4:48
许家印的伦敦豪宅：全英国最贵的房子，卡成了死结
Xu Jiayin's London Mansion: Britain's Priciest House, Locked in a Deadlock
This is an HSK 3-4 Chinese listening episode that runs about 5 minutes. The full Mandarin script is shown with tap-for-pinyin and a line-by-line English translation, so you can listen and read at once — comprehensible input in the sense of Stephen Krashen's i+1 theory. It teaches 14 key vocabulary words such as 问题、公司、普通 and walks through 3 grammar patterns, each explained in English with examples. The same news story is retold at 4 difficulty levels — use the level selector above to find the version that is challenging but still understandable for you.
今天聊一个挺魔幻的故事，主角是伦敦一栋最贵的豪宅。
Today, a rather surreal story, centered on London's most expensive mansion.
这栋豪宅贵到什么程度呢？
Just how expensive is this mansion?
当年买下来，花了两亿一千万英镑。
It was bought for £210 million.
换成人民币，差不多是二十亿。
That's roughly 2 billion yuan.
可就是这么一栋天价房子，现在却空在那里，一个人都没住。
Yet this sky-high-priced house now sits empty, with no one living in it.
它已经空了好几年了。
It's been empty for several years.
这背后，牵扯出的是恒大和许家印的故事。
Behind it lies the story of Evergrande and Xu Jiayin.
许家印这个名字，你可能听过。
You may have heard the name Xu Jiayin.
他曾经是中国的首富，手里握着一家巨无霸公司，叫恒大。
He was once China's richest man, holding a behemoth company called Evergrande.
说起来，许家印是从很穷的农村一步步爬上来的。
Xu Jiayin, in fact, climbed up step by step from a very poor rural village.
最风光的时候，他的身家有好几千亿。
At his peak, he was worth hundreds of billions.
恒大是做房地产的，说白了，就是盖楼、卖房。
Evergrande was in real estate — plainly put, building and selling homes.
在那些年，恒大盖了数不清的楼盘，许家印也赚得盆满钵满。
In those years Evergrande built countless projects, and Xu Jiayin raked it in.
就是在最有钱的那几年，他在伦敦买下了这栋豪宅。
It was during his richest years that he bought this London mansion.
对了，当年买这栋房子，他还拉上了另一个香港富豪，两个人一起出的钱。
By the way, he bought it together with another Hong Kong tycoon — they split the cost.
这房子到底有多夸张？
Just how over-the-top is this house?
里面有四十五个房间，四部电梯，还有一个室内游泳池。
It has 45 rooms, four elevators, and an indoor swimming pool.
房子有一百多扇窗户，很多窗户正对着伦敦的海德公园。
It has over a hundred windows, many facing London's Hyde Park.
可以说，是真正的顶级豪宅。
It's a truly top-tier mansion.
但是好景不长。
But the good times didn't last.
后来的事情你大概也知道了，恒大暴雷了。
What came next you probably know — Evergrande blew up.
它欠下的债，是一个天文数字，根本还不上。
Its debt was an astronomical figure it simply couldn't repay.
到了二零二四年，恒大正式破产。
By 2024, Evergrande officially went bankrupt.
其实恒大暴雷，最惨的不是许家印，而是普通老百姓。
Really, the biggest losers in the collapse weren't Xu Jiayin, but ordinary people.
很多人交了钱，房子却烂尾了，一直没盖完。
Many paid up, only for their homes to stall unfinished.
一家人的血汗钱，就这么套在了里面，拿不回来。
A family's hard-earned savings got trapped inside, unrecoverable.
许家印本人也惹上了大麻烦，今年还承认了财务造假。
Xu Jiayin himself landed in deep trouble, and this year admitted to financial fraud.
那么问题来了：这栋伦敦的豪宅，现在到底归谁？
So the question is: who does this London mansion actually belong to now?
这里面的水，就有点深了。
This is where it gets murky.
这套房子，产权写的并不是许家印的名字。
The property isn't registered in Xu Jiayin's name.
它是通过一家海外公司买的，最后的主人，是许家印的太太，丁玉梅。
It was bought through an offshore company, with the ultimate owner being his wife, Ding Yumei.
而且丁玉梅是加拿大国籍。
And Ding Yumei holds Canadian citizenship.
