Mandarin Chinese

See Missus Lin off at the airport after the wedding: ask her to stay a few more days, hear that the shop is waiting for her, wish her a safe journey, tell her to take care and come back often, and ask for a message when she lands.

The first morning in the Chens' house as husband and wife: hear Missus Wang offer a new name, keep the one you have, say Owen already calls Lan's parents Dad and Mum, thank her for taking you in, and hear that one family doesn't talk like two.

Go through what the contract demands of every shipment with Lan: every batch sent for testing, the pesticide residue within the standard, five tons a batch, and no shipping if a batch fails.

The test report comes back from America: ask whether the batch passed, hear that the residue is over the limit and the whole batch has been sent back, ask how that can be, and say there must be a reason.

Walk over to Auntie Zhang's with Missus Wang to find the cause: ask whether she sprayed this year, hear once in April, check that the fifty jin were hers, tell her that her tea got mixed in, and say that now you know the reason.

Write the recall notice with Lan: say you have to write one, take it down as she dictates, from this day on the first batch stops being sold, what is already sold can be returned, hereby notified, and send it to Seattle.

Read the company's apology aloud to Seattle by video: express your apologies to their company, take full responsibility, promise to ship again next month, hear through Lan that the apology is accepted, and ask what else they require.

Sit with Lawyer Zhao over the penalty clause: hear that under the contract you owe a penalty, ask how much, hear ten percent under clause eight, work it out to about twenty thousand, say you can afford it, and say that if you're wrong, you pay.

Talk honesty with Auntie Zhang: hear her offer her cheap tea again, say you can't take sprayed tea, hear that yours isn't enough this year, say you'd rather sell less than sell what fails, and hear Missus Wang say business is about honesty.

Your first Spring Festival as a married couple: say it's your turn to give red envelopes now, ask who to, hear the village children, ask whether you go to Lan's parents' on the second day, pay them a new year's call, and hear that it's time for a baby.

Stand on the hill with Master Chen and Little Wu on a warm February morning: say the tea bushes are budding, hear it's only February, ask how much earlier than usual, hear two weeks, and hear that early isn't necessarily good because frost can still come.

Watch the evening news with Missus Wang and Lan: hear the frost warning, read that minus three degrees is expected tonight, ask what happens to the tea bushes, get ready for a night without sleep, and hear that tomorrow morning is expected to be the coldest.

Climb the hill with Little Wu the morning after the frost: say the buds are frozen, say half of it is gone, call it snow on top of frost, hear Master Chen say there is still half, ask whether it can still be fried, and start picking the good ones.

Answer a television reporter in the frozen tea garden: hear that she is from the station, hear that according to reports the village has been hit by the frost, say half the tea is frozen, give the losses as of today, and say the company will keep its word.

Sit in the village hall after the frost: hear the village head tell everyone to listen, ask how to report the losses, hear that every household reports and fills in a form, hear that no matter how much, all report, ask when the forms are due, and hear when the insurance company comes.

Walk the hill with the insurance assessor: hear that he is from the insurance company, hand him the policy, hear that the damage is assessed on site, say how many mu you have, confirm three mu were hit, hear the payout is sixty percent, and ask where to sign.

Serve Teacher Song at the Chens' table after the frost: hear him ask this year's price, name eight thousand a jin, hear him say it has doubled, say prices are up year on year, hear that you get what you pay for, and settle it with old customer, old price.

Sit with Lawyer Zhao over the contract after the frost: look at clause six, hear that frost counts as force majeure, ask whether you still pay a penalty, hear that you are freed of liability, ask what to do, and hear that the other side must be notified in writing within thirty days.

Sit with Lan at the laptop for a video call with Seattle: hear what the quality manager asks, offer two ways out, either late delivery or a smaller quantity, hear which she takes, keep the price unchanged, and close it with four words that make it a deal.

Stand in the courtyard while Lan streams and Old Hu leans in: hear his offer of cheap tea from elsewhere, hear him say to sell it as Longjing, say not one leaf can be mixed in, hear that nobody could tell, refuse, and hear Lan tell the stream that you don't sell outside tea.

Sit at the Chens' table with the contract short of tea: say this year's tea isn't enough, hear Master Chen say that since the local tea is short you must look in other provinces, agree to sell it as what it is, and pick Guangzhou, where the tea market is biggest.

Sit down to morning tea in a Guangzhou teahouse with Cantonese all around: say you don't understand Cantonese, ask for Mandarin, say how many you are and what you came for, order the tea and a basket of shrimp dumplings, and take the other language in your stride.

Stop at a stall in the Guangzhou tea market: ask where each tea is from, hear Phoenix Dancong from Chaozhou and Yingde black tea from Guangdong itself, check that the place of origin is written clearly, and say that as long as it is, you're fine.

Taste Boss Liang's tea and hold your ground: say it's fragrant but it goes for testing first, hear him protest that his tea is fine, say that America wants a test report, and set the rule: unless it passes, you don't sign; results in three days.

Settle the price with Boss Liang once the report is in: ask the wholesale price, hear that a bigger order gets a better one, offer your figure for two tons, ask how the deposit is paid, hear thirty percent down and the rest on delivery, and bring the deposit down to twenty.

Sit at a Chaozhou seller's table at the Guangzhou tea fair: take a cup of gongfu tea, ask which brew it is, hear the seventh and marvel that it's still fragrant, learn that Dancong is not only fragrant but stands many brews, and swap business cards.

Pack the Guangzhou tea in the Chens' yard with Little Wu: tell him the label says Yingde black tea, refuse to write Longjing on what isn't Longjing, remind him you promised America, say that what you say you do, and ship per the contract next week.

Take a call from Missus Lin in Seattle: hear that her lease has run out, ask whether the landlord will renew, learn he's selling the building and she moves out at the end of June, hear that after forty years she's tired, and say you'll find a way together.

Hear Missus Lin hand her Seattle shop to your company: she wants to hand the shop over to you two, transfer it to the company and keep the name; from today on it is yours, and she'll mind it for you until the end of the year; thank her and promise the name stays.

Write a letter for Missus Wang to Missus Lin: ask whom it is for, open it with the four words that say seeing the letter is like seeing the face, write come home, we are all waiting for you, close it with the formal salute, post it, and hear the answer on the phone: she comes back in July.