The Big Boss Hiding Behind Huawei! What Can You Really Learn at School, and Can It Really Change Your Class? Qiqi Baba TALK Episode 1008 20261023

This episode discusses the relationship between reading and class mobility, brainwashing phenomena in school education, and analyzes the challenges and controversies faced by Xiaomi phones, Xiaomi cars, home appliances, and other products in sales, quality, and market reputation through extensive feedback from netizens and car owners.

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Hello everyone, welcome to Qibaba, I am Qiqi. Don't rush yet, let's take a look at the following clip together, and then we will compare these two and discuss them.

[Video Clip] Study hard, and when you grow up, you can work in an office. Later, through my own dedicated efforts, I got my Ph.D. degree from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and settled down in Shanghai. This has brought some improvements to my personal and family life. It's not that life hasn't gotten better, but if you say it's class mobility, that definitely doesn't count. I've only crawled up a few steps out of the mud, but there are still several floors above me. To put it most realistically, the down payment that many people in Shanghai bust their tails to save might just be pocket change for certain families. Education is a necessary condition for class mobility, not a sufficient condition. Such a possibility certainly exists, but the harshness of the realistic conditions makes it harder than winning the lottery jackpot. Then someone might say, you already have a Ph.D., doesn't that count as upper class? Class is never just about educational background; it is actually a multidimensional product of social capital, cultural capital, economic capital, and power capital. Therefore, sociologists bluntly point out that the educational system essentially replicates class privileges. That hurts to hear, but it's the truth. Now, the surge in the number of college graduates has led to a drastic decline in the gold content and scarcity of a bachelor's degree. In the past, graduating with a bachelor's degree might land you a very good job; now, you might need a master's or even a Ph.D. to reach a similar starting point as before. Education is long past being a low-cost investment of just a pen and a book; it is a high-cost investment spanning decades for a family. This constitutes a huge economic threshold for ordinary families and greatly increases the sunk costs. But to say reading is useless is even more nonsense. My grandfather never left the county town his entire life; when he was young, he felt that having enough to eat was a luxury. By the time of my father, who worked in transportation, he felt that going to the provincial capital was already a huge achievement. By my generation, I can do research in the library of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and keep my family from worrying about money. This is a huge improvement, but it is still far from being class mobility—it's just moving up step by step. For ordinary people, reading is not a shortcut to winning the lottery, but a trump card against risk. When children from wealthy families stumble, they have their parents to cushion them. When we ordinary people stumble, the educational background we hold in our hands is the stick that can support us in standing back up. So don't expect reading to let you reach the sky in a single bound, but if you, like me, are stuck in the dirt, reading can at least let you get a little closer to the sunshine.

This is roughly what is taught in schools under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) now. Reading and learning are definitely useful; they are things you must do for a lifetime. But why do I feel that CCP schools are becoming increasingly problematic? It is because they previously monopolized information, and at most, it was just exam-oriented education, honestly. But now, what is learned, what it becomes, what is wrong, and what is right—the power to control this, where have they maximized it? On brainwashing. Before, it was exam-oriented education; they did dictate what to learn, what it should look like, and what was right or wrong based on their standards, but the brainwashing wasn't as exaggerated as it is now. In recent years, it has truly become particularly terrifying. It is not learning; it is purely brainwashing. Can knowledge change destiny? I think knowledge, true knowledge, definitely plays a part in changing destiny, but this knowledge is absolutely not what you get from the CCP's exam-oriented education or brainwashing education, especially in recent years—it is just too exaggerated. Look at this: when you go to a CCP school now, look at the children at the beginning, what state are they in? The matter of the brake pedal being snapped off has actually passed for some time. As for Xiaomi, it is actually a brand that has always been hiding behind Huawei. It is not that exaggerated, but in essence, it is not much better.

[Video Clip] Xiaomi phones have indeed encountered very significant challenges.

[Video Clip] Xiaomi's global market share plummeted by 19%.

[Video Clip] Xiaomi's net profit in the fourth quarter, with its stock price halved, fell by more than 20%. The traditional mobile phone and home appliance businesses saw revenue decline by 13%, let alone gross profit.

[Video Clip] How could Xiaomi fall so miserably? It was over 61 yuan at its peak, and now it is not even holding at 30. I thought 30 was Xiaomi's iron floor, but I didn't expect it to break through 30. It is now over 29 yuan.

[Video Clip] It was clearly in its prime last year, but this year it has lost a lot of market share and the recognition of the common people. The entire Xiaomi group's business, from mobile phones to large home appliances, is seeing sales decline simultaneously.

