Every single person lives their life a bit differently, and Liu Feng, in “An Entrepreneur’s Story”, written by Ha Jin, certainly has taken notice of that. Liu documents a lot of the things he sees, like how money can change a person, how one guy wanted to “hook up” with his wife’s mother as a form of revenge, and how he had a weird exchange when trying to buy a cake because his appearance didn’t fit his financial situation. Liu strikes me as a very interesting guy who doesn’t really know what he wants to do with his life, in a long term sense at least, and is trying to find his way. This is represented when he “hooks up” with Manshan after their new first date after mentally fighting with himself before. He states how he regretted it for the next few days, showing his inability to make the proper decision at that moment in time. His whirlwind of a relationship with Manshan is especially emphasized by Mrs. Pan, Manshan’s mom. Mrs. Pan was the one at the start who said she shouldn’t be dating Liu, then when he has his newfound fortune, says that she is allowed to date him and should go after him. Liu despises Mrs. Pan with a burning passion and at the end, slaps her and contemplates “hooking up” with her, just like from his one story.
The biggest theme here is the effect of money on one’s life and the short story literally starts off with Liu saying “I never thought money could make so much difference” (Jin 116). I would like to argue, for as aware and observant as Liu is, money did change his life in one way or another. He knows he was able to marry Manshan easier because of his money and knows he can treat Mrs. Pan like he does because she now lives in his luxury suite. Money is a weird thing and it really is interesting to see how it plays a role in everyone’s life.