Bo Xilai's Last Smile — What Does It Mean Behind the Scenes!? That's Terrifying. What Else Is There to Believe? Qiqi Baba TALK『Refresh Your Mind 809』20261025

In this episode, host Qiqi begins by discussing the political implications of Bo Xilai's smile during his final court appearance, then shifts to the current state of food safety in China (such as pork being injected with atropine and glue) and the widespread social phenomenon and merchant accounts of the total collapse of various industries—including physical retail, mooncakes, fruits, and baijiu—and the downgrading of consumption across the country during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

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Full transcript:

Hello everyone, welcome to Qiqi Baba, I am Qiqi. I suddenly saw a clip of Bo Xilai's final court appearance. Everyone has been discussing why Bo Xilai was smiling—looking around and then just smiling. Actually, I think it's just a matter of the winner takes all and the loser is the villain; he should have been able to grasp that point. In his eyes, this trial was more like a joke because it was just a formality anyway. Regarding this point, I actually have something to say: for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), any matter that can be publicly seen by the people, even if you see it as a process in progress, the outcome is already predetermined. If it is displayed, then the process must be just a formality, meaning the result is already fixed. By that time, Bo Xilai was already destined to lose, so for him, it was a hilarious performance that he knew inside out. It's just that because he had already been eliminated, he could find it funny, while others still needed to perform seriously.

Why is pork so unpalatable these days, tasting fishy and foul? Today, I'm going to step on some toes again. The "water-injected meat" you talk about is old news. In the past, when slaughtering pigs, they would force-feed the pigs water all night to increase their weight before slaughtering them in the early morning. Now, they don't just use water; they use drugs. There is a drug called atropine; after giving it to the pigs, they become extremely thirsty and drink water frantically. Each pig can drink up to 15 kilograms of water on its own. But how do they keep this water locked inside the pig's body so it isn't excreted? The second step is adding a thickening agent—this is what you often refer to as "gel-injected meat." The thickening agent is used to make the water the pig drank more viscous, like glue, so it stays in the meat. You think that's the end of it? There's something even more ruthless called adrenaline, which has two functions. First, it allows the water the pig drank to be absorbed quickly, and second, it causes the blood vessels to constrict. This is why the pork you buy looks fresh and good, but tastes fishy and foul—because the blood wasn't drained properly. The pig's blood remains inside, trapped in the meat. How could it not be fishy or foul? If you can't see this video in a couple of days, it means it has been taken down. Take this chance to let your family see it; the more you know, the less you'll suffer.

Well, what is actually safe to eat? I feel like Chinese people have just given up on the issue of food safety because there's really no other way. What else can you do? Starve to death? Looking around, there is almost nothing in the entire market that is safe to eat. Honestly, friends, the economic collapse during the Mid-Autumn Festival is still fresh in our minds.

This year's Mid-Autumn Festival feels a bit chilly. I wonder if everyone feels the same way I do?

I really didn't expect this.

I originally wanted to make a profit during the Mid-Autumn Festival, but oh my god! I lost everything!

I sold 95 yuan worth of goods, and today I only lost 25 yuan.

This Mid-Autumn Festival, the fruit market has completely crashed! September 24th, Guangzhou prune market prices, heh heh.

It's over, the Mid-Autumn Festival is over.

It's a direct bankruptcy! This Mid-Autumn Festival, the supplier—the supplier dealing in grapes—even with good customer traffic and good Shine Muscat grapes, it's a direct death sentence! The market is already dead; even Jesus couldn't save it.

It's over, it's over, it's over, it's over, it's crashed! My god, what do we do?

Ah, 85, it's hundreds of millions, damn it, hundreds of millions! Can't sell it, can't sell it, just can't sell it. What are you fighting for? You won't even buy it at this price, you won't even buy it.

You tell me, right now?

Why are Mid-Autumn gift boxes so hard to sell? Why aren't the gift boxes in our store moving at all? Is it just my store that's not moving?

