Peter, a 17-year-old from the countryside, earns 1,000 yuan ($160) a month washing hair and giving shoulder massages at the barber shop my friend frequents. His biggest wish is to bring his mother from the countryside to live with him.

He is a good son blessed with the important Chinese virtue of filial piety. However, with his petty salary, he could never afford it.

Peter is young and has a beautiful face. He told my friend that he was once paid 1,000 yuan by a man to lie in a bed and let himself be caressed.

That was the whole deal, nothing more. He felt offended, but did it because he wanted the money.

One day, he told my friend he got offers from two sugar mommies, one in her 30s and the other in her 40s. They offered 5,000 yuan a month to become lovers.

He asked my friend's opinion on which offer he should accept.

Of course, in the end he chose the younger one, who picks him up in a Mercedes-Benz. That woman's husband is in the property business. He has a mistress, and no time to take care of his wife's needs.

Now, Peter's dream has come true. He rents a fairly OK apartment in Beijing and lives with his biological mother.

I feel sorry for Peter. He didn't have many bargaining chips. He had to put his beauty on the market for a price at such a young age.

Peter doesn't need to suffer a lot physically; yet as a teenage boy, Peter is mentally hurt. In order to earn money, he has sex with a woman at a similar age to his mother.

When he grows older, he will probably encounter a lot of problems. For example, he may feel himself inferior and dirty. His idea of love will be distorted. Getting into a serious relationship may become difficult.

There is no doubt Peter is not an exclusive case. There are too many Peter or Mary stories going on every day in China, this distorted society.

As outsiders, we feel bad for them. But what can we do about it?

After years of hearing different kinds of unsavory stories, I feel powerless.

But at the same time, I tell myself to chill out.

If you cannot change things, then you have to accept them. Then you will get stronger, move on and become a fighter.

This article was published on the Global Times Metropolitan section Two Cents page, a space for reader submissions, including opinion, humor and satire. The ideas expressed are those of the author alone, and do not represent the position of the Global Times.