A colleague sends Xiaoyu messages that are getting more and more out of place. Auntie Wang listens, then goes with her to the manager.
Xiaoyu
王阿姨，我想跟您说件事，又不知道该不该说。
Wáng āyí, wǒ xiǎng gēn nín shuō jiàn shì, yòu bù zhīdào gāi bùgāi shuō.
Auntie Wang, I want to tell you something, and I do not know whether I should.
Auntie Wang
你说。我听着呢。
Nǐ shuō. Wǒ tīng zhe ne.
Go on. I am listening.
Xiaoyu
部门有个同事，总在下班以后给我发消息，内容越来越不合适。
Bùmén yǒu gè tóngshì, zǒng zài xiàbān yǐhòu gěi wǒ fā xiāoxi, nèiróng yuèláiyuè bù héshì.
There is a colleague in the department who always messages me after work, and the content is getting more and more inappropriate.
Auntie Wang
你回过他吗？
Nǐ huí guò tā ma ?
Have you answered him?
Xiaoyu
一开始我装作没看见。后来说了一次，他说我太敏感。
Yī kāishǐ wǒ zhuāng zuò méi kànjiàn. Hòulái shuō le yī cì, tā shuō wǒ tài mǐngǎn.
At first I pretended not to notice. Then I said something once, and he told me I was too sensitive.
Auntie Wang
这句话最常见，也最不讲理。它让你觉得错在自己。
Zhè jù huà zuì chángjiàn, yě zuì bù jiǎnglǐ. Tā ràng nǐ juéde cuò zài zìjǐ.
That is the commonest sentence there is, and the least reasonable. It makes you feel the fault is yours.
Xiaoyu
我怕闹大了，反而是我待不下去。
Wǒ pà nào dà le, fǎn'ér shì wǒ dāi bù xiàqù.
I am afraid that if it blows up, I will be the one who cannot stay.
Auntie Wang
所以别一个人扛。消息都留着，一条也别删。
Suǒyǐ bié yī gè rén gāng. Xiāoxi dōu liú zhe, yī tiáo yě bié shān.
All the more reason not to carry it alone. Keep all the messages, do not delete a single one.
Xiaoyu
留着了。可是跟谁说呢？
Liú zhe le. Kěshì gēn shéi shuō ne ?
I have kept them. But who do I tell?
Auntie Wang
张经理。他不是那种和稀泥的人。
Zhāng jīnglǐ. Tā bùshì nà zhǒng huòxīní de rén.
Manager Zhang. He is not the sort to smooth things over.
Manager Zhang
小雨，刚才王阿姨跟我提了一句。你愿意的话，现在说，我记下来。
Xiǎoyǔ, gāngcái Wáng āyí gēn wǒ tí le yī jù. Nǐ yuànyì de huà, xiànzài shuō, wǒ jì xiàlai.
Xiaoyu, Auntie Wang has just had a word with me. If you are willing, tell me now and I will put it on record.
Xiaoyu
我怕耽误大家的工作。
Wǒ pà dānwu dàjiā de gōngzuò.
I am afraid of holding up everyone's work.
Manager Zhang
无论他是谁，这件事都比任何项目重要。公司有规定，我按规定办。
Wúlùn tā shì shéi, zhè jiàn shì dōu bǐ rènhé xiàngmù zhòngyào. Gōngsī yǒu guīdìng, wǒ àn guīdìng bàn.
Whoever he is, this matter comes before any project. The company has rules, and I will follow them.
Xiaoyu
那我从头说。
Nà wǒ cóngtóu shuō.
Then I will start from the beginning.
不知道该不该说 uses the repetition question inside a sentence: 该不该 means "should I or should I not". Placed after 不知道, it stops questioning the other person and becomes the confession of a hesitation. The device works with any modal verb: 不知道能不能, 不知道要不要.
To mix the mortar too wet, and so to patch things up by finding nobody at fault. It is said of someone who, called on to decide, sends both sides away for the sake of a quiet life. The expression is colloquial and frankly disparaging; it describes exactly what someone bringing a complaint fears.
别一个人扛: do not carry this on your own. The verb first names the load you put on your shoulder, and it has widened to what you endure without saying so. It is an everyday word, not a literary image, and it serves for a debt as much as for a grief.
