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A top executive at a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), a huge state-owned firm, has been sacked for having an affair with a colleague.
Hú Jìyǒng 胡继勇 was removed as general manager of CNPC firm, Huanqiu Contracting and Engineering, and will face further investigation from its disciplinary committee.
Hu’s dismissal came after a video went viral on Chinese social media showing Hu, in his fifties, walking hand in hand with a female colleague, Dǒng Sījǐn 董思槿, who is in her thirties, during a business trip in Chengdu.
Dong has also been dismissed, according to reports.
The scandal, known as “Hand Holding Gate” (牵手们 qiān shǒu men), has dominated social media over the last week.
Many internet users expressed surprise about how blatant the pair were:
I’ve seen cheating before, but it’s always done in secret. I’ve never before seen people swaggering around and showing it off.
见过偷情的，都是偷偷摸摸进行，生怕别人知道，但没见过偷还要招摇过市的。
Another focus of online conversations was the matching outfits of the couple:
The floral-print strap dress worn by Dong became the number one trending item on Taobao overnight. Orders surged with sales exceeding 4,000 pieces sold generating over 2 million yuan in revenue. The Taobao shop owners, taken aback by the sudden impact, said: 'It's beyond our expectations!'
The dress was jokingly referred to as the 'Dismissal Dress'. Its popularity was unstoppable, despite its unfavourable connotation.
女主角被拍时穿的花色吊带裙，一夜火上淘宝热搜第一。一夜之间，订单像潮水一样汹涌而来，销量高达4000多件，销售额超200万，受到冲击的淘宝店家直呼“太意外了”。这条裙子被网友戏称为“免职裙”，不太好的寓意也抵挡不住裙子的火爆。
With such high web traffic, online sellers on Douyin and other platforms saw an irresistible opportunity:
Couples of men and women started to appear in livestream studios - with men wearing pink polo shirts, and women in pink petal skirts - live-streaming together to promote products.
直播间开始出现一男一女，分别穿着粉色POLO衫和粉色花瓣裙一同直播带货。
Another slightly less glamorous couple went even further:
A man cross-dressed in the same dress as the woman, and walked hand in hand with another man on the street, capturing the same street style.
一男子穿着同款裙子反串出演女方，和另一个男子牵着手走在街上，get同款街拍
There was also criticism of Hu and Dong.
An ancient colloquial phrase was evoked, which readers of this newsletter have learned before:
若要人不知，除非己莫为 ruò yào rén bù zhī, chú fēi jǐ mò wéi - If you don't want others to know, don't do it yourself
In other words: If you don’t want to get caught, don’t do it!
Clearly Hu and Dong didn’t take that advice.
So that’s what we explore this week: The language of doing the wrong thing, getting caught, and lots of people knowing about it.
Favourite Five
1. 扒 bā
to dig out, to expose
网友对“小三”董思槿展开了深扒，这一扒还真扒出了不少东西 - Netizens have conducted an in-depth research on "xiaosan" Dong Sijin, and this digging has indeed uncovered a lot of things. [1]
2. 小三 xiǎo sān
third party in a romantic relationship, mistress
大家才明白原来他们是同事，女子还是胡继勇的下属名叫董思槿，明显有小三嫌疑啊 - Everyone just realised that they were colleagues. The woman is Hu Jiyong's subordinate, named Dong Sijin. There is an obvious suspicion that she's his mistress! [3]
Related:
小蜜 xiǎo mì - lover, mistress
包养小三 bāoyǎng xiǎosān - to keep a mistress
3. 炸街 zhà jiē
to roar noisily through the streets in a car or motorcycle, cause a sensation
国企男领导和女下属炸街成都被拍事件，这几天是闹得沸沸扬扬 - The incident of a male executive and his female subordinate blatantly hanging out in Chengdu has been making a lot of noise these days. [3]
4. 招摇过市 zhāo yáo guò shì
to flaunt one's vices or wrongdoings, to show off one's misdeeds
见过偷情的，没见过偷还要招摇过市的 - I've seen people having affairs, but I've never seen someone flaunting their misdeeds like this. [3]
More: Read this week's The China Project Phrase of the Week for more, and Zoe discusses more in the podcast.
5. 桃色新闻 táo sè xīn wén
“pink news”, sex scandal
一桩桃色新闻，本来我觉得并没有什么大费笔墨的必要 - A sex scandal that, in my opinion, doesn't really warrant much attention. [3]
Note: This is also a play on words, because both Hu and Dong were wearing pink.
Consuming the Conversation
6. 嚷嚷 rāng rang
make a clamour
这次他街头牵手一位美女，导致都在嚷嚷他有“小三”了，目前网上骂声一片 - This time, when he held hands with a beautiful woman on the street, it caused a clamor with everyone accusing him of having a "mistress," which created a huge wave of online criticism. [1]
7. 败露 bài lù
be exposed, be revealed
别人生怕这种事情会败露，他们却在大摇大摆的昭告天下 - While others are afraid of being exposed in such situations, they are proudly proclaiming it to the world. [2]
More: 昭告天下 zhāo gào tiān xià - proclaim to the world
8. 反常 fǎn cháng
abnormal, unusual
因为按照常理分析，这位国企领导的行为确实有些反常 - Judging by common sense, the behaviour of this state-owned enterprise executive is indeed somewhat abnormal. [4]
9. 缩影 suō yǐng
typical example, epitome
这件事又表明，国企领域类似的问题肯定还会存在，这件事虽然不是国企领导生活作风问题的缩影，但至少，它是一个“投影” - This incident once again shows that similar issues will definitely continue to exist in the state-owned enterprise sector. Although this does not represent the lifestyle of all state-owned enterprise executives, it is at least an indication. [4]
Related:
投影 tóu yǐng - projection, or indicator
Three-character phrases
10. 秀恩爱 xiù ēn ài
public display of affection
秀恩爱，死得快，诚不我欺 - Engaging in excessive public display of affection leads to a quick demise. This is true. [3]
Note: An internet slang word.
11. 撒狗粮 sā gǒu liáng
scatter dog food; flaunting one's romantic relationship in front of others
