Ever dialed the wrong number and just hung up in embarrassment? What if you didn’t? This gentle little story shows how one tired phone call and a lonely stranger turned a mistake into something warm.
王明正在打电话。”喂，妈妈，是我。我今天很累。”
电话里是一个老人。他说：”对不起，我不是你妈妈。你打错了。”
“啊，对不起！”王明想挂电话。
但是老人说：”等一下。你为什么这么累？”
“我今天工作了很长时间，还没有吃饭。”
老人说：”累的时候，也要吃饭。”
王明笑了。”谢谢。”
老人说：”我一个人在家。我们说说话，好吗？”
“好。”
两个人不认识，但是他们说了很长时间。
那天，他们都很高兴。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 打错 | dǎ cuò | to dial the wrong number; to make a mistake |
| 打电话 | dǎ diàn huà | to make a phone call |
| 累 | lèi | tired |
| 对不起 | duì bu5 qǐ | sorry |
| 挂电话 | guà diàn huà | to hang up the phone |
| 为什么 | wèi shén me5 | why |
| 工作 | gōng zuò | to work; work |
| 认识 | rèn shi5 | to know (someone) |
| 说话 | shuō huà | to talk; to speak |
| 高兴 | gāo xìng | happy; glad |
| 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 |
| 正 | zhēng | first month of the lunar year |
| 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) |
| 喂 | wéi | hello (when answering the phone); variant of 餵|喂[wei4]; to feed |
| 妈妈 | mā ma | mama; mommy; mother; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4] |
| 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] |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 今天 | jīn tiān | today; the present time; now |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 电 | diàn | lightning; electricity; electric (bound form); to get (or give) an electric shock; phone call or telegram etc; to send via telephone or telegram etc |
| 话 | huà | dialect; language; spoken words; speech; talk; words; conversation; what sb said; CL:種|种[zhong3],席[xi2],句[ju4],口[kou3],番[fan1]; old variant of 話|话[hua4] |
| 里 | lǐ | variant of 裡|里[li3]; lining; interior; inside; internal; also written 裏|里[li3]; surname Li |
| 一个 | yī ge | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) |
| 老人 | lǎo rén | old man or woman; the elderly; one's aged parents or grandparents |
| 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]) |
| 说 | shuì | to persuade; variant of 說|说[shuo1] |
| 不是 | bù shì | no; is not; not |
| 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.) |
| 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 |
| 啊 | ā | interjection of surprise; Ah!; Oh! |
| 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) |
| 但 | dàn | but; yet; however; still; merely; only; just |
| 等一下 | děng yī xià | to wait a moment; later; in awhile |
| 这么 | zhè me | so much; this much; how much?; this way; like this |
| 长 | cháng | long; (bound form) length; (bound form) strong point; forte; (bound form) to be good at; (literary) surplus; spare (Taiwan pr. [zhang4]) |
| 时间 | shí jiān | (concept of) time; (duration of) time; (point in) time |
| 还 | Huán | surname Huan |
| 没有 | méi yǒu | haven't; hasn't; doesn't exist; to not have; to not be |
| 吃饭 | chī fàn | to have a meal; to eat; to make a living |
| 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 |
| 也 | Yě | surname Ye |
| 要 | yāo | (bound form) to demand; to coerce |
| 笑 | xiào | old variant of 笑[xiao4]; to laugh; to smile; to laugh at |
| 谢谢 | xiè xie | to thank; thanks; thank you |
| 一个人 | yī gè rén | by oneself (without assistance); alone (without company) |
| 家 | jiā | used in 傢伙|家伙[jia1 huo5] and 傢俱|家俱[jia1 ju4]; home; family; (polite) my (sister, uncle etc); classifier for families or businesses; refers to the philosophical schools of pre-Han China; noun suffix for a specialist in some act… |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 说说 | shuō shuo | to say sth |
| 好 | hǎo | good; appropriate; proper; all right!; (before a verb) easy to; (before a verb) good to; (before an adjective for exclamatory effect) so; (verb complement indicating completion); (… |
| 吗 | má | (coll.) what? |
| 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 |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 那天 | nà tiān | that day; the other day |
| 都 | Dū | surname Du |
Wang Ming is making a phone call. “Hello, Mom, it’s me. I’m very tired today.”
On the other line is an old man. He says: “Sorry, I’m not your mom. You’ve dialed the wrong number.”
“Oh, apologies!” Wang Ming wanted to hang up the phone.
But the old man says: “Wait a moment. Why are you so tired?”
“I worked for a long time today, and I still haven’t eaten.”
The old man says: “Even when you’re tired, you should eat.”
Wang Ming smiled. “Thank you.”
The old man says: “I live alone at home. Let’s chat, okay?”
“Okay.”
The two people didn’t know each other, but they talked for a long time.
That day, they were both very happy.