Sincere service

Listening has become an emerging field today, though it remains somewhat vaguely defined.

"Listening services provide a low-cost, immediate emotional outlet," Li explained, differentiating it from professional psychological counseling.

"Counseling usually involves scheduled appointments — weekly sessions and long-term treatment plans. But when emotions are overwhelming, people often need someone to 'hold' them in the moment," she said. "Listening doesn't follow fixed procedures, and it doesn't necessarily involve offering professional therapeutic advice."

The issues she encounters are diverse: emotional distress, pressure from work and school, peer competition, family conflict, and more. What stands out to Li, however, is how openly young people talk about these struggles today.

"They share their problems with me very directly," she said. "They are more accepting of their emotions and more willing to seek help proactively. That is an outcome of social development and increased personal freedom."

Unlike Li, who relies largely on life experience to offer support, 30-year-old Li Mingjun is a trained psychology professional with a master's degree in mental health education. She began providing semi-public welfare listening services in November 2025, with an introductory rate of just 9.9 yuan for the first 50-minute session.

"I firmly believe counseling is truly beneficial only when it is affordable," she said.

Her clients are also mostly young people — recent graduates and university students. She has found that the most common source of their distress remains interpersonal relationships, particularly issues related to romance.

Yet beneath these concerns, Li Mingjun often sees a deeper theme: the pursuit of personal growth. Many clients ultimately ask questions like "How can I become a better person?" or "How can I live a better life?"

In addition to one-on-one listening, she has organized more than 20 workshops focused on emotional themes such as anger, shame, fear, and anxiety. Participants engage in creative activities like making "shame masks", auctioning "fear objects", or knitting "anxiety monsters" from yarn. These exercises help bring subconscious feelings to the surface. Through group sharing and emotional confession, many participants discover parts of themselves they had never noticed before.

Li Mingjun observes that in big cities, young people's social circles are often narrow and homogeneous. Deep connections are harder to form. But the internet and technology have made it easier for people experiencing similar struggles to find one another.

"Healing and being healed usually happen simultaneously," she said.