“I’m certain now: the birth rate of 90’s kids will never rise. Because I’ve discovered time and time again, a lot of single, childless, virginal girls believe everything they read on the internet without a doubt in their mind. They really, actually believe that intercourse is really scary, it’s not enjoyable at all and it gives you diseases. And giving birth is worse than going to hell itself—it’s ageing, it’s disease, it’s the source of all female suffering. So they’re really determined to stay single and childfree.
One time, an overseas fan of mine asked me for some advice. She was in her thirties, still single, decent income, but not much of a career to speak of. She does the same repetitive work every day, lives the same repetitive life, all by herself, and she couldn’t see where she was going. She didn’t know what the point of life was.
She couldn’t very well change careers on a whim. Most people understand reality at this age, they know that all jobs suck whatever industry you’re in.
So I asked her if she planned on getting married.
And she was like, “Not at all, but I do want a kid.”
And I was like, “So have one. Your country has a lot of subsidies for kids.”
And she’s like, “But having a kid is too scary. What if I die?”
And I was just…confused by what she said. Like, she is in the most medically advanced country in the world. That doesn’t seem like a real possibility.
And she started telling me all about amniotic embolisms and gestational high blood pressure, and I had to cut her off. As someone who has a kid, I’ve read up all about pregnancy and childbirth. So I was like, “Do you actually want a child or not?”
And she was like, “Yeah, but unless I’m in an ideal situation, I can’t have one, or else I’d be an irresponsible mom.”
And I was like, “And this “ideal situation” refers to finding your one true love, and he happens to be rich and respectful towards his life. He’ll take you to all your pregnancy appointments, live in the month-sitting centre with you, hire you a nanny, and his mom will help out with the baby?”
And she was like, “I just need a month-sitting nurse. I’d rather my MIL don’t show up.”
Like…
What am I supposed to say to that?
I’ve had a lot of conversations like this. I’m sure now, in the eyes of most single, childless young girls, childbirth is backbreaking labour, a high-risk venture. Unless they’re in the absolute ideal situation, they don’t plan to put themselves through that.
But from the point of view of Chinese men, that’s really hard. Simply put: not every family can afford a month-sitting centre or pay for a month-sitting nurse.
So….I guess that’s that.
When it comes to kids, those who want them will have them, and those who don’t won’t.
Smart people don’t regret their decisions. If she has a kid, she’ll be happy. If she doesn’t, she’ll be free.
Dumb people regret every decision. If she has a kid, she’ll bitch and cry about it. If she doesn’t, she’ll spend her days in regret.
The key isn’t whether you have kids, it’s whether you’re smart about it.”
Comments say, “The things you learn growing up are very hard to shake. That’s why I think feminism is a job, it’s a deliberate effort to destroy our birth rate.”
“Another observation of mine: all the women in my workplace who have kids are all less healthy than average. They have to wear several layers even in summer and can’t stand AC (ignoring issues like leaking pee, just physically, they’re less fit). That’s not why I don’t want to have kids. But even if I decide to have kids, it’s not gonna be because I think giving birth is gonna be a walk in the park. You can’t erase the pain of labour.”
“In my impression, in my mom’s generation, people who have kids just…have them. They don’t have any issues afterwards. After I got pregnant, my friends with kids shared with me that the first thing I need to beware of is leaking pee and how to repair my split abdominal muscles. And after I had kids, sure enough, I had those exact issues. I feel like we just weren’t as well-connected back in the day. The impact of childbirth on the body wasn’t talked about as much. It’s nice that people are finally talking about it now.”
“A fan just asked me about what happened at the Oscar’s [with Robert Downey Jr and Emma Stone/Jennifer Lawrence supposedly ignoring Asian actors or something], whether certain two celebrities are racist against Asians.
Let me put it this way, I really don’t get what’s going on in their heads, but based on my 10+ years of experience living in America, a lot of times, white people are like, they straight up ignore you, but they genuinely don’t think they’re racist towards Asians.
They might argue with black people a little bit, but they won’t even look at Asians. Why? Because there are a lot of Quislings among Asians who’ll look for excuses for white people.
Before white people have even started feeling white guilt, these Quislings have made their arrogance justified.
Not only are these Quislings spineless cowards, but they’re proactive about it too. They come up with their own ideas. For example, white people never told them to bully mainland Chinese students, but they’ll do it all on their own initiative.
For example, when I was on the student council, the white student council leader never mentioned wanting to reduce our budget, but as soon as some ABCs got elected, they immediately started demanding budget cuts.
You can’t do anything about it.
In this kind of environment, when these Quislings get bullied, you can’t even help them, because if you stand up and accuse the white guy and help him, he’ll stab you in the back for some bizarre reason. And you’ll have offended both sides.
To this extent, Quislings are kind of like a woman who’s constantly being abused but won’t get a divorce. White people are their dearie husbands.
Of course, not all Asians are Quislings. Most of them aren’t. But it’s not like they write it all over their face or anything.
Any time I try to stand up to anything, it’s like trying to help a battered woman. I get betrayed right away.
All I can say is, not many people have a spine. But don’t take any of this too seriously either XD”
Comments say, “Downey was clearly just ignoring Asians. As for Michelle Yeoh, I don’t think Emma Stone or Jennifer Laurence were being “prejudiced”, but Yeoh was being a really stereotypical Asian, all “warm and caring about everyone”. As the first Asian Oscar winner, she’s got the same status as everyone else there. She doesn’t have to lower herself. All her “humble” actions are completely unnecessary. She doesn’t need to jump out to defend them either.”
“The only way to ensure Asians don’t get discriminated against is for China to truly become number one in the world.”
“I feel like this state is like…during the holidays, when relatives visit your house, and broke an ornament you really liked, and before you’ve had a chance to say anything, your parents are already all like, “Oh no, it’s alright, it’s not a big deal!” And maybe the relative was going to say something, but now that your parents already said that, they’re just gonna let it go, and you’re the only person left upset about it. It’s really similar. I call it like a cancerous state of always focusing on the big picture.”
“My job offer got rescinded because I chatted to a coworker in Chinese on our work app.
What the title says. I was almost over it, but I guess at the end, I couldn’t help making a post just to complain.
I’m living overseas, Chinese passport, and found an opportunity to intern at a major bank during Christmas break. Another of the interns was also Chinese, so we’d use teams [a texting platform] to communicate. And why would two Chinese people speak English to each other, right? So we’d type in pinyin, like “ni chi fan le ma” [Have you eaten?]. All we ever talk about is just getting coffees for each other or arranging lunches together or something.
She mentioned “wechat” on it once. But three days after I was given a verbal job offer, I got a call from HR, and they said something about their system detecting that we were talking about wechat, and speaking a lot of Chinese, and we “broke the rules” so they have to rescind my offer.
And my instinctive first response was, “We were friends before we even started this internship. We’ve never talked about anything business-related on wechat. I can provide proof if you want.”
And HR was like, “It’s more about the language that you are using, which is in another language, and it’s all about integrity.”
And I was like, “???”
There’s no company regulation against speaking Chinese or anything. And this is a major global bank.
I mean, I’m sure this case won’t go anywhere if they don’t even want to investigate, but I have to wonder if there’s any political factors in what happened here. Like, maybe they’re annoyed I don’t have a PR and they might have to spend money on sponsoring my visa or something, and I’m just not worth it? Well, either way, I’m sure gonna bitch about them online.”
Comments say, “Sue them for racial discrimination and see how fast they surrender.”
“So are you gonna do anything about it or are you just gonna let them shit all over you?”
“Just imagine how ridiculous it would be for two foreigners to get fired in China for speaking in their native tongue.”
Some AI art of the Chinese zodiac animals wearing traditional Chinese outfits:
Comments say, “I can feel the AI wracking its brain trying to draw the pig!”
“It looks so dissonant!”
“Becoming human is the ultimate goal of any yaoguai in China. What the hell kind of horror is this?”
Economic Observer News writes, “#What’s going on with young people turning their passions into their careers? 2000’s storm chaser Liu Yijing has chased storms over tens of thousands of kilometres, snapping hundreds of mindblowing photos, becoming a full-time storm photographer.
1995 girl Li Youxi persists at teaching people about Chinese runes [the most primitive form of writing we’ve found] online, and accidentally made “the most niche major in the world” go viral.
Young Zhejiang Yue Opera actor Chen Lijun has similarly gone viral after her newest role as Jia Ting in New Dragon Gate Inn, and has been called “the most beautiful opera actor in profile”. She’s quickly taking over all the hashtags.
