3/23/23 - Just let her go quickly and painlessly.
A male student in Nantong University has been expelled for going into the female dorms at night. There is once again a poll asking whether this is a reasonable punishment. Comments ask, “Why is this even a discussion? Do you think it’s reasonable to even question whether it’s too harsh?”
A blogger writes that, “If you have both a son and a daughter, and you only buy a house for your son and none for your daughter, then you are sexist, no matter how well you treat your daughter usually. There are a lot of female single-children whose parents don’t buy houses for them, and this is sexist too. The assumption is that because you’re not a boy, you don’t need a house. Parents who love their children want to do their best to provide the best future for their children. If I have both a son and a daughter and the thought that just buying a house for my son even crosses my mind, I would feel so guilty that I would want to die.”
Comments argue, “But women want men to have a house before they get married to him, but no one requires their wife to come with a house. And most families can’t buy two houses for two kids. It’s not a problem with the parents. The problem will solve itself once society no longer demands that men provide a house upon marriage.” Below her, people point out, “But if women have their own houses, they wouldn’t need one from their husband.”
A trending news story of a man refusing to take care of his father in retirement, because his father never raised him as a child. A blogger comments, “I am furious. From the moment this guy was born, his father has been unemployed and an alcoholic and got himself in jail for 13 years. The moment he gets out of jail, he goes demanding money from his son. When his son refuses, he sues him in court. And the judge has the balls to make his son pay him 200 RMB a month. How the hell is this guy even a human being? Does anyone know if the son can sue the father back for not fulfilling his responsibility of raising him?”
Comments say, “The judge already tried to be as reasonable as the law allows him. That’s why the judgement is for 200 a month and not 2000. Don’t blame the judge.”
A literature blogger complains that, “Just read a novel where the protagonist is the 9th reincarnation of the Buddha, about to achieve Godhood, and he suddenly starts falling in love with a demon. His teacher is absolutely furious, and I immediately sympathised. I’d be just as furious. You’re one step away from the ultimate success, and you suddenly want to abandon everything to go chasing after some girl? What the hell if wrong with you? Couldn’t you run off to date around from the beginning? Why waste everyone’s time and resources and the emotions that they invested in you, just to abandon all your efforts at the last moment?”
“Why don’t people get this criticism? It’s not a matter of personal freedom to enjoy the resources and education and help of a faction just to go date their enemy. And for people saying that he didn’t take up any resources—he earned it by being talented—sure, talent is one factor. But I’m sure people made those investments in him because he represented their faction. Him becoming stronger makes their faction stronger. Don’t go on and on about freedom and choice when someone else is feeding you. If you want to be free, then be a factionless ronin and earn all your opportunities yourself. Nobody would get mad at you then.”
Comments say, “I know right? It’s like getting an acceptance letter from Harvard or Princeton, and giving it up to go to community college with your girlfriend.” The comments under this comment are all, “Oh wow, I didn’t get it at first, but now I totally do. God, my fists are itching.”
A movie reviewer writes, “I just saw a TV show aired in CCTV Channel 8 about a protagonist who gets a job and works a couple of years in Beijing, and can afford a mansion inside the second circle.” (Beijing is laid out in concentric circles, with the second circle being in the middle of the CBD, equivalent to getting a 8000 sq ft mansion in the middle of Manhattan)
“I couldn’t believe my eyes as someone who’s also working in Beijing: what kind of job are you working? Are you an arms dealer, or a drug dealer? Are you sure this isn’t a sci-fi show?”
Comments say, “Meanwhile, in the TV show next door, Wu Miaozu is saying he’ll stop dealing drugs once he’s made 30 million RMB, and he still hasn’t gotten enough after four years.”
A 34-year-old lady is suffering from major brain bleed and needs open-skull surgery. Her mother wants her to go through with the surgery, but her husband claims, “I don’t want her to suffer like this. We’ve got two kids are home. My parents are getting old. I want to give up and just let her go quickly and painlessly.”
Comments say, “Yeah, it’s her husband’s decision whether to go forward with the surgery or not. It’s not really up to internet commenters to criticise—we should respect his decision.”
