Dad's Voice Messages · chapter 2 of 3
Room Seven
七号病房
On the train, Xiao Yu finally listens. At the hospital, Mom hands her Dad's phone — and hundreds of recordings he never sent.
Read what you hear
- Xiao Yu 在火车上，我一条一条地听爸爸的语音。
Zài huǒchē shang, wǒ yì tiáo yì tiáo de tīng bàba de yǔyīn.
On the train, I listen to Dad's messages one by one.
- Dad 小雨，你小时候最喜欢吃我做的鸡蛋面。现在还喜欢吗？
Xiǎo Yǔ, nǐ xiǎoshíhou zuì xǐhuan chī wǒ zuò de jīdàn miàn. Xiànzài hái xǐhuan ma?
Xiao Yu, when you were little, you loved the egg noodles I made. Do you still like them?
- Dad 今天路过你的小学。门口那棵树，还在。
Jīntiān lùguò nǐ de xiǎoxué. Ménkǒu nà kē shù, hái zài.
I walked past your elementary school today. The tree by the gate is still there.
Chapter 2 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of Dad's Voice Messages is free, and so are The Second Cup of Tea, Mulan, The Butterfly Lovers, Journey to the West: The Monkey King, Cinderella, The Night of the Nian, Chang'e and the Moon, The Great Race: The Twelve Animals, Aesop's Fables, Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, The Ugly Duckling, Pangu and Nüwa: How the World Began, Beauty and the Beast, The Magic Lotus Lantern, Alice in Wonderland, Zhong Kui the Demon Queller and The Odyssey from start to finish.
- Xiao Yu 我不记得他说过这些话。因为我从来没有听完过。
Wǒ bú jìde tā shuō guo zhèxiē huà. Yīnwèi wǒ cónglái méiyǒu tīng wán guo.
I don't remember him ever saying these things. Because I never listened to the end.
- Xiao Yu 听着听着，我哭了。旁边的阿姨，给了我一张纸巾。
Tīngzhe tīngzhe, wǒ kū le. Pángbiān de āyí, gěi le wǒ yì zhāng zhǐjīn.
As I listen, I start to cry. The woman beside me hands me a tissue.
- Xiao Yu 下午两点，我跑进了医院。七号病房。
Xiàwǔ liǎng diǎn, wǒ pǎo jìn le yīyuàn. Qī hào bìngfáng.
At two in the afternoon, I run into the hospital. Room seven.
- Xiao Yu 爸爸躺在床上，脸很白。手术刚刚做完。
Bàba tǎng zài chuáng shang, liǎn hěn bái. Shǒushù gānggāng zuò wán.
Dad lies in the bed, his face pale. The surgery has only just finished.
- Dad 小雨？你怎么来了？你妈……还是告诉你了。
Xiǎo Yǔ? Nǐ zěnme lái le? Nǐ mā… háishi gàosu nǐ le.
Xiao Yu? What are you doing here? Your mom… told you after all.
- Xiao Yu 爸，你为什么不告诉我？
Bà, nǐ wèishénme bú gàosu wǒ?
Dad, why didn't you tell me?
- Dad 你工作忙。我没事，就是个小手术。
Nǐ gōngzuò máng. Wǒ méi shì, jiù shì gè xiǎo shǒushù.
You're busy with work. I'm fine — it was just a small operation.
- Xiao Yu 医生说，手术很成功。我坐在床边，拉着他的手。
Yīshēng shuō, shǒushù hěn chénggōng. Wǒ zuò zài chuáng biān, lāzhe tā de shǒu.
The doctor says the operation went well. I sit by the bed, holding his hand.
- Xiao Yu 他的手比我记得的，小了很多，也老了很多。
Tā de shǒu bǐ wǒ jìde de, xiǎo le hěn duō, yě lǎo le hěn duō.
His hand is much smaller than I remember — and much older.
- Xiao Yu 晚上，爸爸睡着了。妈妈把他的手机给了我。
Wǎnshang, bàba shuìzháo le. Māma bǎ tā de shǒujī gěi le wǒ.
That night, Dad falls asleep. Mom hands me his phone.
- Mom 你看看吧。他每天录好多遍，才发给你一条。
Nǐ kànkan ba. Tā měi tiān lù hǎo duō biàn, cái fā gěi nǐ yì tiáo.
Take a look. Every day he recorded it over and over before sending you just one.
- Xiao Yu 我打开他的手机。里面有几百条录音，都没有发出去。
Wǒ dǎkāi tā de shǒujī. Lǐmiàn yǒu jǐ bǎi tiáo lùyīn, dōu méiyǒu fā chūqù.
I open his phone. There are hundreds of recordings he never sent.
- Mom 他怕说得不好，你不爱听。说错一个字，就重新录。
Tā pà shuō de bù hǎo, nǐ bú ài tīng. Shuō cuò yí gè zì, jiù chóngxīn lù.
He was afraid he'd say it badly and you wouldn't want to listen. If he got one word wrong, he'd start over.
- Xiao Yu 我一条一条地往下看。天气，小猫，红烧肉……
Wǒ yì tiáo yì tiáo de wǎng xià kàn. Tiānqì, xiǎo māo, hóngshāo ròu…
I scroll through them one by one. The weather, the kittens, the braised pork…
- Xiao Yu 最下面，有一条很长的录音。时间是我生日那天。
Zuì xiàmiàn, yǒu yì tiáo hěn cháng de lùyīn. Shíjiān shì wǒ shēngrì nà tiān.
At the very bottom is one very long recording. It's from my birthday.
- Xiao Yu 那一条，他没有发给我。
Nà yì tiáo, tā méiyǒu fā gěi wǒ.
That one, he never sent.
- Mom 那一条，他录了一个晚上。
Nà yì tiáo, tā lù le yí gè wǎnshang.
He spent a whole night recording that one.
- Xiao Yu 我戴上耳机，看了看睡着的爸爸。
Wǒ dài shàng ěrjī, kàn le kàn shuìzháo de bàba.
I put in my earbuds and look at Dad, asleep.
- Xiao Yu 然后，我按下了播放。
Ránhòu, wǒ àn xià le bōfàng.
Then I press play.
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- What does Xiao Yu do on the train?
“在火车上，我一条一条地听爸爸的语音.”
- Why didn't Dad tell her about the surgery?
“你工作忙.”
- What does Xiao Yu notice about Dad's hand?
“小了很多，也老了很多.”
- What does Mom show her on Dad's phone?
“几百条录音，都没有发出去.”
- When was the long unsent recording made?
“时间是我生日那天.”