Join Li Hong and Wang Ming as they hash out the age-old debate: is a boring job with good perks worth sticking around for?
李红和王明坐在咖啡馆里。
“你工作怎么样？”李红问。
王明叹了口气。”很无聊。每天做一样的事情。”
“那你为什么不找新工作？”
“因为工资不错，”王明说。”虽然很无聊，但是钱够用。”
李红笑了。”就这样？”
“还有……我的同事很好，”王明说。”虽然工作无聊，但是我们常常一起吃午饭，一起笑。”
“所以你不走？”
“所以我不走，”王明说。”你觉得我应该走吗？”
李红想了想。”我觉得……如果你每天都不高兴，就应该走。但是你好像还可以。”
王明点点头。”对。我不是很高兴，但是我也不是很不高兴。”
李红笑了。”这就是生活。”
“对，”王明说。”这就是生活。”
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 无聊 | wúliáo | boring |
| 叹了口气 | tàn le kǒu qì | sighed |
| 工资 | gōngzī | salary/wages |
| 虽然…但是 | suīrán…dànshì | although…but |
| 同事 | tóngshì | colleague/coworker |
| 够用 | gòuyòng | enough (to use) |
| 好像 | hǎoxiàng | seem to/appear to |
| 点点头 | diǎndiǎntóu | nodded</p> |
| 李 | lí | plum; surname Li |
| 红 | Hóng | surname Hong |
| 和 | hé | old variant of 和[he2]; surname He; (literary) harmonious (variant of 和[he2]) |
| 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 |
| 坐 | Zuò | surname Zuo |
| 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) |
| 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] |
| 里 | lǐ | variant of 裡|里[li3]; lining; interior; inside; internal; also written 裏|里[li3]; surname Li |
| 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.) |
| 工作 | gōng zuò | to work; (of a machine) to operate; job; work; task; CL:個|个[ge4],份[fen4],項|项[xiang4] |
| 怎 | zěn | how |
| 么 | má | exclamatory final particle; variant of 麼|么[me5] |
| 样 | yàng | manner; pattern; way; appearance; shape; classifier: kind, type |
| 问 | wèn | to ask; to inquire |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 每天 | měi tiān | every day |
| 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… |
| 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 … |
| 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… |
| 事情 | shì qing | affair; matter; thing; business; CL:件[jian4],樁|桩[zhuang1] |
| 那 | Nā | surname Na |
| 为 | wéi | as (in the capacity of); to take sth as; to act as; to serve as; to behave as; to become; to be; to do; by (in the passive voice); variant of 為|为[wei2] |
| 什 | shén | what |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 找 | zhǎo | to try to find; to look for; to call on sb; to find; to seek; to return; to give change |
| 新 | Xīn | abbr. for Xinjiang 新疆[Xin1 jiang1]; abbr. for Singapore 新加坡[Xin1 jia1 po1]; surname Xin |
| 因为 | yīn wèi | because; owing to; on account of |
| 不错 | bù cuò | correct; right; not bad; pretty good |
| 说 | shuì | to persuade; variant of 說|说[shuo1] |
| 虽然 | suī rán | although; even though (often used correlatively with 可是[ke3 shi4] or 但是[dan4 shi4] etc) |
| 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] |
| 钱 | Qián | surname Qian |
| 笑 | xiào | old variant of 笑[xiao4]; to laugh; to smile; to laugh at |
| 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 |
| 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… |
| 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) |
| 还有 | hái yǒu | there still remain(s); there is (or are) still; in addition |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 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); (… |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 常常 | cháng cháng | frequently; often |
| 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) |
| 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] |
| 午 | wǔ | 7th earthly branch: 11 a.m.-1 p.m., noon, 5th solar month (6th June-6th July), year of the Horse; ancient Chinese compass point: 180° (south) |
| 饭 | fàn | cooked rice; CL:碗[wan3]; meal; CL:頓|顿[dun4]; (loanword) fan; devotee |
| 所以 | suǒ yǐ | therefore; as a result; so; the reason why |
| 走 | zǒu | to walk; to go; to run; to move (of vehicle); to visit; to leave; to go away; to die (euph.); from; through; away (in compound verbs, such as 撤走[che4 zou3]); to change (shape, form… |
| 觉得 | jué de | to think that ...; to feel that ...; to feel (uncomfortable etc) |
| 应 | Yīng | surname Ying; Taiwan pr. [Ying4] |
| 该 | gāi | should; ought to; probably; must be; to deserve; to owe; to be sb's turn to do sth; that; the above-mentioned |
| 吗 | má | (coll.) what? |
| 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) |
| 如 | rú | as; as if; such as |
| 果 | guǒ | fruit; result; resolute; indeed; if really |
| 都 | Dū | surname Du |
| 高兴 | gāo xìng | happy; glad; willing (to do sth); in a cheerful mood |
| 还 | Huán | surname Huan |
| 可以 | kě yǐ | can; may; possible; able to; not bad; pretty good |
| 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… |
| 不是 | bù shì | no; is not; not |
| 也 | Yě | surname Ye |
| 这就 | zhè jìu | immediately; at once |
| 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 |
Li Hong and Wang Ming sat in a coffee shop.
‘How’s work going?’ Li Hong asked.
Wang Ming sighed. ‘Very boring. Every day I do the same things.’
‘Then why don’t you look for a new job?’
‘Because the salary is pretty good,’ Wang Ming said. ‘Although it’s boring, the money is enough.’
Li Hong laughed. ‘That’s it?’
‘Also… my colleagues are great,’ Wang Ming said. ‘Although the work is boring, we often eat lunch together and laugh together.’
‘So you’re not leaving?’
‘So I’m not leaving,’ Wang Ming said. ‘Do you think I should leave?’
Li Hong thought about it. ‘I think… if you’re unhappy every day, you should leave. But you seem to be doing okay.’
Wang Ming nodded. ‘Right. I’m not very happy, but I’m also not very unhappy.’
Li Hong laughed. ‘That’s life.’
‘Right,’ Wang Ming said. ‘That’s life.’