A Business Trip to Guangzhou

A short story written by Yueqing Huang?

????????I am an engineer in a radio factory of Nanjing, as a 45-year-old man, I own a successful career and a happy family, with techniques learnt from university and experience accumulated when I was young, I am put into an important position by my current leader, which brings me handsome salary and full respect. With those money, I can give my child best education and my family materials of high quality. The passing away of my parents last year eased me of a lot of burden, but I still have my parents-in-law to support, they have retired a couple of years ago from their respective workplaces and is now being installed in an apartment with two bedrooms and a living room in a neighborhood near Nanjing railway station, the district is rather busy because of the station, your can not only take bus all the way to the downtown within 10 minutes, buy whatever you like in the nearby supermarket, but call whoever in from kilometres away to help you within a few minutes. Being freed from their jobs, they can now do whatever they want—following hot TV series online, chatting with friends and relatives, playing cards with their neighbor, attending classes in University for the Aged. However, their favorite pastime is to play mah-jong, they are indulged in it to an extent that they get irritable whenever there is three days they are aloof from it. Considering that they have toiled for a lifetime and brought her up through innumerable hardships, my wife tried her best to satisfy their needs: when there is no players, she called together friends and relatives to play with them; when there is no instruments, she scouted around the city for an ivory one and lost no time in delivering into their hands; when there is no place, she made room in her own house for them to play. Sometimes my work and life is affected by their vulgar entertainment, but I have no other choice but to be patient, because they are my parents-in-law.?

????????我是南京一所無線電廠的工程師，今年45歲，我有一個成功的事業(yè)和一個美滿的家庭，憑著在大學時學到的技能和年輕時積累的經(jīng)驗，我被現(xiàn)任領(lǐng)導委以重任，我的職位不僅為我?guī)碡S厚的薪水，還能獲得充分的尊重。有了那些錢，我可以讓我的孩子接受最好的教育并提高家里人的物質(zhì)生活質(zhì)量。去年我父母的去世減輕了我不少負擔，但是我還有岳父母要贍養(yǎng)，他們幾年前從各自的單位退休后就被安置在南京火車站附近的一個小區(qū)中的一套兩室一廳的房子里，因為火車站的原因那里成了黃金地段，你不僅可以坐上巴士在10分鐘內(nèi)直達市中心，在附近的超市里買你想要的東西，而且能在幾分鐘內(nèi)叫來數(shù)公里遠的人來幫助你。從繁重工作中解放出來的岳父母現(xiàn)在能做任何他們想做的事情——譬如在網(wǎng)上追劇，跟親戚朋友聊天，跟鄰居打牌，上老年大學。但是他們最喜歡的消遣活動是打麻將，他們愛打麻將愛到一定程度以至于三天不摸牌就會發(fā)脾氣?？紤]到他們操勞了一輩子且含辛茹苦地把她養(yǎng)大，我妻子在這上面盡量將就他們：沒牌友了，她把親戚朋友都叫來陪他們打牌；沒器具了，她就算跑斷腿也要幫他們找副象牙麻將并在第一時間親自遞到他們手上；沒地方了，她把自家騰出來讓他們打牌。有時候我的工作和生活也會被他們這種低俗的娛樂活動所影響，但我除了隱忍也沒別的法子，再怎么說他們也是我的岳父母。?

????????A few days earlier I was sent to Guangzhou by my immediate superior for some negotiation with local counterparts and entrepreneurs just because the factory I am employed have the intention to set up a branch in that city. As a core technician, I not only know my stuff, but am well acquainted with large and small things in my factory, therefore it must be deemed a high probability event to assign me to the task. Although as my child is too young to leave behind, I was reluctant to do the task at first, I was eventually talked into it by my superior promising an additional bonus of 200 yuan at the end of the year as a condition. Having arranged everything, I embarked on the journey to Guangzhou—a place totally strange to me but I yearned for, although I was not completely confident about the task, I had a faith that everything would work out in the end, after all, my knowledge and experience is there, it will shorten the distance between my peers and me and further simplify my task. I was given 5 days to finish everything, but 3 days are enough and I can use the extra 2 days to visit major places of that city, beyond that, I must take the opportunity to buy some toys for my boy and delicacies for my family members. With these beautiful thoughts I was full of energy, I hope the train drives faster so that I could reach my destination as soon as possible. It took me some 8 hours on the train, as a fixture to my seat I could do nothing but read newspaper and admire the pastoral scenery outside the window, when I was tired of doing so and there was still time for me to kill, I took out my phone and clicked here and there on the screen aimlessly, hope it acted as a time accelerator. Eventually, the boredom was brought to an end by the train stopping at its destination—Guangzhou, I threaded my way through the moving mass of bodies off the train to the ticket barrier, and was swept out of the station at last.?

