Conversation Among Friends About Money

Or whatever you want us to do, that's what we'll do. I…

What are you doing here so late? We're trying to figure something out.

Figure something out? What? Getting food. We need to eat.

You need to figure out how to eat? Because we have no money.

Where are you from? Henan. What did you come here for?

We came here to find work. Factory work.

What about the factory? The factory let us all go.

So what are you sitting here waiting to do now?

We're waiting for him to open up. Then we'll borrow some money, buy tickets, and leave.

Who are you borrowing from? Friends. We don't dare tell our parents.

Why don't you dare tell your parents? Don't they look after you? No.

Then what if you can't borrow any? If we can't, we'll figure something out when the time comes.

Why are you figuring something out again?

Why are you always trying to figure things out?

Mainly because we don't know what else to do.

If that doesn't work, we'll pawn this phone.

She already pawned her phone. The two of us share one phone. You both use one phone?

Sometimes she logs into her WeChat, sometimes I log into mine.

Bro, could you give us a cigarette to smoke?

Cigarettes? You're out? No, we… We haven't smoked for two or three hours.

Two or three hours? Wow, you make it sound like you think that's a really long time.

Come on, come on. Thanks, thanks. Thanks, bro. Thanks, bro.

So, are you two hungry? A little. Come on, come on. Let me treat you to a meal first. Okay.

What’s wrong? We could just buy some bread across the street.

Bread won’t fill you up, and it’s not nutritious.

Let’s go eat hamburgers over there. Come on, let’s go.

Bro, why are you so good to us? I’m not that good.

You treated us to a meal, and then you bought us drinks, too.

You two girls were over there with no money and hadn’t eaten all day.

But we’ve never met anyone as nice as you.

You’ve never met anyone like that? No. What about boyfriends?

Boyfriends are useless. We always have to figure things out for them.

They even cheat on us. You can have it. Come on, come on. Go ahead, eat.

Wow, bro, you ordered so much. Hadn’t you gone a whole day without eating?

That tattoo of yours is pretty unique. How much did it cost?

It cost over 3,000 back then. A little over 3,000 in total.

Then I got it colored in bit by bit, 100 or 200 each time.

Can you pay in installments? Yes. He colors in just a little section each time, worth 100 or 200.

So all the money you earn from working goes toward this.

Yeah. Eat some more. When you’re done, I’ll go buy the tickets.

Then you can head back tomorrow morning.

I kind of don’t want to go back. Why not?

I think you’ve got potential. Can we follow you?

We can do anything. What do you mean? As long as we have money, we can do anything.

The thing is, I don't have any money. That's okay. As long as you're there, that's enough. Yeah.

Stop it. I don't—I don't know what you guys are doing.

What's wrong? This— pack it up. We'll pack up whatever we can't finish.

Why pack it up? What do you mean, you can't finish it? Yeah.

We can eat it in the car later, so we won't have to spend money buying more.

Eat it in the car? Yeah. I'll just buy you something new.

No need, no need. So what's your plan? We were planning to go back over there and keep sitting and waiting.

The station. Yeah. Seriously, Wuchi Moyi is really dangerous.

I'll book you a hotel across the street.

That's too expensive. You can't sit by the road and wait. It's too dangerous.

No, that's not okay. Let's go to that hotel nearby.

Which hotel? The one in the alley. We've stayed over there before.

The hotel in the alley? Won't it be pretty rough?

No, we're used to it. I'll take you there. Okay, then I'll go book it for you.

Let's get a room. Do you have any rooms left? How many people? Two.

I'll be down in a bit. The owner looked me over curiously.

You usually stay here, right? Yeah, we always stay here.

Oh my God. Wait, are you sure people can stay here?

Sure, you can stay here. You stay here? Yeah.

Isn't this moldy? It's okay. We used to live here before. Yeah.

We're used to living here. Aren't you too hot? I'm fine.

How about I turn on a fan for you?

Could your fan spray water? No, no. Bro, do you have a girlfriend now? Huh?

Yeah. Why do you ask? You've been so good to me, I want to repay you.

What do you mean by that? How would you repay me?

What kind of girls do you like? I don't have a particular type.

I go by how I feel. I like girls who are good to me.

What about girls like us? What kind is that?

I know I have tattoos, but I'll be good to you.

Right. What does being good to me mean? I'll give you everything I can.

What do you have to give me? We'll work hard. We'll go earn money.

You'll earn money for me to spend? Right.

It's not about how much money you can earn. The key is— We were thinking maybe we'd work as billiards assistants when the time comes.

Billiards assistants? Okay. I've heard that industry isn't all that great.

But we don't know what else to do right now, or you can tell us what to do, and we'll do it.

I…

No, I hadn't thought of anything for you to do.

This is getting a little awkward. Sorry.

Maybe we should go first. I'll take you outside. This fan…

Bro, don't go yet. What's wrong? Can you sit here for a while first?

Just sit for a bit. What's wrong? We'll go downstairs and get something.

Get what? It's so boring just sitting here.

Don't you two need to get some rest? It's fine. We're in no hurry to rest.

We can rest in the car tomorrow. Oh. Could you wait here for us for a little while?

All right, all right, all right. Go ahead. Later.

We're back. What'd you go do? We bought some liquor, and then we also bought…

We bought liquor. Bro, this is for you. Holy shit.

We bought this for you. Why'd you buy me cigarettes?

Well, to repay you, since you just treated us to a meal and drinks.

Didn't you say you had no money? Where'd you get it?

I just traded in my fourteen for that… You traded in your phone?

I went to the phone shop next door and traded it in.

What the hell are you doing? Hurry up and exchange it back. Come on.

It's fine, it's fine. It's already done. We already bought these.

You didn't have to. I could've bought all this. Why did you…

It's fine, it's fine. Holy shit, I wish you both all the best.

All right, I'm heading out. Get some rest early.

Bro, let us repay you tonight.