An advice question: “My relative had me pick out snacks and he’ll pay for it, but after I picked it out, he felt like it was too expensive. It was 4-500 RMB originally, and he cut it down to 2-300 RMB. What do people think about this?”
The top reply is, “I’ve been this kind of relative before. I’ve got experience.
I took my 10-year-old-ish niece and nephew to the store, and told them to pick out whatever snacks they want under 200 RMB per person.
My 12-year-old niece carefully calculated it out to ring out at exactly 199.7 RMB.
My 10-year-old nephew just picked out what he liked and never checked the price tag. When he went to ring up, his sister pulled him to a stop and urged him, “Get more stuff! That’s nowhere near 200!”
And the brother replied, “But this is all I want. I don’t know what else to buy.” His rung up at around 80 RMB.
I don’t know what your relative was thinking, but I’ve never took my nephew and niece out for summer break again. I used to have them over every year, take them out to an amusement park, or the department store, play all day and shop all day. But this incident made me feel like it wasn’t really worth it.
ETA: I didn’t think too much about it to begin with, I just thought the 199.7 was a coincidence. But in the next couple of days, whether it’s going out for food or going shopping, my niece would always pick the most expensive, even if she can’t actually finish it all. I’ve given her a couple of 10-yuan notes and joked that she should take me out to lunch for a turn, and she acted really reluctant. I started to wonder if she was doing it on purpose.
A couple of days later, I took the two kids to the store again to get snacks, and told them they each had a budget of 100 RMB. And this time, my niece got 98-yuan’s worth of stuff again, and kept urging her brother to get “his money’s worth”. That’s when I figured out that I wasn’t overthinking it, she really was taking advantage of me.
I know they’re from a poor-ish family. That’s why I host them every year. Every time they left, I’d buy them book bags and outfits too. I even thought that if they became successful, I’d help with their college tuition too. I never thought my niece was so greedy. Whenever we shopped later, she’d complain about how her brother’s an idiot. He didn’t get enough stuff. And I couldn’t hold it back anymore, and asked, “Is buying as close to the limit as possible really the smart thing to do though?”
In the end, my heart just went cold. I don’t want to be taken advantage of anymore.
Don’t ask me why I don’t just give them 100 RMB cash and have them spend it, because if I hand it to them, they’ll just save it and never spend it. I’m buying stuff for them because I felt bad for how frugal they had to be.
Another ETA: Since the comment section is fighting so much, I’ll add in a little more context.
My niece and nephew are my [older, female] cousin’s children. I basically meet up with my cousin only once or twice a year. I’m good to the two kids because my cousin’s a single mom with two kids, and I feel bad for them, and I know they’re not very well off, so I offered to take them out to play and buy them practical stuff. The two kids used to be really good back then, but maybe I’ve just done it too many times, and we’ve gotten closer, so they’ve finally shown their true colours.
After these incidents, I didn’t say anything to them, and I didn’t act any differently. We still had a great day at the amusement park. And I never lectured them, because I figured it wasn’t my place to. I just didn’t like her mentality that she had to get the most out of my acts of kindness, and felt disappointed in her, so I chose to keep my distance from now on.
I’m hoping it’s just a phase. I still want her to grow up into a kind and just adult.”
Comments say, “If you’re offering 200, should they be able to spend however much they want within the limit of 200? Little kids are little kids. Of course they’re going to have a hard time holding back from all the things they want from this stage. Maybe once they’re older, they’ll learn these complicated social rules. But I just don’t know what to say to OP, judging little kids with the expectation of adults.”
“I mean, I get it, but that’s how kids are. Humans are naturally born evil. It’s the same when they’re solving math problems. I’m teaching second grade kids, and when they encounter math problems involving budgeting, they’ll also buy as close to the upper limit as possible. Kids from poor families especially will try really hard to fulfil their materialistic needs. You can’t demand a kid who’s never gotten anything they wanted to only buy what they absolutely need when you offer them a free shopping trip.”
“OP clearly doesn’t care about the money. She’s trying to be kind to the kids as family, but the niece clearly just sees her as a dumbass they need to rip off as much as possible.”
“How shameful! Last week, I saw Russian baby formula at the store last week, and it’s only half the price of Chinese formula. So I bought a bag home to try it out, and found that this Russian formula is kinda weird. The colour isn’t nearly as white as the formula I usually buy. It’s a sort of creamy-yellow colour. I thought it might’ve been past its expiration date, so I went to the supermarket to complain. And what the manager told me next made my face burn.
