Ever wondered if expensive wine actually tastes better? In this short story, Li Ming puts it to the test with a simple taste comparison.
李明今天买了两瓶红酒。一瓶很贵，一瓶很便宜。他想知道哪个好喝。
晚上，他先喝了贵的。他喝了一口。”还可以，”他说。
然后他喝了便宜的。他喝了一口。很好喝。他又喝了一口。还是很好喝。
他把贵的那瓶放回去。便宜的那瓶，他喝完了。
第二天，他去买红酒，买了三瓶便宜的。
店里的人问：”你不买贵的吗？”
“贵的难喝，”李明说。
店里的人想了想，说：”我也觉得。但是我卖贵的赚钱多一点。”
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 好喝 | hǎo hē | tasty (for drinks), good to drink |
| 贵 | guì | expensive |
| 便宜 | pián yi5 | cheap |
| 一口 | yì kǒu | a sip, a mouthful |
| 还可以 | hái kě yǐ | it’s okay, not bad |
| 难喝 | nán hē | tastes bad (for drinks) |
| 放回去 | fàng huí qù | put back |
| 赚钱 | zhuàn qián | to make money, earn money |
| 觉得 | jué de5 | to think, to feel |
| 第二天 | dì èr tiān | the next day |
| 李 | lí | plum; surname Li |
| 明 | Míng | Ming Dynasty (1368–1644); surname Ming; Ming (c. 2000 BC), fourth of the legendary Flame Emperors, 炎帝[Yan2 di4] descended from Shennong 神農|神农[Shen2 nong2] Farmer God |
| 今天 | jīn tiān | today; the present time; now |
| 买 | mǎi | to buy; to purchase |
| 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 |
| 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) |
| 瓶 | píng | bottle; vase; pitcher; CL:個|个[ge4]; classifier for wine and liquids; variant of 瓶[ping2] |
| 红酒 | hóng jǐu | red wine |
| 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 … |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 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]) |
| 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) |
| 知道 | zhī dào | to know; to become aware of; also pr. [zhi1dao5] |
| 哪 | nǎ | how; which |
| 个 | gě | used in 自個兒|自个儿[zi4 ge3 r5]; variant of 個|个[ge4] |
| 晚上 | wǎn shang | evening; night; CL:個|个[ge4]; in the evening |
| 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) |
| 喝 | hē | to drink; variant of 嗬[he1] |
| 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… |
| 说 | shuì | to persuade; variant of 說|说[shuo1] |
| 然 | rán | correct; right; so; thus; like this; -ly |
| 后 | Hòu | surname Hou; back; behind; rear; afterwards; after; later; post- |
| 又 | yòu | (once) again; also; both... and...; and yet; (used for emphasis) anyway |
| 还是 | hái shi | still (as before); had better; unexpectedly; or |
| 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… |
| 那 | Nā | surname Na |
| 完了 | wán le | to be finished; to be done for; ruined; gone to the dogs; oh no |
| 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);… |
| 三 | Sān | surname San |
| 店 | diàn | inn; old-style hotel (CL:家[jia1]); (bound form) shop; store |
| 里 | lǐ | variant of 裡|里[li3]; lining; interior; inside; internal; also written 裏|里[li3]; surname Li |
| 人 | rén | person; people; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4],名[ming2] |
| 问 | wèn | to ask; to inquire |
| 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.) |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 吗 | má | (coll.) what? |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 也 | Yě | surname Ye |
| 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] |
| 卖 | mài | to sell; to betray; to spare no effort; to show off or flaunt |
| 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- |
| 一点 | yī diǎn | a bit; a little bit; (used in negative expressions) (not) the least bit; (after an adjective, used to form the comparative) a bit more, -er; a point (in a discussion etc); (calligr… |
Li Ming bought two bottles of wine today. One was very expensive, one was very cheap. He wanted to know which one tasted better.
In the evening, he first drank the expensive one. He took a sip. “It’s okay,” he said.
Then he drank the cheap one. He took a sip. Very tasty. He took another sip. Still very tasty.
He put the expensive bottle back. The cheap bottle, he finished it.
The next day, he went to buy wine and bought three bottles of the cheap one.
The person in the shop asked: “Aren’t you buying the expensive one?”
“The expensive one tastes bad,” Li Ming said.
The person in the shop thought for a moment and said: “I think so too. But I make a bit more money selling the expensive one.”