In this short story, Li Ming finally scores a seat on public transport after a long day at work.
李明今天很累。他工作了很长时间。他在地铁里找到了一个座位，坐下来。
下一站，一个老奶奶上来了。她手里有很多东西。没有座位了。
李明看到了她。他站起来，说：”奶奶，您坐吧。”
老奶奶笑了。”谢谢你！”
李明站着。他还是很累。但是他心里很高兴。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 累 | lèi | tired |
| 地铁 | dìtiě | subway/metro |
| 座位 | zuòwèi | seat |
| 老奶奶 | lǎonǎinai | elderly woman/grandma |
| 站起来 | zhànqǐlái | to stand up |
| 笑 | xiào | to smile/laugh |
| 高兴 | gāoxìng | happy/glad |
| 心里 | xīnlǐ | in one’s heart/mind |
| 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 |
| 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]) |
| 工作 | gōng zuò | to work; (of a machine) to operate; job; work; task; CL:個|个[ge4],份[fen4],項|项[xiang4] |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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) |
| 里 | lǐ | variant of 裡|里[li3]; lining; interior; inside; internal; also written 裏|里[li3]; surname Li |
| 找到 | zhǎo dào | to find |
| 一个 | yī ge | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) |
| 坐下 | zuò xia | to sit down |
| 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… |
| 下一站 | xià yī zhàn | the next stop (of a bus etc) |
| 上 | shǎng | used in 上聲|上声[shang3 sheng1] |
| 她 | tā | she |
| 手里 | shǒu lǐ | in hand; (a situation is) in sb's hands |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) |
| 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- |
| 东 | Dōng | surname Dong |
| 西 | Xī | the West; abbr. for Spain 西班牙[Xi1 ban1 ya2]; Spanish |
| 没有 | méi yǒu | haven't; hasn't; doesn't exist; to not have; to not be |
| 看到 | kàn dào | to see |
| 说 | shuì | to persuade; variant of 說|说[shuo1] |
| 奶 | nǎi | breast; milk; to breastfeed; variant of 嬭|奶[nai3]; mother; variant of 奶[nai3] |
| 您 | nín | you (courteous, as opposed to informal 你[ni3]) |
| 坐 | Zuò | surname Zuo |
| 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] |
| 谢谢 | xiè xie | to thank; thanks; thank you |
| 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.) |
| 站 | zhàn | station; to stand; to halt; to stop; branch of a company or organization; website |
| 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 |
| 还是 | hái shi | still (as before); had better; unexpectedly; or |
| 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] |
Li Ming was very tired today. He had worked for a long time. He found a seat on the subway and sat down.
At the next stop, an elderly woman got on. She had many things in her hands. There were no seats left.
Li Ming saw her. He stood up and said: ‘Grandma, please sit here.’
The elderly woman smiled. ‘Thank you!’
Li Ming stood. He was still very tired. But in his heart, he was very happy.