人类学研究、纪录片制作、新闻创意写作……这群11-13岁的孩子们，在X-Teens里收获了受益一生的能力

  Unlocking the life of Chinese teen-age game streamer

                                                 By Sandy Hua

Nowadays, a lot of teenagers dream about being a game streamer. This is usually because of their love to video games. However, there's one thing they don't know. Being a game streamer looks easy, but actually it is hard.

Lonely Wolf is a game streamer working for a company called Hai Cheng on the website Iqiyi. He is a 15-year-old teenager, and his real name is Nie Xiansu.

Lonely Wolf was so poor at studying that he didn't enter high school. After he found himself interested in game streaming, he decided to do this job without much thought.

"This job is risky and it is slow to start," says Lonely Wolf. "You can't do it well without years of hard work unless you already know about it or have a good basis."

Lonely Wolf usually wakes up at 10 a.m. every day. During the day, he records videos. He usually goes to bed at 2 or 3 a.m. When necessary, he even stays up all night. 

He said this is because of his work, but also because it is his personal habit. He thinks he can work and think better at night when all things are still. He usually edits his videos or write some stories that time.

Although he works late, he doesn't earn much. He gets money from Hai Cheng once a month. The salary is between 1,000 yuan (around $1,480) and 1,500 yuan on average, but usually it is not steady.

"Well, it is enough for my daily budget, but perhaps I'm even inferior to a convenient store employee," says Lonely Wolf. 

"In fact, I'm not as hardworking as before now. I was so hardworking a year ago when I first step into this unknown area, but now, I don't have that much ambition to do so anymore. Hai Cheng is nice to me, and they help me with lots of problems. But I just lost my power. "

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Why doesn't Lonely Wolf try to change his situation? In this way he could rediscover his ambition.

Usually, the most efficient way to improve a streamer's situation is to do popular things or get along with popular streamers for fame, and ask audience for virtual presents.

However, Lonely Wolf never does this. He says that he is already thankful to his fans for watching his video, so he does not want his their money.

At first, Lonely Wolf's parents did not oppose his decision to be a game streamer. Instead, they provided with money and some necessary equipment.

However, after one year, his family members began to think that he should learn something useful in order to make a living. They started to put stress on him. They asked him to earn 30,000 yuan a year, or they would find him another job or send him to vocational school.

They agreed to let Lonely Wolf keep working on game streaming, provided he studied something that would allow him to make a living by himself. Clearly, Lonely Wolf's parents are pretty open-minded, and care about both his life and feelings.

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Lonely Wolf has a type of social anxiety disorder. He doesn't know many people in the real world, let alone have many friends. However, he has quite several online friends.

When asked about him, one of his online friends, Cuijimao, says:

"Lonely Wolf is a nice person. He is actually a bit decadent, but he always laughs and smiles in front of us. He only does things that he thinks is right, and he only do things he wants to do. I think it is pretty good."

Lemon, another of Lonely Wolf's online friends, says:

"I think it's true that study is not the only way to live. Well, I don't mean we should not study, but when we can't live with study, why don't we change a direction? "

"He chose this path, and worked hard to reach his goal. I think this is good enough. I respect his decision, and do not think a game streamer is different to others. Everyone has their own dream … We don't have much right to judge them," adds Lemon.

（Sandy Hua is young writer in Shanghai.）