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The Man Was Already Gone — episode cover art
3:50

人已经不在车站

The Man Was Already Gone

About this story

Intermediate Chinese audio drama: Qingyi bets that Mulan will silence Steward Li, then catches her with a hidden dinner knife. HSK 3 Chinese listening practice.

This is an HSK 3-4 Chinese listening episode that runs about 4 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 8 key vocabulary words such as 身份、证据、保护 and walks through 2 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.

旁白pángbái· Narrator

牧兰正式住进慕容家。
新家具一件件抬进来,像在告诉整座房子:方家的女儿已经坐下了。

清渝Qīngyú· Qingyu

东西太多了。母亲看了会不高兴。

清峄Qīngyì· Qingyi

她不是来住几天。她是来让所有人看见她住在这里。

清渝Qīngyú· Qingyu

她是我的未婚妻。住进来很正常。

清峄Qīngyì· Qingyi

正常的人,不会用这么多东西证明自己是谁。

清渝Qīngyú· Qingyu

你还在看她的脸。

清峄Qīngyì· Qingyi

我在看她为什么不怕我看。

清渝Qīngyú· Qingyu

清峄,她住进来以后,你不能再当众叫那个名字。

清峄Qīngyì· Qingyi

素素。

清渝Qīngyú· Qingyu

你看,你还是叫了。

清峄Qīngyì· Qingyi

那我就换一个办法。不问她是谁,先看她怕谁。

旁白pángbái· Narrator

清峄提出送她回家。牧兰没有拒绝,像接受一次必须完成的礼貌。

清峄Qīngyì· Qingyi

你住进慕容家,大家都会开始叫你清渝的未婚妻。

牧兰Mùlán· Mulan

这本来就是我的身份。

清峄Qīngyì· Qingyi

身份可以搬进来。过去搬不进来。

牧兰Mùlán· Mulan

你又要说任素素。

清峄Qīngyì· Qingyi

我因为这个女人,在一个出不去的地方待了三年。
我不会再让她从我眼前走掉。

牧兰Mùlán· Mulan

你把旧账算在我身上,只会显得你认错了人。

清峄Qīngyì· Qingyi

认错的人,通常会急着解释。你只是很稳。

牧兰Mùlán· Mulan

稳,不代表我认识她。

清峄Qīngyì· Qingyi

那我们等一个认识她的人。

清渝Qīngyú· Qingyu

你查到什么了?

清峄Qīngyì· Qingyi

李管家明天到南城。三年前他见过素素。

清渝Qīngyú· Qingyu

你要让他认人?

清峄Qīngyì· Qingyi

牧兰会先让他不能认。

清渝Qīngyú· Qingyu

你凭什么这么肯定?

清峄Qīngyì· Qingyi

如果她只是长得像,她不必怕一个管家。
如果她就是那个人,她一定怕他开口。

清渝Qīngyú· Qingyu

所以你准备怎么办?

清峄Qīngyì· Qingyi

她会先去车站。那个人,已经不在那条路上。

清渝Qīngyú· Qingyu

你这是在保护证人,还是在试她?

清峄Qīngyì· Qingyi

两件事是同一件事。她去不去,比她说不说“我是牧兰”更清楚。

旁白pángbái· Narrator

牧兰赶到车站。
一个戴帽的人坐在角落,双手放在膝上,像刚下车、还没来得及说话。

牧兰Mùlán· Mulan

李管家?别出声。跟我走。

旁白pángbái· Narrator

她抓住袖子。衣服空了,整个人向外倒下去,帽子下面没有脸。

牧兰Mùlán· Mulan

假人。

清峄Qīngyì· Qingyi

你来得很快。

牧兰Mùlán· Mulan

人呢?

清峄Qīngyì· Qingyi

不在车站了。

牧兰Mùlán· Mulan

是你让他走的?

清峄Qīngyì· Qingyi

你刚让他别开口。

牧兰Mùlán· Mulan

你没有证据。

清峄Qīngyì· Qingyi

证据就是你来了,还不许他说话。

旁白pángbái· Narrator

牧兰回到公馆,手里始终没有松开身后的东西。
清峄在门厅等她,像早就知道她还要再出门。

清峄Qīngyì· Qingyi

今晚还有第二趟?

牧兰Mùlán· Mulan

我出去一趟就回来。

清峄Qīngyì· Qingyi

把刀放下。
藏在身后的不是钥匙。

牧兰Mùlán· Mulan

你赢了这一次。

清峄Qīngyì· Qingyi

我没有赢你是谁。我只赢下今晚。

牧兰Mùlán· Mulan

你要把我留在这里?