Or is everyone struggling, brothers! The Mid-Autumn Festival hasn't even arrived yet, but it's already over, a total collapse. Did everyone agree on this? Nobody is buying anymore. My prices keep dropping, and it still won't sell. There are no customers in the store all day long; today's revenue was less than 300 yuan, and yesterday it was only a little over 100. Tell me, how is this business supposed to be run?

It's all over! Tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival; look at the street, all the shops have closed down, there's not a single person. You can imagine that every year from now on will be the best year.

It's crashed, it's crashed! I've been selling pork for so many years, and this year is the hardest year to sell. Tomorrow is the holiday, and nobody is buying pork even at a few yuan per jin. How can we go on like this?

September 24th, 11 o'clock, the cauliflower market in Nanda Pu has completely crashed. Nobody wants it regardless of the price; even if a boss came to collect it for 0.2 or 0.1 yuan, nobody wants it at all.

The market is full of goods, but they won't sell. No matter how cheap they are, nobody is taking them; they are all piled up here. Look, this Mid-Autumn Festival is just like this, and they are still bringing more over. There's no hope. This Mid-Autumn Festival isn't just about fruit; every industry is failing to sell, everything has collapsed.

Friends, what should we do? The Mid-Autumn Festival is the day after tomorrow, and business is a total mess. There's not a single person, it's even worse than usual, really. Look, the goods are all stocked up, but there's not a single person. It's much worse than usual, and you can't even see anyone.

Can you really handle this?

Mooncakes for the full moon, not a single person, not a single person. Our liquor industry has two major peak seasons: one is the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the other is the Lunar New Year. This Mid-Autumn Festival, fellow liquor store owners, how is your business?

It's crashed, it's crashed! The baijiu industry has completely collapsed, and my store is finished too. Look, everything is cleared out, it's closed! I'm done.

Does this brick-and-mortar store owner have to hold mooncakes and cry? Look at this mall, from downstairs to upstairs, not a single person on the elevators. I brought my daughter here to play for a while, and up here there are only two kids in toy cars, the rest is truly completely empty! What is going on here? Did everyone go abroad or something? Where did you all go?

With the Mid-Autumn Festival here, the first thing to crash is definitely mooncakes; the second thing to crash is hairy crabs; the third thing to crash is gift boxes.

It is tough, brothers! The money from hairy crabs in Jiangsu is getting hard to make. Yesterday on the 20th, many buyers opened for business, and as soon as they opened, the market crashed, and the goods they collected could not be sold. What is the situation out there after all? Is this really an economic downturn and consumption downgrade? In the past, when hairy crabs first went on sale, business was very hot, almost relying on a scramble. This year's business is probably going to be tough.

Every day is like this. In past years, this time was already the peak period of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Look, look, not a single person. From opening at eight in the morning until now, look at how to handle this market this year? Even drinking the northwest wind is out of the question.

I feel like the streets are dead, milk is not moving, mooncakes are not moving, uh, this drink is not moving either, anyway nothing is moving anywhere. You say when there is no holiday usually, you can still sell some boxed items, but once a holiday comes, nothing moves at all.

Beauty, have you opened for business? None. Beauty, have you opened for business?

Open my foot! Open a skewer.

Beauty, have you opened for business? That toothbrush. Brothers, listen to my advice, prepare less stock for the 15th of the 8th lunar month. They buy nothing, eat nothing, and do not spend money at all.

Let's not busy ourselves in vain, let's not work for nothing. Brothers, the Mid-Autumn Festival is coming soon, is your business still good? Just now I talked to a brother, an older brother, he hauled back a thousand catties of bananas to sell the day before yesterday, sold for a day, how much money did he sell for? Take a guess, sold for thirteen yuan, yuan a bag, help yourself to fill, however much you can pack you pack.

Five yuan a bag.

Hurry up! Hurry up! Hurry up! Don't move! Don't move!