He said, “Honestly, all Russian formula is creamy-yellow coloured. They don’t use any additives in their formula, so the colour is a little darker than Chinese formula. Fresh milk will turn this colour after it’s been cooked at high heat. The only reason Chines formula is so white is because they add colouring to it to make it look better. A lot of people get shocked at the colour of Russian formula and think that it’s expired, but this type of formula is going to taste better and be more nutrition than what you usually buy.
You can educate yourself on Russian food safety, and you’ll be shocked. They don’t make knockoff food and don’t use additives. If it’s discovered food’s been tampered with, you’ll get fined into oblivion at the very least, or spend your life in jail at worst. So nobody is going to take on that much risk to violate food safety.
They don’t just keep milk cows however in Russia either. Milk cows get to enjoy painstaking care every hour of every day, and they can run around free on the plains, and listen to music to calm their mind, and eat fresh grass not dry feed. That’s why the formula is so high-quality. You can take it home and try it out. If you’re not satisfied, we’ll give you a full refund.”
I figured since he was so confident, I’d go home and make a glass of milk out of the Russian formula. And what was amazing was that once I mixed the formula with water, it turned snow white, just like fresh milk, with no impurities at all. Soon, the whole room was filled with the fragrance of milk. I couldn’t help but take a sip, and I was shocked by the flavour. It’s a smooth, purely natural milky fragrance, even more delicious than the fresh milk I’ve drank. And more delightfully, if I left the glass for a while, a milk skin would form on top. My grandma used to tell me, the best milk have a layer of skin on top.”
Comments say, “You must’ve spent a lot of energy making all of that up.”
“Can’t suck off Japanese Zen spirit, so we’ve switched over to Russia, huh?”
“It’s true, even Russian pee is more yellow, because they don’t have additives.”
An askreddit question, “What’s the shittiest deal you’ve made on Chinese Ebay?”
Comments say, “When I first arrived in college and started my freshman year, I wanted to really expeirence the uni life, so I bought a mini fridge on the internet to put in my dorm, so I could keep drinks and fruit on hand. It was amazing just thinking about it.
Who knew that after just one month, the dorm started cutting off electricity at night. The freshly chilled fruit in the day would get smothered a whole night in the fridge. And the electricity would come back on at 6AM in the morning, and the fridge would make a loud humming noise for 3-5 minutes. My dorm mate and I had to wake up every day at 6AM to listen to it hum, and go back to sleep afterwards.
I was just done at some point, and put it on Ebay to sell it. I bought it at 285 RMB, so I decided to sell it for 180 RMB, and nobody wanted it for a week. So I switched the price to 100 RMB, and after two days, someone asked if I’ll sell it for 80 RMB. He’s also going to uni in Beijing, so he can come pick it up in person. We both compromised and settled on 90 RMB for the final price, and agreed that he’d come over Saturday night to my school to pick it up.
But at the agreed upon time on Saturday, he never showed up. I texted him, and he said he got lost. Said I should add him on Wechat and share my location. I did so, and after half an hour, he still didn’t show up. I called him, and he said he had went several loops around a flyway now and can’t figure a way out. He’s completely lost his way, and asked me to go pick him up.
I knew roughly where he was, so I rode the bus over. I got off the bus to see a thin, lanky dude sitting on a flashy red scooter playing with his phone. After making sure he was the guy, I gave him directions and he took me back to school. I sat on the backseat of that flashy red scooter and felt the autumn breeze in my hair as we flew down the street, and thought it was quite fun at the time. Like, two guys joyriding the same scooter at night. I told him that this was my first time riding a scooter in Beijing. “Then we can take a couple more loops. If you feel cold, you can hold onto me tighter. hahaha.” He said. That was our first meeting, as seller and buyer.
He rode around with me for another half an hour before we went to my school and picked up the fridge. But he’d misestimated the fridge’s size, and it doesn’t fit in the front of his scooter at all. And he didn’t have any rope to secure it to the back of his scooter. He asked me to hold onto the scooter and ride with him back to his school, and he’ll drop me back off at my school again afterwards. I didn’t agree, and just made him carry it back one-handed. Reminded him to check it for faults when he got back, and if it checks out, he can pay me.
