Ever caught yourself daydreaming about what you’d do with a million bucks? You’re definitely not alone. This text follows a Chinese speaker’s fantasy spending spree – from ramen in Japan to guitar lessons – while dropping some wise thoughts about whether winning big is actually all it’s cracked up to be
如果我中了一百万，我的生活会完全不一样。我常常想这个问题，虽然我知道中彩票的机会非常小。
首先，我会把一部分钱存到银行里。虽然花钱很开心，但是我觉得存钱也很重要。我不想几年以后发现钱都花完了，所以我会先想清楚怎么用这些钱。
然后，我想去旅行。我一直想去很多地方，但是因为没有时间和钱，所以一直没去。如果我有了钱，我最想去日本和欧洲。我想在日本吃最好吃的拉面，去看富士山。在欧洲，我想去法国看看，在巴黎的咖啡馆坐一坐。
我也会给我的父母买一套新房子。他们为了我工作了很多年，非常辛苦。我想让他们住在一个又大又舒服的房子里，每天都过得开心。
除了这些，我还想学一些新东西。比如，我想学做饭，学弹吉他，或者学一门新的语言。有了钱以后，我可以不用每天工作，就有更多的时间做自己喜欢的事情。
但是我也觉得，中了彩票不一定都是好事。有的人中了很多钱以后，朋友变少了，生活也变得不开心了。所以如果我真的中了彩票，我会告诉自己：钱很重要，但是健康和家人更重要。
最后，我希望我可以用一些钱帮助别人。比如，帮助那些上不起学的孩子，或者捐一些钱给需要帮助的人。我觉得这样用钱是最有意义的。
总的来说，中彩票是一个很美好的梦。虽然可能不会真的发生，但是想一想也是一件很开心的事！
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 中彩票 | zhòng cǎipiào | to win the lottery |
| 存钱 | cún qián | to save money |
| 旅行 | lǚxíng | to travel; trip |
| 辛苦 | xīnkǔ | hard; exhausting; to work hard |
| 舒服 | shūfu | comfortable |
| 弹吉他 | tán jítā | to play guitar |
| 不一定 | bùyídìng | not necessarily |
| 捐 | juān | to donate |
| 有意义 | yǒu yìyì | meaningful; significant |
| 总的来说 | zǒng de lái shuō | all in all; generally speaking |
| 如 | rú | as; as if; such as |
| 果 | guǒ | fruit; result; resolute; indeed; if really |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 中 | Zhōng | (bound form) China; Chinese; surname Zhong |
| 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 |
| 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 … |
| 百万 | bǎi wàn | million |
| 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… |
| 生 | shēng | to grow; to give birth; to produce; to be born; to arise; to occur; to light (a fire); to live; to be alive; life; raw; uncooked; unprocessed; unfamiliar; strange; (bound form) stu… |
| 活 | huó | to live; alive; living; work; workmanship |
| 会 | huì | can; to have the skill; to know how to; to be likely to; to be sure to; to meet; to get together; meeting; gathering; (suffix) union; group; association; (bound form) a moment (Tai… |
| 完全 | wán quán | complete; whole; totally; entirely |
| 不一 | bù yī | to vary; to differ |
| 样 | yàng | manner; pattern; way; appearance; shape; classifier: kind, type |
| 常常 | cháng cháng | frequently; often |
| 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) |
| 这个 | zhè ge | (pronoun) this; (adjective) this |
| 问题 | wèn tí | question; problem; issue; topic; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 虽然 | suī rán | although; even though (often used correlatively with 可是[ke3 shi4] or 但是[dan4 shi4] etc) |
| 知道 | zhī dào | to know; to become aware of; also pr. [zhi1dao5] |
| 机 | Jī | surname Ji |
| 非常 | fēi cháng | very; really; unusual; extraordinary |
| 小 | xiǎo | small; tiny; few; young |
| 首先 | shǒu xiān | first of all; in the first place |
| 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… |
| 一部分 | yī bù fen | portion; part of; subset |
| 钱 | Qián | surname Qian |
| 存 | cún | to exist; to deposit; to store; to keep; to survive |
| 到 | dào | to reach; to arrive; to leave for; to go to; to (a place); until (a time); up to (a point); (verb complement indicating arriving at a place or reaching a point); considerate; thoug… |
| 银行 | yín háng | bank; CL:家[jia1],個|个[ge4] |
| 里 | lǐ | variant of 裡|里[li3]; lining; interior; inside; internal; also written 裏|里[li3]; surname Li |
| 花钱 | huā qián | to spend money |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 开心 | kāi xīn | to feel happy; to rejoice; to have a great time; to make fun of sb |
| 但 | dàn | but; yet; however; still; merely; only; just |
| 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] |
| 觉得 | jué de | to think that ...; to feel that ...; to feel (uncomfortable etc) |
| 也 | Yě | surname Ye |
| 重要 | zhòng yào | important; significant; major |
