Shanghai Is Off-Limits, We Can't Go! The Midlife Crisis Is Starting to Spread Across All of China, Causing the Scene the CCP Least Wants to See! Qiqi Baba TALK Episode 1005 20261020

This episode explores the midlife crisis and economic predicament currently spreading across China. Through multiple cases, the program demonstrates the current state of stability maintenance (weiwen), where petitioners are illegally detained in Beijing and blocked by groups of people at their own doorsteps for attempting to travel to Shanghai for medical treatment. It also presents the desperate voice of a middle-aged unemployed man burdened with massive debt, and a father recounting the family tragedy of his son, whose marriage ended in a flash divorce after only a few months due to economic pressure. The host points out that the economic collapse is severely impacting social stability and family structures.

Video link:

Full transcript:

Hello everyone, welcome to Qiqi Baba, I am Qiqi. Let's take a look, what kind of treatment will you face if you want to go to Beijing for rights defense (weiwen)?

Don't touch me! Don't touch me! Who are you? Who are you? Ah! You can't go out. Who are you? Don't touch me! They're hitting people! They're hitting people! They're hitting people! It's about the price, let's close the door. Hmm. You little black-clad men, do you have the authority? They're hitting people! You hit someone! Don't touch me!

Before he came.

Look, you didn't give me a place to sit, what's going on? Right.

Come, wait for the police to come and talk.

So well-behaved? Hey, do you have the right to do that? We are acting normally. Do you have the right to stop me? Do you have the right to stop me? You didn't report, let me ask who you are first? Who are you? Identify yourself? Hey, do you have law enforcement power? Let me ask first, do you have law enforcement power? I'm eating now, do you have law enforcement power? Let me ask you first.

Wait for the police to come, talk to the police.

We are acting normally.

Go eat.

Why are you?

Can't enter, can't go anymore! The midlife crisis is spreading across China, leading to the scene the CCP least wants to see! Qiqi Baba TALK Episode 1005, 20261020.

Qiqi Baba.

That.

There is a violation of law, do you know? You are breaking the law now, do you know? Can't enter, can't go anymore! The midlife crisis is spreading across China, leading to the scene the CCP least wants to see! Qiqi Baba TALK Episode 1005, 20261020. Are you calling the police? Stop it, are you not? You are talking like a bastard now, right?

You already called the police, hmm.

What are you doing? Look at you!

Qiqi Baba TALK Episode 1005, 20261020.

Didn't I just say, you can follow if you want, but you can't stop us from eating!

Come, turn on the phone recording, tell the police.

Unbelievable! What do you people mean by this? You don't understand anything. Hey, first time seeing you people at the station, what is this? You, hey, you say, hey, you say police station, are you human? Right, ah, you say what others said, ah, not that, yesterday the deputy chief said, hey, you say the police station is the first place in Haidian District to illegally restrict my personal freedom like this, illegal detention, right.

Look, even the security guards are so good.

Ah, right.

Hmm, don't know who gave them the power?

Right? Ah! Now I am also being illegally entered, and he is urging me, ah!

All.

Yes, ah, my friend won't let me either, also also also won't let me go, right? Also won't let me eat, right? You guys won't let me eat, hey, your police station won't let me eat.

The police station, illegally detaining me. Living in Andingshan, living in Room 1503, Building 6, Unit 4, Wufang Old East District, kind people please help me dial the 110 complaint hotline. I can't survive anymore, Andingshan police station is illegally detaining me, and won't give me food to eat. Please everyone help. Law enforcement citizens refuse to give food, they are committing all kinds of atrocities.

Also, just because you petitioned before, then now you are completely locked at home, absolutely not allowed to go out, no matter for any reason.

Friends, at my doorstep, ah, I am Liu Ying from Shangrao. At my doorstep, ah, now it's nighttime, ah. At my doorstep, ah, it's like this, has it reached a point where I can't even go out from my doorstep? I am Liu Ying from Shangrao, take a look, ah? At my doorstep, ah, friends, this is my doorstep, ah, this is my Liu Ying's doorstep, ah, it's like this, it's like this, it's like this, what is this for? I am just going out for medical treatment, ah, I am just going out for medical treatment, ah, friends. I am Liu Ying from Shangrao, what kind of phenomenon is this? What kind of behavior is this? At my doorstep, ah, so many people wearing masks are blocking my doorstep, ah, just blocking my doorstep. They have been blocking here all day today, from probably the morning. At my doorstep, because I didn't come out, my train is at past 10 PM, see? I am just going out for medical treatment, ah, friends, I am going to Shanghai, ah, I won't even say it.

I am sick, so I need to go to Shanghai, no way, it's impossible to let you go out even for a bit. Just because you petitioned before, ah, so you are monitored like this. Just a couple of days ago I was saying, hey, everyone asks where the stability maintenance money goes? Look, how many people does this one petitioner need? Watched twenty-four hours a day, in shifts, and then you know where this money goes. That's why I said, the Letters and Visits Bureau is a mirage, you can see it, but you can never reach it. Even if you really reach it, you will find it's just a mirage of an illusion and a scam. In the desert, believing in these illusions, you cannot drink the water of life.