The next evening, he asked if I was free, said he’d take me riding around a good spot. We rode from Western 3rd ring [Beijing is built around concentric rings of roads] to Eastern 2nd ring. He even offered to take me on the “scenic” route home, but I put a stop to that. I was starting to miss my bed this late at night.
After that, he’d take me out every other day or so to aimlessly run around. I probably saw half of Beijing that year on that flashy red scooter. We’d find a place to eat a late night snack afterwards, and he’d take me back to school. We went from buyer and seller to a weird kind of friendship. To the point that it just got too awkward to ask for my 90 RMB for my fridge.
We’ve been together for two years now. I never did get paid. I even ended up giving myself to him for free. And I’m never getting either back for my life. Lost everything.
ETA: I got my money.
[OP attaches screenshots of a text with his boyfriend, where he sent over a link to his askreddit reply and demanded his “fridge money”, and screenshots of the 90 RMB making it into his account.]”
Comments say, “Homos should write less stories on the internet.”
“My nose didn’t trick me at all, I knew exactly how this was going to end. Who’s gonna expand on all the details? Hurry up.”
“I mean, it’s really hard for this story to end without you guys ending up together.”
“What is a “gay”?” [“Gay” here written in English.]
A tiktok video where someone crashes a village birthday party for someone he doesn’t know at all, giving a birthday gift of 200 RMB.
Comments say, “Village banquets are super tasty. It’s all cooked over a real wood fire, and are all comfort foods. Everything’s sooo delicious!”
“I saw the plate of sandy meat [not actually sandy, it’s pork sprinkled with sugar on top], and knew immediately you were in Sichuan.”
“Holy shit!! Where is this!? Can I go? I’ll pay 200 RMB too!! Seriously!!! There’s so much food!”
“My cousin cheated with his best friend’s wife. It went on for four years, and they hid it super well. The two families even took their kids out together all the time. One time, they even invited me and my cousin’s whole family to come over to their house to hang out. Didn’t act weird at all. But that night, my cousin got super drunk and stayed at their place, and my cousin-in-law took the kids to come home with us.
And one day, my cousin’s best friend found my cousin had wired his wife 1314 RMB [read out loud sounds like “for a lifetime”, an amount that’s often given to your girlfriend or wife on romantic occasions] on Valentine’s Day, and that’s how they got found out. Later, his best friend hired someone to investigate their hotel room records, and basically completely broke down. He threatened that either my cousin was going to pay him 800K or he was going to cut off my cousin’s hands.
My cousin got freaked out, since they all work at the same company, so he held a family meeting to all discuss a way out.
My cousin’s parents (my auntie) completely threw me for a loop. The results of their discussion was that my cousin’s wife can’t divorce my cousin, because she’s a victim too. She needs to also find the other guy’s wife and demand 800K in recompense. Honestly, my jaw hit the floor. They didn’t care what my cousin’s wife felt at all. They just turned her into a hostage.
The result is, the best friend and the best friend’s wife got divorced (nothing to say about that), and my cousin got divorced with his wife too. But using my auntie’s words, “They’re divorced but not separated.” It’s just a theatrical divorce performance for the other side. They paid the other side 100K, and my cousin quit his job and is staying at home.
The whole event blew over, and my cousin’s wife really never stood up for herself at all and never abandoned my cousin either. Her own husband had been cheating on her for four years. She was from out of state and married to our area. There’s no one she can depend on locally. Her parents visit her once a year for the holidays, and she lives with my auntie otherwise, so they can help her with the kids. My cousin works for county government, so he only comes home once every 2 weeks. They used to be university classmates, and while they were dating, my cousin cheated on her with a coworker of his. They were wedding planning at the time. And my cousin’s wife managed to prevent a breakup that time too with exactly this attitude.
I guess it must be true love. It’s the only conclusion I can come to. I could never put up with that shit.
Honestly, even now, the whole thing blows my mind, using your own wife as a hostage. And yet, my cousin’s family still thinks that my cousin is the biggest victim in this because he lost his job, and he got conned by the other guy’s wife, and he lost money. They never mentioned his wife at all. After this, I stopped hanging out with them as much. I feel like there’s something wrong with my brain.
Oh, I forgot to add that this all went down in November. And that year, Chinese New Year was in January. I figured that the wife’s parents surely wouldn’t visit us for New Years after they fucked with his daughter so much. They’d surely take her home for the holidays, since they’re actually pretty good to her. They bought her a house in our city, even though she’s never lived in it (she’s still living with my auntie to this day). And yet, at New Years, they still hung out like one big family for New Years, like nothing’s wrong.
