I'm probably just being "realistic."

Your problem is that you're not being realistic. You teach at unis as a professional teacher doing a lecturer's job for substantially less money than you could get elsewhere in China being a resl professor. You remind me of a fellow foreign teacher from Chicago lecturing at a private uni in Dongbei. He was only on 7,000 yuan a month despite having been a real college lecturer in Business English back home.
As a GAC instructor in China, you can expect at least 10,000 yuan a month, and you'll be teaching students subjects such as Academic English and Business Studies. That's how to make very good money here as a real teacher. I'm surprised you don't know this!

I was aware of that and have no interest in teaching Academic English and Business Studies. We were talking about the looming extinction of the 12 month contract for public schools, and whether that was a scam, an injustice, a travesty, business or usual, or just tough shit.