Suffering dispels the enchantment, this generation of young people just wants "smooth sailing"

Image source: @VisualChina

Text | slightly larger reference, author | Haruka Ko, editor | Wilderness

01 Finally someone wishes me an easy life

"I hope that everyone can live a simple and easy life, and can live a good life without much effort, especially those who have just graduated, and it is better not to endure setbacks and tribulations." I wish you all the best. ”

During this year's National Day holiday, after Li Jian said these words at the music festival, the scene resounded with cheers.

After the music festival, some live viewers posted live videos recording Li Jian's words to various social platforms. On October 8, the topic of #李健 I hope everyone will suffer less setbacks # appeared on Weibo hot search.

Under the topic, some people said that they wanted to cry when they listened, and some people said that Li Jian was able to still have a trace of compassion for the world after achieving success, which is an extremely valuable thing. After all, when you encounter difficulties and setbacks in your work life and complain to your parents, you will never be understood, they will only say, "Everyone comes this way, why don't you", or "suffer more now, it will be better later".

In 2021, Bai Yansong said in the program "Dialogue" that talks to young people, "Are we counting on low housing prices now, and then looking for jobs everywhere, there is no pressure at all, and then as long as the girl you like pursues her, it's OK, right?" The remarks quickly attracted attention, and the anger of countless young people was ignited by the last rhetorical question. For a time, this program clip was spread by various clips, and during that time, searching for Bai Yansong on station B, almost all of them were spoofed videos, and the picture when Bai Yansong said this sentence was also made into a meme.

Bai Yansong has since become the target of everyone, and his public image has changed from an authoritative host to a "hypocrite" full of "daddy" and high up.

In June 2021, he responded in a video interview with the media that he said this in December 2020, when there was no concept of lying flat, if he knew that lying flat is so popular now, he would not call everyone to cheer, but whispered to get up. And said that he is a person who stands with those who scold him. In January 2022, he responded again in the "Opening Statement" program, saying that there were many misunderstandings, and said at the end, "If scolding Bai Yansong can make everyone comfortable, it can be regarded as a help to everyone." But we believe in time, more often than not, what he is doing, what he is saying, (will be understood)".

Despite this, netizens still do not accept such an explanation, thinking that he is quibbling. Since then, under the video that Bai Yansong has appeared, someone will always mention Wang Shuo's evaluation of him - a non-original, more direct and derogatory summary: "A self-proclaimed meat horn, the most love to show off superb acting skills, always lock his brows and play the social conscience."

In contrast, writer Yu Hua has been widely welcomed by young people since his frequent public appearance in recent years.

They said: "Teacher Yu Hua understands young people too well" and "The reason I like Yu Hua is that he never criticizes from above, and always understands naturally."

For example, when answering the question "How to treat young people who don't go to work, don't go to work, and only put on incense" at the beginning of the year, he said: "Now if someone tells you that you have to work hard and be self-motivated, you will get a good and good return. That is no longer true, times have changed. When I was younger, to be honest, as long as you worked hard, as long as you were always motivated, basically most people were rewarded, and that's not the case now. ”

For example, at the post-screening meeting of "Mistakes by the River" on October 11, Yu Hua was asked how to evaluate the madness culture of young people and replied: "The so-called madness, I think there is an emotional uncontrolled self-amplification, many people today, their state of life, don't feel as if I have cornered, in fact, you may be an emotion into a dead end, not your life has entered a dead end." ”

There is no father's preaching, no outdated values, no attribution of their own success to their own efforts, always have a very clear understanding of themselves, and always have an understanding and encouraging attitude towards young people, which is probably the reason why Yu Hua can have such a high evaluation among young people.

02 People who are smooth sailing generate top personalities

Getting a good baby in the next life has become one of the jokes that young people like to make recently.

Reincarnation is a well-loved child of a wealthy family, such as Wang Shiling.

Some time ago, a photo of Li Xiang looking at Wang Shiling became popular, making Wang Shiling, who was already very topical because of the daily full of luxury brands, once again attract the attention of the public. A video of Li Xiang talking about her daughter's education also went viral on social media, in the video, Li Xiang said: "I think my daughter, her future friends must be from all over the world, then she will learn about the cultures around the world, and finally she will choose a place she likes to live, I hope my daughter's future is like this."

And Wang Shiling's father Wang Yuelun also showed his deep love for her in an interview, mentioning that she lost weight due to the evaluation of her classmates, he said that he was very distressed and cried.

