Fluent Fiction - Mandarin Chinese: The Price of Wisdom: Li Wei's Market Misadventure
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Story Transcript:

Zh: 一热烘烘的夏日，李伟来到了熙熙攘攘的秀水街。他满怀激动地进入茫茫人海中，总是希望能在这里找到心仪的商品。北京的秀水街广受人们欢迎，商铺琳琅满目，各式小摊贩售的商品五花八门。李伟这次的目标非常明确，他是来找一款精美的把玩玉石的。
En: On a hot summer day, Li Wei arrived at the bustling Xiu Shui Street. He entered the sea of people with excitement, always hoping to find his favorite items here. Xiu Shui Street in Beijing is popular, with a variety of shops and stalls selling all kinds of goods. Li Wei's goal this time was very clear – he was looking for a beautiful piece of jade to play with.

Zh: 传统的市场状况下，每个人都可以向摊主讨价还价。这是市场的魅力所在，几乎让每个人都能发现自己的价值。李伟也不例外，他走进一家店铺，锁定了一款玉石，那玉石色泽柔和，寓意吉祥。商家给出的价格是800元，李伟满心欢喜，心里想的是："这款玉石在外面的市场起码要卖1000元，我还真捡到了宝贝。"
En: In the traditional market setting, everyone can bargain with the stall owners. This is the charm of the market, which allows almost everyone to discover their own value. Li Wei was no exception. He entered a shop and set his sights on a piece of jade with a soft color and auspicious meaning. The price given by the merchant was 800 yuan. Li Wei was delighted, thinking to himself, "This piece of jade would probably sell for at least 1000 yuan in other markets. I've really found a treasure."

Zh: 李伟对这块玉石展开了激烈的讨价还价，最后，800元的玉石他以700元的价格买下。整个过程对李伟来说舒心又愉快。他心想："没错，这下我真是找到了一块价值连城的宝石。"
En: Li Wei engaged in intense bargaining for the jade, and in the end, he bought the 800 yuan piece for 700 yuan. The whole process was comfortable and enjoyable for Li Wei. He thought to himself, "Yes, this time I have truly found a gem of great value."

Zh: 满载而归的李伟开心极了，以为自己挣了不少。然而，过了一段时间，他却发现那块自以为的"宝石"在市场上的价格其实只有500元。他赔了200元，这让他深感震惊。原来，并不是每一处讨价还价都会赚钱，也不是每一个看起来获利的地方都真的让人赚钱。
En: Li Wei returned home happily, thinking he had earned quite a bit. However, after some time, he discovered that his so-called "gem" was actually only worth 500 yuan in the market. He lost 200 yuan, which shocked him deeply. It turned out that not every bargain would make money, and not every seemingly profitable opportunity would actually be profitable.

Zh: 就这样，李伟在秀水街的初次体验以失败告终。但他并没有失去信心，反而从这次经历中学习到了宝贵的市场规则，也促使他在以后的生活和工作中更加小心谨慎，对事情能有更多的思考和理解。
En: And so, Li Wei's first experience at Xiu Shui Street ended in failure. But he did not lose confidence. Instead, he learned valuable market rules from this experience, which prompted him to be more careful and thoughtful in his future life and work, and to have more reflection and understanding of things.


Vocabulary Words:

• hot: 热
• summer: 夏天
• arrived: 到达
• bustling: 熙熙攘攘
• street: 街道
• excitement: 激动
• favorite: 心仪
• popular: 受欢迎
• variety: 各种
• shops: 商铺
• selling: 出售
• goal: 目标
• beautiful: 精美
• jade: 玉石
• traditional: 传统
• market: 市场
• bargain: 讨价还价
• charm: 魅力
• value: 价值
• exception: 例外
• soft: 柔软
• color: 色彩
• auspicious: 吉祥
• mean: 意味
• price: 价格
• delighted: 高兴
• sell: 出售
• treasure: 宝贝
• engaged: 参与
• intense: 激烈