Xiaoyu has been an intern for three months without being paid. Chen Hao tells her what to keep and how to raise it again with her boss.
Xiaoyu
陈浩，我实习三个月了，一分钱也没拿到。
Chén Hào, wǒ shí xí sān gè yuè le, yī fēn qián yě méi ná dào.
Chen Hao, I have been an intern for three months and I have not had a penny.
Chen Hao
当初说好有补贴吗？
Dāng chū shuō hǎo yǒu bǔ tiē ma ?
Was an allowance agreed at the outset?
Xiaoyu
说好了，一个月两千。可是合同上没写。
Shuō hǎo le, yī gè yuè liǎngqiān. Kěshì hétong shàng méi xiě.
It was, two thousand a month. But it is not written in the agreement.
Chen Hao
那就麻烦了。你当时是跟谁谈的？
Nà jiù máfan le. Nǐ dāngshí shì gēn shéi tán de ?
Then it gets awkward. Who did you discuss it with at the time?
Xiaoyu
跟部门的主管。只是口头说的。
Gēn bùmén de zhǔ guǎn. Zhǐ shì kǒu tóu shuō de.
With the head of the department. Only verbally.
Chen Hao
手机上还留着记录吗？
Shǒujī shàng hái liú zhe jìlù ma ?
Is there still a record on your phone?
Xiaoyu
有一句。他说下个月跟工资一起发。
Yǒu yī jù. Tā shuō xià gè yuè gēn gōngzī yīqǐ fā.
One sentence. He wrote that it would be paid next month with the salaries.
Chen Hao
那就把这一句留着，千万别删。
Nà jiù bǎ zhè yī jù liú zhe, qiān wàn bié shān.
Then keep that sentence, and whatever you do, do not delete it.
Xiaoyu
我不但没拿到钱，而且天天加班到九点。
Wǒ bùdàn méi ná dào qián, érqiě tiāntiān jiābān dào jiǔ diǎn.
Not only am I not being paid, I work until nine every evening.
Chen Hao
实习的时间也有规定，这一点你可以提。
Shí xí de shíjiān yě yǒu guīdìng, zhè yī diǎn nǐ kěyǐ tí.
There are rules on internship hours too, you can raise that point.
Xiaoyu
我想先跟他再谈一次。
Wǒ xiǎng xiān gēn tā zài tán yī cì.
I would like to speak to him once more first.
Chen Hao
谈的时候别生气，就问他哪一天发。
Tán de shíhou bié shēngqì, jiù wèn tā nǎ yī tiān fā.
Do not lose your temper when you do, just ask him which day it will be paid.
Xiaoyu
好。要是下个月还没有，我就不做了。
Hǎo. Yàoshi xià gè yuè hái méiyǒu, wǒ jiù bù zuò le.
Right. If there is still nothing next month, I will stop.
说好了一个月两千: two thousand a month had been said and settled. The complement 好 marks the agreement concluded, not the quality of what was said. The same value is in 商量好了, 约好了, 想好了: each time, the matter is settled. It is the word with which you remind someone of a promise without accusing them.
千万别删: whatever you do, do not delete it. 千万 ("ten million") counts nothing, it strengthens an instruction whose neglect would be costly. It is used only in the imperative, almost always in the negative, and it is more urgent than 一定要. It is a friend's word, not a superior's.
A verbal promise weighs nothing against an agreement that does not mention it; a saved message does. That is why Chen Hao advises neither anger nor walking out, but keeping one sentence. The same logic holds for a quote, a repair or an order, and it comes back in the lesson on quotes and invoices.
