A cooked-up case: A business breaks the rules during Covid
Cryptic comments about a Shanghai bakery fined for breaching lockdown rules
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This week’s episode starts with a Song dynasty betrayal a thousand years ago.
We then travel to April this year in an illegal bakery in locked-down Shanghai, and delve into critical comments about it in Chinese cyber space.
The Southern Song dynasty military general, Yuè Fēi 岳飞, lead his army against the Jurchen invaders of the Jin dynasty in northern China during the 12th Century.
But after helping win the war, Yue was put to death by his own government in 1142 under a concocted charge created by his own boss, the Southern Song Chancellor, Qín Huì 秦桧.
Nowadays, Yue is seen as a national folk hero in China, representing loyalty.
Qin’s betrayal of Yue is still used in modern Chinese language as a metaphor for the authorities punishing the wrong person.
And that’s where we start this week, with this sentence:
不处理秦桧，却拼命整岳飞韩世忠
Not dealing with Qin Hui, and instead doing everything to punish Yue Fei and Han Shizhong?
This piece of history is also invoked with the three-character phrase, 莫须有 mò xū yǒu, which we learned about in a recent episode.
This is a comment from a Chinese netizen in response to a Korean bakery chain, Paris Baguette (巴黎贝甜 bā lí bèi tián), being fined by the Shanghai Municipal Administration for Market Regulation.
Paris Baguette was found to be baking and selling bread without permission during Shanghai’s lockdown in April.
It’s employees couldn’t go home due to restrictions at the beginning of the city-wide lockdown.
So some staff stayed at one of the company’s training centres on the outskirts of Xuhui District (徐汇区 xú huì qū).
With even basic food hard to come by at that time, they began taking group orders (团购 tuán gòu) from the local residents, who were desperate for anything to eat. But unlike many other businesses, Paris Baguette did not raise its prices.
Over four days in late April they made around 58,500 yuan profit.
Shanghai's market regulator decided that was not allowed. The equipment at the training centre was not licensed, so it was confiscated, and the operation closed down.
This week, the market regulator announced that Paris Baguette will be fined 10 times the amount their unlicensed operation made during the lockdown, a fine of 585,000 yuan.
Customers rushed to support the brand, buying bread, cakes and other yummies from bakeries in Shanghai and across China, and posting recommendations on social media urging their friends to do the same.
Netizens say the authorities should not punish the company. And that the fine has had the opposite effect:
这张罚单，是反向带货，成了他们最好的广告
This fine has backfired. It has become their best advert for driving up sales.
The phrase fǎn xiàng dài huò 反向带货 is from ‘live-stream e-commerce’ (直播带货 zhí bō dài huò) - a reference to how netizens took to social media sharing photos of their favourite yummies from Paris Baguette.
Reading into this story is not just a feast for the eyes and stomach.
It’s gently simmering with delicious linguistic references, with colourful historical and cultural stories for the language connoisseur.
So that’s what we devour this week!
Before we dive in, this is what your missing in our member podcast…
Today’s podcast episode is 43 minutes in total. The native Chinese part kicks in at 21 mins 40 secs if you want to skip straight to it, with three parts:
Discussion about top phrases @ 21 min 40 secs (5 mins) - this week we go deep on two phrases from our top five below. FULL of nerdy Chinese language facts to challenge even the most advanced learner - it’s amazing!
Word list and example sentences @ 26 min 20 secs (7 mins)
Full article in Chinese @ 33 mins 56 secs (9 mins)
Favourite Five
1. 奸贼 jiān zéi
traitor
那些奸贼不处理，反而拿着放大镜挑功臣的毛病，真是寒了好人的心 - The government doesn’t do anything to punish the real criminals. Instead, they take a magnifying glass to the heroes and pick fault with them. This has really let the good people down.
2. 众生皆苦 zhòng shēng jiē kǔ
everyone has their own pain
不要与人为敌，忘了人心背向，众生皆苦，巴黎贝甜 - Don't be the enemy of the people. Don’t forget people know right from wrong. Life is full of bitterness, but Paris Baguette has brought some sweetness to it.
Note: this is a creative adaptation of an eight-character couplet, which Zoe explores more in the podcast:
众生皆苦，唯有自渡 zhòng shēng jiē kǔ, wéi yǒu zì dù - Life is hard, you can only rely on yourself to get through it
3. 秋后算账 qiū hòu suàn zhàng
a reckoning after autumn; a time to settle old scores
秋天到了，很多事也要秋后算账了 - Autumn is here; it is time to settle old scores.
More: This idiom literally translates as 'after autumn' (秋后 qiū hòu) and 'settle accounts' (算账 suàn zhàng), referring farmers settling their financial accounts after the harvest at the end of autumn. It's usually not used literally, but as a metaphor for revenge.
4. 拎得清，知好歹 līn de qīng, zhī hǎo dǎi
know the right thing to do
这么戏剧的场景，用上海话来理解网友们：拎得清，知好歹 - This is such a dramatic situation. It’s best to use a phrase from the Shanghai dialect to understand netizen’s feelings: know right from wrong.
Note: a phrase from the Shanghai dialect.
5. 捡了芝麻，丢了西瓜 jiǎn le zhī ma, diū le xī gua
picked up a sesame and dropped a melon; to focus on the unimportant and miss out on what is important
在封城期间，他们在培训中心做面包这算很大的问题吗？为什么总是丢了西瓜去盯芝麻 - Is baking bread at a training centre such a big problem? Why do the authorities always get things wrong?
