Chinese girls turned lonely middle-aged men into a production line — and nobody saw it coming

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:00]Recently, a pretty absurd term has popped up online called squeezing old men. What does squeezing old men mean?

[00:00:07]It refers to certain young girls, especially what people online call spiritual little sisters, who specifically go after middle-aged men in their 30s and 40s who still have a little money on hand. They play around with flirty messaging, drop affectionate concern, act cute and play victim, and slowly squeeze the money out of them.

[00:00:27]Today, it's bubble tea. Tomorrow, it's a food delivery. The day after, it's a red envelope of 5 yuan, 8 yuan, and 88 cents, 28 yuan.

[00:00:39]Each single transaction isn't large, but it can't withstand frequency. Combined with internet propagation, this thing has straight up become a production line. Squeezers, squeezers, squeezers, don't rush. There's enough to go around.

[00:00:50]At this point, someone says, "Hey, isn't this just a gold digger?"

[00:00:53]Well, that's not quite right. Because in the eyes of these older brothers, these little sisters don't want a house, don't want a car.

[00:01:01]Honestly, they really only squeeze 10 or 20 yuan occasionally, completely affordable to be squeezed. And the key thing is the little sister really does provide emotional value. The content online about this lately is pretty surreal, too.

[00:01:17]There's stuff like two spiritual little sisters take me out for a day, live demonstration of squeezing old men, or how do the spiritual cousins who make a living squeezing old men actually live?

[00:01:30]Some people tell these stories like they're urban survival documentaries. On one side, the little sisters are bursting gold coins online. On the other, the old codgers are providing stable output. The comment sections are lively, too. Those who don't know what's going on might think it's some new type of internet investment project. This has led many people to see squeezing old men as poor girls fiercely getting their revenge by raking in gold. But the problem is that quite a few of the people being squeezed don't even count as wealthy.

[00:01:57]Those truly good big brothers with resources, social circles, filtering abilities who are at wine and dinner parties every day, they don't lack women. They don't fall into this kind of low-tier game so easily, either.

[00:02:10]The ones who are actually more vulnerable to this impact are usually those who have a little bit of disposable income, not poor to the point of being broke, but whose lives can't be called thrilling, either.

[00:02:21]At home, they're like background props.

[00:02:23]At work, they're like consumable material.

[00:02:26]Usually when people contact them, it's either to ask for payment or ask for a favor.

[00:02:31]The message list is bustling, but no one actually willing to chat idly with them, not a single one. And this is actually the real portrait of most ordinary men.

[00:02:40]So many people think this squeezing old men thing is just about men being lecherous. That's a bit one-sided. A lot of people aren't buying any kind of intimate relationship. They're buying a feeling that the messages they send out get a response.

[00:02:54]For example, if I say today I'm tired, someone replies, "Brother, you worked hard."

[00:03:01]So I transfer over 20 or 30 yuan, and the person on the other end immediately replies back, "You're so good."

[00:03:11]We shouldn't think this emotional value is cheap because in many people's real lives, even this most minimally configured emotional response is on the verge of being cut off. So what they're squeezing more often than not isn't a financial high ground, but the emotional gap of many men today.

[00:03:29]They're expending money to buy a sense of conquest. They're spending money to buy the feeling that they're still being loved. However, even though the original intention is pure, it's ultimately still a financial transaction.

[00:03:42]There are some risks involved because the scariest thing about squeezing old men isn't that the amount is large, it's precisely that the amount is small.

[00:03:51]Today, bubble tea. Tomorrow, takeout.

[00:03:53]the day after a red envelope. Each one isn't big, but several times a day, and the total amount actually isn't small.

[00:04:00]So, the most sinister thing about this isn't that it's expensive, it's that each time it's cheap enough to make people forget to be on guard. Think about it. If someone came up to you and said, "Brother, transfer me 30,000.

[00:04:13]I can't survive anymore."

[00:04:16]Most people's first reaction would definitely be get lost. But, if today they say their phone got shut off, tomorrow they haven't eaten yet, the day after they send a sad emoji saying they want bubble tea, would you think this is any big deal? No.

[00:04:30]Because the amount is too small, small enough that you mistakenly think this isn't a transaction, just casually helping out. And it's precisely this, small enough that it doesn't matter, that easily traps a person.

[00:04:44]You think you're buying her a bubble tea, actually you're paying the monthly subscription for your own illusion. And this mechanism makes the payer feel like they're still in control of the situation.

[00:04:55]He thinks, "It's nothing.

[00:04:57]I haven't spent much.

[00:04:59]Just a few dozen, just a hundred or so.

[00:05:01]I'm not an idiot. I have my wits about me."

[00:05:05]And she is exploiting exactly this loophole in human nature, deliberately avoiding your alert system, not doing one-shot deals, but rather companionship, automatic deduction like password-free app payments. The amount isn't big, but it keeps deducting. In the end, you're too lazy to even cancel. Also, there's another point about the squeezing old men phenomenon that deserves attention.

[00:05:27]It was never about who is selling, it's that these things can actually be sold nowadays.

[00:05:32]Because these so-called emotional values used to be natural byproducts of normal human relationships.

[00:05:38]If you were tired, someone would ask, "What's wrong?"

[00:05:41]Before bed, someone would remind you to rest early.

[00:05:45]You'd say some random nonsense, and a friend would respond seriously. You'd be in low spirits and the bros would show concern, even go drink together.

[00:05:53]These things in the past weren't commodities. They were mutual assistance within interpersonal relationships.

[00:06:00]But now, this kind of previously common emotional exchange is becoming increasingly scarce.

[00:06:05]And after becoming scarce, they started getting packaged, broken down, priced, and finally retailed.

[00:06:11]So, the harshest truth about squeezing old men isn't that someone got deceived.

[00:06:16]It's that the sense of response and companionship that used to flow naturally in normal relationships has been extracted and sold off.

[00:06:25]This isn't an upgrade of romantic relationships. It's a downgrade of relationships, even an objectification of human emotions.

[00:06:34]Many people these days think the most expensive things in modern society are houses, cars, betrothal gifts. Not necessarily. In the future, what may get more and more expensive is a normal relationship. Because money, if you earn a bit more and spend a bit less, you can still calculate it.

[00:06:50]But if a person lives long-term in a state where they speak and no one responds, they feel emotions and no one cares, their sense of existence keeps shrinking, their craving [music] for response will continuously inflate. In the end, even for a formatted brother, you're so good, they'd be willing to attach a payment [music] QR code.

[00:07:07]That's the truly surreal part of squeezing old men. It's not a triumph story, not a comeback story, certainly not female victory or men being scammed.

[00:07:17]It's just a harsh statement of one thing. Nowadays, some people even need to pay to get the most basic feeling of being cared about. What they sell isn't love, and what they buy isn't a future, either.

[00:07:30]One side is selling illusion, the other side is also buying illusion. And the bigger problem is that this illusion has actually become a stable business.

[00:07:40]Well, that's it for this episode. See you next time.