Struggling to Find Work Replaced by AI, Chinese Drama Actor Returns to Hometown to Sell Vegetables

Chinese actor Xu Peng has decided to temporarily halt his career in the entertainment world and return to his home village in rural Shandong Province. The 30-year-old now spends his days as a vegetable seller at a traditional market after his acting career faded due to the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in the short-drama industry.

Xu Peng was widely known through the vertical-short drama industry, which has boomed in China. However, he revealed that the growth of AI-based production has made job offers for actors virtually disappear.

After wrapping up filming for his last drama in March, Xu said almost no more role offers were coming in. This led him to decide to return to his hometown to help with the family business.

Now, nearly every day Xu drives the family’s electric car to the market to transport vegetables harvested by his grandfather.

The decision initially puzzled his family and friends. Even so, Xu said he has no problem with the change of profession.

“Acting is just a job. If there are no roles to take, I will find other ways to make a living. As long as I earn a living honestly through hard work, there is no obstacle I cannot overcome,” Xu said, quoted by Straits Times on Thursday (9/7/2026).

Photos and videos of Xu selling vegetables later went viral on social media. Many netizens praised his resilience and willingness to earn an income through honest means.

The public attention has also led many fans to visit the market directly to show their support for the actor.

Quoting HK01, at the peak of his career, Xu’s filming schedule could reach 15 to 16 hours per day. He was known for his roles as a “domineering CEO” character in various micro-dramas.

In recent months, AI technology has developed extremely quickly in China’s short-drama industry because it can significantly cut production costs.

Reports show that of the roughly 128,000 micro-dramas released in the first quarter of 2026, about 122,000 were produced using AI technology. This phenomenon has become one of the factors reshaping China’s entertainment landscape and affecting job opportunities for conventional actors.