且行踪不定 今日在这家 明日在那家
“and their whereabouts are uncertain. Today they work here; tomorrow somewhere else.”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
流民 没错 流民不知道墨坊的规矩 多不识字
“Refugees? That's right. Refugees wouldn't know the customs of the ink trade. Most of them are illiterate,”
且 行踪不定 今日 在这 家 明日在那家
“and their whereabouts are uncertain. Today they work here; tomorrow somewhere else.”
“They're easy to control and difficult to trace.”
“They are nomadic and disposable, so nobody will ever trace anything back to us.”
Historically and sociologically, unregistered laborers (liumin) operated outside administrative registries, making them both invisible to authorities and vulnerable to exploitation.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
whereabouts unknown; erratic movements
A useful four-character idiom describing people whose schedules or locations cannot be tracked.
here today, there tomorrow
A colloquial parallel structure used to emphasize instability or frequent movement.