????????幾天前我被我的頂頭上司派往廣州就開分廠的事宜與當?shù)氐钠髽I(yè)家和同行進行商談。作為一個技術(shù)骨干，我不僅精通專業(yè)知識，對廠里大大小小的情況也了如指掌，所以廠里派我完成任務(wù)是為了增加成功的可能性。雖然因為孩子太小還丟不開，我剛開始對這份差事很不情愿，但在領(lǐng)導答應(yīng)年終多加我兩百塊錢獎金的條件下，我最終被他說服了。安排好一切后，我踏上了去廣州的的旅程——一個我完全陌生卻向往的地方，雖然我對這次任務(wù)不是信心滿滿，但是我相信船到橋頭自然直，畢竟我的知識和閱歷就擺子那里，它會拉近我跟同行之間的距離進而簡化我的工作。領(lǐng)導給我五天時間完成所有事情，但是三天就足夠了，我可以利用額外的兩天時間游歷那里的名勝古跡，順便再幫我的孩子買些玩具和家里人買些好吃的，一想到這里我就充滿了干勁，巴不得火車開的越快越好，早點到達我的目的地。我在火車上呆了八個多小時，被固定在座位上的我除了讀報紙和欣賞窗外的田園風景什么也干不了，當我看膩了風景且時間還十分充裕的時候，我就掏出手機漫無目的的在屏幕上點來點去，把它當成一個時間加速器。最終，火車抵達了目的地——廣州，我的無聊也告一段落了，我被人流推下了火車，一直推到檢票口，最后被“拍”出了車站。?

? ??????What revealed to me was a prosperous and busy scene: high buildings stand here and there ablaze with light, all kinds of cars and buses shuttled to and fro on the open road, people of different ages and statures came into my sight in turn. The honks, shouts of vendors, murmurs between fellow pedestrians and rustles in the air accorded with each other into a living symphony totally different from where I live and work. Having localized on the smart phone, I settled myself in a guest house a few miles from the roar of the train. The house, though neat and clean, is by no means of high standard, its old-fashioned decoration reminded me of houses and villas in the 1970s and 1980s. The receptionist received me hospitably and ushered me all the way into the depth of that small hotel, having turned the key in the hole and inserted the room card into an electronic device on the wall, I entered the room and found it is simply furnished: a single bed, a desk with tea bags, cups and a lamp on it, a chair and a wardrobe. The window showed me a picture of the busy street and commercial buildings without their noisiness, a LCD TV hangs on the wall could receive local TV programmes. Having put everything in order, I took a shower to wash off the dust and exhaustion, and then stepped out of the very house into a nearby bazaar.?

????????展現(xiàn)在我眼前的是一片繁華熱鬧的景象：到處聳立著燈火通明的高樓大廈，各式各樣的巴士和汽車穿梭在寬闊的馬路上，不同年齡和身材的人輪流映入我的眼簾。汽車的喇叭聲、小販的叫賣聲、同行者之間的低語聲和空氣中的沙沙聲相互配合奏出了一首完全不同于我工作和生活地方的生活交響曲。在智能手機上定位好地點以后，我把自己安置在一個離火車呼嘯聲不遠的一個小招待所里面。招待所雖然干凈整潔，檔次卻不算高，它過時的裝潢讓我聯(lián)想起七八十年代的老房子和別墅。接待員熱情的招呼我并把我領(lǐng)入招待所深處，在用鑰匙開門且把房卡插在墻上的電子裝置后，我進入了一個陳設(shè)簡單的房間：一張單人床、一張放有茶包、茶杯和臺燈的桌子、一張椅子和一個衣柜。窗戶展示給我一個隔去聲音的熱鬧街道和一幢幢商業(yè)建筑，一臺掛在墻上的液晶電視能收到本地節(jié)目。把所有東西安排妥當以后，我在蓮蓬頭下洗去了身上的塵土和疲倦，走出招待所來到一個集市。?

????????Of course, bazaar can be seen everywhere, at the time I was in Nanjing, I constantly patronized all kinds of bazaars and bought all kinds of small things such as stockings, clothes hangers, tacks and bulbs from them. The first reason for me here now was to kill time, as I arrived in Guangzhou ahead of time, and the negotiation between technicians and me would not begin until next morning at the soonest, I had plenty of time to kill; the second reason was to hunt for local products such as Cantonese cured meat, jade carving and Yue embroidery for my relatives and family members, in any case I could not return back with empty hands. Suddenly I stopped at a stall where all kinds of cards and mah-jong exhibited on a barrow, with a motive to please my parents-in-law with a cheap and fine one, I began to browse them, though I was somehow dizzied by these instruments glittering in the illuminations. Opposite me was a short, sturdy female owner with a pony tail about 40 years old, judged from her coarse, dark skin, she must be exposed to the sun and rain with her barrow for more than 20 years, and from the quality and variety of her products, she must be specialized in selling chess and cards. I picked up an emerald one among mah-jong of all sizes, materials and colors, and asked:?

