A growing number of young Chinese looking for low-maintenance companionship are turning their attention to jars of activated yeast that only need flour and water.
So-called static pets such as stones, mango pits, paper boxes, and even toothpaste have become very popular with Chinese youths looking for low-commitment companionship to compensate for their stresfull daily lives and careers. However, one such static pet has been seeing massive popularity in the Asian country, “pet yeast”. Nicknamed “face worm” by netizens, the yeast can be “raised” in a simple container by feeding dry yeast with flour, water, and a bit of sugar. After stirring the ingredients, all you need to do is wait a few hours to see the yeast grow into a sticky, bubbling mass that emits a typical wine-like aroma. Apparently, this is enough for young people looking for easy companionship.
“No need to walk it, no mess, it’s worry-free and easy to look after!” one person wrote on a community board dedicated to pet yeast owners.
“If you don’t want to keep it anymore, just add more flour and turn it into steamed buns to eat; there is no psychological burden,” another yeast ‘parent’ commented.
Zhao Meng, director of the Department of Psychology at Wuhan Wudong Hospital, believes that young people’s enthusiasm for static exotic pets stems from the accumulation of academic, work, and economic pressures. Compared with traditional pets that require a lot of time and money, static pets like pet yeast are low-cost and easy to care for. There is no need to take on responsibilities such as walking and bathing it, which is in line with the increasingly popular “lazy healing” lifestyle.
Du Hemin, a psychotherapist at Wuhan Wudong Hospital, added that static pets provide owners with “secure attachment”. They are not going to get sick, and they don’t need constant attention.
“They are not like real pets that may get sick or make trouble, giving people a small but certain sense of pleasure,” Du said.
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