Fluent Fiction - Mandarin Chinese: The Flaming Chili Peppers: A Spicy Lesson in Friendship
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Story Transcript:

Zh: 在北京的贵和居，一盏灯淡淡泛起柔和的光辉，映照在伟的脸上。雾气从他碗里腾腾升起，仿佛可以看到窜出的火焰，那是一盘闻名遐迩的"火焰辣椒"。奇怪的是，这一盘火焰辣椒并非伟自愿点的，而是在他不知情的情况下被送上了桌。
En: At the Guiheju in Beijing, a dim light gently illuminated Wei's face. Steam rose from his bowl, as if one could see flames shooting out. It was a plate of famous "Flaming Chili Peppers." Oddly enough, Wei did not intentionally order this dish; it was brought to the table without his knowledge.

Zh: 伟的朋友李在旁边笑得前仰后合，他故意整了这一出，终于见到伟当了一回笑料。伟瞪了他一眼，但还是提起了筷子，鸟一般扎进那盘无尽的火焰之中。菜肴上的辣椒如同火炭一般红，而伟的脸色在第一口后，明显比辣椒还要红。
En: Wei's friend, Li, burst into laughter beside him. He had orchestrated this whole scene just to see Wei become the center of a joke. Wei gave him a stern look but still picked up his chopsticks and dove into the endless flames of the dish like a bird. The chili peppers on the plate were as red as burning charcoal, and after just one bite, Wei's complexion became even redder than the peppers.

Zh: 瞬间，伟只觉得自己好像进入了炼狱。嘴巴、舌头、喉咙仿佛全部被火慢慢炙烤。他立即抓起一瓶冰水，囫囵吞下，然而这只是时雨未雨绸缪。辣味无情的袭击着他，使他无法言语，只能摇摇晃晃地站在那里，眼神游离。
En: In an instant, Wei felt as if he had entered a hellish realm. His mouth, tongue, and throat seemed to be slowly roasted by the fire. He hastily grabbed a bottle of ice-cold water and gulped it down, but it was only a futile attempt to prepare for the inevitable. The spiciness mercilessly attacked him, rendering him speechless and causing him to stagger, his gaze lost.

Zh: 看到这一切的李，他的笑声戛然而止。他这才意识到自己玩笑开大了。看着伟忍受剧烈疼痛的表情，他急切地寻找解决办法。他围绕餐桌跑跑停停，像一只被装进了滚筒的鼠标。然后他察觉到一盘牛奶布丁，那是他们餐后的甜点。
En: Observing all of this, Li's laughter abruptly ceased. He suddenly realized that his joke had gone too far. Seeing Wei endure intense pain, he desperately looked for a solution. He dashed around the table like a mouse trapped in a rolling cylinder. Then he noticed a plate of milk pudding, their dessert after the meal.

Zh: 他抓起那盘布丁，快速拧开了盖子，递到了伟的面前。李急促地示意他吃下去。伟立刻理解了李的意思，他急忙抓过布丁吃了下去。温和而细腻的甜味在他舌头上缓缓铺开，和辣味争夺着舌尖的领地。不一会儿，辣味似乎慢慢退去，再也没有那么厮杀激烈了。
En: He grabbed the plate of pudding, swiftly unscrewed the lid, and handed it to Wei. Li urgently gestured for him to eat it. Wei immediately understood Li's intention and quickly took the pudding and ate it. The gentle and delicate sweetness gradually spread across his tongue, vying for territory with the spiciness. Before long, the spiciness seemed to recede, no longer engaged in such a fierce battle.

Zh: 李看着辣得脸色苍白的伟，心中又是惊又是喜。他这才松了口气。他们望向彼此，俱是无言，那一刻，他们的表情足以说明：他们各自从这场“辣椒争霸”中得到了惊喜与教训，然后通俗地笑了出来。
En: Li looked at Wei, whose pale face had been stung by the spiciness, feeling both surprised and relieved. He finally breathed a sigh of relief. They turned to look at each other, speechless. In that moment, their expressions were enough to convey that they had both been pleasantly surprised and taught a lesson from this "Chili Pepper Battle," after which they burst into laughter together.

Zh: 新朋友的笑声在那个普通的贵和居回荡了很久。只是那首熟悉的成语有了新的含义，“辣手摧花”也可以是“辣口挑辫”了。从那天起，伟和李都对辣椒有了全新的认识同时也定下一个规矩: 点餐要有底线，辣也要有限度。
En: The laughter of the new friends echoed in the ordinary Guiheju for a long time. It was just that the familiar proverb now held a new meaning: "To ruin flowers with spicy hands" could also mean "To challenge spicy flavors." From that day on, Wei and Li had a whole new understanding of chili peppers and also established a rule: there should be a limit when ordering spicy dishes.


Vocabulary Words:

• At: 在
• Guiheju: 贵和居
• Beijing: 北京
• dim: 淡淡
• light: 光辉
• gently: 柔和
• illuminated: 映照
• Wei's: 伟的
• face: 脸上
• Steam: 雾气
• rose: 升起
• bowl: 碗
• flames: 火焰
• shooting out: 窜出
• plate: 盘
• famous: 闻名遐迩
• Flaming Chili Peppers: 火焰辣椒
• Oddly enough: 奇怪的是
• intentionally: 自愿
• order: 点
• dish: 菜肴
• brought: 被送上
• table: 桌
• knowledge: 不知情
• friend: 朋友
• Li: 李
• burst: 笑得前仰后合
• laughter: 笑声
• orchestrated: 整了
• whole scene: 整了这一出
• center: 中心
• joke: 笑料
• stern: 瞪了
• look: 一眼
• still: 还是
• picked up: 提起
• chopsticks: 筷子
• dove into: 扎进
• endless: 无尽
• red: 红
• burning charcoal: 火炭一般红
• bite: 一口
• complexion: 脸色
• instant: 瞬间
• hellish: 炼狱
• realm: 炼狱
• mouth: 嘴巴
• tongue: 舌头
• throat: 喉咙
• slowly: 慢慢
• roasted: 炙烤
• fire: 火
• hastily: 立即
• grabbed: 抓起
• bottle: 瓶
• ice-cold: 冰水
• water: 水
• gulped: 囫囵吞下
• futile: 未雨绸缪
• attempt: 尝试
• prepare: 准备
• inevitable: 不可避免
• spiciness: 辣味
• mercilessly: 无情地
• attacked: 袭击
• rendering: 使
• speechless: 无语
• causing: 引起
• stagger: 摇摇晃晃
• gaze: 眼神
• lost: 游离
• Observing: 看到
• ceased: 戛然而止
• realized: 意识到
• gone too far: 玩笑开大了
• intense: 剧烈
• desperately: 急切地
• solution: 解决办法
• dashed: 跑跑停停
• around: 围绕
• mouse: 鼠标
• trapped: 装进
• rolling: 滚筒
• notified: 察觉到
• noticed: 察觉到
• milk pudding: 牛奶布丁
• dessert: 甜点
• after: 餐后
• swiftly: 快速
• unscrewed: 拧开
• lid: 盖子
• handed: 递到
• urgently: 急促
• gestured: 示意
• immediately: 立刻
• understood: 理解了
• intention: 意思
• quickly: 急忙
• took: 抓过
• gentle: 温和
• delicate: 细腻
• sweetness: 甜味
• gradually: 缓缓
• spread: 铺开
• tongue: 舌头
• vying: 争夺
• territory: 领地
• recede: 退去
• engaged: 厮杀
• fierce: 激烈
• battle: