06/11/26 - Has Engel ever had my grandma’s rice bowl?
“Just how obsessed are Chinese people about food?
Hahahahaha, sisters, my stomach hurts from laughing.
I remember the teacher saying that Engel’s Coefficient will never be greater than one, but never did they think that Engel’s Coefficient doesn’t work in China at all.
Because China is so big and diverse and full of delicious food that Chinese people will suffer anything before they make their mouth suffer.
So you can see someone like me, making 3500RMB a month, and spending 3000RMB of it on food.”
Comments say, “Finally, someone else realises Engel’s Coefficient doesn’t work in China. Engel’s Coefficient’s food expenses represents expenses towards surviving, but China’s food culture means that most of the money Chinese people spend on food is about enjoyment.”
“If Engel saw this “39RMB off orders over 40RMB” coupon, he’d go a bit crazy too.”
“3K a month: Occasionally eat something good. 10K a month: Regularly eat something good. 30K a month: Eat something good every day! 100K a month: Eat something good every meal!! 300K a month: Eat something even better every meal!!!”
“Has Engel even had a steel pot stew?”
“Has Engel eaten fried baby potatoes?”
“Has Engel ever had my grandma’s rice bowl?”
“Someone DM’d me and said that they don’t understand why some men don’t like their wives to dress up and put on make up, to enjoy travelling or shopping, to enjoy anything about living or improving themselves at all.
Why do they want their wives to be like their mom, taking care of them, serving them, while they ogle pretty girls on the street and watch tiktok dance videos.
People should try to look at this problem from an economic point of view, because that’s the logic behind most problems in the world.
That’s basically the mindset of someone who wants it for free.
Make up costs money. Travel costs money. Shopping costs money. Studying, growing, getting a new hobby needs big time, energy, and resource investments.
In these men’s eyes, these investments won’t be seen as improving quality of life. They don’t think of it as building your sense of self. They’re just an expense. You’re touching their cake. You’re reducing family resources.
But it’s completely different when you act like their mom.
Doing chores, taking care of family, taking care of husband, never spending money, and instead constantly supplying the family with your time and energy, the value that these behaviours create all flow towards other people.
You’re a free labourer, a free maid service, free emotional value, and you endlessly help control their spending.
And as for the pretty girls he’s ogling, that’s even cheaper.
He doesn’t have to pay for the maintenance of their beauty. He doesn’t have to buy clothes, handbags, skincare products, fitness, or travel, but he can still enjoy the visual benefits they provide.
In other words, he likes lively, beautiful, high-class women brimming with life.
He just doesn’t want to have to pay for what it costs.
So the most ideal condition is that he has a “mom” at home who takes care of his logistics, all the money he’s saved in his account that he can spend, but his eyes and his mind can still be dedicated to the “free scenery” outside.
He got service and resources and enjoyment out of it.”
Comments say, “Because he’s not treating the other person like a human being he has to respect and love, but just a tool that can satisfy his desires and serve him.”
“They’re the best at having their cake and eating it too.”
“At the end of the day, the only person they love is themselves and everyone else is just a tool.”
“If that’s really the case, then women need to reflect on why they chose a man like this, because God never puts you in the wrong marriage.”
#12-year-old girl complaining of being tired all year diagnosed with lack of oxygen in all her organs. “For the past year, 12-year-old girl in Shenzhen, Xinxin, frequently complained of being tired. The family thought she was just being weak, until two months ago, when her mother found that her face was pale as a sheet of paper and took her to the Shenzhen Children’s Hospital.
The results of the check up shocked everyone: Xinxin had severe anaemia. All of her organs were at risk of oxygen deprivation. Her hemoglobin count was only 48g/L (normal count should be over 120g/L).
After careful questioning from the doctors, they discovered that Xinxin has always been a picky eater, and has always experienced pale face and fatigue after her periods. The doctor diagnosed that she has haemorrhagic anaemic combined with a nutritional iron deficiency. Luckily, after two months of iron supplements, Xinxin’s indicators have returned to normal. Experts remind people that if your kid is “lazy” or “moody” or “always complaining of being tired”, that might just be surface symptoms. In actuality, their body is crying out for help.”
Comments say, “Should I go to the hospital if I’m tired every time I clock in for work?”
“Most people in modern society have an unhealthy diet, honestly.”
“You gotta pay attention to your kids body.”
[There is a food stall owner selling grilled goose legs who has become massively famous on the internet in the last couple of years for selling outside of Qinghua and Beijing University and being absolutely beloved by the students there. Lately, she has been exposed that the goose legs she’s been selling are actually duck legs.]
“Students are so naive. They have no common sense at all. The cost between duck legs and goose legs have got to be 10 times.
There’s a completely production chain for every part of the duck, and you can easily buy specific duck parts. There’s plentiful supply for duck leg and it’s very cheap!
But there’s no mature production lines for geese at all. Right now, there’s only two goose parts you can consistently buy, which is either a whole goose or goose feet. If you just want the drumsticks, there’s only a very small amount of imports available!
If you want to sell goose legs, then forget the price, just maintaining a steady supply would be a problem. How could anyone possibly sell you cheap goose leg every day?
And this lady is selling grilled goose leg.
Goose meat is much denser than duck meat, with thicker fibers. If you grill it straight, it’d be too chewy to eat.
Even a blind person would know the difference in price and texture. There’s no way that’s real goose leg!”
Comments say, “If you want to eat goose, aside from the goose stew in Dongbei, there’s just goose heads in Guangdong. I think Chongqing also has marinaded goose. No other city has a good supply chain for geese.”
“Duck leg is actually fine. The problem is that it’s expired. I have no idea how many people have gotten sick because of this in all these years.”
“Yeah! I learned how to cook as a teenager so I know the difference. A lot of students don’t know how to cook, so they’re easily tricked when it comes to food XD”
“The most frugal person alive has reincarnated into my family.
My son is in boarding school, and for a long time, he only ate two meals a day to save money and save time.
On Friday, I saw a payment notice around dinner time and got excited. Clicked in and saw 1RMB! I scrolled up, and he only spent 1RMB at lunch too! The whole day, he’s only spent 5RMB on food.
His dad has showed him our pay checks and bank account balance to prove that we’re not low income. We don’t need him to save money. It doesn’t work.
He won’t let us sign him up for tutoring because it’s too expensive.
He won’t wear the new clothes I buy him because they’re too expensive.
His dad frequently travels overseas and occasionally brings some snacks back, but he won’t eat any, insisting that chocolate for several hundred RMB per pound is an IQ tax and there are too many poor people in the world.
This weekend, his cousin came over to eat and after hearing my complaints, she said, “Auntie, they say that the generation that suffered the most and lived the most frugally has reincarnated back to today. Every time I see Tong Tong, it reminds me of this meme.””
Comments say, “Try and pack him some healthy lunches or something, fill him up on protein and fiber and carbs or something. He’s still young. He needs the nutrition.”
“OP’s son is the male lead in romance novels from a wealthy family that doesn’t like to spend money, loves the poor, smart, focused, and professional. But he’s still a growing boy in high school, so you gotta make sure his nutrition intake is balanced.”
“That’s not a bad kid you’ve got. He’s here to pay you back.”
“I’m from Dongbei and I’ve basically never had geese (don’t talk to me about steel pot goose stew, we almost never stew geese, we mostly make chicken and rib stew). I only got familiar with how duck tastes once I moved to Beijing and started eating Peking duck. If you ask me for the difference between duck leg and goose leg, I probably wouldn’t be able to tell you either. I asked the Guangdong people around me, and they grew up eating roast duck and roast goose. They’re very familiar with the two flavours and didn’t even need to look at the pictures to tell me that there’s no way anyone can sell goose leg for 15RMB. That’s just common sense. The only kind of meat you can afford on that budget is duck.
It took students at the best universities ten years and they could never tell the difference, but couldn’t tell whether the meat was green because it had gone bad or if it was the green onion marinade that the duck leg lady used. But the 6th day that the duck leg lady started selling in the CBD, someone filed a complaint about false advertising. It’s pretty ironic. I don’t know if this proves that higher education is useless or the depth of society is fathomless.”
Comments say, “Here’s a real grilled goose leg.”
“My first reaction on seeing this news story was also that I’ve never had a whole goose leg before. I do get duck leg pretty regularly. Is it really hard to tell the difference?”
“Oh, and also, duck leg is even cheaper than chicken leg. Frozen duck leg is even cheaper than that. Each one is under 2RMB.”