Mei invites her Vietnamese friend out to the suburbs to see the New Year festival. The two of them push through a stretch of heavy traffic, then find themselves swept up in the drumbeats, the dancers, and the lucky red apples.
An Evening Invitation
Mei
喂，林林，你听说了吗？郊区那边在办元月！
Hey, Lin, have you heard? They're putting on a New Year festival out in the suburbs!
Lin
哦？听起来很。难道你想去看看？
Oh? That sounds lively. Don't tell me you want to go check it out?
Mei
我都好了！明天一早出发，咱俩一起去吧。
I've already made up my mind! We'll set off first thing tomorrow morning — let's go together.
Lin
好啊好啊！那明天早上车站见，别迟到哦！
Sure, sure! Then let's meet at the station tomorrow morning — don't be late!
Stuck in Traffic
天气晴得很好，可车一上路就堵住了，半天不动。
The weather was beautifully clear, but the moment they hit the road the car got stuck, not budging for ages.
Mei
哎呀，这……我们会不会赶不上开场啊？
Ugh, this traffic… are we even going to make it in time for the opening?
Lin
别着急，我刚才看了看地图，前面有条小路能绕过去。
Don't panic — I just took a careful look at the map, and there's a little side road up ahead we can take around it.
车子拐进小路，远远就听见了咚咚的。
The car turned onto the side road, and from far off they could already hear the boom-boom of drums.
In the Heart of the Festival
Mei
你快看！那些人一边敲鼓一边跳，太有意思了！
Look, quick! Those people are beating drums and dancing at the same time — this is so much fun!
Lin
真！咱们也去那个摊子买几个苹果吧，我饿了。
It's so lively! Let's go over to that stall and buy a few apples — I'm hungry.
Mei
买红的红的！老人们说，红苹果新年的呢。
Get the red ones, the red ones! The old folks say red apples stand for good luck in the new year.
Lin
哈哈，那我多买两个，分你一半，咱俩一起沾！
Haha, then I'll buy two extra and give you half — that way we both share in the good luck!