The Little Noodle Shop · chapter 6 of 8
The River Bench
河边
Xiao Mei finds Xiao Hu alone by the river and tells him about her own worst noodle day. Then they walk past the empty restaurant across the street.
Read what you hear
- Xiao Mei 小虎，找到你了！你在这儿！
Xiǎo Hǔ, zhǎodào nǐ le! Nǐ zài zhèr!
Xiao Hu, found you! You're here!
- Xiao Hu 你别过来。我是一个坏孩子。
Nǐ bié guòlái. Wǒ shì yí gè huài háizi.
Don't come near. I'm a bad kid.
- Xiao Mei 你不是坏孩子。给你，热包子。
Nǐ bú shì huài háizi. Gěi nǐ, rè bāozi.
You're not a bad kid. Here, a hot bun.
Chapter 6 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of The Little Noodle Shop 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, The Odyssey, Robin Hood, Jiang Ziya Goes Fishing, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Kitchen God from start to finish.
- Xiao Hu 我做的面，断了。大家都笑了。
Wǒ zuò de miàn, duàn le. Dàjiā dōu xiào le.
My noodle broke. Everyone laughed.
- Xiao Mei 他们不是笑你，是笑面粉。
Tāmen bú shì xiào nǐ, shì xiào miànfěn.
They weren't laughing at you, they were laughing at the flour.
- Xiao Hu 真的吗？
Zhēn de ma?
Really?
- Xiao Mei 真的。我第一次做面，面掉在地上，面面吃了。
Zhēn de. Wǒ dì yī cì zuò miàn, miàn diào zài dìshang, Miànmian chī le.
Really. The first time I made noodles, they fell on the floor and Mianmian ate them.
- Xiao Hu 面面吃了你的面？哈哈！
Miànmian chī le nǐ de miàn? Hāhā!
Mianmian ate your noodles? Ha ha!
- Xiao Mei 对！面面现在很大，因为它吃了我很多面！
Duì! Miànmian xiànzài hěn dà, yīnwèi tā chī le wǒ hěn duō miàn!
Yes! Mianmian is big now because it ate so many of my noodles!
- Xiao Mei 对！我哭了三天，可是后来我学会了。
Duì! Wǒ kū le sān tiān, kěshì hòulái wǒ xuéhuì le.
Yes! I cried for three days, but later I learned.
- Xiao Mei 断了没关系，再来一次。
Duàn le méi guānxi, zài lái yí cì.
Breaking is okay. Try again.
- Xiao Hu 可是星期天马上到了。
Kěshì xīngqītiān mǎshàng dào le.
But Sunday is almost here.
- Xiao Mei 还有三天！走，我们回店里！
Hái yǒu sān tiān! Zǒu, wǒmen huí diàn lǐ!
There are still three days! Come on, let's go back to the shop!
- Xiao Hu 小美，你看，对面一个人也没有。
Xiǎo Měi, nǐ kàn, duìmiàn yí gè rén yě méiyǒu.
Xiao Mei, look, there's nobody at all across the street.
- Boss Gao 唉……三天免费，客人来了一次，就不来了。
Āi… sān tiān miǎnfèi, kèrén lái le yí cì, jiù bù lái le.
Sigh… three days of free noodles, and customers came once and never came back.
- Boss Gao 我的面是买来的，不是自己做的。
Wǒ de miàn shì mǎi lái de, bú shì zìjǐ zuò de.
My noodles are bought, not made by me.
- Xiao Mei 高老板，您的面是买来的？
Gāo lǎobǎn, nín de miàn shì mǎi lái de?
Boss Gao, your noodles are store-bought?
- Boss Gao 对。我不会做面。老林的面为什么那么好？
Duì. Wǒ bú huì zuò miàn. Lǎo Lín de miàn wèishénme nàme hǎo?
Yes. I can't make noodles. Why is Old Lin's so good?
- Xiao Hu 因为他用手，用心，还慢慢来。
Yīnwèi tā yòng shǒu, yòng xīn, hái mànmàn lái.
Because he uses his hands, his heart, and takes it slowly.
- Boss Gao 用手，用心……你们的面，有秘密吗？
Yòng shǒu, yòng xīn… nǐmen de miàn, yǒu mìmì ma?
Hands, heart… do your noodles have a secret?
- Xiao Mei 有！可是我不能说。
Yǒu! Kěshì wǒ bù néng shuō.
Yes! But I can't tell.
- Boss Gao 你告诉我，我给你一百块！
Nǐ gàosu wǒ, wǒ gěi nǐ yìbǎi kuài!
Tell me and I'll give you a hundred yuan!
- Xiao Hu 我们不要钱！
Wǒmen bú yào qián!
We don't want money!
- Boss Gao 那……两百块！
Nà… liǎng bǎi kuài!
Then… two hundred!
- Xiao Mei 高老板，钱不是秘密。秘密是：慢慢来，别着急。
Gāo lǎobǎn, qián bú shì mìmì. Mìmì shì: mànmàn lái, bié zháojí.
Boss Gao, money isn't the secret. The secret is: take it slowly, don't hurry.
- Boss Gao 慢慢来？就这么简单？
Mànmàn lái? Jiù zhème jiǎndān?
Slowly? It's that simple?
- Xiao Mei 星期天早上，来我们店。我爸爸教小虎，也教您！
Xīngqītiān zǎoshang, lái wǒmen diàn. Wǒ bàba jiāo Xiǎo Hǔ, yě jiāo nín!
Come to our shop Sunday morning. My dad will teach Xiao Hu, and you too!
- Boss Gao 好！我去！可是……你爸爸会让我进门吗？
Hǎo! Wǒ qù! Kěshì… nǐ bàba huì ràng wǒ jìnmén ma?
Okay! I'll come! But… will your dad let me in the door?
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- Why does Xiao Hu call himself a bad kid?
“我做的面，断了。大家都笑了。”
- What happened to Xiao Mei's first noodles?
“面掉在地上，面面吃了。”
- What is wrong with Gao Laoban's restaurant?
“客人来了一次，就不来了。”……“我的面是买来的”
- What is the secret of the little shop's noodles?
“秘密是：慢慢来，别着急。”
- What does Gao Laoban worry about at the end?
“你爸爸会让我进门吗？”