Soon I am going to be unemployed for the second time, middle-aged unemployment, and a mountain of debt, I really don't know where I should go from here. This car can't run, my body can't keep up either, it's too hard. My family has helped me a lot. Now, now divorce also brings some problems, making my family somewhat unhappy. Then I, I am on both sides, don't know what to say. I really, years ago, actually I was a bit depressed, I didn't have myself, that is, I didn't have any hope for the future anymore, none, and then after many more years passed, it's still the same, no change at all, no change, I can see it even less. Somewhat, can't hold on. Can't go out. Driving this car I can still make a little money every day, but once I buy this car, I decide to cancel the registration, stop driving it. That's so hateful! The choice of this public-account car was really too bad back then, a seriously wrong choice back then. Not only is the insurance frighteningly expensive, but now every month they are coming to us for money. There wasn't any before, it was already very hard to make money, and the unit price is low. I just thought, I'll do self-media. I said before, I want to do some knowledge-based self-media, but I filmed many videos and was not satisfied, so I didn't keep filming. At my age now, I want to find a job that can both can both.

Raise chickens.

At home and also fill the accounts, meaning a higher salary, not very possible. I can only, I can only break through in self-media. But my emotional state. But now, if I want to survive, I can only do this. To survive, I can only do this, otherwise. Excuse me, excuse me, spreading negative energy to everyone, really sorry, sorry, but.

I don't know now.

Sorry, no, no. Let me try filming a few, alright, anyway I just want to explain my middle-aged unemployment.

I even thought at one point, I'll just.

Use a mobile phone, right, use a phone to play a game, and then do live streaming, I even thought like that, because these days I've been paying attention to this kind of method. Four minutes, not recording anymore, not recording anymore, sorry, ah. Now it's four o'clock in the morning, I don't dare to sleep at home either, because right away during the day I have to deal with some matters, I definitely won't be able to sleep. Just like this, just like this, it's over four minutes.

This is a dilemma that many, many middle-aged people inside the wall are facing now, that is, many middle-aged people are facing such a condition, seemingly still alive, but actually already unable to live anymore. Then let's take a look again, ah, which is an uncle recounting the experience of his middle-aged son, what does this have to do with it?

My son got married just last National Day, and by August of this year, they were divorced. There was no cheating, no domestic violence; when it all comes down to it, the money given by both sets of parents was spent, and the marriage just fell apart. Back when they held the wedding, it was such a grand affair—dozens of tables for the banquet, a long line of wedding cars, and firecrackers stretching from one end of the street to the other.

I called to persuade him.

"Son! Stop wandering around every day, find a proper job, and earn some steady money. If you keep going like this, you won't even be able to keep your home." He just laughed on the other end, "Dad, don't worry about it, you don't understand, things are different now than they were in your time." I wanted to say more, but *click*, he hung up the phone. His mother was so angry she was trembling, asking how we raised such a thing. By the fifth month, every cent of the money given by both sets of parents was gone. Once the money was gone, the two of them turned on each other. One said the money was all wasted on his eating and drinking out, the other said she hadn't accomplished anything after looking around for so long. You blame me, I blame you, and neither would back down. They would argue for half a day over a single meal or spending two minutes too long on their phones, followed by long periods of the silent treatment. Later, the mortgage payments stopped, the couple had no money, and they came back to us. His mother scolded them harshly, but her heart was still soft. I asked my son, "We gave you so much money, where did it all go?" He sat there with his head hanging low, saying he didn't know how it had all been spent. Instead, he reached out his hand, "Mom, Dad, give me some more money." I said I couldn't, that the money my wife and I had saved our whole lives had all been given to them. My son didn't argue, he just dropped one sentence: "You can't earn a penny now, and your parents can't come up with any money either, so what am I getting out of being married to you? I'm not going to suffer with you." After saying that, she went into the room, grabbed her bag, and went straight back to her parents' home. My son, in turn, turned his anger on me.

Look at this.

"It wasn't me who made you buy the house, you pay the mortgage, I don't have any money anyway." I was so angry at that moment I almost passed out! Two days later, the in-laws came to the door. As soon as they entered, the mother-in-law asked, "Are you going to control your son or not? Tell him to go find a job. My daughter married into your family to enjoy life, not to suffer." I poured her water, but she didn't drink it. The father-in-law sat to the side, smoking one cigarette after another, not saying a word. When they were leaving, the mother-in-law left a final remark: "You need to give us an answer on this, we can't just keep dragging it out like this." I walked them to the door, and later made a few more calls, but it was the same thing over and over. I couldn't promise anything because I really had nothing left to give. The daughter-in-law stayed at her parents' house, and my son went to pick her up twice but couldn't bring her back. Later, she did come back once, but not to reconcile—she came back to pack her things. She told my son, "There's no point in continuing, let's get a divorce." My son was stunned for a long time and didn't say a word. "Didn't you say you'd be with me until we grew old?" She didn't answer, just finished packing and left. On the day of the divorce, his mother didn't go, so I accompanied my son. When we came out of the Civil Affairs Bureau, neither of them acknowledged the other; she got into her mother's car without looking back. My son squatted on the steps and lit a cigarette, sitting in silence for a long time. I stood beside him, not saying a word. That night, neither his mother nor I could sleep. I said, "When I was young, I was afraid of poverty, so I didn't want my child to suffer. I bought him a house, gave him money, and got him a wife. How did I end up harming him like this?" His mother didn't reply, didn't cry, just lay there staring into space. Looking back now, the wedding cars, the firecrackers, the banquet—they were real. The emptiness in the house now is also truly empty. I just want to ask.

Everyone.

Has my son reached this point because he is incompetent, or is it because I, as his father, gave too much, couldn't let go, and spoiled him rotten?

Uh, divorce rates in China right now, even with the