Careers on butcher's chopping block

This kind of story usually ends with a venture capitalist stumbling upon the bright young man with the unusual dream and pouring money into his new venture. It is an ad hoc validation when there is no fortune worth billions to prove the merit of the youngster's initial step. The nostalgia for hometown food is such a literary flourish that it plays right into the feel-good sentiments of the readership, but may be of little relevance to a business equation.

Still, it is a subtle shift toward personal interests, which used to figure so insignificantly in career choices. More young people want to turn their passion into vocation and, logically, if it's something they love, they will have a higher chance of succeeding.

When people talk about college graduates opening food stands, the customary lament is they have wasted what they have learned. But that is not necessarily true. A lot of the young get into college almost clueless about what they will like. Only belatedly do they discover their disciplines do not jibe well with the areas of their passion. Some may take years and explore different fields before they determine what they want to devote their life to, and some may never stop exploring. If you judge by how many of China's college graduates have to find jobs totally unrelated to their college majors, the waste is just a foregone conclusion.

Lu and Chen are very different cases. Lu wanted the conventional job, but could not get it. He has never been comfortable with the butcher's job. The farthest he has gone is to make do on grounds of legal propriety: "I did not steal or rob. It's an honest living. There's nothing to be ashamed of." But the traces of humiliation are everywhere. Chen, on the other hand, has the adventurous streak in his genes. For him, a job as a clerk, no matter how well it pays, is frustrating. Worldly and restless, he is cut out for the self-made job. He also says he is quite "dictatorial", which probably means he is not comfortable working as an employee. He has to be his own boss. The fact that he sells meat and produce is almost beside the point - a point not raised in the media reports anyway.

A dramatic detail surfaced when Chen hired Lu to be his "consultant". Obviously, Chen wanted to use Lu's "credentials" as the Peking University-educated butcher as a marketing tool. But I cannot imagine them as equal partners. They are such polar opposites in disposition and personality. About the only thing in common is their alma mater. With the economy growing at the speed it is, there will be more Chen Shengs who deviate from charted courses and fewer Lu Buxuans who get mired in humbling occupations because they have no choice.