In this story, Wang Ming (王明) keeps forgetting that his friend Li Hong (李红) is a vegetarian.
王明和李红是好朋友。有一天，他们一起去餐厅吃饭。李红去洗手间的时候，服务员来了。王明看了看菜单，给自己点了一碗牛肉面。然后他想给李红也点一碗，但是他不记得李红喜欢吃什么。他想了想，说：”她也要牛肉面吧。”
李红回来以后，两个人聊天，等吃的。不久，服务员端来两碗牛肉面。李红看着面，没有说话。王明这才想起来——李红不吃肉！他的脸马上红了。
李红叫服务员把牛肉面换成素面。她没有生气，只是笑着对王明说：”我们认识十年了，你还不知道我是素食者。”王明非常不好意思，说下次一定记住。李红笑着摇摇头，说：”你上次也这么说。”
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 餐厅 | cāntīng | restaurant |
| 菜单 | càidān | menu |
| 牛肉面 | niúròumiàn | beef noodles |
| 服务员 | fúwùyuán | waiter/server |
| 想起来 | xiǎngqǐlái | to remember/recall |
| 素食者 | sùshízhě | vegetarian (person) |
| 不好意思 | bùhǎoyìsi | embarrassed/sorry |
| 摇头 | yáotóu | to shake one’s head |
| 王明 | Wáng Míng | Wang Ming (1904-1974), Soviet-trained Chinese communist, Comintern and Soviet stooge and left adventurist in the 1930s, fell out with Mao and moved to Soviet Union from 1956 |
| 和 | hé | old variant of 和[he2]; surname He; (literary) harmonious (variant of 和[he2]) |
| 李 | lí | plum; surname Li |
| 红 | Hóng | surname Hong |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion); variant of 是[shi4] |
| 好朋友 | hǎo péng you | good friend; (slang) a visit from Aunt Flo (menstrual period) |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) |
| 一 | yī | one; single; a (article); as soon as; entire; whole; all; throughout; "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1); also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out … |
| 天 | tiān | day; sky; heaven |
| 他 | tā | (third-person singular) (since the early 20th century, usu. male) he; him; his; (bound form) other; another; some other (as in 他日[ta1 ri4] and 他人[ta1 ren2]) |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 一起 | yī qǐ | (in) the same place; together; in company (with); altogether; in total; an instance of; a case of (murder, accident, dispute etc) |
| 去 | qù | to go; to go to (a place); (of a time etc) last; just passed; to send; to remove; to get rid of; to reduce; to be apart from in space or time; to die (euphemism); to play (a part);… |
| 吃饭 | chī fàn | to have a meal; to eat; to make a living |
| 洗手间 | xǐ shǒu jiān | toilet; lavatory; washroom |
| 的 | de | of; ~'s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun); (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis); (used after a noun, verb or adjective to… |
| 时 | shí | old variant of 時|时[shi2]; surname Shi |
| 候 | hòu | to wait; to inquire after; to watch; season; climate; (old) period of five days |
| 来 | lái | to come; (used as a substitute for a more specific verb); hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回來|回来[hui2 lai5]); ever since (as in 自古以來|自古以来[zi4 gu3… |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying preceding clause); (bound form) clear in one's mind; to understand clearly |
| 看 | kān | to look after; to take care of; to watch; to guard |
| 给 | gěi | to; for; for the benefit of; to give; to allow; to do sth (for sb); (grammatical equivalent of 被); (grammatical equivalent of 把); (sentence intensifier) |
| 自己 | zì jǐ | oneself; (attributive) one's own |
| 点 | diǎn | to touch briefly; to tap; to mark with a dot; to check off (on a list); to order (food etc); to select; to mention; to bring up (a topic or person); to hint at; to imply; to admini… |
| 碗 | wǎn | variant of 碗[wan3]; bowl; cup; CL:隻|只[zhi1],個|个[ge4] |
| 然 | rán | correct; right; so; thus; like this; -ly |
| 后 | Hòu | surname Hou; back; behind; rear; afterwards; after; later; post- |
| 想 | xiǎng | to think (about); to think of; to devise; to think (that); to believe (that); to desire; to want (to); to miss (feel wistful about the absence of) |
| 也 | Yě | surname Ye |
| 但 | dàn | but; yet; however; still; merely; only; just |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 记得 | jì de | to remember |
| 喜欢 | xǐ huan | to like; to be fond of |
| 吃 | chī | to eat; to consume; to eat at (a cafeteria etc); to eradicate; to destroy; to absorb; to suffer (shock, injury, defeat etc); variant of 吃[chi1] |
| 什 | shén | what |
| 么 | má | exclamatory final particle; variant of 麼|么[me5] |
| 说 | shuì | to persuade; variant of 說|说[shuo1] |
| 她 | tā | she |
| 要 | yāo | (bound form) to demand; to coerce |
| 吧 | bā | bar (loanword) (serving drinks, or providing Internet access etc); to puff (on a pipe etc); (onom.) bang; abbr. for 貼吧|贴吧[tie1 ba1] |
| 回 | Huí | Hui ethnic group (Chinese Muslims); to curve; to return; to revolve; variant of 迴|回[hui2] |
| 以 | yǐ | old variant of 以[yi3]; abbr. for Israel 以色列[Yi3 se4 lie4] |
| 两 | liǎng | two; both; some; a few; tael, unit of weight equal to 50 grams (modern) or 1⁄16 of a catty 斤[jin1] (old) |
| 个人 | gè rén | an individual; oneself; (attributive) personal; one's own |
| 聊 | liāo | (coll.) to chat; (literary) somewhat; slightly |
| 等 | děng | to wait for; to await; by the time; when; till; and so on; etc.; et al.; (bound form) class; rank; grade; (bound form) equal to; same as; (used to end an enumeration); (literary) (… |
