Two months after the invoice, Chen Hao has received nothing. The customer's accountant explains where the money is stuck.
Chen Hao
您好，我们六月的那一笔钱，到现在还没收到。
Nínhǎo, wǒmen liù yuè de nà yī bǐ qián, dào xiànzài hái méi shōudào.
Hello, that payment of ours from June still has not come through.
The accountant
我查一下。发票是什么时候开的？
Wǒ chá yīxià. Fā piào shì shénme shíhou kāi de ?
Let me check. When was the invoice issued?
Chen Hao
六月十号，当天就寄给你们了。
Liù yuè shí hào, dàngtiān jiù jì gěi nǐmen le.
The tenth of June, and it was sent to you the same day.
The accountant
我这儿收到了。不过还没走完流程。
Wǒ zhèr shōudào le. Bùguò hái méi zǒu wán liú chéng.
I have it here. But it has not been all the way through the approval chain.
Chen Hao
已经两个月了。合同上写的是三十天。
Yǐjīng liǎng gè yuè le. Hétong shàng xiě de shì sānshí tiān.
It has been two months. The contract says thirty days.
The accountant
我知道。今年我们自己的钱也被压着。
Wǒ zhīdào. Jīnnián wǒmen zìjǐ de qián yě bèi yā zhe.
I know. Our own money is being held up this year too.
Chen Hao
我理解。可是我下个月要发工资。
Wǒ lǐjiě. Kěshì wǒ xià gè yuè yào fā gōngzī.
I understand. But I have wages to pay next month.
The accountant
这样吧，我先把一半给你。
Zhèyàng ba, wǒ xiān bǎ yībàn gěi nǐ.
Let us do this: I will pay you half first.
Chen Hao
一半什么时候到？
Yībàn shénme shíhou dào ?
When will that half arrive?
The accountant
这个星期五以前。剩下的下个月十号。
Zhè gè xīngqī wǔ yǐqián. Shèngxià de xià gè yuè shí hào.
Before Friday this week. The rest on the tenth of next month.
Chen Hao
那请您把这两个日子写在邮件里。
Nà qǐng nín bǎ zhè liǎng gè rìzi xiě zài yóujiàn lǐ.
Then please put those two dates in an email.
The accountant
可以，我下午发给你。
Kěyǐ, wǒ xiàwǔ fā gěi nǐ.
Of course, I will send it this afternoon.
Chen Hao
谢谢。以后的活儿，我们还是先收一半再做。
Xièxie. Yǐhòu de huór, wǒmen háishi xiān shōu yībàn zài zuò.
Thank you. On future jobs we will take half up front before starting.
我们自己的钱也被压着: our own money is being held too. The passive names nobody, because it is a whole chain of customers; the 着 marks that the state persists. This combination, passive plus 着, describes a situation you are subjected to and that goes on, not an event: 被关着, 被占着, 被压着.
这样吧 opens a compromise: "let us rather do it this way". The 吧 makes it a suggestion and not a decision, which leaves the other side free to refuse without friction. You hear it at the exact moment when a tense discussion turns towards a settlement, and it is a signal worth recognising by ear.
走流程 means "to go through the chain": a Chinese invoice passes the requesting department, the manager, accounts, sometimes the directors, and each stage can go to sleep. Chasing usefully means knowing at which stage the file has stopped, which Chen Hao does not ask and might have. The compromise he gets, at least, is dated and in writing, which is the second reflex.
