3:28
一张保险单，和一声当众叫出的“妈妈”
An Insurance Contract, and a "Mother" Said Out Loud
HSK 1-3 Chinese listening practice. In Never-Ending Summer, an insurance contract, a white gown, and a public "Mom" — Zhou Wan stages a scene to win back her father's money as Lu Xixiao watches, hurt.
This is an HSK 3-4 Chinese listening episode that runs about 3 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 13 key vocabulary words such as 钱、母亲、医院 and walks through 4 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.
上次说到，周挽收下了妈妈那张银行卡，狠心把陆西骁推开，可奶奶的病却越来越重，救命的钱还差一大截。
Last time, Zhou Wan took her mother's bank card, hardened her heart and pushed Lu Xixiao away — but grandma's illness kept worsening, and the money to save her was still far short.
今天，接着往下说。
Today, let's keep going.
周挽的爸爸早就不在了，去世前留下了一笔钱。
Zhou Wan's father had long been gone; before he died, he left behind a sum of money.
这些年，妈妈一口咬定这笔钱是自己的，一分都不给周挽。
All these years, her mother flatly insisted the money was hers, and gave Zhou Wan not a cent.
可就在这个时候，周挽在家里翻出了一张保险合同。
But right at this point, Zhou Wan dug up an insurance contract at home.
上面写得明明白白：这笔钱真正的受益人，从头到尾都是周挽自己，根本不是妈妈。
It was written plainly: the true beneficiary of the money, from start to finish, was Zhou Wan herself — not her mother at all.
那一刻，周挽全明白了，原来自己被亲妈妈骗了这么多年。
In that moment, Zhou Wan understood everything: she'd been lied to by her own mother for years.
她暗暗下定决心：属于我的东西，我要一样一样,亲手拿回来。
She quietly made a vow: what belongs to me, I'll take back with my own hands, piece by piece.
很快，机会就来了。
The chance came quickly.
陆家办了一场很大的纪念晚宴，城里有头有脸的人都会到场，周挽的妈妈自然也在其中。
The Lu family held a grand memorial banquet; everyone of note in the city would attend, and Zhou Wan's mother, of course, was among them.
周挽想尽办法混了进去,她要当着所有人的面，逼妈妈把爸爸的钱吐出来。
Zhou Wan did everything she could to sneak in — she meant to force her mother, in front of everyone, to cough up her father's money.
晚宴上，那个一直看不起她的男生，故意把饮料泼在她的旧裙子上，想让她当众出丑。
At the banquet, the boy who always looked down on her deliberately spilled a drink on her old dress, to shame her in public.
所有人的目光都聚到周挽身上，气氛一下子僵住了。
Every eye fixed on Zhou Wan, and the air froze.
就在这时，陆西骁走了过来。
Just then, Lu Xixiao walked over.
原来，他早就悄悄为周挽准备好了一条白色的礼服，不动声色地让她去换上。
It turned out he had quietly prepared a white gown for her, and without a fuss sent her off to change.
周挽换好衣服，站在灯光下，整个人都亮了。
When Zhou Wan changed and stood under the lights, her whole self lit up.
哪怕她这段时间对他冷得像冰，陆西骁还是一次次挡在她前面。
Even though she'd been cold as ice to him lately, Lu Xixiao kept stepping in front of her, again and again.
可命运没有给他们喘息的机会。
But fate gave them no room to breathe.
就在此时，周挽接到医院的电话：奶奶终于等到了合适的肾源，但手术要三十万。
Right then, Zhou Wan got a call from the hospital: grandma finally had a matching kidney donor, but the surgery cost three hundred thousand.
三十万，对此刻的周挽来说，是一个天文数字。
Three hundred thousand — for Zhou Wan at that moment, it was an astronomical figure.
她几乎没有别的选择。
She had almost no other choice.
她一步步走到晚宴中央，当着满堂宾客，第一次开口叫了那个女人一声“妈妈”。
Step by step she walked to the center of the banquet and, before the whole room, called that woman "Mom" for the first time.
