割韭菜
gē jiǔ cài
Harvesting leeks — scamming or exploiting consumers/investors, especially through overpriced products or bad investments.
Origin
Leeks grow back after being cut, symbolizing how consumers/investors keep coming back to be exploited again.
Examples
That crypto project is just 割韭菜.
别被割韭菜了。(Don't get scammed.)
Related terms
草台班子
cǎo tái bān zi
Literally a 'straw-stage troupe' — any operation that looks official but is actually disorganized, unprofessional, and improvised; the viral extended form 'the whole world is one giant clown show' applies that to everything.
内卷
nèi juǎn
Involution — excessive, often pointless competition where everyone works harder but nobody gains more.
打工人
dǎ gōng rén
Working people / wage slaves — a self-deprecating term workers use to describe themselves.
996
jiǔ jiǔ liù
Working 9am to 9pm, 6 days a week — describes the grueling work culture in Chinese tech companies.