🛵 The Thief Who Became a Celebrity

Zhou Liqi was a poor rural kid who became an internet folk hero after stealing scooters and declaring, mid-arrest, 'It is impossible to work in this life!' — a line that struck a chord with overworked young people quietly 'lying flat.' He became a slacker icon, then tried to turn his accidental fame into a living; the state didn't like it, and scrubbed him from the internet. A strange arc that traces the fine line between visibility and vulnerability, and what happens when you mean something you didn't ask to.