| 不想 | bù xiǎng | unexpectedly; to one's surprise |
| 几年 | jǐ nián | a few years; several years; how many years? |
| 以 | yǐ | old variant of 以[yi3]; abbr. for Israel 以色列[Yi3 se4 lie4] |
| 后 | Hòu | surname Hou; back; behind; rear; afterwards; after; later; post- |
| 发现 | fā xiàn | to notice; to become aware of; to discover; to find; to detect; a discovery |
| 都 | Dū | surname Du |
| 花 | Huā | surname Hua; old variant of 花[hua1]; variant of 花[hua1]; flower; blossom; also pr. [wei3] |
| 完了 | wán le | to be finished; to be done for; ruined; gone to the dogs; oh no |
| 所以 | suǒ yǐ | therefore; as a result; so; the reason why |
| 先 | xiān | beforehand; first; earlier; at first; originally; for the time being; for now; (prefix) my late (in referring to deceased relatives older than oneself) |
| 清 | Qīng | Qing (Wade-Giles: Ch'ing) dynasty of China (1644–1911); surname Qing |
| 楚 | Chǔ | surname Chu; abbr. for Hubei 湖北省[Hu2 bei3 Sheng3] and Hunan 湖南省[Hu2 nan2 Sheng3] provinces together; Chinese kingdom during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods (722–22… |
| 怎 | zěn | how |
| 么 | má | exclamatory final particle; variant of 麼|么[me5] |
| 用 | yòng | to use; to make use of; to employ; (coverb) with; using; to need; to have to (usu. used in the negative or in questions); usefulness; utility; (bound form) expense; outlay; (courte… |
| 这些 | zhè xiē | these |
| 然 | rán | correct; right; so; thus; like this; -ly |
| 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);… |
| 一直 | yī zhí | straight (in a straight line); continuously; always; all the way through |
| 多 | duō | many; much; more; a lot of; too many; in excess; (after a numeral) ... odd; how (to what extent) (Taiwan pr. [duo2]); (bound form) multi-; poly- |
| 地方 | dì fāng | region; regional (away from the central administration); local |
| 因为 | yīn wèi | because; owing to; on account of |
| 没有 | méi yǒu | haven't; hasn't; doesn't exist; to not have; to not be |
| 时间 | shí jiān | (concept of) time; (duration of) time; (point in) time |
| 和 | hé | old variant of 和[he2]; surname He; (literary) harmonious (variant of 和[he2]) |
| 没 | méi | (negative prefix for verbs) have not; not |
| 有了 | yǒu le | I've got a solution!; to have a bun in the oven (abbr. for 有了胎[you3 le5 tai1]) |
| 最 | zuì | variant of 最[zui4]; old variant of 最[zui4]; (before an adjective or verb) to the highest degree; (the) most ...; -est; (after 之[zhi1]) best or most extreme example (e.g. 世界之最[shi4 jie4 zhi1 zui4] "the greatest in the world") |
| 日本 | Rì běn | Japan |
| 欧 | Oū | Europe (abbr. for 歐洲|欧洲[Ou1 zhou1]); European Union (abbr. for 歐盟|欧盟[Ou1 meng2]); surname Ou |
| 洲 | zhou | continent |
| 在 | zài | to exist; to be alive; (of sb or sth) to be (located) at; (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress) |
| 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] |
| 最好 | zuì hǎo | best; had better ...; it would be best to ... |
| 吃的 | chī de | (coll.) food |
| 拉 | lā | to pull; to play (a bowed instrument); to drag; to draw; to chat; (coll.) to empty one's bowels |
| 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 |
| 看 | kān | to look after; to take care of; to watch; to guard |
| 富士山 | Fù shì Shān | Mt. Fuji, Japan |
| 法 | fǎ | variant of 法[fa3]; France; French; abbr. for 法國|法国[Fa3 guo2]; Taiwan pr. [Fa4]; old variant of 法[fa3]; law |
| 国 | Guó | surname Guo |
| 看看 | kàn kan | to take a look at; to examine; to survey; (coll.) pretty soon |
| 巴 | Bā | Ba, a state during the Zhou dynasty (in present-day Chongqing and the eastern part of Sichuan); the east of Sichuan and Chongqing Municipality; surname Ba; (bound form) abbr. for 巴… |
| 黎 | Lí | Li ethnic group of Hainan Province; surname Li; abbr. for Lebanon 黎巴嫩[Li2 ba1 nen4] |
| 咖 | gā | used in 咖喱[ga1 li2] |
| 啡 | fēi | (used in loanwords for its phonetic value) |
