The Last Delivery · chapter 1 of 3
One More Order
再接一单
Thirty deliveries, soaked to the skin, and a new order with a note that makes Xiao Zhao think of home.
Hear the chapter
Read what you hear
- Xiao Zhao 台风来了。晚上九点，街上几乎没有人。
Táifēng lái le. Wǎnshang jiǔ diǎn, jiē shang jīhū méiyǒu rén.
The typhoon has arrived. At nine at night, the streets are almost empty.
- Xiao Zhao 我叫小赵，是一个送外卖的。
Wǒ jiào Xiǎo Zhào, shì yí gè sòng wàimài de.
I'm Xiao Zhao. I deliver takeout.
- Xiao Zhao 我今天已经送了三十单，衣服全湿了。
Wǒ jīntiān yǐjīng sòng le sānshí dān, yīfu quán shī le.
I've already done thirty deliveries today, and my clothes are soaked through.
- Xiao Zhao 我想回家。可是手机又响了。
Wǒ xiǎng huí jiā. Kěshì shǒujī yòu xiǎng le.
I want to go home. But my phone pings again.
- Xiao Zhao 是一个新订单：一盒药，送到老城区，七楼。
Shì yí gè xīn dìngdān: yì hé yào, sòng dào lǎo chéngqū, qī lóu.
It's a new order: a box of medicine, to the old part of town, seventh floor.
- Xiao Zhao 钱很少，路很远，雨很大。
Qián hěn shǎo, lù hěn yuǎn, yǔ hěn dà.
The pay is tiny, the ride is long, and the rain is heavy.
- Xiao Zhao 下面有一句留言：“我一个人住，药快吃完了。麻烦你了。”
Xiàmiàn yǒu yí jù liúyán: “Wǒ yí gè rén zhù, yào kuài chī wán le. Máfan nǐ le.”
Below it, a note: “I live alone, and my medicine is nearly gone. Sorry to trouble you.”
- Xiao Zhao 我看了很久。我想起了我妈妈。
Wǒ kàn le hěn jiǔ. Wǒ xiǎng qǐ le wǒ māma.
I stare at it for a long time. I think of my mom.
- Xiao Zhao 她也一个人住在老家。我已经两年没回去了。
Tā yě yí gè rén zhù zài lǎojiā. Wǒ yǐjīng liǎng nián méi huíqù le.
She lives alone back in my hometown too. I haven't been back in two years.
- Xiao Zhao 我按了“接单”。
Wǒ àn le “jiē dān”.
I tap “Accept.”
- Xiao Zhao 我先去药店拿了药，放进包里，又在外面包了三层塑料袋。
Wǒ xiān qù yàodiàn ná le yào, fàng jìn bāo lǐ, yòu zài wàimiàn bāo le sān céng sùliàodài.
First I pick up the medicine at the pharmacy, put it in my bag, and wrap it in three plastic bags.
- Xiao Zhao 风把我的电动车吹得东倒西歪。
Fēng bǎ wǒ de diàndòngchē chuī de dōngdǎo-xīwāi.
The wind shoves my e-scooter all over the road.
- Xiao Zhao 雨打在脸上，像小石头一样疼。
Yǔ dǎ zài liǎn shang, xiàng xiǎo shítou yíyàng téng.
The rain stings my face like little stones.
- Xiao Zhao 老城区的路越来越窄，水也越来越深。
Lǎo chéngqū de lù yuè lái yuè zhǎi, shuǐ yě yuè lái yuè shēn.
The old town's streets get narrower, and the water gets deeper.
- Xiao Zhao 水到了我的膝盖。电动车突然停了。
Shuǐ dào le wǒ de xīgài. Diàndòngchē tūrán tíng le.
The water reaches my knees. Suddenly, the scooter dies.
- Xiao Zhao 我怎么按，它都不动了。
Wǒ zěnme àn, tā dōu bú dòng le.
No matter what I press, it won't move.
- Xiao Zhao 手机上的地图说，还有八百米。
Shǒujī shang de dìtú shuō, hái yǒu bābǎi mǐ.
The map on my phone says eight hundred meters to go.
- Xiao Zhao 我可以取消订单。没有人会怪我。
Wǒ kěyǐ qǔxiāo dìngdān. Méiyǒu rén huì guài wǒ.
I could cancel the order. No one would blame me.
- Xiao Zhao 可是那句话一直在我脑子里：“药快吃完了。”
Kěshì nà jù huà yìzhí zài wǒ nǎozi lǐ: “Yào kuài chī wán le.”
But those words keep circling in my head: “My medicine is nearly gone.”
- Xiao Zhao 我把包举过头顶，把车留在路边。
Wǒ bǎ bāo jǔ guò tóudǐng, bǎ chē liú zài lù biān.
I lift my bag above my head and leave the scooter by the road.
- Xiao Zhao 然后，我开始往前走。
Ránhòu, wǒ kāishǐ wǎng qián zǒu.
Then I start walking.
- Xiao Zhao 八百米。在台风里，八百米有多远？
Bābǎi mǐ. Zài táifēng lǐ, bābǎi mǐ yǒu duō yuǎn?
Eight hundred meters. In a typhoon, how far is eight hundred meters?
What changed in the story?
- What is Xiao Zhao's job?
“我是一个送外卖的.”
- What does the new order contain?
“一盒药，送到老城区，七楼.”
- Why does he accept the order?
The note says “我一个人住,” and “我想起了我妈妈.”
- What happens to his scooter?
“水到了我的膝盖。电动车突然停了.”
- How far does he still have to go?
“还有八百米.”