Combined with the previous information about Wang Shiling, such as being born in an art family, her grandfather will paint her birthday portrait every year, and he also has a talent for painting, the envy of netizens finally broke out - on September 19, #In my next life, I will be Wang Shiling# on Weibo hot search, with nearly 150 million views that day.

It seems that whether materially or spiritually, Wang Shiling has received unreserved love, and netizens sighed: "The most bitter time in her life was to participate in "Where Is Dad Going".

The second volunteer of reincarnation is a very popular "top matching character" some time ago - the only daughter in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, the number of people is relatively large, and the difficulty of reincarnation is low.

Pampering and success are the keywords of their lives. The only daughter of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai leaves the impression that her family is rich, her parents are very loving, their life is smooth sailing, and they can live a quiet life without hardship. Some people say that the biggest hardship they have suffered is probably studying.

No matter what, their lives are always guaranteed: even if they do not study well, the only daughter in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai still has the opportunity to be sent to study overseas; Even if the work is not smooth, the only daughter in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai still has the option to go home and inherit the family property.

Most of the parents in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai interpreted by netizens on the short video platform do not have much expectations for their children, even if they go home and enjoy their achievements, they have no opinion, and they do not believe that people must go to big cities to experience and grow up. "I just hope that she will be happy in her life, and there are still two sets of demolition houses at home, and she will not suffer anywhere", such a concept is probably the root of the happiness of the only daughter in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai.

Of course, every time someone mentions this statement, there are always people who refute, and it should be more accurate, it is the only daughter of a middle-class family and above in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, and even this kind of family exists in all parts of the country, and not every only daughter born in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai has lived such a happy life. Many people expressed disgust at this labeling, but it is clear that this does not prevent this group from being widely discussed and envied online.

Another representative of a smooth life is Cai Guoqing, who has become popular with his variety show performance in recent days.

Because of his role in "Cutting Through Thorns 3" "Keyun" (Note: The role in "Deep Love", because the child was not treated in time and became a madman), he was too funny and got the new nickname "Cai Keyun", and was also re-noticed by young people.

In the eyes of young people who like him, the appearance he shows in variety shows is confident, simple, happy, never consumed, 55 years old, but there is still a college student-like "clear stupidity" in his eyes. This has infected a lot of people, who say they wish they could be so happy at this age. Others expressed their envy, because "it is a smooth ride for a lifetime, so confident, sunny and happy."

Some people even really checked his resume, and then found that it was true - Cai Guoqing began to perform on stage in kindergarten, sang solo at the state banquet at the age of 10, published a record at the age of 11, was admitted to the Central Academy of Drama at the age of 13, and appeared on the 23rd Spring Festival Gala. He said: "There are no troughs in my life, only dull periods."

These lives, which are widely talked about and envied on social media, can be summed up in one characteristic: smooth sailing.

03 The disenchantment of suffering

"Plum blossoms are inherently fragrant, not because of suffering."

Under Li Jian's hot search on October 8, many people liked this comment. Others have written long texts trying to argue that suffering has lost its meaning today.

It was as if everyone had agreed that suffering was not worth singing about.

A few years ago, there was a sentence circulating on the Internet, which was said to be said by Yu Hua, but the source that could be found was a high praise answer on Zhihu: "Never believe that suffering is worth it, suffering is suffering, suffering will not bring success, suffering is not worth pursuing, tempering the will is because suffering cannot be avoided." ”

The questionable provenance does not affect its popularity. Everyone just loves this kind of electronic chicken soup. As a result, more and more similar words are sorted together to form a famous quote that is difficult to distinguish between true and false. For example, it is said that Wang Shuo said: "The most shameless, insidious and vicious praise in the world is to use the hardships and sufferings of the poor as inspirational stories to fool the people at the bottom", and Wang Xiaobo's name: "People must endure some hardships and waste some years in order to become sublime, this idea is not only harmful, but also sick."

Part of the reason for the emergence of this epidemic may be that those who grew up listening to the truth of "suffering in the bitter way to become a better person" and "plum blossom fragrance comes from bitter cold", suddenly found that they have suffered for more than ten years but still have not lived the life they want.

Therefore, another popular saying on the Internet is, "Money flows to those who are not short of money, love flows to those who do not lack love, and hardship flows to those who can endure hardships".

A fact is that many people who have an ideal life today are not because of their outstanding personal abilities, but more because they have eaten the dividends of the times. For example, when the house price in Beijing was not yet 10,000, he bought a house, became the front desk of a start-up company, and paid dowry money to buy shares, and later the company went public.

