Ms Yeah
{{short description|Chinese YouTube channel}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2018}}
{{Infobox YouTube personality
| name = Ms Yeah
{{nobold|{{lang|zh-Hans|办公室小野}}}}
| image = RISE 2018 - Ms. Yeah 04 (cropped).jpg
| caption = Ms Yeah In 2018
| birth_name = Zhou Xiaohui ({{zh|labels=no|s=周晓慧}})
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1994|07|23|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Chengdu, Sichuan
| nationality = Chinese
| website =
| pseudonym =
| channel_id = UCRB4xZ_2ew7fzmrcv8aj4Lw
| years_active = 2017–present
| genre = {{flatlist|
}}
| subscribers = 13.7 million
| views = 4.7 billion
| network = 洋葱视频 (Onion Video){{cite web|url=http://ent.sina.com.cn/s/m/2017-11-16/doc-ifynwnty3376580.shtml|script-title=zh:洋葱视频CEO聂阳德："办公室小野"背后的男人-办公室小野-聂阳德-洋葱视频|website=ent.sina.com.cn|date=16 November 2017}}
| signature =
| associated_acts =
| stats_update= 2023 April 11
}}
Zhou Xiaohui ({{zh|t=周曉慧|s=周晓慧|first=s}}), known professionally as Ms Yeah ({{zh|小野}}), is a Chinese YouTuber. In each video, a dish, usually Chinese, is prepared using tools found in a typical office workspace. Her videos are characterized by lack of narration, voiceover, or conversation, which helped to popularize the channel abroad.{{cite web |date=23 May 2017 |script-title=zh:办公室小野：一个有故事的女同学_全媒派_腾讯新闻 |url=http://news.qq.com/original/dujiabianyi/xiaoye.html |website=news.qq.com}}
Biography
Zhou was born in Chengdu.{{Cite web |last=网易 |date=2019-01-10 |title=对聊，发声的网红“办公室小野”原来是这个样子 |url=https://www.163.com/dy/article/E55T2C0U0512B07B.html |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=www.163.com}} Growing up, she learned cooking from her father, who managed a hotel.{{cite web |last=Quek |first=Eunice |date=1 November 2017 |title=Social media's famous "office chef" Ms Yeah gets offers to be chef and write cookbooks |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/food/singing-and-acting-next-for-office-chef |publisher=Straits Times (straitstimes.com)}}
She holds a degree in choreography from Sichuan Normal University{{cite web |date=24 November 2017 |title="办公室小野"背后的小野 |url=http://tech.ifeng.com/a/20171124/44775703_0.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180704214132/http://tech.ifeng.com/a/20171124/44775703_0.shtml |archive-date=4 July 2018 |website=tech.ifeng.com}} and a major in video directing. Her first job was an internship at Chengdu Radio & Television as a video director, followed by a job as a wedding planner until working for her current employer.{{cite web |title=Q&A Gossip! Is Office-Cooking Fake? Things you don't know about Ms Yeah!【Ms Yeah】 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7xV6t8XpKY |publisher=办公室小野官方频道 Ms Yeah Official Channel}}
In 2016, Zhou landed a job at a video production company, where she was tasked to make short videos to promote braised vegetables. After seeing a video of someone using a curling iron to cook fatty beef slices, she and a co-worker filmed themselves using a clothes iron to cook beef, which went viral on Weibo.{{Cite web |title=新浪会客厅：对话红人@办公室小野 |url=https://news.sina.cn/zt_d/bgsxy |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=news.sina.cn}}
She was eventually promoted to vice-president and team lead at her company.
Popularity
Unusually for a Chinese celebrity, the channel is more popular overseas than with domestic viewers, having 2.8 million followers on Facebook compared to 2.55 million on Weibo {{as of|lc=y|July 2017}}. Due to lack of narration, the videos have almost no language barrier. Zhou said that because her background was in directing and choreography, she was not confident to speak in front of a camera.