????????集市當然哪里都有，我在南京的時候就經(jīng)常光顧各種集市，還在其中買過諸如襪子、曬衣架、大頭釘和燈泡之類的各種小物件。我來到這里的第一個原因是為了打發(fā)時間，鑒于我提前到達廣州，工程師和我之間的商談最早也要等到明天早晨，在此之前我有大把的時間可以任由我支配；第二個原因是為了送親戚朋友而尋找一些諸如廣式臘味、玉雕和粵繡之類的土特產(chǎn)，不管怎么說我總不能空著手回南京吧。這時我停在了一個推車上陳列著各式各樣棋牌和麻將的小攤上，帶著買一個價廉物美的麻將討我岳父母歡心的動機我開始瀏覽它們，雖然我有點被彩燈照在它們身上發(fā)出的光炫的頭發(fā)昏。在我跟前的是一個身材矮小結(jié)實、扎著馬尾辮大約四十歲左右的女營業(yè)主，從她粗糙、黝黑的皮膚來看，她一定風里雨里的推著小車賣麻將不下二十年，從她商品的成色和品種來看，她一定是專賣棋牌類的器具。我從各種型號、材質(zhì)和顏色的麻將中選出一副祖母綠色的，問她道：?

????????“How much is it?”

? ? ????“多少錢一副？”

????????“200 yuan.” The female vendor with melon seeds in hand glanced at me out of the corners of her eyes and answered in a casual tongue.

? ? ????“兩百元?！编局献拥呐當傊饔盟难劢瞧沉宋乙谎?，漫不經(jīng)心地答道。

????????“Could it be a little cheaper?” I asked tentatively, meant to buy it as long as she mark down 50 yuan.

? ? ????“便宜一點行嗎？”我試探性的問道，心想只要能壓低她五十塊我就掏錢。

????????“It’s already the cheapest price, it doesn’t make money.”

? ? ????“已經(jīng)是最便宜的了，我們不賺錢的?！?/p>

????????Without a few more words, I could feel some impatience in her tongue, as if she was telling me “the choice is yours, I don’t give a shit.” Although I was a bit moved by the quality of her product, my enthusiasm dampened by her attitude, which convinced me she was ripping me off, I put down the mah-jong, banished the buying thought and prepared to leave. Suddenly a bruiser sprung out of the nearby alley, appeared in front of me with one hand on my shoulder and said: “Hey, bro, get yourself one.” Following the voice I raised my head, found a hard-featured muscle man of about 30 years old was just before me, in spite of the fact that he put on a pleasant countenance, I could feel a bit of intimidation in his voice.?

????????還沒說幾句，我就能從她的聲調(diào)中感覺到不耐煩，好像在對我說“你愛買不買?！彪m然我有點心動于她商品的成色，但是我的熱情被她惡劣的態(tài)度給澆滅了，這讓我有一種被宰的感覺，我放下麻將，打消了買的念頭并準備離開。突然一個彪形大漢從附近的小巷子里躥出來，走到我面前一只手搭在我的肩膀上并對我說：“嗨，兄弟，買一副吧?！毖曇粑姨痤^，看見一個面相兇惡、三十多歲的肌肉男站在我面前，雖然裝出一副笑嘻嘻的表情，但是我能感覺到他語調(diào)中帶著威脅的口吻。?

????????“I don’t have the money.” I replied mechanically.

? ? ????“我沒有錢。”我機械地回答道。

????????“You do have the money.” He pursued.

? ? ????“你有錢?！彼分艺f。

????????“I don’t have the faintest idea of what you mean.” I uttered with a puzzled expression.

? ? ????“我不知道你是什么意思?！蔽依Щ蟛唤獾卣f道。

????????“You do have the fucking money.” He repeated in a louder and slower voice, and stressed every word.

? ? ????“你他媽的肯定有錢?！彼岣吡松らT，放慢了語調(diào)，在每個字前面都加上了重音。

????????For an instant I saw what he wants, he wanted to coerce me into paying for the expensive mah-jong, or he would not let me go easily!

? ? ????我立刻就明白了他是什么意思，他想脅迫我掏錢買他昂貴的麻將，否則他不會輕易放我走！

????????Suddenly the air seemed to be frozen, the atmosphere crackled with tension, as if the slightest spark could erupt into a bloodshed. I looked into his eyes, telling him tacitly that I am not that kind of coward, and would not be brought to his knees easily; he put away his pleasant face and glared at me, as if talking to me: if you don’t buy the mah-jong today, I will beat the living daylights out of you! To be honest, I was a little frightened then, although I am no less robust than him, I was not his match if he would have produced a knife and stabbed me in the stomach, or called out a gang of his men to help him. Yet I concealed my fear so perfectly that my sharp eyes scrutinized his face severely and my expression told him that I would risk my life in resistance as long as he dare attack me first.?