[Video Clip] Holy shit, the Xiaomi store next to our shop actually closed. This store opened in August last year. It is not small, and I estimate the renovation cost about 200,000 yuan, plus rent and other things. Recently, they must have lost about 200,000.

[Video Clip] After struggling for a long time, they finally couldn't hold on, packed up the equipment, and closed the shop. Last year, I thought if they could hold on, things would improve, but I didn't expect sales to be this bad this year. Lei Jun, your mouth has really screwed us distributors over.

[Video Clip] Lei Jun, look at this. The mobile phone store you sold, this one has gone bankrupt and closed down. You need to reflect on yourself. During the product launch, you said again that you defeated the iPhone 17, so how did you end up defeating yourself? This store closed less than three months after opening, and the advertising signs are thrown all over the floor. Look at this. Honestly, is there any truth left in your mouth? I wanted to come to Xiaomi to look at phones today.

[Video Clip] But I didn't expect this store to be closed. Two months ago, this store was still doing fine. I didn't expect online public opinion to have such a big impact on Xiaomi.

[Video Clip] There is one that can't keep going. Does anyone need these TVs, washing machines, or refrigerators?

[Video Clip] In the top 30 mobile phone sales, you can no longer see any sign of Xiaomi. Of course, there is Redmi, but you can't see Xiaomi 17 at all. This, sigh, Xiaomi 17, how should I put it? After it was released, this back screen, as I said before, made everyone very curious and drove a wave of sales. Then, after discovering that this back screen is actually useless, its sales shrank significantly. Look at the top 30 sales list now. Look, this is the 15th week of 2026, the top 30 consumer list, and there is no sign of Xiaomi at all.

[Video Clip] This trend is unheard of. The main thing is that the first-quarter report hasn't even been released yet, and it is already like this. So, after it is released in a while, what will happen? What will happen after it is released? I really, really don't even dare to think about it now. It has hit the bottom. Is there still a bottom? No, there is no hope at all.

[Video Clip] Honestly, Xiaomi, although it has done a lot of tech-oriented things, it has really done a lot of useless tech-oriented things.

[Video Clip] Hey boss, still bragging? I've bragged until there's not a single person left.

[Video Clip] When I saw Mr. Lei calling on everyone online to resist internet trolls and malicious public relations, and to jointly create a healthy, orderly, and civilized online environment, I was shocked. Mr. Lei, is there a possibility that those are not internet trolls, and that is not malicious public relations? Those are the sincere feelings from the hearts of the vast number of netizens. No one organized it; it is really just everyone wanting to express their own views about you.

[Video Clip] Xiaomi is once again giving birth without raising them properly. Xiaomi's small foldable product line has already been discontinued. This is not the first time this has happened to Xiaomi. Xiaomi has always been like this—giving birth without raising them properly. They release two or three generations, and then the whole product line might just disappear. Wasn't there a Xiaomi CC Pro back then? Does everyone remember? It is all gone. Xiaomi has always done this often. Sigh, I am speechless.

[Video Clip] Brothers, look at this Xiaomi expectation here. Now nobody really wants the cars. This is the end for car companies after a market collapse. It is all Xiaomi expectation, completely unable to be delivered.

[Video Clip] In the past, people on the internet hyped up how domestic legendary cars had hundreds of thousands of orders. Now look at the reality. This is a parking lot in a suburb of Beijing, completely filled with restricted cars. Now they are really hard to sell. So many restricted cars have been parked here for about three months and only a few have been sold. It used to be impossible to get one car, and some Mi fans even had to pay extra tens of thousands just to take delivery. Look at them now, all piled up here in such a large venue. Who knows if they can survive 2026. Over at the used car market, there is still a huge pile that cannot be sold, let alone these new cars. Now that the hype has passed, people find that the market simply cannot digest so many cars.

[Video Clip] There are a lot of Xiaomi Speedcar automobiles here, and many have been parked here for a very long time. I guess could it be that at first a lot of people made reservations, but later they didn't want the cars anymore, and then they were left here like this? Is this kind of possibility real? Look, there are super many. And this side is the reservation, and this side is all stuck in a boat.

