A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
天台上的生死一刻，和秋千上的告白
A Rooftop Rescue, and the Confession on the Swing
About this story
In Never-Ending Summer, a rooftop rescue, Lu Xixiao's hidden past, and a late confession on a swing as the summer ends and he prepares to go abroad. HSK 3 Chinese listening practice.
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 信任、手术、压力 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.
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原文Read the complete story in Chinese. Reveal pinyin and English only when you need them.
English transcript reference
Last time, Lu Xixiao handed his trust to Zhou Wan without holding back, yet in her heart she still pressed down that secret she didn't dare reveal.
Today, let's keep going.
Grandma's surgery fee was still far short, and Zhou Wan had even planned to borrow from a loan shark.
Right then, her mother came to Lu Xixiao again and laid out a condition: as long as he agreed to go abroad, she would pay that life-saving money.
Lu Xixiao barely hesitated; for Zhou Wan, he agreed at once — even if the price was going far from home, alone.
But this summer still held a more dangerous hurdle.
At school, a girl named Xue Xi, driven to the edge by heartbreak and pressure, climbed alone onto a high rooftop.
Lu Xixiao and Zhou Wan rushed up, one with their own pain, one with their own sorrow, coaxing her back line by line.
At the last instant, Lu Xixiao yanked her up, but his own foot slipped, and he was about to plunge down.
Zhou Wan seized his arm and held on for dear life; the two of them hung there in mid-air together.
Luckily the firefighters below had spread a safety net, and both came through the scare unharmed.
It was in that very moment that Lu Xixiao spoke of a past he'd never told anyone.
Years ago, his mother, unable to bear the weight of life, fell gravely ill, walked up onto a rooftop alone, and never came back.
From then on he grew up by himself, hiding all his loneliness behind that careless air of his.
It was Zhou Wan's arrival, he said, that first made him feel someone was finally by his side.
The summer ended as fast as it came; the moment the exams were over, Lu Xixiao really was leaving.
On the night before he left, the two of them sat side by side on a swing, looking up at the stars.
Lu Xixiao said softly: before, I guarded this place alone, and it was so very quiet.
When he'd said that, he paused, then added: now that you're here, this place finally has a bit of the feeling of a home.
Zhou Wan couldn't help asking: why on earth do you insist on going abroad alone?
Lu Xixiao didn't answer head-on; he only gazed at her, for a long, long time.
Then, all at once, he softly opened his mouth and asked: do you want to fall in love?
The summer was drawing to a close, and he was leaving too, yet at exactly this moment he said the words he'd held in all summer.
This confession that came so late — how will Zhou Wan take it?
Their summer, in truth, is only about to meet its hardest stretch.
If someone walked with you through your bitterest days, then had to turn and leave in the end, could you bear to let him go?
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Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇HSK 4 (taught here). 把信任毫无保留地交给了周挽 = handed his trust to her completely.
HSK 4 (taught). 奶奶的手术费还差一大截 = grandma's surgery fee is far short.
HSK 4. 被失恋和压力逼到了绝境 = driven to the edge by heartbreak and pressure.
HSK 4. 把所有的孤单都藏起来 = hiding all his loneliness.
HSK 4. 几乎没有犹豫 = barely hesitated.
Beyond HSK 3. 打算去借高利贷 = planned to borrow from a loan shark.
Beyond HSK 3. 只要他答应出国 = as long as he agrees to go abroad.
Beyond HSK 3. 高考一考完 = as soon as the college exam was over.
Beyond HSK 3. 并排坐在秋千上 = sitting side by side on a swing.
Beyond HSK 3. 消防员撑开的安全网 = the safety net the firefighters spread.
Beyond HSK 3. 这一句迟来的告白 = this confession that came late.
Beyond HSK 3. 你想不想谈恋爱？ = do you want to fall in love?
Beyond HSK 3. 那个不敢说破的秘密 = the secret she doesn't dare reveal.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法哪怕 + 代价
哪怕 X = even if / even at the cost of X — concession.
为了周挽，一口就应了下来——哪怕代价是一个人远走他乡。
说 A 就 A
说 X 就 X = X happens the instant it's mentioned — abruptly, without warning.
夏天说结束就结束了。
非…不可 / 非要
非要 (…不可) = insist on / absolutely must (do).
你到底为什么，非要一个人出国？
偏偏 (at just this moment)
偏偏 = precisely / as luck would have it (often at an inconvenient time).
可偏偏在这个时候，他把话说了出来。
Proper Nouns
专有名词Sources
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