Before the Mid-Autumn Festival has even arrived, mooncakes have crashed first, and store sales have been almost halved. The topic of a certain high-end mooncake discounted to sixty percent even rushed onto the hot searches. A large number of gift boxes originally priced at nearly one hundred yuan directly plummeted to twenty-nine point nine yuan. A large number of distributors started what before the festival, frantically selling at a loss, bluntly saying they must sell even at a loss, otherwise it will rot in their hands. Has the era of exorbitant profits for mooncakes really come to a complete end? Mooncakes compared to the same.

Annual sales volume and sales revenue dropped by 45.17 percent, and gift boxes priced over 500 yuan now account for less than 2 percent of sales revenue, this is, this is calculated out by big data. Think about it, what concept is this? Impossible to work, percent of.

No work to do. When mooncakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival cannot even be sold, other industries should no longer hold out false hopes for the Mid-Autumn Festival. With a total of three days combining adjusted workdays and holidays, and highways not even free, what are you still lingering on for? Your live broadcast.

Uh, tomorrow is the 15th. Bringing in these hundreds of catties of mooncakes, all this.

I haven't sold them yet, how should I handle this?

It's the Mid-Autumn Festival, Sixth Brother! Ah, look, is there a single person for the Mid-Autumn Festival? Look at how hard business is for brick-and-mortar stores, Sixth Brother! Look at the main road outside, Sixth Brother, look, is there a single car on the main road outside? Truly not a single car? Business is hard to do, indeed. What did you do? Not working, I am so idle I can barely sit still, my butt is numb. Oh my heavens, customers cannot be seen, no accounts opened, it's almost time for lunch again, lunch.

The money hasn't even been earned yet, how on earth to do this? Really don't know what to do. Setting up a street stall can't go on either, uh, at my age, finding a job isn't easy either. In a couple of days it's the Mid-Autumn Festival, once the Mid-Autumn Festival passes, a few days later it's National Day, and in just a few months, it's New Year again. If it continues like this, making no money from street stalls and unable to find a job either, I really don't know what to do.

When on earth can this economy pick up? I feel like in 2019 and 2020, everywhere was flourishing and prosperous, and this place is fucking a mess. Where are the people? How does it feel like today is not like the past? This change is way too fast! Everything is empty, and you call this a holiday? Can't hit a single ghost shadow! Look at the holiday, is this a holiday? Can't hit a single ghost shadow.

Look at this main street, pedestrians plus vehicles.

There are not even as many people as the shops on both sides, how do you expect this business to be good? I have no idea where all these people have gone.

This is the production workshop of a mooncake factory, this is the baking room, this is the oven room, this is the boiler, this is the factory corridor, and this is the large cold storage. In previous years, this place was bustling with activity, with so many orders that people were too busy to keep up. This place is deserted this year, look, it's completely empty, what a waste. I wonder where all the orders went? Change your trade! You have to change your trade, if you don't change your trade, people will be driven crazy.

Brothers, look at this queue at Jingtai Square, I'm afraid that after we finish work later, even buying a mooncake that costs 5 yuan will feel like an exorbitant price to us taxi drivers. Anyway, I...

I announce that this Mid-Autumn Festival is over as of now! Today is the 12th day of the 8th lunar month, you could land an airplane in the whole market. Actually, it's been completely quiet since yesterday! Just think, there are still three or four days left until the Mid-Autumn Festival, normally it should be the peak period for shipping goods. This year, basically starting from the 10th, the entire atmosphere has completely vanished, especially this year's gift boxes, ah, I reckon a huge number of them are going to be dead failures.

Today is September 22, and there are still two days left until the Mid-Autumn Festival, basically you can land an airplane, there is no business at all, everyone is just playing on their mobile phones and playing cards, no business. This is the Mid-Autumn Festival that fruit vendors have been looking forward to for a long time, around the 13th day of the 8th lunar month, it's empty. This is already the 14th, this is already the 14th day of the 8th lunar month, and still there's nobody. Bro, are they selling well?

Come on someone, not even two people.

Ha, nobody, another nobody. Eight streets passed, let's disperse, nothing is lit up.

