Chen Hao wants to launch a company with two friends. He is asked who puts in what, who does what, and who decides.
Chen Hao
我想辞职，自己开个公司。
Wǒ xiǎng cízhí, zìjǐ kāi gè gōngsī.
I want to resign and set up my own company.
Xiaoyu
真的假的？你上个月还说想考公务员。
Zhēn de jiǎ de ? Nǐ shàng gè yuè hái shuō xiǎng kǎo gōngwùyuán.
Really? Last month you were still talking about sitting the civil service exam.
Chen Hao
想法变了。我和两个朋友做了个小程序，已经有人愿意付钱。
Xiǎngfǎ biàn le. Wǒ hé liǎng gè péngyou zuò le gè xiǎo chéngxù, yǐjīng yǒu rén yuànyì fù qián.
I have changed my mind. Two friends and I have built a small app, and people are already willing to pay for it.
Zhang laoshi
有人付钱，这一条就比大多数想法强。注册了吗？
Yǒu rén fù qián, zhè yī tiáo jiù bǐ dà duōshù xiǎngfǎ qiáng. Zhùcè le ma ?
People paying: that one thing is worth more than most ideas. Have you registered the company?
Chen Hao
还没。我想先跑半年，看看再说。
Hái méi. Wǒ xiǎng xiān pǎo bàn nián, kànkan zài shuō.
Not yet. I would like to run for six months first, and see.
Zhang laoshi
那风险全在你身上。没有公司，合同怎么签？发票怎么开？
Nà fēngxiǎn quán zài nǐ shēnshang. Méi yǒu gōngsī, hétong zěnme qiān ? Fāpiào zěnme kāi ?
Then the risk is entirely on you. With no company, how do you sign a contract? How do you issue an invoice?
Xiaoyu
而且三个人的股份，现在不谈，以后最难谈。
Érqiě sān gè rén de gǔfèn, xiànzài bù tán, yǐhòu zuì nán tán.
And the shares between the three of you: if you do not discuss it now, it will be the hardest thing to discuss later.
Chen Hao
我们关系很好，谈钱会不会太见外？
Wǒmen guānxi hěn hǎo, tán qián huì bùhuì tài jiànwài ?
We are very close, would talking about money not be rather standoffish?
Zhang laoshi
恰恰相反。不谈钱，关系才会坏。
Qiàqià xiāngfǎn. Bù tán qián, guānxi cái huì huài.
Quite the opposite. It is by not talking about it that friendships are spoiled.
Auntie Wang
我邻居两兄弟开饭馆，三年就因为分钱闹翻了。
Wǒ línjū liǎng xiōngdì kāi fànguǎn, sān nián jiù yīnwèi fēn qián nàofān le.
Two brothers who are neighbours of mine opened a restaurant, and in three years they fell out over dividing the money.
Chen Hao
那我回去把出资和分工写清楚。
Nà wǒ huíqu bǎ chūzī hé fēngōng xiě qīngchu.
Then I will go home and set out the contributions and the division of work in writing.
Zhang laoshi
还有一条：谁说了算。三个人意见不一致的时候，总得有人拍板。
Hái yǒu yī tiáo : shéi shuō le suàn. Sān gè rén yìjiàn bù yīzhì de shíhou, zǒng de yǒu rén pāibǎn.
One more point: who has the final say. When three people disagree, someone has to decide.
Chen Hao
这个我真没想过。
Zhè gè wǒ zhēn méi xiǎng guò.
That I really had not thought of.
Xiaoyu
无论多熟，白纸黑字都最靠得住。
Wúlùn duō shú, báizhǐhēizì dōu zuì kàodezhù.
However close you are, black on white is what you can rely on.
太见外 is said of someone who stands on ceremony where closeness does not call for it: paying back a meal to the penny, refusing a favour. Chen Hao is afraid that talking about money would make him seem a distant friend, and that is a very Chinese scruple. Zhang's answer turns it round, which is the best possible use of 恰恰相反.
Literally "whose words count". The phrase names the person who decides in the last resort, in a family as in a company. It always sits in this place in the sentence and takes no other form: you ask 谁说了算, you answer 他说了算.
White paper, black ink: what is written down and can no longer be denied. The chengyu is used in ordinary conversation the moment an agreement is at stake, and it always carries a warning, like our "in black and white". It says in four syllables what the previous line takes a whole sentence to say.
