Original Mandarin story series
Notes in a Library Book
书里的纸条
Notes in a Library Book (书里的纸条, Shū lǐ de zhǐtiáo) is a SayMei Original, written in simple Mandarin as a 3-chapter story with audio for learners at about HSK 1 (Beginner).
An original three-chapter romance. A slip of paper falls out of an old book of poems, and Xu Man writes back. Every Saturday, the notes grow longer — and harder to stop.
Meet the voices
- Xu Man · 许曼 — Borrows a book every Saturday from the tiny library downstairs. Answers a note she was never meant to find.
- The note-writer · 何言 — Writes in small, careful handwriting. Likes rain, cats, and very quiet places.
- Auntie Zhou · 周阿姨 — Runs the neighborhood library. Notices everything and says only half of it.
3 chapters, one journey
Chapter 1: The First Note
第一张纸条
An old book of poems, page twenty-seven, and a note asking for one line in reply.
Free to read
Chapter 2: Saturday at Three
星期六下午三点
He agrees to meet — though he's afraid she'll be disappointed. Three o'clock, the table by the window, and a question only he can answer.
SayMei Stories
Chapter 3: The Quiet Table
安静的桌子
What the note says, why he was afraid, and what Xu Man decides to write back — this time with him sitting right across the table.
SayMei Stories
Key words in Notes in a Library Book
Behind the story
An original SayMei romance for beginners, written in short, simple lines.
Small neighborhood libraries and reading rooms are part of daily life in many Chinese cities. Leaving a note in a book is a shy way to talk to a stranger, and a very old one.
Did you know?
- 纸条 (zhǐtiáo) is a slip of paper: the note in the title.
- 星期六 (xīngqīliù) is Saturday. Chinese weekdays are numbered, so Monday is 星期一.
- Short classical poems, like Li Bai's 静夜思 (Quiet Night Thoughts), are the ones almost every Chinese reader can recite.