Man Quits RM5.9K Job To Live In A Cave Because Work & Marriage Are Meaningless
Min Hengcai now spends his days reading, tending vegetables, and contemplating life.
By Sukhbir Cheema — 13 Jun 2025, 04:21 PM
For Min Hengcai, work and marriage are social constructs not worth the trouble
At 35, the former ride-hailing driver from Sichuan, China, walked away from a 10,000 yuan (RM5,900) monthly income and urban life at the end of 2021.
His new address? A cave in his hometown, where he now spends his days reading, tending vegetables, and contemplating what he calls "insignificance".
Min's decision was partly economic — he's still 300,000 yuan (RM177,000) in debt, and claims relatives sold property that could have cleared it
But his rejection of work wasn’t just financial fatigue, South China Morning Post reported.
"Work is meaningless," he told local media, describing long shifts he once endured just to repay family loans.
He also considers marriage a "waste of time and money", citing the near impossibility of "true love" as reason enough to opt out.
He's invested 40,000 yuan (RM23,600) to adapt the 50 sq m cave into a self-contained world, complete with books, tools, and a vegetable patch
He calls it "black hole", a name and a statement of worldview. And despite his claims of solitude, Min has become something of an online figure, posting about his cave life to 40,000 followers and occasionally live-streaming.
Online reactions have been divided. Some see him as the ultimate tang ping — China’s "lying flat" movement made literal. Others call him a modern philosopher. Then there are sceptics, pointing out that his solitude seems selective.
Either way, Min doesn't seem bothered.
