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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, colourful historical and cultural stories for the language connoisseur.
So that’s what we devour this week!
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
