"I intended to just earn a little extra money," he said. "I didn't plan to hold on for long."

But that changed. Delivering only 10 orders a day at the beginning, Zhang could complete over 30 a day two weeks later. By the end of the first month, he achieved a record of 70 orders in one day.

"The income is much higher than that of a farmer, so I decided to keep the job and do it better," he said.

Six months later, in 2019, Zhang had acquired a lot of information about restaurants in the city and applied to become a marketing promoter. Leading a five-member team, he spent six months expanding the company's client list from 1,000 to 2,000, covering nearly all the catering shops in the city.

Because of his strong performance, Zhang was elevated to manager of the Meituan branch in Hegang, where he oversees more than 200 couriers and marketing promoters citywide.