A Saturday of Choices (Part 1)
An indecisive weekend where every single plan somehow comes down to two choices.

星期六早上,我问弟弟今天想做什么。Saturday morning, I asked my little brother what he wanted to do today.
他说:“要么我们去爬山,要么去河边钓鱼,你选一个吧。”He said, "Either we go hiking, or we go fishing by the river — you pick."
我看了看天,说:“可能会下雨,还是在家吧。”I looked at the sky and said, "It might rain — let's just stay home."
在家也要做决定:要么看电影,要么玩游戏,我们又想了半天。Staying home still meant deciding: either watch a movie or play games — and we spent forever thinking again.
弟弟说:“中午呢?要么自己做面条,要么出去吃,我都可以。”My brother said, "What about lunch? Either we make noodles ourselves or we eat out — I'm fine with both."
我说:“家里没有菜了,所以只能出去吃。”I said, "There are no groceries at home, so eating out it is."
到了饭馆,问题更多了:要么吃辣的,要么吃不辣的,弟弟跟我想要的不一样。At the restaurant there were even more questions: either spicy or not spicy — and my brother and I wanted different things.
最后我们点了两个菜,一个辣的,一个不辣的,问题解决了。In the end we ordered two dishes, one spicy and one not, and the problem was solved.
吃完饭,弟弟问:“下午我们喝茶或者喝咖啡,怎么样?”After lunch, my brother asked, "This afternoon we could have tea or coffee — how about it?"
我笑了:“今天你终于不说‘要么’了!”I laughed: "You finally stopped saying 'either-or' today!"
他想了想,说:“那要么你请客,要么我请客——还是你请吧!”He thought for a second and said, "Then either you treat or I treat — actually, you treat!"
Want to read along with audio? Every story in the Literate Chinese app is narrated by a native speaker — in Mainland or Taiwan Mandarin — so you can listen while you read, and tap any word to save it as a flashcard. See what's in the app.
