating." at that time, she took three orders and did not reserve time for revisions in advance, which resulted in her revising the previous plan while writing a new one.

stills from my liberation diary

"writing is very exhausting." liang yue said that the fluctuating income and working hours are the price she has to pay for not having to deal with interpersonal relationships in the workplace.

after several years of fighting wits and courage with her boss, tang mian felt that she had a "clearer understanding of herself". she chose to leave the state-owned enterprise and returned to the countryside to work as a civil servant with a salary that had shrunk by 2/3. "it was mainly because it was easier for me to take the exam for this unit. someone gave me a position, so i studied for a while. anyway, i finished the exam quickly and passed it." the unit was right next to her home, and the leader's mentality and the meaning of the work were no match for her grandparents who were in her hometown.

"it's not the job that needs you, but you need the job" may be a more common situation.

huang tao thought about changing jobs. on a particularly anxious night, she couldn't sleep, so she looked at every industry on boss zhipin. "if non-professionals can go, it means that this industry is still very replaceable." auditing work made her more aware of crises. "this industry has been relatively promising and stable in the past two years, but it is likely to encounter new changes in the next two years." she still wants to delve deeper into the financial field and make a living with her skills.

however, even if she still needed to find a "second cowherd" or be a "second cowherd", huang tao never thought about leaving beijing.

"i've never told my family about my work situation. if i did, they would definitely ask me to go back immediately." huang tao likes her free life and free spirit in beijing. she likes to wear suspenders without a shirt, likes to order takeout in the early morning without worrying about disturbing anyone, and likes the atmosphere of strangers in such a big city, without comparison, without the constraints of relationships, she can face herself truthfully.

she is also aware of the sacrifices she has to make for freedom. she doesn't want to rely on others. "my pursuits must be based on financial independence. at present, i need a stable job to support all of this." it is obviously unrealistic to "quit" in a fit of anger. she calmly accepts the status quo, guards her life in beijing, and paves the way for finding the next better job. "it's better to work temporarily with extra money than to have no income at all."

she occasionally feels sad: "the more i work, the more i find that i seem to be further and further away from my original self." but brightness is still the main axis of her life. she feels that she is a happy puppy. the auditing process is boring, so she works as a self-media person in her spare time. she carefully "raises an account" on the platform, takes photos, and shares her life.

she recalled a video she had made before, which was over five minutes long and took her a week to edit. "i was very serious when i was editing it, just to get back to my lively self."

"i just edited it frame by frame, second by second."

the pictures in this article are from the internet