Xi Jinping's Big Blunder in Inner Mongolia, Hu Chunhua's People Can't Hold It In? Trouble Over Shenzhen's Social Insurance! Unemployed Call for Street Protests? Xi Precisely Replicates Bo Xilai's Final Ending, Sending Himself to Qincheng Prison? (Old Beijing Teahouse/Episode 1776/2026/10/17)

This episode mainly discusses the social pressure caused by linking Shenzhen's social security to rent, the nationwide "pure living era" and the phenomenon of a Harbin Institute of Technology master's graduate selling balloons, the infighting and rumors among high-level CCP officials on the eve of the Fifth Plenary Session, Xi Jinping's inspection of Inner Mongolia and personnel changes in Anhui's high-level leadership, and reviews the historical event of Bo Xilai's downfall due to a mysterious phone call, predicting that Xi Jinping may repeat the same mistake.

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It's a big deal, Liu Zhuo, something big happened in Shenzhen, it's happening again.

What could be so big? The police (Public Security) have already fully intervened. Linking rent to social security is starting to force people to rebel. Even the Shenzhen CCP bandits are crazy with poverty; the whole of China has fallen. Where is there any place that isn't crazy with poverty?

Hey, you choked me.

You haven't seen the NetEase news yet.

It has already reported that in the first quarter of 2026, none of the 28 provinces that have released data achieved a fiscal balance; they are all in fiscal deficit. Ah.

Right.

Local governments are short of money.

And they can't get fiscal subsidies from the central government.

What to do?

Just deal with it. Can the stressed-out Xi Jinping order local governments to act like a dog jumping over a wall in desperation to rob people? Don't even mention it; once the Steamed Bun (Xi Jinping) gives such an order, the grassroots party officials will all compete to see who is crueler and worse. This is what netizens call a bad system forcing out the most evil parts of human nature.

Good days are about to begin again for the Chinese people in the occupied territory.

How can we live like this?

Teacher Liu is starting to doubt life.

Don't worry, the disaster-stricken compatriots in the occupied territory have already come up with a foolproof plan: wandering around aimlessly outside. The guiding theory is called the "Big Wandering Theory." Netizens say that if hundreds of thousands of people go out on the streets to wander aimlessly together, all problems will be solved at once. Ah, netizens below immediately sounded the alarm, saying this is fucking called a protest, okay? This works.

Being an ox or a horse, doing hard labor, paying social security—it has forced the Chinese people to become rebellious performance artists. Working themselves to death to earn social security for your party? The masters aren't doing it anymore; they've figured it out completely. A Xiaohongshu user said that in the past, capitalists would rather pour out milk than give it to the poor, but now I would rather lie flat at home than be an ox or a horse for the party cheaply. Stop the low-price involution, okay?

Done.

Completely reconciled with oneself. Media personality Wang Jian said that the whole nation has entered the "pure living era." This concept has recently gone viral. Everyone is no longer involuting, no longer pretending, no longer comparing; they are wholeheartedly and honestly living their lives, caring only about food, health, sleep quality, and smooth bowel movements every day.

Even when giving gifts, people consider practicality.

Some netizens said:

I'm renting a place outside.

Classmates came to visit me.

They carried a bag of rice and a barrel of oil for me.

This is exactly what I need. No longer pursuing grand narratives, no longer maintaining an exquisite persona. To put it bluntly, it's just being so poor that there's no other way. Poverty cures all diseases.

Wearing designer brands, driving luxury cars, showing off degrees.

It's all vanity.

Three meals a day and the smoke of daily life are what's real.

Wait a minute.

Did you sneak a peek at the viral video by video blogger "Ceramic Big Bowl"?

Ceramic Big Bowl?

That's a catchy name.

How did it go viral?

Oh my.

You don't know yet?

Hurry up and catch up.

Ceramic Big Bowl has an eye-catching tag: Harbin Institute of Technology graduate student setting up a stall in Changsha to sell balloons. A graduate student selling balloons.

What an inspirational story of flexible employment for a master's graduate.

Not your average inspirational story of high academic background, middle-aged unemployment, and hitting the streets. Lao Tao accurately hit several trends—though maybe the trend of drinking northwest wind.

Well, the level of tragedy is somewhat similar.

For example, graduating with a master's degree from the Department of Electronic Information Engineering at Harbin Institute of Technology, a big-tech programmer, laid off at 35, health ruined after starting a business, followed by failure and heavy debt, hitting wall after wall when job hunting at 40, finally reaching the end.

Making a living by selling balloons on the street.

It is entirely

"Programmer laid off, 35-year-old threshold, AI replacement"

Spokesperson for "era anxiety." Lao Tao said in a recent video that he never expected to run into a former colleague in such an unseemly way, unseemly

Because this was an accidental street reunion. Look over here.

Oh god, haven't seen each other in ten years.

His colleague's hair is all bald.

On that far-ahead receding hairline,

Liu Zhuo has completely found a kindred spirit.

Depressing.

Ten years passed in the snap of a finger.

Eason Chan would sigh deeply upon watching this video.

Directly bringing Lao Tao's story to life, sparking massive resonance online. A blogger said that from a big-tech coder back then to a street vendor today, he once thought hard work could take him all the way up.

Only to realize later that a generation of beasts of burden spent their youth grinding away on the road to making a living. Netizens adapted songs to mock the phenomenon of paying social insurance.

As the Fifth Plenary Session approaches, the high-level infighting and dog-eat-dog struggle among the Xi-CCP elite have reached a boiling point. All kinds of far-ahead rumors have completely erupted, with various factions scrambling to leak information. Xi Jinping's paparazzi, the Xi faction, suffered the heaviest casualties; not only was retired Standing Committee member Li Zhanshu caught in the crossfire, but current Standing Committee members Wang Huning, Li Xi, and Han Zheng all fell down, and General Office Director Cai Qi was also rumored to have fallen. Photos circulated online showing a large number of armed police gathering in Sanlitun, Beijing, on October 16. The Qiushi magazine published that table-pounding, cat-scaring little essay published around the time Xi officially announced Zhang Youxia's downfall, condemning all kinds of two-faced people within the party who outwardly comply while secretly defying and trimming their sails, ready to jump ship at any moment.

Nakazawa Katsuji, Nikkei Asia editorial writer and former Nikkei China bureau chief, wrote an article on October 15 stating that the theme of the CCP's Fifth Plenary Session is comprehensive and strict governance of the party. The Central Military Commission has been hacked down by Xi Jinping until only himself and Zhang Shengmin, who was promoted to vice chairman just last year, are left. Zhang Shengmin is not a combat expert at all, and the Central Military Commission cannot find a single person to provide professional military advice for any military decisions made by old Xi.

Old Xi this time made a surprise appearance in Inner Mongolia. On October 16, Xi Jinping suddenly appeared in Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia, wearing a head of graying hair and a face of bloated, puffy fat, wearing a short cold-proof jacket and a thick scarf around his neck, pointing the way for the Inner Mongolia party officials while surrounded by a bunch of party officials with open collars. Du Wen said that Xi Jinping gave an impromptu speech on the spot saying that this was all the result of comrades fighting in unity under the correct leadership of the CCP Central Committee, scaring high-ranking provincial and ministerial officials like Wang Weizhong and Bao Gang so much that they dared not speak.

Nodding desperately.

What's wrong?

Because Xi Jinping did not know that Ulanqab, which he was directing, has been a heavy disaster area for corruption cases in recent years, setting a record of 5 municipal party secretaries falling in 10 years.

Commentator Li Yanming even wrote an article about the political變局 (upheaval): heavyweights of the Xi faction stepping down, and Hu Chunhao's former subordinates parachuted into the Political and Legal Affairs Commission. According to Anhui TV's Anhui News Lianbo, Xu Yongke, who took office as the Secretary of the Anhui Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission on October 15, gave a speech. Anhui is the hometown of Youth League faction high officials Hu Jintao, Li Keqiang, and Wang Yang. The newly appointed Anhui Governor Wang Dongwei and Discipline Inspection Commission Secretary Xu Yongke have multiple ties with Hu Jintao, Li Keqiang, Wang Yang, and Hu Chunahu. Meanwhile, the recently abnormally dismissed Anhui Provincial Party Secretary Liang Yansun, Anhui Governor Wang Qingxian, and Discipline Inspection Commission Secretary Liu Haiquan are all members of the Xi faction's Shandong gang.

The 90s preacher Peter talked about something from which one can predict the foolish things Xi Jinping might do in the future. The prophecy is coming.

Let's talk about it.

This is called the mysterious phone call that doomed Bo Xilai. On February 6, 2012, Wang Lijun disguised himself and entered the US Consulate in Chengdu, handing over top-secret information to US intelligence agencies. After Wang Lijun was brought back to Beijing by Hu and Wen, Bo Xilai went to consult Zhou Yongkang, and Zhou Yongkang gave three moves. Bo Xilai acted according to the plan, and the first two things were completely successful.

The third one is coming soon.

And the decision has been made.

This afternoon I will go to the Political Bureau to express my stance and draw a clear line with my wife. As a result, during the morning NPC group meeting, Bo Xilai spoke eloquently about Chongqing's reform and opening-up achievements.

Suddenly, his secretary quietly came over with a matter: an emergency call from the General Office. The call told him that Gu Kailai had suddenly committed suicide in detention, which was equivalent to telling him that Gu Kailai was already dead, and the case definitely could not be investigated further.

Dead men tell no tales.

There is simply no need to draw a clear line.

Oh god, this cut off Bo Xilai's path to cutting ties with Gu Kailai. After returning from the phone call, Bo Xilai suddenly made a 180-degree turn, angrily denouncing the situation, and his political life finally came to a complete end. Xi Jinping seems to be temporarily giving in, ceding power to Li Qiang in exchange for a safe landing, but it is very likely that in the end he will overturn this big game of chess himself, imitating Bo Xilai's move, and end up like a tiger eaten by a pig.