[Video Clip] Shu Qi, the spokesperson for Xiaomi Auto, actually doesn't know how to drive. When I first heard this, I couldn't quite believe it. I checked online and it turned out to be true. Shu Qi has publicly admitted that she doesn't have a driver's license and doesn't know how to drive, and hasn't touched a steering wheel for decades. But as a car spokesperson, even if you don't drive the brand's car every day, at least you should have a genuine personal experience with the product itself, such as the promotional claims that it is great to drive, smooth in handling, and has good performance. Only by driving it personally can it be more convincing. Moreover, in this promotional video, Shu Qi is sitting in the passenger seat and using voice commands to tell Xiao AI to go to a certain place. This easily misleads users, because in current cars only the driver can use voice control, and people in the passenger seat or back seat speaking will not execute it. How should I put it? When I first saw Shu Qi becoming the spokesperson, I really felt a breath of fresh air. After all, she is beautiful and has great temperament, and her compatibility with the fashion sense of Xiaomi Auto is quite high. Just didn't expect so many flaws. I have to say that Xiaomi really knows how to do topic marketing, but playing like this will eventually cause aesthetic fatigue among everyone.

[Video Clip] Today this Xiaomi car has both front and rear accidents. After the accident occurred, we already powered it on, but its main iron wire actually had electricity, which scared the hell out of us. Following the main iron wire up and spending a lot of effort pulling off many wires, we finally found it, actually inside the curtain's plug. Tomorrow we still have to pull open the curtain and see what the reason is that causes it to leak electricity. I have to say this car, having such a big accident, all the airbags actually didn't deploy a single one, so strange. Of course, for us fixing cars, it is still of great help.

[Video Clip] Actually, anyone who understands phones even a little bit would not buy Xiaomi. What kind of people are actually buying Xiaomi? Those who want everything at once and also look only at specifications without looking at real feedback at all.

[Video Clip] This is not spending money to buy a phone, this is spending money to buy a master to serve. For the past half year I haven't done anything else, not for the phone but for rights protection. This phone has frequent freezes, freezing ten times a day or even more, continuously bootlooping until it runs out of battery. Taking it apart, it is also a motherboard issue.

[Video Clip] Xiaomi phones are the best phones. Except for getting a bit warm, occasionally having a small freeze, heavy impact, and touch dead zones, you can't find any other shortcomings.

[Video Clip] I didn't touch it and I didn't stroke it either. Does President Lei want to exchange a new one for me?

[Video Clip] Look, this is Xiaomi's foldable screen phone. It hasn't even been bought for a year, and both phones look like this.

[Video Clip] Just bought it, used it for two or three months. Usually everything was quite peaceful, never touched it, never bumped it, let alone dropped it. Today I was just about to open it for normal use, and as a result it became like this, instantly my mind went blank.

[Video Clip] Truly bought a genuine Xiaomi this phone box, Xiaomi 7outro. This phone box is not a phone case. This camera ring rattles and clatters and clatters, I won't say anything else. This camera ring, so loose like this, can you see it, clattering loudly.

[Video Clip] Xiaomi TV, are there any people in the same situation as me? The sound you hear, whether voice control or not, is pretty broken. Then asking after-sales service, they told me it's out of warranty, pretty broken, completely mute.

[Video Clip] This Xiaomi TV, such a big TV costing several thousand yuan, just passed the warranty period and doesn't light up anymore. Lei Jun making cars is just messing around blindly.

[Video Clip] These small home appliances are all OEM rebranded goods, they can't even make those right. Now starting to make cars, it's truly laughable. Every day bragging wildly on the internet, but in reality not a single actual function is delivered.

[Video Clip] Brothers, I was planning to come to the Huawei experience store to shoot Huawei's newly released Pura 90 series, and as a result guess what, I saw there is a Xiaomi store here. Ah, Xiaomi, not a single person inside. You say should I go in and take a look, what kind of new Capri Lang is this? Ah, just this car, Xiaomi's.

[Video Clip] Brothers, the hype around Xiaomi has passed. Last year, if you wanted to buy a Xiaomi SU7 or the Max version, you had to wait for several months, or even nearly a year, right? Now, I just asked a salesperson, and whether it's the new SU7 or the Max version, you don't have to wait anymore; they all have cars in stock. Even if you don't get one from current stock, you'd wait at most a month or two. And the key is that they have stock; indeed, Xiaomi is not as, you know, rare as it was anymore.

I can only say that for Chinese domestic brands, everyone must be careful and pay attention. I am specifically talking about Chinese domestic brands, not all Chinese manufacturing, because we still need to try to look at this issue as objectively as possible. That is, the quality of many brands is actually quite good, even though they are made in China. But why is it that as soon as you mention domestic brands, it ends up like this? What do you guys think? Alright, that's all for this episode. If you want to support me, please join the membership channel. I especially hope to have more interaction with everyone during the member-only live streams. We can chat about many, many topics, and I hope to see you there. That's it for this episode, see you next time.