396. Dealing in the Black Market

📑 Translation

• Original Jasinda: Was that your friend Mitch? Thomas: Yeah, he and I had lunch today to talk about some business opportunities. Jasinda: ==What line of work is he in? Thomas: Well, I guess you could say he's in the import/export business. Jasinda: Hmm... Why are you being so shifty==? Isn’t his business on the up and up? He doesn’t ==deal in the black market, does he? Thomas: Let’s just say that he takes full advantage of== a free market and there’s nothing wrong with the gray market. Jasinda: You’re not telling me he deals in stolen goods, are you? Thomas: No, no, nothing like that. Don’t be so naive. There is an entire underground economy in this country, which serves an important purpose. It gets people what they want. Jasinda: Is he a smuggler? Does he deal in counterfeit or pirated goods? Is that it? Thomas: I'm not saying another word. Jasinda: You did say that you were having lunch to talk about business opportunities. You’re not thinking of going into business with him, are you? Thomas: It was just talk. ==Nothing is set in stone yet==.

• Chinese Jasinda: 那是你的朋友 Mitch 吗？ Thomas: 对啊，我今天和他一起吃午饭，聊了一些生意机会。 Jasinda: 他是做哪一行的？ Thomas: 嗯，你可以说他是做进出口生意的。 Jasinda: 嗯……你怎么这么鬼鬼祟祟的？他的生意不是合法的吗？他该不会是在黑市做买卖吧？ Thomas: 这么说吧，他只是把自由市场的好处发挥到极致而已，而且灰色市场也没什么不对。 Jasinda: 你不是想告诉我，他在倒卖赃物吧？ Thomas: 不不，不是那样。别这么天真。这个国家有一整套地下经济，而且它有其重要作用，能让人们得到自己想要的东西。 Jasinda: 他是走私犯吗？他是不是在卖假货或盗版商品？是这样吗？ Thomas: 我不会再多说一个字了。 Jasinda: 你刚才可是说过，你们一起吃午饭是在谈生意机会。你该不会在考虑跟他一起做生意吧？ Thomas: 只是随便聊聊而已，八字还没一撇呢。

• First 2026-03-23 12:30 J: Is Was that your friend~~,~~ Mitch? T: Yeah, I had a lunch with him today and talked to talk about some business opportunities. J: What kind of line of work is him he in? T: Well, you can say he’s doing in the import/export business. J: Okay Hmm… Why is are you shifting being so shifty? Is his business not on the up and up? Can’t Doesn't he do business deal in the black market? T: In this way Let's just say that he take the advantage takes full advantage of the a free market to a high * and there’s nothing wrong with the gray market~~, too~~. J: You don’t want to are not telling me is he selling he deals in stolen goods, are you? T: No, not no, it’s not like that. Don’t be so naive. This country have has a whole underground economy and it has an important function that can help people get what they want. J: Is he a pirate smuggler? Is he selling countifeit counterfeit or pirated goods? Is that it? T: I’m not going to say one more word. J: You just said that you had a lunch together for talking to talk about business opportunities. Are you considering doing business with him? T: We just talked about it and nothing is set the in stone.

  Full review: 396. Dealing in the Black Market - Review Key Takeaways:

  1. Use have lunch/dinner/breakfast without a for ordinary meals.
  2. Use fixed business chunks: be in the import/export business, deal in stolen goods, go into business with someone.
  3. After tell me, keep statement order: You're not telling me he deals in stolen goods, are you?
  4. Treat idioms like on the up and up, Let's just say, and set in stone as whole chunks.
  5. Use Is that it? as the fixed follow-up question when you mean “So that’s the explanation?”

• Second 2026-03-25 12:30 J: Was that your friend Mitch? T: Yeah, I had lunch with him today to talk about some business opportunities. J: What line of work he is is he in? T: Well, you can say he’s doing in the export/import import/export business. J: Come on Hmm… Why are you being so shifty? Isn’t his business on the up and up? Is Doesn't he doing business on deal in the black market, does he? T: Just say, he’s just taking a Let's just say that he takes full advantage of the a free market and nothing is there's nothing wrong with the gray market. J: You don’t want to tell me that he’s dealing in are not telling me he deals in stolen goods, are you? T: No, no, it’s not that nothing like that. Don’t be so naive. There’s a an entire underground economy in this country~~, and it has an important function that let’s people get what they want~~ , which serves an important purpose. It gets people what they want. J: Is he a smuggler? Is Does he dealing deal in counterfeit or pirated goods? Is that it? T: I wouldn’t say 'm not saying another word. J: You was just saying did say that you had lunch to talk about business opportunities. Aren’t you considering doing business going into business with him? T: We just had a talk~~,~~ . Nothing is set in stone yet.

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