They’ve all turned their passions into their careers on the strength of their love. While shining in their own fields, they’ve encouraged more young people to chase their dreams, always remain passionate, always remain earnest.
We hope more people can maintain the shining love in their hearts as they run toward their future!”
Comments say, “So…just no one loves making microchips?”
“Passion isn’t hard. What’s hard is maintaining it for so long and always working hard for it.”
“Doing something you love for the rest of your life and getting paid well for it—how lucky would that be.”
A blogger posts screenshots of some comments, saying, “Getting licensed to teach while celebrating collapsing birth rates—this person is most likely retarded.”
The screenshot says, “What does primary schools not being able to fill their classrooms got to do with me becoming a teacher? Teachers are paid by the government, not by students.”
“Exactly. Money is printed by the Federal Reserve Bank, and paid out through the Department of Treasury. Students don’t print money or pay it. Even if there’s not a single student left in China, so long as the Federal Reserve Bank doesn’t shut down, and the Department of Treasury doesn’t disband, then teacher’s salaries wouldn’t change.”
“Basically, loot always respawns, right? [doge]”
Comments say, “Letting these people get licensed to teach is the true disservice to children.”
“How the hell do you manage to fuck yourself and piss off your boss in the same breath?”
“Ohhh, I get it. The fewer customers there are, the more department stores open, the more workers get paid.”
“How is this any different from people who want lower taxes and also free healthcare at the same time?”
An intern was asked to work overtime and chewed out her boss. She’s been interning for 5 months for 2000 RMB per month. She says, “I didn’t sell myself into slavery!” How brave! 2000’s kids really are the type to “fire their bosses”. This boss is a bit much too—he wants her to work overtime for just 2000 RMB a month, and he still won’t even give her a real job offer?
But my suggestion is, if you’re just an intern, you do gotta focus on learning skills and fluffing up your resume. Sometimes, you have to suffer a little, maybe get taken advantage of, but that’s a valuable experience in life too.
In the video, she says, “Why are you heaping everyone else’s work on me? Do you think I’m easy to bully or something? Everyone’s got their own tasks, and I finished mine for the day! If you’re unhappy, I can fix it tomorrow, but it’s 9PM now. It’s time for me to get off of work. I signed a labour contract, I didn’t sell myself into slavery!”
Her coworker explains that they’ve given their boss a dozen different plans, and he wasn’t happy with any of them, and couldn’t explain what he wanted.
Comments say, “Isn’t it illegal to make someone intern for 5 months?”
“If you let your boss find out that you’ll put up with shit, he’ll just find ever more shit to make you put up with.”
“You can find 2000 RMB a month jobs all over the street. It doesn’t really matter.”
A blogger screenshots a quiz and says, “I wonder what pinkies would choose.”
The quiz says, “The people are smart. It’s easy to teach them.
Just look at the following questions:
Where would you rather work, a company ran by Israelis or a company ran by Hamas?
Where would you rather live, a city in America or a city in Russia?
Who would you rather hire, an Israeli or a Hamas member?
Who would you rather sell to, a Russian paying Rubles for your goods or an American paying USD?
Who would you rather be friends with? A bunch of Israeli men or a bunch of Hamas men?
Where would you rather send your son to uni? A Russian uni or an American uni?”
Comments say, “These questions are meaningless. It looks like you have a choice, but it’s just a punishment game where you have to choose between something terrible and something even worse. Even my three-year-old daughter just rolls her eyes are these questions now. Do you think people are dumb?”
“They’re just evil, they’re not dumb.”
“Just pick China. We’ll support whoever is more helpful to China.”
“The direction people flow in is the direction of civilisation.”
“There’s an organised crime group that’s powerful and wealthy, and a corrupt cop who’s on their payroll comes to ask you, “If you join us, you can have all the money and bitches you want. Or would you rather keep being a cop, making a couple grand a month?” What would you choose?”
"Young Zhejiang Yue Opera actor Chen Lijun has similarly gone viral after her newest role as Jia Ting in New Dragon Gate Inn, and has been called “the most beautiful opera actor in profile”. She’s quickly taking over all the hashtags."
As well as "everyone's husband" lol, I think she's singlehandedly revived our generation's interest in Yue opera!