Xiaomei loses her wallet and passport in the park, but a kind elderly stranger returns them safely.
找钱包
星期六早上，小美和男朋友大文一起去公园散步。天气很好，很多人在公园里跑步、打太极拳。他们走了差不多一个小时，然后坐在长椅上休息，聊了很多有趣的事情。
中午的时候，他们觉得饿了，就决定去附近的一家小饭馆吃饭。小美打开包，想找钱包付钱，可是找了半天也没找到。她很紧张地说：”糟糕了！我的钱包不见了！”大文也帮她找，但是包里只有手机和钥匙，没有钱包。
大文说：”别急，我们回公园去找找。”钱包里不但有钱，还有小美的护照，因为她下午要去银行办点儿事情，所以早上把护照也带出来了。她越想越担心，怕护照也丢了会很麻烦，办新护照要花很多时间。
他们回到公园，走到刚才坐过的长椅那里。旁边站着一位老人，手里正拿着一个钱包。老人问他们：”这是你们的钱包吗？”小美一看，高兴地说：”是的，谢谢您！”老人说他看到长椅上有个钱包，怕别人拿走，所以一直在那儿等失主。小美打开钱包看了看，钱和护照都还在里面，一样也没少。
小美和大文一起谢谢那位老人，还请他吃了一个苹果表示感谢。回家的路上，小美说以后出门一定要小心，钱包和护照这么重要的东西，应该放在最安全的地方。大文笑着说：”下次你出门，让我帮你检查一下包吧！”两个人都笑了，这次的小麻烦最后变成了一个开心的结局。
Zhǎo Qiánbāo
Xīngqīliù zǎoshang, Xiǎoměi hé nánpéngyou Dàwén yìqǐ qù gōngyuán sànbù. Tiānqì hěn hǎo, hěn duō rén zài gōngyuán lǐ pǎobù, dǎ tàijíquán. Tāmen zǒule chàbuduō yí gè xiǎoshí, ránhòu zuò zài chángyǐ shàng xiūxi, liáole hěn duō yǒuqù de shìqing.
Zhōngwǔ de shíhou, tāmen juéde è le, jiù juédìng qù fùjìn de yì jiā xiǎo fànguǎn chīfàn. Xiǎoměi dǎkāi bāo, xiǎng zhǎo qiánbāo fùqián, kěshì zhǎole bàntiān yě méi zhǎodào. Tā hěn jǐnzhāng de shuō: “Zāogāo le! Wǒ de qiánbāo bú jiàn le!” Dàwén yě bāng tā zhǎo, dànshì bāo lǐ zhǐyǒu shǒujī hé yàoshi, méiyǒu qiánbāo.
Dàwén shuō: “Bié jí, wǒmen huí gōngyuán qù zhǎozhǎo.” Qiánbāo lǐ bùdàn yǒu qián, hái yǒu Xiǎoměi de hùzhào, yīnwèi tā xiàwǔ yào qù yínháng bàn diǎnr shìqing, suǒyǐ zǎoshang bǎ hùzhào yě dài chūlái le. Tā yuè xiǎng yuè dānxīn, pà hùzhào yě diū le huì hěn máfan, bàn xīn hùzhào yào huā hěn duō shíjiān.
Tāmen huí dào gōngyuán, zǒu dào gāngcái zuò guò de chángyǐ nàlǐ. Pángbiān zhànzhe yí wèi lǎorén, shǒu lǐ zhèng ná zhe yí gè qiánbāo. Lǎorén wèn tāmen: “Zhè shì nǐmen de qiánbāo ma?” Xiǎoměi yí kàn, gāoxìng de shuō: “Shì de, xièxie nín!” Lǎorén shuō tā kàndào chángyǐ shàng yǒu ge qiánbāo, pà biérén ná zǒu, suǒyǐ yìzhí zài nàr děng shīzhǔ. Xiǎoměi dǎkāi qiánbāo kànle kàn, qián hé hùzhào dōu hái zài lǐmiàn, yíyàng yě méi shǎo.
