The Troubleshooters,' by Wang Shuo

S8
CHINESE EDUCATION AND SOCIETY
Yu GUAN: Well, I’m afraid that’s all we can do right now.
The three of them flash broad smiles then begin to laugh. MA QING notices
YU GuAN’sjacket.
MA QING: Didn’t you return that jacket? Why are you still wearing it?
Yu GUAN stretches one of the sleeves with the other hand.
Yu GUAN: Well, the clerk at the store told me they wouldn’t exchange it because
the collar had gotten dirty. I thought I’d promised the guy to exchange it, and
even gave him the refund early. I’d feel embarrassed to go back again. Forget it. I
actually need a jacket for the spring and fall.
MA QING: It doesn’t fit you, though. The sleeves are too short. That damned
bastard asked us to exchange a used jacket! Too bad you didn’t check it before
you accepted the job.
Yu GUAN: Look, it doesn’t matter to me. I don’t have to be a model. It’s
manageable.
The man who had raved about the ten-thousand-seat restaurant has become
bored. He gets up and puts a packet of foreign cigarettes in his pocket.
MAN: I gotta go. You guys just go on.
YANG ZHONG: Leaving now? Why don’t you stay and have lunch with us?
MAN: Naw, thanks, but I’ve passed the age when I’d do anything just for a meal.
I’m busy. Later.
The man concludes his last words with a smile, then leaves. The three remaining
men watch him, also smiling.
Yu GUAN: He’s had too many punches to the head.
The man slowly walks to the entrancdexit of the restaurant just as LIN PEI
dashes in, lightly, like a butterfly in the wind. The man steps aside for her,
glances at her with interest, then leaves the room. LIN PEI moves nimbly across
the room: as she passes tables she attracts appreciative glances. She joins the
group and takes the chair recently occupied by the man who has just lejt.
LIN PEI: Am I late? I rushed here as soon as rehearsal finished at the theater.