App helps ring in a better life

"Our resources are limited. If we can have some investment, the development of the app, especially the voice assistant function, can be sped up," Leku says.

Each month brings a paycheck day, and that can be stressful. He has to take some part-time photography work to get extra income, and sometimes, he has to borrow money from friends, to pay the team's wages.

Luckily the Yayou app has won him several college venture capital contests with some prize money that can help him ease the financial stress.

He says he won't give up even if there is no investment, and he believes that what he's been doing has benefited many.

Besides the voice assistant function, Leku also added an online shopping function on the app, through which he hopes to help his hometown sell its products to a wider market. "Our wooden lacquerware is well-crafted, and our buckwheat is also quite good," Leku says.

He also started to open brick-and-mortar stores in his village and plans to open one in each large village in Daliangshan.

"It has been an impoverished area for a long time and the country has helped us a lot. I feel that I have a responsibility to contribute to the process as well, by doing something for my hometown," he says.