Auntie Wang's nephew is getting married in the village. Twenty tables in the courtyard, and three days of celebration.
Auntie Wang
下个月我弟弟的儿子结婚，在老家办。
Xià gè yuè wǒ dìdi de érzi jiéhūn, zài lǎo jiā bàn.
Next month my younger brother's son is getting married, back home.
Xiaoyu
恭喜！在村里办吗？
Gōngxǐ ! Zài cūn lǐ bàn ma ?
Congratulations! In the village?
Auntie Wang
对。院子里放二十桌，全村的人都来。
Duì. Yuànzi lǐ fàng èrshí zhuō, quán cūn de rén dōu lái.
Yes. Twenty tables in the courtyard, and the whole village comes.
Chen Hao
二十桌？那得做多少菜。
Èrshí zhuō ? Nà de zuò duōshao cài.
Twenty tables? Think how many dishes that takes.
Auntie Wang
请了厨师，前一天晚上就开始做。
Qǐng le chúshī, qián yī tiān wǎnshang jiù kāishǐ zuò.
They have brought in a cook, he starts the night before.
Xiaoyu
城里的婚礼在饭店，一两个小时就完了。
Chéng lǐ de hūnlǐ zài fàndiàn, yī liǎng gè xiǎoshí jiù wán le.
In the city a wedding is held in a restaurant and is over in an hour or two.
Auntie Wang
村里不一样，虽然简单，但是要热闹三天。
Cūn lǐ bù yīyàng, suīrán jiǎndān, dànshì yào rènao sān tiān.
The village is different: it is plain, but the celebration runs for three days.
Chen Hao
三天？客人都住在哪儿？
Sān tiān ? Kèrén dōu zhù zài nǎr ?
Three days? Where do all the guests stay?
Auntie Wang
住在邻居家。谁家有空房间就住谁家。
Zhù zài línjū jiā. Shéi jiā yǒu kōng fángjiān jiù zhù shéi jiā.
With the neighbours. Whoever has a spare room takes someone in.
Xiaoyu
我们去的话，送什么合适？
Wǒmen qù de huà, sòng shénme héshì ?
If we come, what would be the right thing to give?
Auntie Wang
送红包就行，别带东西，路太远。
Sòng hóngbāo jiù xíng, bié dài dōngxi, lù tài yuǎn.
A red envelope is enough. Do not bring anything, the road is too long.
Chinese repeats the same question word in both halves of the sentence to say "whoever… that one": 谁有就给谁, you give to whoever needs it; 你想吃什么就吃什么, eat whatever you like; 哪儿便宜就去哪儿. English has to change words from one half to the other; Chinese repeats, and 就 marks the hinge.
Chinese has a word for this nephew, 侄子, but it distinguishes a brother's son, a sister's son and a spouse's, which English lumps together as "nephew". When the exact word escapes you, the description always works and shocks nobody: 弟弟的儿子, 姐姐的女儿, 妈妈的姐姐. It is the strategy to keep until the table of kinship terms is learnt.
红包 is the red envelope of money given at weddings, births and New Year. At a wedding it takes the place of a present, and the amount is written down in a register at the door, so that the family can return the equivalent when the day comes. An object carried from the city would be one more thing to transport.
