At a street stall, Chen Hao orders steamed buns and Xiaoyu soya milk. They take it all away with them.
Chen Hao
老板娘，两个包子，一碗粥。
Lǎobǎnniáng, liǎng gè bāozi, yī wǎn zhōu.
Two baozi and a bowl of congee, please.
The stallholder
包子要肉的还是菜的？
Bāozi yào ròu de háishi cài de ?
Meat or vegetable baozi?
Chen Hao
一个肉的，一个菜的。
Yī gè ròu de, yī gè cài de.
One meat and one vegetable.
Xiaoyu
我要一杯豆浆和一个鸡蛋。
Wǒ yào yī bēi dòujiāng hé yī gè jīdàn.
I will have a soya milk and an egg.
The stallholder
豆浆要甜的吗？
Dòujiāng yào tián de ma ?
Sweetened soya milk?
Xiaoyu
不要甜的，谢谢。
Bù yào tián de, xièxie.
Unsweetened, thank you.
The stallholder
一共十四块。在这儿吃还是带走？
Yīgòng shísì kuài. Zài zhèr chī háishi dài zǒu ?
Fourteen yuan altogether. Eating here or taking it away?
Chen Hao
带走，我们要上班了。
Dài zǒu, wǒmen yào shàngbān le.
Taking it away, we are off to work.
The stallholder
好，都给你们包好了。
Hǎo, dōu gěi nǐmen bāo hǎo le.
Right, it is all wrapped up for you.
Xiaoyu
谢谢！明天还来。
Xièxie ! Míngtiān hái lái.
Thank you! See you tomorrow.
Breakfast is savoury and hot: 包子, steamed buns with a filling; 粥, a very thin rice porridge; 油条, a long fried stick dipped in 豆浆, soya milk, served sweetened or plain. You buy it in the street on your way to work, rarely at home, and the stall shuts around nine.
老板 is the boss, 老板娘 the woman who runs the place: the 娘 marks the feminine, and the word does for the owner's wife as much as for the woman who owns the shop herself. You call out to her like that, aloud and with no preamble, just as you say 服务员 in a restaurant and 师傅 to a driver. A street stall has no name and its owner none either: the title stands in for one.
在这儿吃还是带走 is the exact question you will be asked, and 带走 the answer for takeaway. 带 means to take with you, 走 to leave: literally, to carry off as you go. In chains you also hear 打包, which does for taking your meal away as much as for boxing up what is left on the table.