????????空氣在那一瞬間凝固了，氣氛變得驟然緊張起來，仿佛只要一丁點的火花就能引發(fā)一場流血事件。我盯著他的眼睛，不言而喻地告訴他我不是懦夫，我不會那么容易就滴軟；他收起笑臉怒視著我，似乎在對我說：如果你今天不買麻將，我就打得你滿地找牙！說實話，我當時的確有點害怕，雖然在身體的健壯方面我不輸給他一絲一毫，但是如果他掏出刀來在我肚子上捅兩下，或者召集一幫小流氓做他的幫手，那我的確不是他的對手。但是我完美地隱藏了自己的恐懼，我用眼睛嚴厲地審視著他的臉，用表情在告訴他只要他敢先動手，即便是把命豁出去我也會奮起反抗。?

????????We had looked at each other for some five minutes without any physical confrontation, when the female vendor began to reconcile us: “Enough, let him go!” I guess instead of bearing an intention to get the situation worse, what she wants was to sell her mah-jong, if she had come across a coward, she could have easily achieved her aim, otherwise she could only “l(fā)et it go” and “forget it”. The bruiser seemed to act at her beck and call, as long as the order had been issued, he stopped bothering me immediately. I left the stall without sabotage of that man, and went back to my guest house with quick steps, in fear of his revenge. Although I am not afraid of collision, I don’t want any displeasure happens to me, anyway I am an engineer in a distinguished factory, any collision with the lowest people will degrade me. I had long heard the chaotic situation of Guangzhou—the market is chaos, the locals are of low quality, the police are corrupt and the mafia is rampant, yet it was the first time for me to experience it personally, it is thoroughly a world of difference compares with where I live and work. Furthermore, I learnt a lesson from this encounter: however favorite it is to me, don’t touch a stranger’s product readily, especially in an unfamiliar city and a strange place.?

????????我們就這樣沒有任何肢體沖突的彼此對視著大概五分鐘左右，那個和事佬的女攤販開口了：“算了算了，放他走吧！”我猜測她并不想把事情鬧大，她僅僅是想賣出她的麻將，當她遇到一個膽小鬼的時候，她能夠輕易達到自己的目的，否則她只能“算了”和“放人走”。那個壯漢似乎對她言聽計從，她一下達命令壯漢立馬就放開了我。我就這樣平安無事地離開了那個小攤，在害怕遭報復的情緒中快步走進我的招待所。雖然我不害怕沖突，但我不希望在我身上發(fā)生任何不愉快，（省略掉一段審核通不過的內(nèi)容），它的確與我所工作和生活的地方有著天壤之別。除此以外，這次經(jīng)歷給了我一個教訓：不管遇到自己多么喜歡的東西，只要是陌生人的東西就別輕易去碰，尤其是在一個不熟悉的城市和陌生的地方。?

????????The negotiation lasted three days, during which I introduced my factory, put forward my ideas and persuaded local technicians and entrepreneurs that it would be a win-win cooperation between us, my professionalism and eloquence moved them, they not only treated me enthusiastically, but replied that they would deliberate my proposal. I used the extra two days to travel around the city and purchase local products for my family members, but this time, having learnt a lesson from the previous mah-jong experience, I dared only buy things from formal stores and dared not take a step closer to any stall or barrow. On the day I left, I gave a call to my superior telling him that nothing happened unexpectedly, people here are interested in your proposal, hitherto everything had got on a better track, and a call to my wife asking if everything is OK at home, then packed up my things and embarked on the train back to Nanjing.?

????????商談持續(xù)了兩天，在這其間我向?qū)Ψ浇榻B了我們的工廠，提出了我的想法，說服當?shù)氐募夹g(shù)人員和企業(yè)家這將是我們之間一次雙贏的合作，我的專業(yè)精神和雄辯的口才打動了他們，他們不僅熱情的款待我，還告知他們會慎重考慮我的提案。我用額外的兩天把全城游歷了一番，買了好多給家里人的土特產(chǎn)，但是自從那次麻將的經(jīng)歷后我就吸取了教訓，我只敢在正規(guī)商店里買東西，對于那些小攤和手推車一步都不敢靠近。在我臨走的那天，我打電話報告上司事情沒出任何意外，這里的人對你的提案很感興趣，迄今為止所有事情都在向好的方向發(fā)展，我又給老婆打了個電話問她家里是否一切都好，之后我就收拾行裝踏上了返回南京的火車。?

?????????That is my experience in Guangzhou.?

????????這就是我在廣州的經(jīng)歷。?

????????(Inspired by an ecdemic experience of my father)?

????????（靈感來源于我爸爸一次在外地的經(jīng)歷）