When you mention the name Zhang Xiaolong (张小龙) in China most people will think you‘re talking about the CEO of WeChat.
But there’s another CEO called Zhang Xiaolong.
He’s less well known than the other Zhang, but is still a successful CEO of the listed company, Fenbi Technology (粉笔科技). Fenbi is one of China’s biggest online education platforms which specialises in civil service exam (考公) preparation. Millions of students in China pay for Fenbi services to get them through that gruelling exam.
Recently this other Zhang Xiaolong become much more high profile. But unfortunately for him for the wrong reasons.
He was invited to give a lecture on the 3 June at the School of Philosophy at Renmin University (人大) which is the top uni in China for training hopeful civil servants.
In the room to listen to Zhang speak were a hundred or so students. They were exactly the kind of people who go on to sit that civil service exam, and potentially become Fenbi customers.
Zhang’s talk was meant to cover exam preparation tactics, how to excel in the civil service exam, and how to approach job-hunting afterwards. It was a topic specifically targeted to what these students wanted, while also being and opportunity for Zhang to pitch Fenbi services to them.
But at the last minute he changed the topic. Instead, Zhang decided to give a speech about “Career Planning in the AI Era” (AI时代的职业规划).
As the students sat quietly listening to Zhang, he strayed further and further from what they were there to hear.
Under his new topic, he claimed AI would replace huge swathes of the workforce, and that the students in the audience had little chance of passing the civil service exam or finding work in the future.
He went on to say the real money would come from investing in the capital markets — especially in tech stocks, and the American stock markets. Zhang then shared his personal experience of how he invested 80 million yuan ($11.8 million) in tech stocks using AI in May, and made whopping 53 million ($7.8 million) in profit.
(Clearly Zhang is not a reader of RealTime Mandarin. Because if he were, he’d know that this is not a politically correct thing to talk about in China at the moment!)
And, Zhang didn’t stop there. He then said:
“Honestly, I’m just bragging about how rich I am.”
我讲这个，主要是为了炫富吧
“Flaunting wealth” (炫富) is another hot-button issue in China that RTM readers know all about, and so should Zhang.
Related
By this point in his speech, Zhang Xiaolong was perhaps expecting some kind of positive reaction from the audience, like enthusiastic applause, excited realisations, or inspired whoops.
But instead he got nothing. The room stayed quiet. And some students even left early.
Rather than take this in his stride, Zhang completely “flipped out” (破防了) and began to rant angrily and uncontrollably at the audience.
He told the students they wouldn’t find work because they didn’t deserve it. And all they were fit for was slacking off in cosy public-sector jobs:
“It’s only fair if you can’t find a job — society shouldn’t be giving you jobs in the first place.
Aside from scraping into the system somehow and coasting through life in a cosy government job, you’ve got no real skills.”
你们找不到工作其实是应该的，就是社会不应该给你们工作。你们除了混到体制里面去考个公务员混吃等死，也没有什么本事。
He refused to take questions at the end of his speech, and then stormed out, saying:
“Honestly, you’re pathetic. Just totally useless.”
我觉得你们很差，非常差。
The news of Zhang’s outburst spread fast on social media.
In response, many of Fenbi’s students started demanding refunds. The company’s share price fell. And Zhang eventually issued one apology, and then another.
But the damage was done:
“He built his name on civil service exam prep and makes his money from civil service exam candidates.
Yet he disparages those very candidates so openly.
Zhang Xiaolong shooting himself in the foot like this is both deeply baffling and purely farcical.”
靠考公起家，赚考公人的钱，却如此露骨地贬低考公人——张小龙这种搬起石头砸自己的脚的行为，十分令人费解，也十分黑色幽默。
The thing is, Zhang, of all people, should not have been surprised by the lack of response from the audience.
In 2024, Lifeweek Magazine ran a cover story on exactly this phenomenon, of “The Silent Generation” (寂静的一代). This, according to the article, is a generation of young people who are so worn down by years of relentless competition and pressure that they go through life with complete indifference, resignation, and silence.
