Intermediate - A Dodgy Opportunity for Lao Wang (C1189)

A 老王,最近在哪儿发财呢?
Lǎo Wáng, zuìjìn zài nǎr fācái ne?
Hey, Lao Wang, what have you been up to?
B 哎,发什么财,我做什么都不顺。
ài, fā shénme cái, wǒ zuò shénme dōu bù shùn.
Agh, what are you talking about!? Nothing I do goes smoothly.
A 哦?那我给你介绍一个人吧。
ó? nà wǒ gěi nǐ jièshào yī ge rén ba.
Huh? Then let me introduce you to someone.
B 谁?
shéi?
Who?
A 她生意做得非常大,黑道白道都有人。
tā shēngyi zuò de fēicháng dà, hēidào báidào dōu yǒu rén.
She does a lot of business. She knows people both legit and otherwise.
B 啊?黑社会啊?
ǎ? hēishèhuì a?
Huh? Organized crime?
A 不是。我是说,她什么都搞得定。她在找人做事。
bù shì. wǒ shì shuō, tā shénme dōu gǎodedìng. tā zài zhǎo rén zuòshì.
No. What I'm saying is that she can take care of anything. She's looking for people to do stuff.
B 那还是算了。我看有风险。
nà háishì suànle. wǒ kàn yǒu fēngxiǎn.
Then forget it. Looks risky to me.
A 老王,要赚钱,怎么可能没风险?
Lǎo Wáng , yào zhuànqián, zěnme kěnéng méi fēngxiǎn?
Lao Wang, how can there be no risks if you want to make money?
B 我都这个年纪了,没必要。
wǒ dōu zhè ge niánjì le, méi bìyào.
At my age, there's no need.
A 啊呀,我们这个年纪的人,机会不多了。
āyā, wǒmen zhè ge niánjì de rén, jīhuì bù duō le.
Agh, there aren't that many opportunities for people our age.
B 你认识她吗?
nǐ rènshi tā ma?
Do you know her?
A 告诉你,这几年我就是跟她做。你看我现在开什么车?
gàosu nǐ, zhèjǐnián wǒ jiùshì gēn tā zuò. nǐ kàn wǒ xiànzài kāi shénme chē?
I'm telling you, I've been working for her these last few years. Do you see what car I'm driving now?
B 哇,这么赚钱?
wā, zhème zhuànqián?
Oh, the money is that good!?
A 想跟她的人多了,我们是老朋友,我才把机会给你。
xiǎng gēn tā de rén duō le, wǒmen shì lǎo péngyou, wǒ cái bǎ jīhuì gěi nǐ.
A lot of people want to work with her. I'm only giving you this opportunity because we're old friends.
B 嗯,我再想想。
ng, wǒ zài xiǎngxiang.
Hmm...I'll think about it some more.

Key Vocabulary

发财 fācái to get rich
shùn smooth, favorable
黑道 hēidào the underworld, organized crime
白道 báidào legitimate, upstanding
黑社会 hēishèhuì The Mob, organized crime
搞得定 gǎodedìng to be able to fix, arrange or take care of
风险 fēngxiǎn risk
dōu adds emphasis
年纪 niánjì age
必要 bìyào need, requirement
机会 jīhuì opportunity

Supplementary Vocabulary

顺利 shùnlì smooth, trouble-free
规模 guīmó scale, scope
合法 héfǎ legal
非法 fēifǎ illegal
胆小 dǎnxiǎo cowardly, timid
出主意 chū zhǔyì to suggest ideas