Without financial aid from the school, Yang’s club lives on membership fees of about 500 yuan per year, far below the cost of renting a training venue.

The other item Ms. Yang bought also turned out to be nearly 40 yuan more expensive than its price of 39 yuan.

Within seconds, and for just RMB1.1, Yang Jiangming, a university student from Hangzhou, became the owner of an RMB800,000 apartment in Chengdu, Sichuan.