May 2026 · 9 min read
People see these 6 websites and think: "Wow, you just sat down and built them."
No. Before the websites, there was a long, messy, embarrassing list of failures. I'm going to share all of them. Not to be dramatic — but because this is the part nobody talks about. Everyone shows you the finished product. Nobody shows you the roads that led to dead ends.
Here's mine.
I'm an ICU doctor in Chengdu. It's stable. It's respected. And the pay is... let's say "enough to live, not enough to thrive." In China, the reality for most hospital doctors is long hours, high pressure, and a salary that doesn't match the responsibility.
Midlife hits you hard. You look around and realize: parents are getting older, kids need education, the mortgage isn't going anywhere. Your salary covers the basics, but there's no margin. One emergency and you're in trouble.
I needed something else. Something on the side. But here's the thing — I couldn't do anything medical. No consulting, no tutoring, no side gigs related to my profession. That's the rule. So what could I do?
I tried making short videos. Medical popular science content — explaining common health myths, basic ICU knowledge, that kind of thing. I spent evenings writing scripts, recording, editing. The first few videos got maybe 200 views. The algorithm didn't care. I posted consistently for 2 months. Still 200 views.
I learned that Douyin is a game of either luck or money. You either get lucky with the algorithm, or you spend money on promotion. I had neither. I quit.
This one I actually enjoyed. I wrote some lyrics, tried to compose, even recorded a rough demo. The songs weren't bad — but turning songwriting into income? That's a different game. You need connections, an audience, a platform. I had none of those.
I still write lyrics sometimes. But as a side income? Dead end.
I thought about it seriously. Signed up, downloaded the app, looked at the numbers. But after a 12-hour ICU shift, the last thing you want to do is get behind the wheel and drive strangers around for 4 more hours. I never actually started.
This one I actually tried. I did a few deliveries after work. The first order, I got lost. The second, the customer complained it was late. The third, I nearly hit a car at an intersection. By the fourth, I was exhausted — physically, mentally, spiritually. My body was done.
I lasted maybe 4 deliveries. Total earnings: about ¥40. I deleted the app and never looked back.
Sitting there, after all these failures, I thought: there has to be something I can do from home, at a computer, without burning out my body.
That's when a colleague mentioned "English niche websites." At first, I thought it sounded like another scam. But I was desperate enough to research it. And what I found was... different. Real people, showing real numbers. Not selling courses, just sharing results.
I'm not going to pretend I knew what I was doing. But I had tried everything else. What did I have to lose?
Looking back, every failure taught me something. Douyin taught me that content creation is a long game, not a sprint. Songwriting taught me that I need structure, not just creativity. Ride-hailing and delivery taught me that trading time for money is a dead-end — I needed something scalable.
The websites are my last shot before giving up on the side-income idea entirely. If this doesn't work in 6 months, I'll figure something else out. But at least this time, I feel like I'm building something. Not running. Not chasing. Building.
— Kuang Shan, still trying
2026年5月 · 阅读约10分钟
这是我的公众号第一篇文章。我没什么高大上的定位，就是想认认真真记录一件事——在这个越来越卷的时代，一个普通人，到底该怎么给自己多挣一份安全感。
我就是那个最普通的中年人。有本职工作，有日常开销，有还不完的房贷，有渐渐老去的父母，有正在长大的孩子。以前总觉得，把班上好，安安稳稳过日子就行。可这几年，越来越多的人开始说同一句话："只靠一份死工资，真的扛不住了。"
不是我爱焦虑，是这个时代把焦虑塞进了每个人手里。物价在涨，工资没动。行业在变，岗位在缩。今天还觉得安稳的工作，明天可能就收到一封"感谢付出"的通知。打开手机，到处都是"35岁被优化""45岁没人要"的消息。你明明还没老，世界已经觉得你没用了。自己都感觉自己没用。
想多存点钱，想家里有事时不慌张，想让孩子多上一门课、父母体检不用心疼钱……可每个月工资刚到账，还完房贷、交完补习费、买完菜，就所剩无几了。于是，一个念头越来越清晰：我必须得做一份副业。可紧接着，另一个更让人心慌的问题冒了出来——我到底能做什么？
想做副业的人那么多，最痛苦的根本不是"做不做"，而是不知道"做什么"。嘴上不说，心里都急。其实焦虑得一样一样的：
想做点小生意——一看房租、囤货、转让费，再看看银行卡余额，连试的勇气都没有。
想跑外卖、做代驾——白天上班已经累得腰酸背痛，晚上再熬身体，怕赚的钱还不够以后看病。
想做抖音、电商、搞直播——看别人带货风生水起，自己一进去才发现，一篇作品十几个人点赞，自己都没兴趣更新了。直播不仅自己不敢看镜头，那些00后早就玩剩下了。
想学门技能接单——白天上班，晚上陪孩子，好不容易挤出点时间学了两节课，就开始焦虑：不知道要学多久才能变现，等不起。
也跟风做过几个"日入几百"的小项目——进去才发现，不是拉人头就是割韭菜，折腾半天，白忙一场。
越看越乱，越想越慌。不是怕吃苦，是怕吃了苦还在原地打转。不是不努力，是找不到一条值得努力的路。这种"明明很想改变，却不知道往哪走"的无力感，才是深夜翻来覆去睡不着时，最真实的焦虑。
折腾了一圈，我也慢慢想清楚了。中年人最大的现实，就是试错成本太高了。踩一个坑，可能就是几个月的积蓄；走错一步，可能连主业的精力都被拖垮。所以我给自己定了四条很实在的标准：
1. 绝对不能影响主业——饭碗没了，副业也撑不住。
2. 低风险，不盲目投钱——不赌运气，不碰"暴富神话"。稳，比快重要。
3. 不用拼体力、熬身体——中年人最值钱的是精力，不是蛮力。
4. 最好能越做越顺，有积累——不是今天干了今天有，明天不干就归零。
符合这些条件的方向，才值得我慢慢花时间去探索、去深耕。哪怕慢一点，只要方向对，我就不慌。
开这个号，就是想把这段"找方向、做副业"的过程，完整记录下来。不灌鸡汤，不画大饼，不割韭菜，也不忽悠谁。
我自己就是那个正在迷茫、正在试错、正在一步一步往前蹭的普通人。我只想老老实实写我自己的真实经历：
为什么我一定要做副业——那些让我突然惊醒的瞬间；
我试过哪些副业，踩过哪些坑——真金白银换来的教训；
普通人怎么从迷茫里，一步步找到适合自己的路——没有奇迹，只有笨办法和坚持；
未来我会怎么探索、怎么调整——哪怕最后没做成，至少我试过。
没有一夜暴富，没有轻松躺赚。只有一个普通人最真实的挣扎、犹豫、踩坑，和一点点向前走的痕迹。
写到最后——
如果你也和我一样——每个月工资一到账就没了，想改变却不知道从哪下手；看到别人做副业赚钱，心里痒痒的，自己一尝试就碰壁；白天被工作和生活推着走，晚上躺下来却焦虑得睡不着——
我想对你说一句真心话：
你不是一个人。这个时代，有太多人和你站在同样的十字路口，茫然四顾。但我也想告诉你另一句话：
只要还在找方向，你就没有停在原地。
哪怕今天只比昨天多走一小步，也比什么都不做强。
欢迎关注，我们一起慢慢找方向，慢慢往前走。
不一定能暴富，但至少——我们不再是一个人焦虑。
—— 况山，一个还在找路的中年人