In this job your latest catch may seem to like you, but then she may dump on you before dumping you.

Lin Jianfeng, 21, a native of Shenyang, Liaoning province, is a college student and a part-time virtual boyfriend.

The term virtual boyfriend originally referred to a handsome male character in anime, games, film and television. In the world of fan fiction nobody seems to make any bones about affectionately calling them "boyfriend" or "hubby" out loud. In China there is a specific name for them, the 2D boyfriend, in contrast with relationships in real life.

At the beginning of last year Lin was unable to return to his campus because of the pandemic, and all his classes were taught online. He was bored at home, he said, and a friend talked to him about being a part-time virtual boyfriend, persuading him that he could make a bit of useful cash with the job.

First hearing about the idea, Lin refused.

"Between two strangers," he said."How utterly embarrassing."

He reasoned that he was not particularly outgoing, someone who could set the mood in social contact. However, his friends reckon he is gentle and like chatting with him, and that alone has secured him many female friends, he says.

As reluctant as he was, his friend, a veteran in the business, managed to convince him, and he sent his resume with photos to a Taobao store.

The store has about 30 male employees whose xiaogege (boyfriend) can provide services such as text and real-time voice calls, lullabies and even English-language practice. Prices vary depending on the type of service and level provided. In the store that Lin approached a text and voice call is 30 yuan an hour, and various levels of service are offered. The highest level costs 300 yuan a day, 1,500 yuan a week and 4,000 yuan a month.

Lin had to go through a one-week internship, and in this time he received quite a few orders every day, and some customers continued to renew their orders. After receiving several orders, Lin began to realize that chatting with strangers was not as difficult as he had imagined, and he reckons he has even become more eloquent.

With a good record Lin was successfully turned into a regular. On WeChat, he uses a virtual handsome anime boy as his avatar, as do most virtual boyfriends. The boyfriends in the shop come from all over the country, the threshold for entry being an attractive voice, the voice of xiaoxianrou, "little fresh meat", being all the rage these days, he says.

Xiaoxianrou is an internet buzz word in China used to describe handsome young males who have a delicate, clean-cut appearance and mesmerizing young puppy voice.

The store also has certain requirements for looks, because some customers require video calls.

Lin has now reached a level that classes him as a gem, and if you want to hire him it will cost you 80 yuan an hour. Those earnings are split between the store and the employee, he says. A poor customer review means not only that he will not get his cut, but that he will be penalized a small amount.

Eighty percent of his customers are women. But there is no clear standard for reviews, and Lin complains: "On one occasion I had this really good conversation with a customer, and she seemed to be very satisfied. But she turned around and gave me a bad review, and I was gob-smacked."

The virtual boyfriend business is perfect as a part-time job, he says.

"If you want to you can pick up as many orders as you want. The business has been hot for many years. I can make a dozen orders a day if I'm trying hard. But orders are most frequent during the late-night hours, the down side being that you have to sacrifice sleeping hours, but I think it's worth it if you can pull in 500 yuan a day.

"For me the job is also particularly intriguing because I have met all kinds of customers. Some complain about having a bad day; others are trying to come to terms with a broken relationship."

Some even ask him to sing lullabies to them until they are soundly asleep. The notion that what he is involved in is nothing but a quid pro quo transaction does not bother him, he says.

"When I start chatting to some of these women they're very downcast, but once we're finished they're in a much better mood. Making someone who is sad happy gives me a sense of fulfillment."

China News quoted Li Shuanglong, associate professor in the Department of Sociology Guangzhou University, as saying:"Many people are unable to obtain an ideal relationship because of pressure of work or simply because they are poor at social interaction.

"I hope that young people, especially college students, realize that pursuing love is natural and don't put too much store by this virtual world. In essence, consumers and virtual lovers are short-term business deals, not emotional relationships. Young people need to be shown how to release pressure in a rational way."

Virtual partnerships based on some kind of emotional attachment are not new.

In 2007 Hatsune Miku, the world's first virtual singing idol, was created, a 16-year-old girl-like figure with long, turquoise twin tails. On Aug 31, 2009, she held her first concert, vocals being generated by computer. Today she has hundreds of millions of fans worldwide.

The Virtual Idol Observation Report 2019 by iQiyi, an online entertainment provider, says China's 2D idol fan base rose from 310 million in 2017 to 390 million in 2019.

In 2017, 27 percent of respondents aged 18 to 34 in a survey of 12,000 people said they believed that one day it would be normal for humans to establish a relationship with a robot.

Also in 2017 a casual love mobile game, Lian Yu Zhizuoren, (Mr Love: Queen's Choice), went on the market, and in less than a month millions of young Chinese women and girls were besotted by four imaginary young men, Xu Mo, Li Zeyan, Bai Qi, and Zhou Qiluo, and the app was eventually installed on more than 7 million mobile devices.