Furthermore, Ms Yeah and the production team use English on foreign social media, and in public appearances she appears to be fluent in English. This may explain the videos' popularity abroad.{{cite web|url=http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2104371/global-reach-quirky-office-chef-chinas-internet-celebrity-economy|title=A quirky office chef's global reach in China's e-celebrity era|date=29 July 2017|author=Zhuang Pinghui|publisher=South China Morning Post (scmp.com)}} As of September 2019, Ms Yeah has more than 7.51 million subscribers, making her one of the most successful Chinese YouTubers ever, despite the fact that access to YouTube has been restricted in China since 2008.
Some videos feature product placement; at a cost of 500,000 CNY, a product will be shown in the video.
Most of the food cooked in the videos are common Chinese dishes and not difficult to prepare per se. Ms Yeah has admitted that the final results often did not taste good,{{cite web |date=27 April 2017 |title=How to cook elaborate dishes using everyday office supplies - like China's newest internet star |url=https://quartzy.qz.com/968293/ms-yeah-chinas-newest-internet-star-cooks-elaborate-dishes-with-everyday-office-supplies/ |publisher=Quartz}} but the goal of her channel is not to teach viewers how to cook; hence there are no cooking instructions. As Ms Yeah stated herself, "I don't want to be a 'cooking teacher'. I don't want to teach you how to cook, and I don't want to teach the science of cooking. I just want to show you an attitude towards life. You can find the joy of life whenever and wherever you are."
In January 2024 Ms Yeah addressed why no new office cooking videos were published, saying she reached a 'creative bottleneck', felt unable to surpass the popularity of her previous content and stressed being an independent content creator. She since published videos of her enjoying her hobbies such as swimming, home cooking and arts and crafts.{{Cite web |last=腾讯网 |date=2024-01-10 |title=“办公室小野”谈现状：这两年遇到创意瓶颈，解散了团队，从零开始_腾讯新闻 |url=https://news.qq.com/rain/a/20240110A00T7I00 |access-date=2024-12-11 |website=news.qq.com |language=zh-CN}}
Viewer injuries
In 2019, two girls aged 12 and 14 from Shandong, were injured, one of them fatally, after allegedly attempting to copy one of Ms Yeah's videos. Ms Yeah paid a compensation for the hospital bills of the girls, but denied responsibility, as she warned users not to copy the videos, and the girl did not copy the exact method.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/49765176|title=YouTuber pays compensation after 'copycat' death|work=BBC News |date=20 September 2019}} Following the accident, she reportedly considered quitting the video series after netizens blamed her for being responsible for the girl's death, but after a one-month hiatus she continued uploading.{{Cite web|url=https://news.ebc.net.tw/News/entertainment/181553|title=少女四肢炸爛！辦公室小野曝慘況 宣布重大決定|website=東森新聞}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.kknewsw.com/f/pf/20190911/37327.html|title="办公室小野"回应女孩自制爆米花去世:配合调查 是时候关闭这些直播平台了，走在大街上都有一些拍视频的_KK新闻网|website=www.kknewsw.com}} The video that was reportedly imitated has since been removed from the channel.
Personal life
On 1 November 2020, Zhou announced her marriage to her long-time boyfriend.{{cite web|url=https://hype.my/2021/251666/youtuber-office-ms-yeah-may-no-longer-be-as-popular-but-shes-happily-married/|first=Rachel|last=Chuah|title=YouTuber Office Ms Yeah May No Longer Be As Popular, But She's Happily Married|newspaper=Hype|date=2021-11-05 |access-date= June 1, 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://nextshark.com/chinese-youtube-star-ms-yeah-aka-office-chef-announces-her-secret-wedding/|first=Ryan|last=General|title=Chinese YouTube star Ms. Yeah aka 'Office Chef' announces her wedding|newspaper=Nextshark|date=2021-11-09 |access-date= June 1, 2022}}