They fall “silent” in all areas of life, including friendships, relationships, and yes, university lectures. It’s the same kind of withdrawal that has produced “buddy culture” (搭子文化), which we’ve written about before. And of course, the students in the lecture theatre listening to Zhang’s speech are absolutely part of this “silent generation”.
So there really is only one word to describe Zhang’s outburst and complete lack of understanding of his audience. And it’s a word you should know as a reader of Realtime Mandarin. He’s an:
So that’s what we’re exploring this week!
Favourite Five
1. 破防 pò fáng
to break down emotionally, have one’s defenses shattered
出乎所有人意料的是，张小龙破防了，破了大防 - To everyone’s surprise, Zhang Xiaolong snapped and had a total breakdown. [3]
Related:
崩溃 bēng kuì – to collapse, break down
2. 自砸招牌 zì zá zhāo pai
to ruin one’s own reputation, damage one’s own brand
企业在互联网上翻车的姿势五花八门，但CEO自砸招牌，倒是不多见 - While companies find endless ways to screw up online, it is quite rare to see a CEO completely sabotage their own company’s reputation. [3]
Related:
吃饭砸锅 chī fàn zá guō – to bite the hand that feeds you
3. 口不择言 kǒu bù zé yán
to speak without thinking, blurt things out
于是破防了，破防的后果，就是开始口不择言 - So he became so triggered that he began lashing out and talking wild. [1]
4. 混吃等死 hùn chī děng sǐ
to drift through life, live aimlessly
你们除了混到体制里面去考个公务员混吃等死，也没有什么本事 - Aside from scraping into the system somehow and coasting through life in a cosy government job, you’ve got no real skills. [1]
5. 搬起石头砸自己的脚 bān qǐ shí tou zá zì jǐ de jiǎo
to shoot oneself in the foot, bring trouble upon oneself
张小龙这种搬起石头砸自己的脚的行为，十分令人费解，也十分黑色幽默 - Zhang Xiaolong’s act of shooting himself in the foot is both deeply baffling and purely farcical. [2]
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Consuming the Conversation
Useful words
6. 冤 yuān
to be wronged, unfairly treated
话说回来，张小龙冤，大学生也冤 - Come to think of it, Zhang Xiaolong was treated unfairly, and so were the university students. [1]
7. 羞辱 xiū rǔ
to humiliate, insult
他觉得被羞辱了，于是破大防了 - He felt humiliated, so he totally lost it. [1]
8. 上岸 shàng àn
to succeed, reach one’s goal (especially after passing an exam)
要考公，要上岸，要进体制，然后躺平 - Their goal is to take the civil service exam, pass it, get into the system, and then lie flat. [1]
9. 失控 shī kòng
to lose control, go out of control
一场失控的演讲很快发酵，粉笔的学员大喊退钱 - The unhinged speech quickly escalated into a massive backlash, with Fenbi students loudly demanding refunds. [2]
Related:
言行失当 yán xíng shī dàng – inappropriate words and actions
10. 露骨 lù gǔ
blatantly
靠考公起家，赚考公人的钱，却如此露骨地贬低考公人 - He built his name on civil service exam prep and makes his money from civil service exam candidates, yet he disparages those very candidates so blatantly. [2]
Three-character phrases
11. 考公热 kǎo gōng rè
civil service exam craze, surge in civil service exam popularity
最直观的体现是“考公热”持续攀升，报名人数在今年已经超过了370万 - The most obvious sign is that the civil service exam craze continues to grow, with the number of applicants exceeding 3.7 million this year. [2]
12. 铁饭碗 tiě fàn wǎn
iron rice bowl, secure lifetime job
追求“铁饭碗”深深地塑造了几代人 - The pursuit of a secure, lifelong job has profoundly shaped several generations. [2]