据说在这套豪宅之外，丁玉梅名下还有伦敦的几十套公寓，加拿大也有房产，加起来是好几亿英镑。
Beyond this mansion, Ding reportedly holds dozens of London flats and Canadian property too, worth several hundred million pounds all together.
后来，许家印和丁玉梅离婚了。
Later, Xu Jiayin and Ding Yumei divorced.
很多人都怀疑，这场离婚，多少有点转移财产的意思。
Many suspect the divorce was, in part, about moving assets around.
但不管怎么说，麻烦就是从离婚开始的。
Either way, the trouble began with the divorce.
现在的局面，卡得死死的。
The situation now is completely stuck.
一边，是恒大的清算方，想把这套房子拿去还债，但他们动不了。
On one side, Evergrande's liquidators want the house to repay debt, but can't touch it.
另一边，是丁玉梅想把房子卖掉，但法院冻结了资产，她也卖不成。
On the other, Ding Yumei wants to sell, but the court froze the assets, so she can't.
两边谁都动不了，房子就只能这么一直空着。
Neither side can move, so the house just stays empty.
其实这栋房子早就挂出来卖了。
In fact, the house was put up for sale long ago.
二零二二年，价格降到了两亿英镑，可还是没人接手。
In 2022 the price dropped to £200 million, yet still no buyer.
它曾经被叫做"全英国最贵的房子"。
It was once called Britain's most expensive house.
可如今，最贵的名头还在，人却一个都没有。
Now the "most expensive" title remains, but not a single soul inside.
一年，两年，三年，里面始终没有人。
One year, two, three — always empty inside.
但最魔幻的地方，还不是这栋空房子。
But the most surreal part isn't even the empty house.
而是房子的门口，真的住着一个人。
It's that someone actually lives at its door.
他是一个瑞典人，以前当过记者。
He's a Swede who used to be a reporter.
他没什么钱，就在这栋顶级豪宅的门廊下，搭了个窝。
With little money, he built a nest under the porch of this top-tier mansion.
他用一堆雨伞，给自己撑起了一个小小的家。
With a pile of umbrellas, he propped up a tiny home for himself.
他自己说，这里是他"假装的家和花园"。
He calls it his "pretend home and garden."
他在这里，一住就是三年。
He's lived here for three years straight.
你想象一下这个画面。
Picture the scene.
全世界最贵的房子之一，里面空无一人。
One of the world's priciest houses, utterly empty inside.
而它的门口，一个普通人,把这里当成了自己的家。
And at its door, an ordinary man treats it as his home.
这栋豪宅，其实就是恒大的一个缩影。
This mansion is really a miniature of Evergrande.
曾经风光无限，如今冷冷清清，卡在原地，进退两难。
Once boundlessly glorious, now cold and still, stuck in place with no way forward.
一栋房子，本来是用来住人的。
A house is meant to be lived in.
可这栋最贵的房子，偏偏一个人都没有。
Yet this priciest house has not a single occupant.
它就这么僵在伦敦，成了恒大那场大崩塌，留下的一个背影。
It just stands frozen in London — a lingering silhouette of Evergrande's great collapse.
好，今天的故事就聊到这儿，我们下次再见。
Okay, that's the story for today; see you next time.
A question. 那么问题来了 = so the question is…
A company. 一家巨无霸公司，叫恒大 = a behemoth company called Evergrande.
Ordinary. 最惨的是普通老百姓 = the worst-hit were ordinary people.
Rural. 从很穷的农村爬上来 = climbed up from a poor rural village.
Money. 两个人一起出的钱 = the two split the cost.
The world. 全世界最贵的房子之一 = one of the world’s priciest houses.
A name. 许家印这个名字 = the name Xu Jiayin.
A luxury mansion. 伦敦一栋最贵的豪宅 = London’s most expensive mansion.
Real estate. 恒大是做房地产的 = Evergrande was in real estate.
Debt. 它欠下的债是一个天文数字 = its debt was astronomical.
Bankruptcy. 恒大正式破产 = Evergrande officially went bankrupt.
To divorce. 麻烦就是从离婚开始的 = the trouble began with the divorce.
To freeze. 法院冻结了资产 = the court froze the assets.
Assets. 把这套资产拿去还债 = take this asset to repay debt.
* beyond level超纲词
一边...另一边...
"On one side… on the other…" — lays out two opposing sides.
一边是恒大的清算方…另一边是丁玉梅…
早就...了
"Long since… already" — stresses something happened well before.
其实这栋房子早就挂出来卖了。