The Phone Call (Part 1)

Illustration for the Chinese story “The Phone Call (Part 1)”

Tap any word for its meaning

昨天zuó tiān晚上wǎn shang,我wǒ给gěi一个yī ge好朋友hǎo péng you打电话dǎ diàn huà,本来běn lái只zhǐ想xiǎng说shuō一件yī jiàn事shì。Last night I called a good friend, originally just to say one thing.

我wǒ问wèn她tā:“星期六xīng qī liù的de晚饭wǎn fàn,你nǐ能néng来lái吗ma?”I asked her, "Can you come to dinner on Saturday?"

她tā说shuō:“能néng来lái!对了duì le,你nǐ妈妈mā ma的de身体shēn tǐ好hǎo点儿diǎn ér了吗le ma?”She said, "I can! Oh right, is your mom feeling any better?"

我们wǒ men聊liáo了le一会儿yī huìr我wǒ妈妈mā ma,她tā突然tū rán又yòu说shuō:“对了duì le,上次shàng cì借jiè你的nǐ de那nà本běn书shū我wǒ看kàn完了wán le,星期六xīng qī liù带给dài gěi你nǐ。”We chatted about my mom for a while, then she suddenly said, "Oh right, I finished that book I borrowed from you — I'll bring it Saturday."

我wǒ说好shuō hǎo,她tā又yòu想起来xiǎng qi lai:“对了duì le,星期六xīng qī liù天气tiān qì好像hǎo xiàng不太好bù tài hǎo,别bié忘了wàng le带dài伞sǎn。”I said sure, and then she remembered something else: "Oh right, the weather doesn't look great on Saturday — don't forget an umbrella."

过了guò le几分钟jǐ fēn zhōng,她tā又yòu说shuō:“对了duì le,我们wǒ men公司gōng sī旁边páng biān新xīn开了kāi le一家yī jiā饭馆fàn guǎn,下次xià cì我们wǒ men一起yī qǐ去qù试试shì shi吧ba。”A few minutes later she said, "Oh right, a new restaurant opened next to my office — let's try it together sometime."

我wǒ笑着xiào zhe说shuō:“你nǐ今天jīn tiān的de‘对了duì le’真zhēn多duō啊ā!”I laughed and said, "You've got a lot of 'oh rights' today!"

她tā也yě笑了xiào le:“最后zuì hòu一个yī ge——对了duì le,星期六xīng qī liù的de晚饭wǎn fàn到底dào dǐ几点jǐ diǎn开始kāi shǐ?”She laughed too: "Last one — oh right, what time does Saturday's dinner actually start?"

我wǒ这才zhè cái发现fā xiàn,我们wǒ men聊liáo了le半个bàn ge小时xiǎo shí,最zuì重要zhòng yào的de事shì却què谁shéi都dōu没méi说shuō。Only then did I realize we'd chatted for half an hour and neither of us had mentioned the most important thing.

看来kàn lai朋友péng you之间zhī jiān的de电话diàn huà,永远yǒng yuǎn不会bù huì只有zhǐ yǒu一件yī jiàn事shì。It seems a phone call between friends is never about just one thing.

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.

More free stories: more HSK 3 stories · all Oh Right, One More Thing stories · traditional characters · test your reading level

Try reading your first story

The fastest way to make characters stick is to meet them in a story you can actually finish. Literate Chinese has 1,000+ graded stories matched to the words you know — in Mainland or Taiwan Mandarin, Simplified or Traditional. Free on iOS and Android.

Download on the App Store Get it on Google Play

Prefer the browser? Read a free story on the web →