As a result, the "elevator theory" is also known to more people. A man took the elevator to the top floor of a skyscraper, and in the elevator cabin, he did a few push-ups by the way. After reaching the top floor, he attributed his achievement to his efforts to do push-ups, but ignored the existence of the elevator. In concrete life, the elevator is equivalent to the dividend of the times, and push-ups are personal efforts and hardships.

In the eyes of some people, if the elevator is no longer running, no matter how hard it is, it is impossible to achieve the same effect.

So, they began to stop accepting PUAs.

This summer, on the short video platform, a mother deliberately bought a ticket for her daughter without a seat when traveling, and accompanied by the copy: "If there is a difficulty, you must go on, and if there is no difficulty, you must also go to the difficulty." Slow train, give me several rolls, continue next time", in the video, the girl is in the narrow aisle of the train, leaning on the seat next to her for a while, sitting on the suitcase in the space under the seat, and when someone passes by, she turns sideways to make way for them.

Many people in the comment area were puzzled, she replied: "I think she has to feel the hardships I have endured", and she also said "I haven't let her pick up the rags yet". But this kind of artificial suffering is clearly not in line with today's Internet context. Controversy and attacks swept in, and eventually the matter ended with the mother making her account private.

Earlier, a similar issue sparked discussion on Zhihu.

The question was, "My son takes the bus for more than two hours a day to and from school, I want him to suffer a little as a valuable exercise, how can I make him understand my good intentions?" In the description, he said, "When I was in the countryside and walked to and from school every day, I didn't say anything for a long time."

The bottom Gaozan replied as follows: "If he has not been reincarnated into a powerful family and reincarnated as your son, he has the opportunity to suffer later in this life, and the days that can be slightly more relaxed are the period before adulthood." Don't look for something, is it difficult? ”

Suffering is becoming the new trend. Many young people, realizing that their parents may be overly pursuing suffering, decide to do the opposite and double down on their timely pleasure.

They no longer want to follow the consumption habits of their parents' generation of saving money and not being willing to buy anything, but learn to enjoy the moment, enjoy the pleasure in time, buy what they want, and eat what they want. A typical example of this is the popularity of dishwashers and sweeping robots. Yes, this generation of young people not only does not want to wash their own hands and shoes, but also bothers to brush dishes and sweep the floor.

Both of these appliances have long entered the Chinese market, but they only began to gain popularity around 2013 and 2014, and have become "artifacts" to enhance happiness in recent years. According to GfK data, the compound growth rate of dishwasher sales in China from 2005 to 2022 will reach 24.3%, and the compound growth rate of the industry from 2014 to 2022 will reach 45.5%. According to the statistics of the "2021 Sweeping Robot Market Development White Paper", from 2013 to 2018, the sales of the domestic sweeping robot market increased from 840 million yuan to 8.66 billion yuan, with an annual compound growth rate of 58.66%, and after a brief cooling in 2019, it broke out in 2020, with sales returning to 6 million units and a market size of 9.4 billion yuan.

Young people have even taken up the "lazy economy" business in order to make their lives easier.

For example, takeaways, taxis, and white rice and prepared dishes that were popular a while ago. The need of young people to live more conveniently and easily is enough for something new to grow quickly into an industry.

Another more important trend is that today's graduates are no longer focused on working in big cities, and returning to their hometowns to live a slower-paced life has become an option.

People who choose the latter do not feel inferior, but are keen to share the comfort and beauty of life on social platforms: it only takes ten minutes to commute, you can eat hot meals prepared by your parents directly when you get home, go to the mall and watch movies with friends who grew up together on weekends... It always attracts an envious eye.

A group called "Bye bye la first-tier cities" on Douban is full of people who are tired of life in first-tier cities and have returned or plan to return to their hometowns, and some fresh graduates posted questions in the group, "Want to do it in one step, skip 'escape', and directly 'stay' in your hometown, and ask the seniors, is it an essential experience to go to a big city when you are young?" ”

In the following reply, many people mentioned the shortcomings of living in big cities with low happiness and not being able to save money, and when talking about returning to their hometown, they used the words "lying flat" and "comfortable". This is also the mainstream view within the group: escaping from first-tier cities is for the quality of life, and you can also live easier.

It can be seen that living an easier life has become the goal pursued by many young people, and they are willing to try various ways to achieve it, or get close.

It's hard to say if this is the right choice. In the movie "Little Women", Joe sends her manuscript to the publisher, and the editor gives her a revision: "This country has just gone through a war, people want entertainment, they don't want to hear preaching, and moral admonitions are not available now."

The more difficult the time, the more everyone rejects suffering. Even just getting hope from the smooth sailing of others is a little strength to keep going.