她说：这些年，多谢妈妈一直资助我。
She said: all these years, thank you, Mom, for supporting me.
一句话，把妈妈架在了所有人面前。
One line, and she pinned her mother in front of everyone.
妈妈骑虎难下，只能当众答应，把爸爸那三十万拿出来。
Cornered, her mother could only agree in public to hand over the father's three hundred thousand.
奶奶的手术费，就这样有了着落。
And so grandma's surgery money was secured.
可这一幕，全被陆西骁看在眼里。
But this scene fell entirely into Lu Xixiao's eyes.
他脸上什么都没说，心里却像被人狠狠攥了一下。
His face showed nothing, but inside felt as if a hand had gripped it hard.
他问周挽：你对我，到底有没有哪怕一秒，是真心的？
He asked Zhou Wan: toward me, was there ever even one second that was real?
周挽张了张嘴，最后什么也没说。
Zhou Wan opened her mouth, and in the end said nothing.
因为她心里死死压着一个不能说破的秘密：台上那个女人，正是抛下她的亲生母亲，而这件事，全场没有一个人知道。
Because she was pressing down a secret she couldn't break open: the woman on that stage was the very birth mother who had abandoned her — and not one person in the room knew it.
晚宴之后，陆家干脆让周挽搬进来，和陆西骁同一个屋檐下，一起读书备考。
After the banquet, the Lu family simply moved Zhou Wan in, under the same roof as Lu Xixiao, to study for the exams together.
两个人的距离，被这样一点点拉近。
The distance between them was drawn closer, bit by bit.
可周挽一边忍不住想靠近他，一边又要死死瞒着他。
But Zhou Wan, unable to help drifting toward him, also had to hide the truth with all her might.
这个夏天，她越活越像走钢丝。
This summer, she lived more and more like someone walking a tightrope.
你有没有过一个秘密，越想藏住，就越怕它被人看穿？
Have you ever had a secret that the harder you tried to bury it, the more you feared it would be seen through?
HSK 1. 逼妈妈把爸爸的钱吐出来 = force her mother to cough up father's money.
HSK 4 (母亲); here via 妈妈 HSK 1. The birth mother who abandoned her.
HSK 1. 周挽接到医院的电话 = Zhou Wan gets a call from the hospital.
HSK 3. 很快，机会就来了 = the chance came quickly.
HSK 2 (办法). 她几乎没有别的选择 (办法) = almost no other way.
HSK 3. 她暗暗下定决心 = she quietly made up her mind.
Beyond HSK 3. 陆家办了一场很大的纪念晚宴 = the Lu family held a grand memorial banquet.
Beyond HSK 3. 一张保险合同 = an insurance contract.
Beyond HSK 3. 真正的受益人是周挽自己 = the true beneficiary is Zhou Wan herself.
Beyond HSK 3. 等到了合适的肾源 = a matching kidney donor was found.
Beyond HSK 3. 多谢妈妈一直资助我 = thank you, Mom, for supporting me financially.
Beyond HSK 3. 抛下她的亲生母亲 = the birth mother who abandoned her.
Beyond HSK 3. The secret she presses down all night.
* beyond level超纲词
一口咬定
一口咬定 = to insist flatly / stubbornly claim (something), refusing to budge.
妈妈一口咬定这笔钱是自己的。
哪怕…还是…
哪怕 A，还是 B = even if A, still B — concession.
哪怕她对他冷得像冰，陆西骁还是挡在她前面。
只能 + 动词 (no choice)
只能 = can only / be forced to, often after being cornered (骑虎难下).
妈妈骑虎难下，只能当众答应。
一边 A，一边 B
一边…一边… = doing two things at once, here two conflicting impulses.
一边忍不住想靠近他，一边又要死死瞒着他。
Free account
You just read the story — hear it next. A free account saves your level, the words you keep from this episode, and the line you stop at, so you can pick the story back up on any device.