3:48
杨梅泡水风波：果农为什么哭了
The Bayberry Soaking Scandal: Why a Farmer Is Crying
This is an HSK 2 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 12 key vocabulary words such as 今天、吃、知道 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.
今天我们说一个故事。
Today we'll tell a story.
这个故事，
This story
是关于杨梅的。
is about yangmei (bayberry).
杨梅是什么？
What is yangmei?
杨梅是一种水果。
Yangmei is a kind of fruit.
是红色的，
It's red,
小小的，
small,
很甜，
very sweet,
也有一点酸。
and a little sour.
每年五月、
Every May
六月，
and June
是杨梅的季节。
is yangmei season.
这是一个，
This is a
很短的季节。
very short season.
只有几个星期。
Only a few weeks.
杨梅有一个特点：
Yangmei has one trait:
它不能放很久。
it cannot be kept long.
摘下来以后，
After being picked,
两三天，
in two or three days
就开始坏了。
it starts to go bad.
所以，
So
种杨梅的农民，
the farmers who grow yangmei
一年到头都在等，
wait all year long
就为了这两三个星期。
just for these two or three weeks.
这就是杨梅生意的，
That is what makes the yangmei business
特别的地方。
special.
现在，
Now,
我们说一下，
let's talk about
最近的新闻。
the recent news.
五月中旬，
In mid-May
有一个新闻，
there was a news story
让大家都很生气。
that made everyone angry.
在中国南方，
In southern China,
一个叫漳州的地方，
in a place called Zhangzhou,
有几家做杨梅生意的。
there are some yangmei merchants.
他们做了一件，
They did something
不可以做的事。
that was not allowed.
他们把杨梅，
They took the yangmei
泡在了药水里。
and soaked it in a chemical liquid.
这种"药水"里，
In this "chemical liquid"
有两种东西。
there were two things.
一种，
One
是为了让杨梅，
was to make the yangmei
不容易坏。
not spoil easily.
另一种，
The other
是为了让杨梅，
was to make the yangmei
吃起来更甜。
taste sweeter.
但是这两种东西，
But both of these things,
国家都说了：
the state has said:
"不可以放在，
"They may not be put
"新鲜的水果里。
"in fresh fruit.
所以，
So
他们做的事，
what they did
是违法的。
was illegal.
"违法"，
"Illegal"
就是做了，
means doing
法律不让做的事。
what the law does not allow.
新闻一出来，
As soon as the news came out,
事情就大了。
things got big.
官方很快，
The authorities, very quickly,
就开始查。
began to investigate.
查到了五家这样的地方，
They found five such places,
其中五个人，
and five people in them
被警察带走了。
were taken by the police.
但是，
But
事情还没有结束。
the story was not over.
新闻一出来，
After the news came out,
很多人都不敢，
many people no longer dared
再买杨梅了。
to buy yangmei.
不只是漳州的杨梅，
Not just Zhangzhou yangmei —
浙江的杨梅，
Zhejiang yangmei
也卖不出去。
also couldn't be sold.
浙江有很多农民，
Zhejiang has many farmers
种了几十年的杨梅。
who have grown yangmei for decades.
他们和这件事，
They had nothing
完全没有关系。
to do with this matter at all.
但是，
But
他们的杨梅，
their yangmei
也没有人买。
also had no buyers.
五月二十三号，
On May 23,
一个漳州的农民，
a Zhangzhou farmer
在网上卖杨梅。
was selling yangmei online.
他一边说，
As he spoke,
一边哭。
he cried.
他说，
He said
他的杨梅，
his yangmei
是好好种出来的。
had been honestly grown.
没有放过任何坏东西。
He never used any bad thing.
但是因为这个新闻，
But because of this news,
全部都卖不出去。
none of it could be sold.
他不知道，
He didn't know
自己应该怎么办。
what he should do.
这是这件事，
This is the part of this matter
最让人难过的地方。
that hurts the most.
做错事的人，
The people who did wrong
只有几个。
were only a few.
但是受到伤害的人，
But the people who got hurt
非常多。
were very many.
我看了这个新闻，
I read this news,
我想了一件事。
and I thought of one thing.
做生意，
In doing business,
其实最重要的一个东西，
the most important thing, really,
是"信任"。
is "trust."
"信任"，
"Trust"
就是别人相信你。
means others believing you.
很多年的信任，
Many years of trust
可能因为几个坏人，
can — because of a few bad people —
一下子就没有了。
all at once be gone.
建立信任，
Building trust
要很多年；
takes many years;
失去信任，
losing trust,
很快。
very fast.
最后我问你：
Finally I ask you:
你买东西的时候，
When you buy things,
最怕的是什么？
what do you fear the most?
是太贵？
That it's too expensive?
还是不知道，
Or that you don't know
能不能相信，
whether you can trust
卖东西的人？
the one selling?
你想一想。
Think about it.
好。
Okay.
今天就说到这里。
That's all for today.
明天再聊。
Talk tomorrow.
Today. The narrator opens 今天我们说一个故事 — 'today we'll tell a story.'
To eat. The reflex after the news: people no longer dared to buy yangmei to eat.
To know. The farmer's despair: 他不知道，自己应该怎么办 — 'he didn't know what he should do.'
To cry. The image at the episode's heart: 他一边说，一边哭 — 'as he spoke, he cried.'
Important. The closing point: 做生意，其实最重要的一个东西，是"信任" — 'in business, the most important thing is trust.'
Sweet. The fruit and the scandal: 杨梅很甜，也有一点酸 — naturally sweet; but the sellers used a sweetener to make it sweeter still.
A small, dark-red, sweet-and-sour southern Chinese fruit. Beyond HSK2. The episode glosses it: 红色的、小小的、很甜、也有一点酸.
Farmer. Beyond HSK2. Many 农民 grew yangmei honestly for decades but couldn't sell a thing after the news.
Season. Beyond HSK2. Yangmei has 一个很短的季节 — 'a very short season,' only a few weeks each year.
Illegal. Beyond HSK2. The episode glosses it: 做了法律不让做的事 — 'doing what the law does not allow.'
Trust. Beyond HSK2. The closing reflection's keyword: 别人相信你. Trust takes years to build, can be lost fast.
Sad, upset. Beyond HSK2. 最让人难过的地方 — 'the part that hurts the most': honest farmers got hurt too.
* beyond level超纲词
X，就是 Y
A simple definition pattern: say the word, then 就是, then a plain explanation. The episode uses it to unpack 违法 and 信任.
"违法"，就是做了法律不让做的事。
"信任"，就是别人相信你。
因为 introduces the cause. The episode uses it to explain why honest farmers' yangmei went unsold.
但是因为这个新闻，全部都卖不出去。
但是因为这件事，没有人敢再买杨梅。
一边 A，一边 B
一边…一边… describes two actions happening together. The episode uses it for the farmer who was selling AND crying.
他一边说，一边哭。
完全 + 没/不
完全 sharpens a negation to mean 'entirely.' The episode uses it to stress that Zhejiang farmers had nothing to do with the scandal.
他们和这件事，完全没有关系。