A mother in China thought she had found the perfect way to teach her son a hard lesson about reality.
Instead, her plan backfired when the 17-year-old made impressive money selling street food, and became even more determined to quit school.
‘I Didn’t learn anything useful in school’
According to Hong Kong media outlet HK01, the incident took place in Anhui Province.
The mother, surnamed Deng, and her husband run a street vending business in Jiaxing, Zhejiang. Their only son had been studying culinary arts at a vocational school after finishing middle school.
But one day, he told his parents he no longer wanted to continue studying.
He claimed he was “not learning anything useful in school” and wanted to follow them into business instead, entering the working world early.
Hoped reality would change his mind
Rather than force him to stay in school, Deng decided to take a strategic step back. She believed that opposing him outright would only push him further away. So she agreed to let him try running a business on his own.
To help him get started, she bought him a second-hand three-wheeled cart and encouraged him to sell fried snacks at night markets.
Her expectation was simple. Long hours, physical exhaustion, and the stress of dealing with customers would show him how tough earning a living really is.
After “suffering” a little, she thought he would appreciate education more and return to school willingly.
Earned RM5,800 10 days later
However, things did not go as planned.
The teenager threw himself into the job with full enthusiasm. He left home daily at 4pm, worked until 2am or 3am, and repeated the routine for 10 straight days.
By the end of it, he had generated RMB10,000 in revenue (approx. RM5,800).
Instead of discouraging him, the experience gave him confidence. Having tasted early financial success, he became even more certain that he did not want to go back to school.
Deng documented her son’s vending journey and uploaded the clips to Douyin, where they went viral.
Some netizens praised the boy’s initiative, saying “every profession can produce success” and supporting his decision to work early.
Others expressed concern that the story could mislead students into thinking they can simply quit school to make quick money. A few even urged Deng to take the videos down.
‘This is not an encouragement to quit school’
Facing the backlash, Deng clarified that she was not encouraging children to abandon education. As a parent, she still hopes her son will study more, broaden his horizons, and have more choices in life.
She also explained that the RMB10,000 figure represented total revenue, not pure profit.
After deducting ingredients, equipment, and other costs, the earnings were far from the “huge profit” some imagined. She added that such income levels are not unusual in the street vending industry.
With their son standing firm in his choice, Deng and her husband eventually decided to respect his wishes.
They said that as long as he remains healthy, safe, and happy, that matters more than forcing him down a predetermined path.
