Viral Week is our weekly round-up of the weekend’s trending memes, humor, rumor, gossip, and everything else Chinese netizens are chatting about.

This week, Wuhan declared virus-free, and there’s controversy over porridge. Co-founders feud over their business, and schools find novel ways to enforce social distancing:

Finally free

Wuhan, the city originally at the center of the Covid-19 epidemic, has been declared coronavirus-free after the last patients suffering from infection were released from hospital.

Homecoming thieves

As Yuanqu county, Shanxi province, gathered to welcomed medical workers home from Hubei province, four pickpockets infiltrated the crowd and snatched nine cell phones worth 30,000 RMB from celebratory townspeople. The Yuanqu Public Security Bureau reported that it has arrested the gang.

Seal of disapproval

Li Guoqiang, the co-founder of e-commerce platform Dangdang, broke into the company’s offices, posted notices which claimed he had taken over the firm, and allegedly stole several of the company’s official seals. The bizarre episode is the latest in a longstanding feud between Li Guoqiang and his estranged wife, Peggy Yu, who co-founded the company together, before falling out and hurling insults at one another.

Deadly parenting

A three-month-old infant in Shanghai suffocated to death when her mother put her to bed face-down allegedly on the advice of an online parenting chat group. The company behind the group is under investigation by local police, who say its “scope of operation” does not include pre-education.

Marketing misstep

An executive at smartphone maker Xiaomi came under fire online after posting vulgar and voyeuristic slogans on Weibo to market a camera function released by the company. The executive, Chang Cheng, suggested the camera could be used to spy on female dormitories.

Kid chef

Miao Weihang, an 8-year-old second-grader from Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, has put his two-month holiday from school to good use by learning how to cook over 30 dishes from scratch.

Distance education

Students returning to classes at a Hangzhou elementary school yesterday were each given a colorful “one-meter hat,” decorated with stars, stickers, hearts, and ping pong balls, to remind them to keep a safe distance from one other.

Congee controversy
Last week, netizens accused Shanghai physician Zhang Wenhong of being unpatriotic after he released a video advising parents to feed their children eggs, milk, and sandwiches for breakfast, but “congee is not allowed.” Dr. Zhang has since doubled down on his advice, supported by many other experts who point out that congee has high sugar and less nutritional content compared to the other foods.

Special delivery

A food delivery driver in Wuhan was touched to receive a cake and note of encouragement from one of his customers. Unbeknownst to the customer, it was in fact the driver’s birthday. The man was caught on camera overwhelmed by emotion and sobbing on the roadside.

Delivery hero

In Zhengzhou, a delivery driver became a hero when he apparently came to the aid of an unconscious individual in a restaurant who had fainted due to hypoglycemia, tending to him until help arrived. The food delivery platform reimbursed the driver for the fines on his deliveries that the delay would have caused him.

Baby swap

To save her 28-year-old son, who suffered from liver cancer, a Ms. Xu from Jiujiang, Jiangxi province decided to donate a part of her own liver. But test results in preparation for the procedure found that the man is not her biological son. It turned out the hospital had accidentally swapped her baby with a Henan couple’s when he was born.

Face-saving deposit

A woman in Jiangsu, Nanjing discovered that her husband fabricated a 13 million RMB bank deposit slip on a 100 RMB account in order to “save face.”

Correction: An earlier version of the story incorrectly stated that the delivery driver saved unconscious individuals who fainted from a gas leak.

Cover image from Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA