我早就打算收摊退休了
“I would've shut it down and retired long ago.”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
“If she hadn't come to me looking for a job back then,”
我早就 打算 收摊 退 休了
“I would've shut it down and retired long ago.”
她这么折腾折腾
“With her stirring things up,”
“I was ready to quit long ago, but her arrival kept me going.”
In Chinese colloquial speech, 'shoutan' (packing up the stall) embodies the vernacular entrepreneur spirit, often used metaphorically by small business owners to describe winding down operations.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
pack up a stall; close business for the day or permanently
Literally means packing up a vendor stall, but colloquially extended to calling it quits on an endeavor or business.
long ago; for a long time
Use before verbs to emphasize that an action, intention, or state has existed for a significant duration.
Marks a change of state or confirms an established decision/intent.
VOCABULARY & EXPRESSIONS
Parallel Spoken Cinema Scenes (语义近邻切片)
“You just retire and wash your hands of it,”
“The one anxious to retire isn't me anyway.”
“I have only two years to my retirement.”
“It's late now, time to close. Right. All these people are still waiting.”
“I wanted to give up long ago.”
“and didn't stop after retiring.”