清峄Qīngyì· Qingyi

今天晚上,这扇门对你关上。李管家还活着。明天他会站在花园里看你。

牧兰Mùlán· Mulan

你以为一张旧脸,就能让所有事情结束?

清峄Qīngyì· Qingyi

不能。所以我才先让你走不了。

旁白pángbái· Narrator

餐刀留在盘边。
牧兰站在自己新搬来的家具中间,第一次发现这些东西也能变成墙。
English transcript reference

Mulan formally moves into the Murong house.

New furniture is carried in piece by piece, as if telling the whole house: the Fang family's daughter has sat down.

There are too many things. Mother will be unhappy when she sees them.

She did not come to stay a few days. She came to let everyone see that she lives here.

She is my fiancée. Moving in is normal.

A normal person would not use this many things to prove who she is.

You are still looking at her face.

I am looking at why she is not afraid of me looking.

Qingyi, after she moves in, you cannot call that name in front of people.

Susu.

See? You still said it.

Then I will change methods. I will not ask who she is. I will see whom she fears.

Qingyi offers to take her home. Mulan does not refuse, as if accepting a courtesy she must complete.

You have moved into the Murong house. Everyone will start calling you Qingyu's fiancée.

This has always been my identity.

Identity can be moved in. The past cannot.

You are going to talk about Ren Susu again.

Because of that woman, I spent three years in a place I could not leave.

I will not let her walk out of my sight again.

If you put old accounts on me, you will only look like you have the wrong person.

People who have the wrong person usually rush to explain. You are only very steady.

Being steady does not mean I know her.

Then we will wait for someone who does know her.

What did you find?

Steward Li arrives in South City tomorrow. Three years ago he saw Susu.

You want him to identify her?

Mulan will keep him from identifying anyone first.

How can you be so sure?

If she only looks like her, she need not fear a steward.

If she is that person, she will certainly fear him opening his mouth.

So what are you going to do?

She will go to the station first. That man is already off that road.

Are you protecting a witness, or testing her?

They are the same thing. Whether she goes is clearer than whether she says, "I am Mulan."

Mulan hurries to the station.

A man in a hat sits in the corner, hands on his knees, as if he has just gotten off a car and has not had time to speak.

Steward Li? Do not make a sound. Come with me.

She grabs the sleeve. The clothes are empty. The whole figure falls outward. Under the hat there is no face.

A dummy.

You came very fast.

Where is the person?

Not at the station anymore.

You let him leave?

You just told him not to open his mouth.

You have no evidence.

The evidence is that you came, and would not let him speak.

Mulan returns to the mansion, never loosening what she holds behind her.

Qingyi waits for her in the hall, as if he already knew she would try to leave again.

A second trip tonight?

I will go out once and come back.

Put the knife down.

What you hid behind you is not a key.

You won this time.

I did not win who you are. I only won tonight.

You are going to keep me here?

Tonight, this door closes on you. Steward Li is still alive. Tomorrow he will stand in the garden and look at you.

You think one old face can make everything end?

It cannot. That is why I will not let you leave first.

The dinner knife stays by the plate.

Mulan stands among the furniture she has just moved in, and for the first time sees that these things can also become a wall.

Listen again

Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.

What vocabulary does this episode teach?

词汇
shēn fènidentity

who someone is, or the role they claim

zhèng jùevidence

something that shows a claim is true

bǎo hùto protect

to keep a person safe

jì huàplan

an arranged set of actions

zhèng rénwitness

someone who has seen a person before

jiǎ réndummy

a fake body used to replace a real person

kāi kǒuto speak / open one's mouth

to start talking, especially to identify someone

cān dāodinner knife

a knife from the dining table

* beyond level超纲词

What grammar patterns appear in this episode?

语法
如果……就……↗

Sets a condition and the result that follows.

如果她只是长得像,她不必怕一个管家。

如果她就是那个人,她一定怕他开口。

不是……而是……↗

Rejects one explanation and names the real one.

她不是来住几天。

Proper nouns

专有名词
慕容清峄Mùróng QīngyìMurong Qingyi慕容清渝Mùróng QīngyúMurong Qingyu方牧兰Fāng MùlánFang Mulan任素素Rèn SùsùRen Susu李管家Lǐ guǎnjiāSteward Li

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