| 馆 | guǎn | variant of 館|馆[guan3]; building; shop; term for certain service establishments; embassy or consulate; schoolroom (old); CL:家[jia1] |
| 坐 | Zuò | surname Zuo |
| 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) |
| 父母 | fù mǔ | father and mother; parents |
| 买 | mǎi | to buy; to purchase |
| 一套 | yī tào | suit; a set; a collection; of the same kind; the same old stuff; set pattern of behavior |
| 新房 | xīn fáng | brand new house; bridal chamber |
| 子 | zǐ | son; child; seed; egg; small thing; 1st earthly branch: 11 p.m.–1 a.m., midnight, 11th solar month (7th December to 5th January), year of the rat; viscount, fourth of five orders o… |
| 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 |
| 为了 | wèi le | for; for the purpose of; in order to |
| 工作 | gōng zuò | to work; (of a machine) to operate; job; work; task; CL:個|个[ge4],份[fen4],項|项[xiang4] |
| 多年 | duō nián | many years; for many years; longstanding |
| 让 | ràng | to yield; to permit; to let sb do sth; to have sb do sth; to make sb (feel sad etc); by (indicates the agent in a passive clause, like 被[bei4]) |
| 住 | zhù | to live; to reside; to stay; to stop; to cease; (result complement indicating firmness or a stable achieved state) |
| 一个 | yī ge | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) |
| 又 | yòu | (once) again; also; both... and...; and yet; (used for emphasis) anyway |
| 大 | dà | big; large; great; older (than another person); eldest (as in 大姐[da4 jie3]); greatly; freely; fully; (dialect) father; (dialect) uncle (father's brother) |
| 房子 | fáng zi | house; building (single- or two-story); apartment; room; CL:棟|栋[dong4],幢[zhuang4],座[zuo4],套[tao4],間|间[jian1] |
| 每天 | měi tiān | every day |
| 过得 | guò dé | How are you getting by?; How's life?; contraction of 過得去|过得去, can get by; tolerably well; not too bad |
| 除 | chú | to get rid of; to remove; to exclude; to eliminate; to wipe out; to divide; except; not including |
| 还 | Huán | surname Huan |
| 学 | xué | to learn; to study; to imitate; science; -ology |
| 一些 | yī xiē | some; a few; a little; (following an adjective) slightly ...er |
| 新 | Xīn | abbr. for Xinjiang 新疆[Xin1 jiang1]; abbr. for Singapore 新加坡[Xin1 jia1 po1]; surname Xin |
| 东 | Dōng | surname Dong |
| 西 | Xī | the West; abbr. for Spain 西班牙[Xi1 ban1 ya2]; Spanish |
| 比如 | Bǐ rú | see 比如縣|比如县[Bi3 ru2 Xian4] |
| 做 | zuò | to make; to produce; to write; to compose; to do; to engage in; to hold (a party etc); (of a person) to be (an intermediary, a good student etc); to become (husband and wife, frien… |
| 饭 | fàn | cooked rice; CL:碗[wan3]; meal; CL:頓|顿[dun4]; (loanword) fan; devotee |
| 或者 | huò zhě | or; possibly; maybe; perhaps |
| 门 | Mén | surname Men |
| 语言 | yǔ yán | language; CL:門|门[men2],種|种[zhong3] |
| 可以 | kě yǐ | can; may; possible; able to; not bad; pretty good |
| 不用 | bù yòng | need not |
| 就 | jìu | (after a suppositional clause) in that case; then; (after a clause of action) as soon as; immediately after; (same as 就是[jiu4 shi4]) merely; nothing else but; simply; just; precise… |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) |
| 更 | gēng | to change or replace; to experience; one of the five two-hour periods into which the night was formerly divided; watch (e.g. of a sentry or guard) |
| 自己 | zì jǐ | oneself; (attributive) one's own |
| 喜欢 | xǐ huan | to like; to be fond of |
| 事情 | shì qing | affair; matter; thing; business; CL:件[jian4],樁|桩[zhuang1] |
| 彩票 | cǎi piào | lottery ticket |
| 好事 | hǎo shì | good action, deed, thing or work (also sarcastic, "a fine thing indeed"); charity; happy occasion; Daoist or Buddhist ceremony for the souls of the dead |
| 有的 | yǒu de | (there are) some (who are...); some (exist) |
| 人中 | rén zhōng | philtrum; infranasal depression; the "human center" acupuncture point |
| 朋友 | péng you | friend; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4] |
| 变 | biàn | to change; to become different; to transform; to vary; rebellion |
