I, a sister from Sichuan, traveled all over China with a second-hand van after my business failed

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I am Zhou Zhou, born in 1987 in a small mountain village in Yibin, Sichuan.

How we are born can not determine what kind of life we want to live, but what we want.

I am a child coming out of a poor valley. After graduating from high school, I entered the society. Over the years, I have suffered losses, been cheated, stolen and robbed.

I have also stood at the front desk, set up a stall and worked as a boss. I have always believed that as long as I don't give up and work hard, the days will be better.

However, man is not as good as God. The sudden outbreak of the epidemic broke the quiet and beautiful life. I was almost depressed. In order to adjust my mood, I started a self-driving tour of one person, one dog and one car.

There must be one body and one soul on the way. Yes, I'm on my way. Everywhere you go, it is scenery.

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(I am Zhou who likes to laugh)

My parents raise pigs and have a sister at home. When I was young, my parents were always busy. They didn't have much time and energy to devote to me. So, I was basically raised in captivity.

I was very naughty when I was young. I was a little like a boy. I like to fish in the river and pick fruit on the mountain. I am curious about nature and want to try everything.

At the time of school, my academic performance was very poor, basically the last. I'm still the prick in my class, and I always fight with boys. Every time you get into trouble at school, you will be called to your parents, and you will inevitably be beaten when you go back.

Over time, I become very independent and like to solve anything in my own way.

I just thought reading was not important at that time. After graduating from high school, I went out to work. At that moment, I thought that I had finally grown up and could finally break through the cage and make money out of the mountains.

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(The beautiful scenery can adjust your mood)

At the age of 18, I went out of the mountains for the first time and came to the big city of Chengdu. Looking at the busy street with a masked face, it was the same as Grandma Liu's entering the Grand View Garden.

At that time, the Internet was not as developed as it is now. You can find a job by sending a resume and going online. In order to find a job, I was fooled into the singing hall and almost went astray.

I remember that in the downtown area, there were many aunts standing at the intersection. They looked at the young people coming and going. One of them pulled the other and asked, "Do you want to find a job?"

That was how I was held. The aunt told me to work as a waitress, and also said that the pay was very good. Without social experience, I thought this job was reliable, so I followed her.

The working place is a bit like singing karaoke. After simply registering the ID card information, they arranged me to live in the dormitory.

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(Record the beauty of the journey)

On the first day of work, the manager assigned me to a private room and asked me to bring tea and water to the guests who came to sing. But as soon as I went in, a guest put his arm around my shoulder.

At that time, I was too young to know how to deal with this kind of thing. I was so scared that I fled on the spot. I held out until I got off work. When I returned to the dormitory, I couldn't help it. I threw myself on the bed and cried.

After calming down, I called my classmates and told them about it. She said that the place was not right, and it was not a serious job. I was even more scared and asked her to pick me up the next day.

Just when I left, I found that the 15 yuan under the pillow was missing. Fortunately, I got out of the misery in time, otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable.

After this experience, I am particularly cautious in finding jobs. Later, I found a job at the front desk through an intermediary. Responsible for cleaning the boss's office, receiving customers, printing documents and so on.

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(Travel in the Philippines)

I have been doing this job for two years, with a monthly salary of 1200, and can barely maintain my life. Once in the street, the wallet was stolen, and 1200 yuan also disappeared. I cried and looked for it along the street, and the result was predictable.

During that period of working, I was not only stolen, but also suffered from soul-stirring robbery.

That night, on the way home from work, two young people suddenly rushed out and dragged me into a dark alley. They put a knife on my neck, forced me to a corner, searched all my money and ran away.

It doesn't look like much money now, but that's all I have.

I was so frightened that my legs trembled and collapsed directly on the ground. Although I was afraid, I didn't choose to call the police. Because I know that even if I call the police, I can't catch them. There may also be retaliation from them.

It was the same year that I planned to go home for the Spring Festival. However, because there is no extra money in hand, I can only be alone, crying and homesick in the rental house.

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(Now the car is my home)

I am deeply aware of the importance of money. It is like an iron, which can iron all the wrinkles in life.

When I realized that I could not make a fortune by salary alone, I began to set up a stall and sell some hats, socks and other small things. The threshold of this small business is relatively low, and it is fast to start. However, everything is difficult at the beginning.

At the beginning, I was also a bit embarrassed. Fortunately, I am a girl and sweet, so I learn from the stall owners nearby. Gradually, I also found my way.

The life of setting up a stall is very hard. Every day is windy and sunny, especially in winter, I am particularly afraid of the cold. The ears, face, hands and feet are all covered with chilblains. In the most serious cases, chilblains will swell and crack, and they will be painful and itchy.

