Chen Hao works from home two days a week. His neighbour cannot see how that can possibly work.
Auntie Wang
小陈，这几天怎么天天在家？不上班了？
Xiǎo Chén, zhè jǐ tiān zěnme tiāntiān zài jiā ? Bù shàngbān le ?
Young Chen, why are you at home every day just now? Have you stopped working?
Chen Hao
上班啊。公司现在一个星期有两天在家办公。
Shàngbān a. Gōngsī xiànzài yī gè xīngqī yǒu liǎng tiān zài jiā bàn gōng.
Not at all. The firm lets us work from home two days a week now.
Auntie Wang
在家也能办公？那谁知道你有没有做事？
Zài jiā yě néng bàn gōng ? Nà shéi zhīdào nǐ yǒu méiyǒu zuò shì ?
You can work at home? And who knows whether you are doing anything?
Chen Hao
电脑上都有记录。下午还要开视频会。
Diànnǎo shàng dōu yǒu jìlù. Xiàwǔ hái yào kāi shìpín huì.
It is all logged on the computer. And there is a video meeting this afternoon.
Auntie Wang
那你中午还能睡一会儿。
Nà nǐ zhōngwǔ hái néng shuì yīhuìr.
At least you can have a nap at midday.
Chen Hao
能。不但不用挤地铁，而且一天能省两个小时。
Néng. Bùdàn bùyòng jǐ dìtiě, érqiě yī tiān néng shěng liǎng gè xiǎoshí.
I can. Not only do I avoid the crush on the metro, I save two hours a day.
Auntie Wang
我觉得在家更容易想别的事。
Wǒ juéde zài jiā gèng róngyì xiǎng bié de shì.
I think it is easier to let your mind wander at home.
Chen Hao
头一个月确实这样。后来我把桌子搬到阳台，就好了。
Tóu yī gè yuè quèshí zhèyàng. Hòulái wǒ bǎ zhuōzi bān dào yángtái, jiù hǎo le.
The first month it certainly was. Then I moved my desk onto the balcony and it was fine.
Auntie Wang
阳台？不冷吗？
Yángtái ? Bù lěng ma ?
The balcony? Is it not cold?
Chen Hao
关上门就不冷。那儿安静，谁也不打扰我。
Guān shàng mén jiù bù lěng. Nàr ānjìng, shéi yě bù dǎrǎo wǒ.
Not with the door shut. It is quiet and nobody disturbs me.
Auntie Wang
那同事之间还说话吗？
Nà tóngshì zhījiān hái shuō huà ma ?
And do colleagues still talk to each other?
Chen Hao
说。不过在家的时候，话少了很多。
Shuō. Bùguò zài jiā de shíhou, huà shǎo le hěn duō.
They do. But on the days at home there is much less talk.
Auntie Wang
我还是觉得，人跟人还是要见面。
Wǒ háishi juéde, rén gēn rén háishi yào jiàn miàn.
I still think people need to see each other face to face.
谁也不打扰我: nobody disturbs me. Chinese has no word for "nobody": it takes the question word 谁 and follows it with 也 or 都 plus a negative. The same mould gives 什么也没买 (I bought nothing) and 哪儿都没去 (I went nowhere). It is one of the most useful constructions at this level, and there is no matching form in English.
我还是觉得: I still think. 还是 does not mean "or" here but "all the same", and it marks that you have heard the argument without changing your mind. It is the polite way of closing a disagreement in Chinese, and it leaves the conversation in peace. The second 还是 in the same line bears on 要见面 and strengthens it in the same way.
关上门 rather than 关门: the complement 上 says the leaf comes to, that the closing is effective. You find it in 写上, seen in lesson 1, and in 穿上 (to put on a garment), 带上 (to take along). The bare verb describes the action, the complement says it succeeded.