| 少 | shǎo | few; less; to lack; to be missing; to stop (doing sth); seldom |
| 变得 | biàn de | to become |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 真的 | zhēn de | really; truly; indeed; real; true; genuine; (math.) proper |
| 告 | gào | (bound form) to say; to tell; to announce; to report; to denounce; to file a lawsuit; to sue |
| 诉 | sù | variant of 訴|诉[su4]; to complain; to sue; to tell |
| 健 | jiàn | healthy; to invigorate; to strengthen; to be good at; to be strong in |
| 康 | Kāng | surname Kang |
| 家人 | jiā rén | family member; (old) servant |
| 希 | xī | to hope; to admire; variant of 稀[xi1] |
| 望 | wàng | full moon; to hope; to expect; to visit; to gaze (into the distance); to look towards; towards; 15th day of month (lunar calendar); old variant of 望[wang4] |
| 帮助 | bāng zhù | assistance; aid; to help; to assist |
| 别人 | bié ren | other people; others; other person |
| 那些 | nà xiē | those |
| 上 | shǎng | used in 上聲|上声[shang3 sheng1] |
| 起 | qǐ | to rise; to raise; to get up; to set out; to start; to appear; to launch; to initiate (action); to draft; to establish; to get (from a depot or counter); verb suffix, to start; sta… |
| 孩子 | hái zi | child |
| 需要 | xū yào | to need; to want; to demand; to require; needs |
| 人 | rén | person; people; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4],名[ming2] |
| 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) |
| 用钱 | yòng qián | to spend money |
| 美好 | měi hǎo | beautiful; fine |
| 梦 | mèng | dream (CL:場|场[chang2]); (bound form) to dream |
| 可 | kě | (prefix) can; may; able to; -able; to approve; to permit; to suit; (particle used for emphasis) certainly; very; but; however |
| 能 | Néng | surname Neng |
| 不会 | bù huì | improbable; unlikely; will not (act, happen etc); not able; not having learned to do sth; (coll.) (Tw) don't mention it; not at all |
| 发生 | fā shēng | to happen; to occur; to take place; to break out |
| 件 | jiàn | item; component; classifier for events, things, clothes etc |
| 事 | shì | matter; thing; item; work; affair; CL:件[jian4],樁|桩[zhuang1],回[hui2] |
If I won a million, my life would be completely different. I often think about this question, even though I know the chances of winning the lottery are very small.
First, I would put some of the money in the bank. Although spending money is fun, I think saving money is also very important. I don’t want to discover a few years later that all the money is gone, so I would first think clearly about how to use this money.
Then, I want to travel. I’ve always wanted to go to many places, but because I didn’t have time or money, I never went. If I had money, I would most want to go to Japan and Europe. I want to eat the most delicious ramen in Japan and see Mount Fuji. In Europe, I want to visit France and sit for a while in a Parisian cafe.
I would also buy my parents a new house. They worked for many years for my sake, and it was very hard. I want them to live in a big and comfortable house and be happy every day.
Besides these things, I also want to learn some new things. For example, I want to learn to cook, learn to play guitar, or learn a new language. After having money, I wouldn’t need to work every day, so I would have more time to do things I enjoy.
But I also think that winning the lottery isn’t necessarily all good. Some people, after winning a lot of money, have fewer friends, and their lives become unhappy. So if I really won the lottery, I would tell myself: money is important, but health and family are more important.
Finally, I hope I could use some money to help others. For example, help children who can’t afford to go to school, or donate some money to people who need help. I think using money this way is the most meaningful.
All in all, winning the lottery is a beautiful dream. Although it might not really happen, just thinking about it is also a happy thing!