Every morning, I have to get up at four or five o'clock to stock and start to set up a stall at ten o'clock. The income is also very unstable, and we can only scrape by. It is even more difficult to eat something good.

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(Buddy is always with me)

What impressed me most was that there was a self-help douhua hot pot at that time. You can eat vegetarian food for 9 yuan and meat for 12 yuan. What I eat most is vegetarian. I think I can save a little.

There are also our Chengdu special snacks, Chuan Chuan Xiang. When eating, we also count a few bamboo sticks while eating. We are afraid that we can't afford to eat too much.

In retrospect, the time at that time was really tight. But for me, these experiences are also a valuable asset. It gave me the impetus to move forward and made me realize that only through experience can I grow and change my fate.

After setting up a stall for a year, I saved a small ten thousand yuan in my hand. With this money, I rented the first store in my life. They still sell hats and scarves.

Maybe it's good luck. In the first year of opening the store, the temperature dropped sharply, and that winter was particularly cold. The things in the store sell very well. I also saved some money.

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(Don't carry too much, just be relaxed and comfortable)

A year later, I opened a second store. With the rise of online shopping, it is increasingly difficult for physical stores to earn money. So, after three or four years, we finally transferred the store.

For the next period of time, I entered a period of confusion and didn't know where to go. If you don't open a shop, you have to go to work.

I found a job selling luxury goods in the mall. You have to wear high-heeled shoes after working eight hours a day. After work, my leg hurts and I can't walk.

After a month or two, I resigned to sell insurance. But I found that selling insurance is not suitable for my personality.

Because we are used to doing business, we can arrange everything by ourselves. I am not used to going to work suddenly. In my heart, I still want to start my own business, but I have no suitable project.

When I was at a loss, the opportunity came.

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(Put on clothes with national characteristics to change your mood)

At a party with my little sisters, they gave me an idea to learn manicure. This is a technical job. As long as you learn it well, it will not be difficult to start a business in the future. I have always been in the business of girls, and I think this is feasible.

Next, I took more than 20000 yuan and spent about three months learning this series of things. After learning, I didn't open a shop immediately because I was too unfamiliar with this industry and didn't know how to operate it. And my savings are not much. I can't take this risk.

I first went to a nail salon and worked there for half a year. During this period, there was basically no salary, hundreds of yuan a month, which was equivalent to a cheap worker.

In fact, the boss also knows that we go to work to practice technology. After all, we have just learned and have no experience. When I can be alone, my girlfriend and I jointly opened the first nail salon.

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(Previous Nail Shop)

It was probably in 2013. Since the salon opened, the business has always been very good. My friend and I have already agreed to do the same. All aspects are halved. But a year later, we had differences in management and had to transfer our shop.

I am very optimistic about this industry, and then I opened a nail salon for six years. In six years, I have accumulated a lot of customers and experience, and also bought a suite in Chengdu.

Everything seems to be going well, but in fact, there is a huge crisis not far away.

The manicure business is in full swing, and I plan to open a second shop. But this time, my heart was a little big. I spent more than 300000 yuan and rented a large shop of more than 100 square meters in the mall.

I spent a lot of effort on the whole decoration, equipment, and personnel training. Under my careful management, the business in the store has always been very good.

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(Is there any Queen Fan?)

However, a sudden epidemic broke all the rhythm. The business of the nail salon is getting worse every day. At the worst, there are no customers in the shop.

I realized I couldn't go on like this. It costs hundreds of thousands of yuan a year, but no one wants to change hands. I had no choice but to return the store, and my previous investment was considered to be wasted.

The income of the old store can only be barely balanced. The new store consumes so much money again. For a moment, I was hit hard. I have worked hard for so many years, but in the end, nothing happened.

My mood suddenly fell into the ice cellar, I lost sleep and hair every day, and I was almost depressed. Even so, I haven't told my parents about these experiences. I don't want to worry them, and I know they can't help.

I choose to bear all the pressure silently. To my parents, I will only report good news but not bad news. To my friends, I don't like to say these unhappy things. Everyone's life is not easy. Why should I bother others?

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(Laugh at life anyway)

After a long time, I feel that there is something wrong with my state. I can't continue to be decadent like this. So I want to go out for a self-drive tour to relax.

I used to like outdoor hiking and have met many donkey friends. One of the elder brothers took me from Chengdu to Laos for a self-driving tour. From then on, I like the feeling of driving in poverty.

That was 2013. The whole process of self-driving tour was happy and exciting. Everywhere you go, the scenery you see is different. Each country also has its own characteristics.

Especially in Laos, I was chased by the local police for a long time and was forced to lose 500 yuan.