A blogger writes, “Every time I visit a school supply store, I am amazed. I’ve seen tape for 28 RMB. I’ve watched a fourth or fifth grader get half a basket of school supplies, and the total came out to 800RMB. Her grandmother couldn’t believe it. The cashier explained that one of the pens were 30RMB each, and the little girl had taken ten of them. The grandma didn’t want her to be disappointed, so she paid, and the whole time, the little girl was just playing. Had no concept of gratitude. Just saw a pencil case today that was 420RMB. I have no idea if I’m just behind the times, or if the world’s gone crazy.”
Comments say, “The most expensive pen I’ve ever seen in a school supply store is 12 RMB. Are you sure the intended customer of this place is actually little kids?”
A blogger writes that they’d just watched Season 4 Episode 4 of CSI, which they’d like to call “Karma for Breeders”. The episode is about a baby who had died of overheating locked in a car. The father is devastated, but the investigation finds that the child was deliberate murdered. Because this couple had some sort of genetic illness that has a 25% chance of passing onto their kids. Their first son had died this way, and this disease has a very painful and long death. You’ll lose control of your muscles, your senses, and eventually die after being paralysed. But this couple bet again and had their second son, and the kid passed the genetic screening in utero. But he started showing symptoms.”
The mother didn’t want to wait on the test results from the hospital. She wants to be free, she doesn’t want to watch her kid die. So she worked with her husband in killing him. Ironically, though, the kid was a perfectly healthy child. Turns out, the mother had been doing gardening and holding him without washing her hands. He had gotten mild poisoning from the pesticides used, and that happened to resemble the symptoms of the genetic disease.
But this blogger can’t understand. With a 25% chance, and with having already lost a child, what kind of madman would be brave enough to have a second? If you know you have a genetic illness, why would you even want children? It’s insane.
Comments say, “I’ve heard a pretty good saying that people who lose one child and immediately get pregnant with another never loved their children to begin with.”
A girl seeks advice. She’s been told that her standards for a boyfriend are too high. She doesn’t think so. She’s 158cm (though she usually claims to be 160cm), Bachelor’s Degree (from a decent medical university), working at a major hospital in a major city. Her coworker says with her situation, she should just aim for a high school graduate who’s 168cm and not disabled. Having any expectations of income is demanding too much.
Comments say, “All my coworkers and relatives say my standards are too high, and all I want is someone who’s literate and doesn’t gamble.”
A video of a mother who put a thin blanket on her baby in the morning, when the sunlight is just right, and happened to recreate the environment inside the womb. Her baby went quiet right away, and started gently patting the blanket with his hands, like he used to do on the inside. The blogger who posted this video notes that babies have memories and consciousness from before they were born, and people should think twice before getting an abortion.
Comments say, “Unless you can carry on the pregnancy on people’s behalf, don’t demand anyone keep a kid. That’s entirely up to the mother to decide.”
Someone writes, “I feel like taking care of kids at home is way better than going to work. My oldest is 5. I’ve always raised her myself. I haven’t worked in almost 6 years. My second is 26 weeks. I just eat all day long, take care of my plants, do some cross-stitching or maybe knitting, and relax all day. My husband is super helpful. Ever since I’ve been pregnant, he’s been taking my daughter to school and back, giving her baths, playing with her. He doesn’t have any bad habits himself, just plays sports. He runs a small business, so I don’t have to worry about money, I just swipe his card every month and buy whatever I want within a certain limit. He’s never complained about it except to occasionally note that I get too many packages. My MIL takes care of cooking and housework. It’s not super tasty, but it’s already healthier than take out. And I’m used to it anyways. She’s just a little traditional and superstitious, and kind of sexist. But she’s pretty quiet, so I can still get along with her.”
“Basically, my life is super comfy and stress free. I feel like I can have a third kid no problem. At least, there’s no way I want to go back to work.”
Comments say, “Not everyone can meet a husband and MIL like yours. Life is hard when you have to ask for every cent you spend. After all, if you’re the one out working and your husband is the one at home, constantly asking for money for this and that, wouldn’t you get resentful eventually? You might even start abusing him, and there’d be nothing he can do about it, because he has no money and no way of surviving without you. It’s just human nature.”
[I could not figure out how to save a video on Weibo for the life of me. I don’t know how I even figured it out yesterday. I will continue trying, and if I figure this out, I will replace the video link with a youtube link. I’m so sorry that a lot of people can’t seem to click on these links.]
There's a tool called 'yt-dlp' designed to download video, and Weibo is listed in its supported sites. It's a command line program so it might be tricky to use, but it should work for downloading Weibo video.