| 吃的 | chī de | (coll.) food |
| 不久 | bù jǐu | not long (after); before too long; soon; soon after |
| 端 | duān | (bound form) tip; end; extremity; (bound form) aspect; facet; (bound form) upright; proper; to hold sth level with both hands; to carry; to eliminate; to wipe out; old variant of 端[duan1]; start; origin |
| 着 | zhāo | variant of 著|着[zhao1]; a move in chess (Taiwan pr. [zhuo2]); trick; tactic; (dialect) okay; all right; (dialect) to put in; to add |
| 面 | miàn | face; side; surface; aspect; top; classifier for objects with flat surfaces such as drums, mirrors, flags etc; variant of 麵|面[mian4]; flour; noodles; (of food) soft (not crunchy); (slang) (of a person) ineffectual; spineless |
| 没有 | méi yǒu | haven't; hasn't; doesn't exist; to not have; to not be |
| 说话 | shuō huà | to speak; to say; to talk; to gossip; to tell stories; talk; word |
| 这 | zhè | (pronoun) this; these; (bound form) this; the (followed by a noun); (bound form) this; these (followed by a classifier) (in this sense, commonly pr. [zhei4], esp. in Beijing) |
| 才 | cái | ability; talent; sb of a certain type; a capable individual; then and only then; just now; (before an expression of quantity) only; (emphatic, esp. in contrast or correction) reall…; (variant of 才[cai2]) just now; (variant of 才[cai2]) (before an expression of quantity) only |
| 肉 | ròu | meat; flesh; pulp (of a fruit); (coll.) (of a fruit) squashy; (of a person) flabby; irresolute; Kangxi radical 130 |
| 脸 | liǎn | face; CL:張|张[zhang1],個|个[ge4] |
| 马上 | mǎ shàng | at once; right away; immediately; on horseback (i.e. by military force) |
| 叫 | jiào | to shout; to call; to order; to ask; to be called; by (indicates agent in the passive mood); variant of 叫[jiao4] |
| 把 | bǎ | to hold; to grasp; to hold a baby in position to help it urinate or defecate; handlebar; classifier: handful, bundle, bunch; classifier for things with handles; (used to put the ob… |
| 换 | huàn | to exchange; to change (clothes etc); to substitute; to switch; to convert (currency) |
| 成 | Chéng | surname Cheng; short name for Chengdu 成都[Cheng2 du1] |
| 素面 | sù miàn | face (of a woman) without makeup; solid color (unpatterned) |
| 生气 | shēng qì | to get angry; to be furious; vitality; liveliness |
| 只是 | zhǐ shì | merely; only; just; nothing but; simply; but; however |
| 笑 | xiào | old variant of 笑[xiao4]; to laugh; to smile; to laugh at |
| 对 | duì | right; correct; towards; at; for; concerning; regarding; to treat (sb a certain way); to face; (bound form) opposite; facing; matching; to match together; to adjust; to fit; to sui… |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 认 | rèn | to recognize; to know; to admit |
| 识 | shí | to know; knowledge; Taiwan pr. [shi4] |
| 十 | shí | ten; 10 |
| 年 | Nián | surname Nian; grain; harvest (old); variant of 年[nian2] |
| 你 | nǐ | you (informal, as opposed to courteous 您[nin2]); you (Note: In Taiwan, 妳 is used to address females, but in mainland China, it is not commonly used. Instead, 你 is used to address both males and females.) |
| 还 | Huán | surname Huan |
| 不知 | bù zhī | not to know; unaware; unknowingly; fig. not to admit (defeat, hardships, tiredness etc) |
| 道 | dào | road; path (CL:條|条[tiao2],股[gu3]); (bound form) way; reason; principle; (bound form) a skill; an art; a specialization; (Daoism) the Way; the Dao; to say (introducing a direct quot… |
| 非常 | fēi cháng | very; really; unusual; extraordinary |
| 下次 | xià cì | next time |
| 一定 | yī dìng | surely; certainly; definitely; fixed; settled; a certain ...; a given ... |
| 记 | jì | to record; to note; to memorize; to remember; mark; sign; classifier for blows, kicks, shots |
| 住 | zhù | to live; to reside; to stay; to stop; to cease; (result complement indicating firmness or a stable achieved state) |
| 摇 | yāo | to shake; to wave; to rock; to sway |
| 上次 | shàng cì | last time |
| 这么 | zhè me | so much; this much; how much?; this way; like this |
Wang Ming and Li Hong are good friends. One day, they went to a restaurant together to eat. When Li Hong went to the restroom, the waiter came. Wang Ming looked at the menu and ordered a bowl of beef noodles for himself. Then he wanted to order a bowl for Li Hong too, but he couldn’t remember what Li Hong liked to eat. He thought about it and said: ‘She’ll have beef noodles too.’
After Li Hong came back, the two of them chatted while waiting for their food. Soon, the waiter brought two bowls of beef noodles. Li Hong looked at the noodles and didn’t say anything. Only then did Wang Ming remember – Li Hong doesn’t eat meat! His face immediately turned red.
Li Hong asked the waiter to change the beef noodles to vegetarian noodles. She wasn’t angry, and just smiled and said to Wang Ming: ‘We’ve known each other for ten years, and you still don’t know I’m a vegetarian.’ Wang Ming felt very embarrassed and said he would definitely remember next time. Li Hong smiled and shook her head, saying: ‘You said the same thing last time.’