Xiǎoměi hé Dàwén yìqǐ xièxie nà wèi lǎorén, hái qǐng tā chīle yí gè píngguǒ biǎoshì gǎnxiè. Huíjiā de lù shàng, Xiǎoměi shuō yǐhòu chūmén yídìng yào xiǎoxīn, qiánbāo hé hùzhào zhème zhòngyào de dōngxi, yīnggāi fàng zài zuì ānquán de dìfang. Dàwén xiào zhe shuō: “Xiàcì nǐ chūmén, ràng wǒ bāng nǐ jiǎnchá yíxià bāo ba!” Liǎng gè rén dōu xiào le, zhè cì de xiǎo máfan zuìhòu biànchéng le yí gè kāixīn de jiéjú.
Looking for the Wallet
On Saturday morning, Xiaomei and her boyfriend Dawen went to the park together to take a walk. The weather was great, and many people were jogging and practicing tai chi in the park. They walked for almost an hour, then sat on a bench to rest and chatted about many interesting things.
At noon, they felt hungry, so they decided to go eat at a small restaurant nearby. Xiaomei opened her bag, wanting to find her wallet to pay, but after searching for a long time she still could not find it. She said nervously, “Oh no! My wallet is gone!” Dawen helped her look too, but there was only a phone and keys in the bag, no wallet.
Dawen said, “Do not worry, let’s go back to the park to look.” The wallet not only had money in it, but also Xiaomei’s passport, because she needed to go to the bank in the afternoon to handle something, so she had brought her passport along that morning too. The more she thought about it, the more worried she became, afraid that if the passport was also lost it would be very troublesome, since getting a new passport would take a lot of time.
They went back to the park and walked to the bench where they had just been sitting. Standing nearby was an elderly man, holding a wallet in his hand. The old man asked them, “Is this your wallet?” As soon as Xiaomei saw it, she said happily, “Yes, thank you!” The old man said he had seen the wallet on the bench and, afraid someone might take it, had been waiting there for the owner. Xiaomei opened the wallet to check, and both the money and the passport were still inside — nothing was missing.
Xiaomei and Dawen thanked the old man together, and even treated him to an apple to show their gratitude. On the way home, Xiaomei said that from now on, whenever she went out, she must be careful — a wallet and passport are such important things, they should be kept in the safest place. Dawen said with a smile, “Next time you go out, let me help check your bag!” They both laughed, and this small mishap ended up turning into a happy ending.
音频
Audio recording for this story will be available here.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 糟糕了 | zāogāo le | Oh no / that’s bad |
| 怎么了 | zěnme le | what’s wrong? |
| 钱包 | qiánbāo | wallet |
| 丢了 | diū le | lost / gone missing |
| 护照 | hùzhào | passport |
| 别 | bié | don’t |
| 急 | jí | to worry / rush |
| 找找 | zhǎozhǎo | to look around |
| 不见了 | bú jiàn le | gone / disappeared |
| 担心 | dānxīn | worried |
| 麻烦 | máfan | troublesome |
| 失主 | shīzhǔ | owner of a lost item |
| 感谢 | gǎnxiè | gratitude / to thank |
| 安全 | ānquán | safe |
别 (bié) + Verb — “Don’t…”
别 placed before a verb tells someone not to do something. It is a common, friendly way to give a gentle command or reassurance.
别急，我们去找找。 — Don’t worry, let’s go look for it.
别哭，没事的。 — Don’t cry, it’s okay.
越…越… (yuè…yuè…) — “The more…, the more…”
This pattern links two clauses to show that as one thing increases, another increases along with it.
她越想越担心。 — The more she thought about it, the more worried she became.
天气越冷，人越少。 — The colder the weather, the fewer people there are.
不但…还… (bùdàn…hái…) — “Not only…, but also…”
This pattern adds emphasis by showing that a second fact goes beyond the first.
钱包里不但有钱，还有护照。 — The wallet not only had money in it, but also a passport.
糟糕了 (zāogāo le) is a common spoken expression used when something bad or unexpected happens, similar to saying “Oh no!” or “That’s bad!” in English. It is used casually among friends and family, not in formal writing.
一样也没少 (yíyàng yě méi shǎo) literally means “not even one thing was reduced,” and is used to say that nothing at all is missing from a set of belongings.
Lost and Found in China
In China, it is common for people who find lost items in public places like parks to wait nearby for the owner to return, rather than leaving immediately. Many public spaces, subway stations, and malls also have a 失物招领处 (shīwù zhāolǐng chù), or “lost and found office,” where found items are handed in. Showing honesty in returning lost property, especially valuable items like a wallet or passport, is widely seen as an important social virtue.