I just want to ask, am I the one who has the wrong idea about marriage?
After that, my cousin’s wife because the role model for wives in my family. Everyone thinks she’s just perfect! So I told my auntie, “You only praise her because of the amount of humiliation that she bore. You’re taking advantage of her. You shouldn’t be proud of that. Would you be happy if this happened to your daughter?””
Comments say, “Everyone is in-group, and only the cousin’s wife is an outsider. If she won’t stand up for herself, why would anyone else do it for her?”
“For some people, even a terrible relationship is better than no relationship at all. They’re just weak.”
“There’s no one she can depend on, so of course she doesn’t dare to bring up divorce. What’s it got to do with true love?”
Screenshots of an interview with a Hong Kong mafia boss, “No gang in Hong Kong really wants to fight the entire law enforcement system. It doesn’t matter who you are, you can’t keep going as a gang once you’re an enemy of the state. The best part about Hong Kong returning to China is that society really started prioritising Harmony. You can do business, you can do legit business, you can fudge with the rules, but you can’t break laws. You can do business, open hotels, run restaurants. Most organised crime in Hong Kong is slowly going legit.”
Comments say, “There was a brief window period where China didn’t really look into the sources of funds when Hong Kong people were investing in mainland. A lot of mafias took advantage of the opportunity to go legit. A lot of Mafia middle management took their whole savings to Guangzhou to buy housing and open Hong Kong food restaurants. In 1994, high-ranking CCP officials even directly said to the media in Hong Kong, “Even mafia can be patriots.” This is where the famous line from Mafia 2 [famous movie] comes from.”
“Macau mafia be like, “If you had a way out, why didn’t you share >: (“
“Who the hell are you? We welcome tourists. We don’t want anyone doing business here.”
A tiktok video of a man wearing archetypical Dongbei print [considered exceptionally boomer-y and grandma-y in China] in Paris. The blogger says, “I thought fashion was all about how you pair items. Then I realised that “fashion” is really just confidence in your own culture.”
Comments say, “Hot damn, it looks especially good on the black guy!”
“It looks like the packaging on the boba tea I just bought.”
“It doesn’t take away from his great looks at all.”
A blogger posts some screenshots saying, “This is the fastest karma turnaround I’ve ever seen.”
The first screenshot is an askreddit question asking, “What do people think about China putting a bounty on Ming Xuechang [well known organised crime boss] and co in Myanmar? What’s going to happen now?”
Where someone replies, “I mean, to put it bluntly, nothing is going to happen at all. They’re not going to arrest these people at all, because this is northern Myanmar. These people aren’t worried about your processes at all, because they have ways to avoid any legit attempt at arrest. They’re used to this shit.
Even if they can’t make it in Myanmar anymore, what if they just hop over to Europe or America? What can you do to them?
Honestly, they don’t even need to go as far as Europe or America. They can just hop over to Singapore. Singapore will never work with China.
They can kill your people, take your citizens’ kidneys, and spend the rest of their life happily ever after in a western country.
Unless we learn from Israel and hunt these people globally once they have a bounty, with no state of limitations, until they’re caught.
We also issue the loudest threats and perform the weakest actions. The world’s laughing at us.
All the other kidney bandits are not only unafraid, they think it’s funny.
If they really did get afraid, all the internet scam gangs should’ve ran by now. But in reality, aside from Kokang, they’re just as active as ever. They’re still recruiting people and expanding business. Hell, forget other parts of Myanmar. Even old street is still there. Scam gangs are still laying in wait. As soon as the war is over, they’re going to resume business as usual.”
This was posted 16th of November, 2023, half an hour before Kokang gangs posted a video to social media stating they’ll release all Chinese nationals.
Comments say, “They’ll always keep being stubborn, always pretend to be dead, always daydream away in their own delusions.”
“Israel’s global bounty hunt is just a joke. Haniya’s going all over the world pulling funding, like he’s disco dancing right on Israel’s face.”
“There’s enough shit on Chinese Askreddit to satisfy anybody’s appetite.”
I have a question about the clothes item. You say it is 'boomer-y and grandma-y'. Do you mean only women wore clothes made from fabrics like this? I assume this was sometime in the past. How long ago?
Chines -> Chinese
expeirence -> experience