Elementary Chinese Stories

Three friends split up at a night market, then one loses her wallet.

Cheng Yang asks Su Xue to study Chinese together every Tuesday. Coffee and cakes follow.

A country grandpa visits his son's city apartment for the first time. The noise, prices, and streets overwhelm him.

Wu Zixuan cooks his first meal ever for girlfriend Ye Ziqing. The kitchen fights back.

Lin Yuqing's phone camera breaks on her birthday. She tries to video call her parents but keeps hitting obstacles.

Skinny Wenjie dreads his first gym session. Coach Gu hands him the lightest dumbbell.

A man afraid of water takes kids' swim lessons to join his girlfriend's beach trip.

Two friends stuck indoors on a rainy day nearly burn down the kitchen — then a neighbor teaches them to cook.

A family scrambles to fix a dumpling dinner after Dad buys the wrong meat.

A nervous student's first driving lesson goes wrong — wrong pedal, four stalls, and a near miss with trash bins.

A woman confronts her noisy upstairs neighbor, only to learn he's rehearsing for a charity concert.

Ding Dongming has two hours and fifty yuan to find a gift before dinner at Teacher Fang's.

Three friends board a train to Qingyue Bay after exams. Rain, tunnels, and a rainbow.

Du Yue's phone dies overnight. She races to the office in mismatched socks — on a Saturday.

Su Yuan's new bed won't fit through the door. His Beijing neighbors grab a saw.

Ye Xiaoyun gets carsick on the school bus to West Hill. The mountain stairs scare her more.

Sichuan's Yu Mei and Guangdong's Ye Xiaoyin share a dorm. Spicy and sweet go to war.

Ye Mei texts Pan Dong a cryptic medicine request. He braves the rain to decode it.

Manager Shen swore he'd win this year's company race. The quiet accountant has plans too.