细水长流 A thin stream flows long. To keep at something steadily, or to plan carefully so that resources last.
放长线钓大鱼 Let out a long line to catch a big fish. To plan for the long term in order to gain more. The Handian dictionary adds that such a plan “cannot pay off at once.”
来日方长 The days to come are long. There is still a long time ahead. The Handian dictionary cites a letter by the Song official Wen Tianxiang as an example.
一锤子买卖 A one-hammer deal. A single transaction with no thought of the future. The word is critical. A dictionary example reads: “You cannot do only one-hammer deals.”
回头客 A customer who turns the head back. A customer who comes back to the same seller.
老主顾 An old customer. A customer with a long trading relationship.
世交 A friendship between two families that has lasted two generations or more.
On October 4, 2015, a tourist posted that a barbecue restaurant in Qingdao had listed prawns at 38 yuan a portion and then, at the bill, charged 38 yuan for each prawn.
Qingdao’s Party secretary and mayor gave instructions. The district market regulator called it “suspected price fraud” and apologized to the tourists. The owner was fined 90,000 yuan, and the restaurant was reported to have lost its business license. The head of the district market regulator was suspended from duty.
Guan Zhong said of his friend Bao Shuya: “When I was poor, I traded with Bao Shuya and took the larger share of the profit. He did not think me greedy. He knew I was poor.” Guan Zhong failed in a plan for him, served three times and was dismissed three times, and fled from three battles. Each time Bao Shuya found a reason that was not a fault.
When Guan Zhong’s master lost the struggle for the throne of Qi, Guan Zhong was taken prisoner. Bao Shuya recommended him to the new ruler, Duke Huan, who put him in charge of the government. “My parents gave me life,” said Guan Zhong. “Bao Shuya is the one who knows me.”