I don't like Lao police very much. They deliberately set up many checkpoints on the road to stop foreign vehicles. No matter whether you go through all the formalities, they will ask for money to drink if they stop, which is purely to enrich their own pockets.

Once, when I was close to the checkpoint, I took advantage of their inattention and rushed through with one foot of the accelerator. When they found out, they began to stop me. I ignored them and drove on.

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(I always like outdoor sports)

Later, one of them was riding a motorcycle police car and kept chasing me. I pretended that I didn't know anything, and still drove forward, thinking that as long as I drove fast enough, he would not catch up with me, because it would be fine if I passed the customs.

As a result, a big car turned around blocked the way and I had to brake. The Lao police caught up and confiscated my driving license and driving license. I can see from his expression that he is very angry, and he speaks the language of his country, which should be scolding me.

He took me to a small alley on a motorcycle to compete, but neither of us could understand each other's language. Later, he wrote a 1000 on his mobile phone. I can see at a glance that I want money.

People have to bow under the eaves. Since money can solve this problem, I don't want to cut corners. But they put the money into their pockets, and I don't want to give him so much.

After a bargaining session, I gave him 500 yuan. He returned all his papers to me. I also returned home smoothly.

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(Be a brave man)

On the road of self-driving tour, many new things happened. I think it is very interesting. Since then, as long as I have time, I will use my rest time to go out and drive myself. In particular, when I was in a low mood, I wanted to use self-driving travel to adjust my mood. Go out for a walk and have a look, and you may encounter different business opportunities.

At that time, a friend was just about to deal with his old van, which he didn't know how many hands. I spent thousands of dollars to buy it and changed it into a simple RV. It's enough for me to eat, drink and sleep in the car.

On April 30, 2020, I set out. The first time I drove by myself, I only played around Qinghai, Gansu, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang for half a year.

In the past six months, I have learned to take videos and cut videos. I met many car friends on the way, and they will also teach me some experience. Slowly, I fell in love with the feeling of doing We-media.

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(The car is a mobile home)

After returning to Chengdu, I handled the manicure shop and the work related to manicure was over. I plan to change a car to continue my self-driving tour and start the road of self-media.

Because this old van has too many problems. It has been repaired all the way. There are no major problems and there are no small problems. It can't be repaired quickly. I changed another used Iveco. After transformation, I drove it back on the road.

In January 2021, I officially started the road of self-media and shot my first video. My dog also went abroad with me.

It's Buddy, a black Labrador. I adopted it in 2018. At that time, it looked small, only more than 4 months old. In a year or two, it is now about the same size as me.

Since we adopted Buddy, we have hardly separated. No matter where we go, I will take it with me. Now it depends on me, and I also rely on it, and each other is a company.

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(Dogs are good friends of humans)

He is not only smart, but also calm. He has saved me from danger several times.

Once, Buddy and I met a group of yaks while we were going to Gangren Pozi. I don't know why, one of the yaks suddenly rushed towards us. At that time, I was scared to death. The yak was so big that Buddy and I couldn't fight it together.

At first, I drove him with a climbing stick, but he just didn't go, and he kept rushing towards me. Buddy always stood in front of me, barking at the yak. Then I threw stones to drive it away.

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(The road ahead is not alone)

Another thing happened in the parking lot of a small county. At that time, a drunken man from a minority nationality came to me unsteadily. I quickly got into the car and closed the door. I was ready to wash and sleep in the car.

After a while, I heard someone pulling my door. Buddy heard the noise and shouted loudly. I opened the window and saw the man just now. Buddy rushed to the window and shouted at the drunk in order to protect me.

At the sight of such a big dog, he stepped back several steps in fear and then left.

So Buddy is a very important part of my life. We will accompany each other until we get old.

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(Stop and enjoy the sunshine and beauty)

In the past two years of self-driving tour, I have been living in the car, and some people are puzzled. In fact, I really like this kind of life, free and comfortable. I don't feel tired or bored because I love it enough.

Looking back on the first half of my life, I had a hard time before the age of 30. But it is precisely because of these hardships that we have now realized and cherished life.

In those years when I worked in the city, I was more concerned with the temporary pleasure brought by material. But now, after the basic conditions of life have been met, I care more about the richness of the spiritual world.

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(Life also includes poetry and distance)

In the future, if I can go abroad after the epidemic, I will continue my dream of traveling around the world.

If I can't go out, I have already gone through the country once or twice. Then find a remote mountain village, live my pastoral life, and continue to enjoy the peace of one person.

Life is like a play. Everyone has different scripts. Don't stick to the unchanging plot, dare to try and pursue, and live the life you like. That's wonderful.


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