Chen Hao's cousin has sent a hundred applications for five interviews. The conversation turns to commentary, until he is pulled up for it.
Chen Hao
我表弟今年毕业，投了一百多份简历，一共面试了五次。
Wǒ biǎodì jīnnián bìyè, tóu le yībǎi duō fèn jiǎnlì, yīgòng miànshì le wǔ cì.
My younger cousin graduated this year: a hundred-odd applications sent, five interviews in all.
Xiaoyu
结果呢？
Jiéguǒ ne ?
And the outcome?
Chen Hao
两个没下文，两个嫌他没经验，还有一个让他先实习三个月，不发工资。
Liǎng gè méi xiàwén, liǎng gè xián tā méi jīngyàn, hái yǒu yī gè ràng tā xiān shíxí sān gè yuè, bù fā gōngzī.
Two with no reply, two who thought him inexperienced, and one offering him three months' unpaid internship.
Auntie Wang
干活不给钱？那叫什么实习。
Gān huó bù gěi qián ? Nà jiào shénme shíxí.
Work with no pay? That is no internship.
Zhang laoshi
现在不少地方都这么干，还说是给年轻人机会。
Xiànzài bù shǎo dìfang dōu zhème gān, hái shuō shì gěi niánqīngrén jīhuì.
Plenty of places do it now, and call it giving young people a chance.
Xiaoyu
没经验怎么来经验？这个圈一直转不出去。
Méi jīngyàn zěnme lái jīngyàn ? Zhè gè juān yīzhí zhuǎn bù chūqù.
With no experience, how do you get experience? You go round in a circle and never get out.
Chen Hao
他爸妈让他考公，说稳定。
Tā bàmā ràng tā kǎo gōng, shuō wěndìng.
His parents want him to sit the civil service exam, for the security.
Auntie Wang
稳定有什么不好？
Wěndìng yǒu shénme bù hǎo ?
What is wrong with security?
Chen Hao
三千个人抢一个位子，哪儿稳定了。
Sān qiān gè rén qiāng yī gè wèizi, nǎr wěndìng le.
Three thousand candidates for one post: so much for security.
Zhang laoshi
我带过的学生，这两年明显不一样了。以前是挑工作，现在是先求一份。
Wǒ dài guò de xuésheng, zhè liǎng nián míngxiǎn bù yīyàng le. Yǐqián shì tiāo gōngzuò, xiànzài shì xiān qiú yī fèn.
The students I taught have visibly changed these last two years. They used to choose a job; now they ask for one, any one.
Xiaoyu
我刚毕业的时候，至少还敢说不喜欢就换。现在他连问工资都不敢。
Wǒ gāng bìyè de shíhou, zhìshǎo hái gǎn shuō bù xǐhuan jiù huàn. Xiànzài tā lián wèn gōngzī dōu bù gǎn.
When I graduated, you at least dared to say you would change if you did not like it. He does not even dare ask the salary.
Auntie Wang
你们别老跟他讲形势多差。他本来就慌。
Nǐmen bié lǎo gēn tā jiǎng xíngshì duō chā. Tā běnlái jiù huāng.
Stop telling him how bad things are. He is anxious enough already.
Chen Hao
阿姨说得对。我上次一口气跟他讲了半个小时，他后来就没再回我消息。
Āyí shuō de duì. Wǒ shàng cì yīkǒuqì gēn tā jiǎng le bàn gè xiǎoshí, tā hòulái jiù méi zài huí wǒ xiāoxi.
Auntie Wang is right. Last time I talked at him for half an hour without drawing breath, and he stopped answering my messages after that.
Zhang laoshi
帮一个年轻人，最有用的从来不是道理，是一个电话、一个名字。
Bāng yī gè niánqīngrén, zuì yǒuyòng de cónglái bùshì dàoli, shì yī gè diànhuà, yī gè míngzi.
To help a young person, what works has never been reasoning: it is a phone call, it is a name.
Xiaoyu
我们公司下个月招实习生，我把链接发给你。有补贴，转正的也不少。
Wǒmen gōngsī xià gè yuè zhāo shíxísheng, wǒ bǎ liànjiē fā gěi nǐ. Yǒu bǔtiē, zhuǎnzhèng de yě bù shǎo.
My company is recruiting interns next month, I will send you the link. It is paid, and plenty are kept on.
两个没下文: two applications with no follow-up. 下文 is what comes next in a text, hence the sequel to a matter. The expression 没有下文 is used of anything promised and then forgotten, from a job application to an official file, and it never names an explicit refusal: it names the silence.
哪儿稳定了 does not ask where the security is: the sentence denies there is any. Spoken Chinese often uses a question word to contradict, with the final 了 marking irritation. English has to change tack, using an exclamation or irony, since the literal question would make no sense.
In one breath, without pausing. It is used of anything done at a stretch, for good or ill: 一口气看完 of a novel read without stopping, 一口气讲了半个小时 of the monologue the cousin has to sit through here. The word alone says why the young man stopped answering.