Consuming the Conversation
Useful words
沉淀 chén diàn
experience, time
经过16年的沉淀，截至2021年12月31日，巴黎贝甜在中国有304家门店 - After operating for 16 years, Paris Baguette had 304 shops in China by the end of 2021.
斗胆 dǒu dǎn
daring; brave
作为他们家老顾客，我便来斗胆推荐吧 - As their long-standing customer, please allow me to recommend delicious treats by Paris Baguette.
Note: a term only used in the first person and used to show modesty.
血性 xuè xìng
courageous and righteous
你们越是罚款我们越是支持，不买爆巴黎贝甜上海人民就真没点血性了- The bigger the fine, the more we will support Paris Baguette. If we don’t buy their products, then the people of Shanghai have no spine.
黑心 hēi xīn
evil mind; greedy
这家企业在封城期间才5.85万违法所得，稍微黑心一点都不止这个数 - This company only made RMB 58,500 during lockdown. Even those who were just a bit greedy would have made more money than this.
不亏 bù kuī
not bad
民心向背，看来这波反向带货也不亏啊 - The people are with Paris Baguette. It would seem that this accidental promotion has been good for them.
Three-character phrases
怪可爱 guài kě 'ài
very cute; entertaining
这段小插曲，听着还怪可爱的 - What happened next was very entertaining.
More: 怪 guài is used for emphasis here, the same as 非常.
存在感 cún zài gǎn
showing off
在不该执法的时候，你跳出来刷本不该存在的存在感 - At a time when you shouldn’t be enforcing the law, you come in really heavy handed for the sake of it.
Note: always used in combination with the verb 刷 shuā, swipe.
不对劲 bù duì jìn
something is not right
现在又罚巴黎贝甜58.5万，这些罚款看着怎么都有点不对劲 - Paris Baguette is being fined RMB 58,500. However you look at this it doesn't look right.
往死里 wǎng sǐ lǐ
to the extreme
本来经济就不景气，监管部门再往死里罚，还是有点让人寒心，逼人躺平了 - With the economy in such bad shape, the regulators imposed such a heavy fine. This feels too much - it’s going to make people want to give up.
More: discussed in 20 November newsletter last year.
Idioms
坐地起价 zuò dì qǐ jià
name an unreasonably high price (negative)
在非常时刻也不坐地起价，尽力满足周围居民的需求 - At that exceptional time they did not raise their prices, and did their best to meet the needs of the locals.
卑鄙无耻 bēi bǐ wú chǐ
having no sense of shame
上海市政府在疫情期间尽全力阻碍物资生产流通，并在疫情结束秋后算账，真是卑鄙无耻 - The Shanghai Government did its best to stop the flow of supplies during lockdown. And now they are punishing those suppliers. They have no sense of shame.
Note: 卑 here is normally pronounced colloquially as bì.
视若无睹 shì ruò wú dǔ
turn a blind eye
如果我们对这处罚视若无睹，将过去的雪中送炭遗忘。那下次还会有人在紧急关头出手相助吗？If we turn a blind eye to this punishment, and forget about the crucial help they delivered. The next time there’s a crisis, will anyone come to help?
More: 雪中送炭 xuě zhōng sòng tàn - delivering coal in the snow; help at a critical time
趋利避害 qū lì bì hài
draw on the advantages and avoid disadvantages
我们常说商人都是趋利避害的，但在能暴富的时候没有选择坐地起价 - We often say that business people do what’s in their own interests, but in this case when they could have made lots of money, they decided not to raise their prices.
事不关己 shì bù guān jǐ
not my business or concern
在可以事不关己时却选择了冒着风险卖平价面包给需要的人 - At a time when they didn’t have to, Paris Baguette decided to take the risk by selling bread at low prices to the people that needed it.
失而复得 shī 'ér fù dé
regain something that was lost
心情是美美哒，就是那种失而复得的狂喜 - It felt so good eating the bread. It felt like I was getting the life back which I had lost.
发国难财 fā guó nàn cái
make money while the country is suffering
在封城期间又不缺那5.85万元，还要平价烤面包，这不比很多发国难财的国人要好很多吗 - They did not need that RMB 58,500 during lockdown, and they kept their normal prices. Is this not much better than so many other people who made money while people were suffering during lockdown?
More: this is technically not an idiom, but a colloquial phrase 俗语. It’s a relatively new one too - first appearing in 红岩 - Red Crag, a 1961 novel based partly on fact by Chinese authors Luo Guangbin and Yang Yiyan, who were former inmates in a Kuomintang prison in Sichuan.
Phrases
哄抬物价 hōng tái wù jià
price gouging
被警情所通报的哄抬物价者，盈利有多少 - How much money did price gougers make who were reported by the police?
咽不下这口气 yàn bù xià zhè kǒu qì
unable to stomach an insult
中秋一定要买点巴黎贝甜吃吃了，不然咽不下这口气啊 - During Mid Autumn Festival we must buy something from Paris Baguette. Otherwise I can’t take it.
为众人抱薪者，不可使其冻毙于风雪 wèi zhòngrén bào xīn zhě, bùkě shǐ qí dòng bì yú fēng xuě
we must not let those who blaze a trail for the rest of us, freeze to death on the road
当未来再次面对困境和风险时，需要更多人愿意选择正直和善良。“为众人烤面包者，不可使其冻毙于风雪” - When the next crisis comes around, we need more people to choose to stand up and do the right thing. So we must not let those who bake bread for the rest of us be punished.
More: here the colloquial phrase has been adapted to ‘bread’ instead of ‘firewood’. We first looked at this phrase on 5 February this year.
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