Can't sell a thing. This year's Mid-Autumn Festival is too dull, too dull. It's already the 20th this year, the market, whether it's domestic goods or imported goods, still no one is asking, the market has nobody.

Did the mooncakes pass? Buddy, is your mom feeding you mooncakes? Sweet stuff, piece by piece, tasting like honey. Also, sending window doors, this is pulling along, both delicious and good-looking, saving face for the elders.

Hey, you this, this, this mooncake.

There is wine at home, I'll go back and get it for you, you eat slowly first.

Business is so hard now, he doesn't even dare to carry it.

Taking everyone to stroll around Bairong before this year's Mid-Autumn Festival. In previous years at this time, it was a sea of people, the lobby was packed with merchants, merchants were so busy they didn't even have time to eat, and they could practically start a fight just shipping out goods. The business of this Mid-Autumn Festival is really bizarre. You could say baijiu isn't selling and leave it at that, but how come even mooncakes aren't selling this year? With baijiu not selling, you could say its price is artificially high, but this year's mooncake prices aren't high either. Look, there are fewer people buying mooncakes this year than there are merchants. Could it be that giving wine and mooncakes as gifts is no longer trendy this holiday season?

In previous years at this time, it was the busiest time for many businesses and supermarkets. In their own words, a single holiday is worth half a year, and everyone counts on this holiday to make money. However, looking at the current situation, there is no sign of busyness at all. The once-booming supermarket gift box market has completely cooled down, mooncakes and high-end cigarettes and alcohol are ignored by everyone, and physical store owners are collectively complaining.

I came to the supermarket for a stroll today, I thought I'd look at these mooncakes, I thought that one looked pretty cheap, 7.9 yuan for this box isn't bad right? I looked at this one and it's even cheaper, 1.9 yuan, I thought it was 19.9 yuan, 1.9 yuan a box. This one is also 1.9 yuan for such a box. These flower pastries are 3.9 yuan, what kind of prices are these nowadays? And there's even the cheapest one, 0.7 yuan a piece! I thought this thing would cost at least 1 yuan? Look at this one, 1.9 yuan a box, five in a box, four left. Wow, this one is also 1.9 yuan, oh my god! Mooncakes are so cheap now, forget it.

Today oranges are completely dead as a dog, right off the bat they go straight to 5 jin for 10 yuan, it hasn't even started yet and it feels like it's almost over.

The 2nd, the 2nd, this year is even more second-rate than last year. Today is the 14th day of the 8th lunar month, tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival. The market is dead quiet, where do you think the problem lies?

Are people not giving gifts anymore for the Mid-Autumn Festival now? Today an owner who runs a supermarket in Dongxihu came to me to process some business. He said that a while ago, thinking about the Mid-Autumn Festival, he stocked up on a lot of milk, and these kind of mooncakes, and all kinds of pretty gift boxes, thinking he would make a buck during the holiday. As a result, nobody bought them at all, and just as the holiday is about to arrive, those gift boxes are just sitting there, motionless.

This year is a bit strange. The Mid-Autumn Festival is a major holiday, right? Let me tell you, there's hardly anyone on the streets; very few people are going out, the streets are empty. Take this year's mooncakes, alcohol, beverages, gift boxes, and fruits—they aren't selling at all; they just can't be sold. I went to the supermarket this afternoon, and the owner said, 'Oh, look at my stock of alcohol. I stocked up so much this year, thousands of cases sitting right here.' She said, 'In the past, by this time, I would have already sold one or two thousand cases.' This year, so far, she's only sold a dozen. Where did everyone go? For such a big holiday as the Mid-Autumn Festival, nothing is selling, especially mooncakes. People selling mooncakes are really worried; they truly can't sell them. I don't know what's going on.

Still, as the saying goes, no matter what the holiday is, every coming year will be the best year for that holiday. Alright, that's all for this episode. If you would like to support me, please join the membership channel. I especially look forward to chatting with everyone in real-time during the member-only live streams. That's it for this episode, see you next time.