Xiaoyu has registered as a donor and has not told her family. Auntie Wang explains why her generation shrinks from it.
Xiaoyu
我昨天在网上登记了器官捐献。
Wǒ zuótiān zài wǎngshàng dēngjì le qìguān juānxiàn.
Yesterday I registered online as an organ donor.
Chen Hao
真的？这么大的事，你家里人知道吗？
Zhēn de ? Zhème dà de shì, nǐ jiālǐ rén zhīdào ma ?
Really? A decision like that, does your family know?
Xiaoyu
还没说。我妈恐怕不容易接受。
Hái méi shuō. Wǒ mā kǒngpà bù róngyì jiēshòu.
I have not told them yet. I am afraid my mother will not find it easy to accept.
Auntie Wang
我这个岁数的人，大多觉得人走了得留个全身。
Wǒ zhè gè suìshu de rén, dà duō juéde rén zǒu le de liú gè quán shēn.
People of my age mostly feel you should leave with your body whole.
Xiaoyu
我理解。可是登记只是一个意愿，真到那一天，还是要家属同意。
Wǒ lǐjiě. Kěshì dēngjì zhǐshì yī gè yìyuàn, zhēn dào nà yī tiān, háishi yào jiāshǔ tóngyì.
I understand. But registering only records a wish: when the day comes, the family still has to agree.
Zhang laoshi
这一点很多人不知道。所以跟家里说，比登记更重要。
Zhè yī diǎn hěn duō rén bù zhīdào. Suǒyǐ gēn jiālǐ shuō, bǐ dēngjì gèng zhòngyào.
A lot of people do not know that. Which is why talking to your family matters more than registering.
Chen Hao
你怎么突然想到这个？
Nǐ zěnme tūrán xiǎngdào zhè gè ?
What made you think of it all of a sudden?
Xiaoyu
我同学的弟弟等了两年肾，上个月终于等到了。
Wǒ tóngxué de dìdi děng le liǎng nián shèn, shàng gè yuè zhōngyú děng dào le.
A classmate's younger brother waited two years for a kidney, and last month he finally got one.
Auntie Wang
那孩子现在好了吗？多大岁数了？
Nà háizi xiànzài hǎo le ma ? Duō dà suìshu le ?
And is the boy better now? How old is he?
Xiaoyu
好多了。他家里人说，不知道该谢谁。
Hǎo duō le. Tā jiā lǐ rén shuō, bù zhīdào gāi xiè shéi.
Much better. His family say they do not know who to thank.
Zhang laoshi
捐献是匿名的。这也是为了保护两边的家庭。
Juānxiàn shì nìmíng de. Zhè yě shì wèi le bǎohù liǎng bian de jiātíng.
Donation is anonymous. That too is to protect both families.
Auntie Wang
听你们这么一说，我倒没有那么反对了。
Tīng nǐmen zhème yī shuō, wǒ dǎo méi yǒu nàme fǎnduì le.
Hearing you all put it like that, I find I am not so against it.
Chen Hao
无论最后怎么决定，都先跟家里把话说开。
Wúlùn zuìhòu zěnme juédìng, dōu xiān gēn jiālǐ bǎ huà shuō kāi.
Whatever you decide in the end, start by talking it through at home.
Xiaoyu
这个周末我就回一趟家，当面跟我妈说。
Zhè gè zhōumò wǒ jiù huí yī tāng jiā, dāngmiàn gēn wǒ mā shuō.
This weekend I will go home and speak to my mother face to face.
我倒没有那么反对了: "as it turns out I am less against it than I was". Placed before the verb, 倒 signals that the sentence runs against what was expected of the speaker. No fixed English word renders it; English has to use an adverb such as "actually" or rely on tone.
To open the words up: to say to the end what had been left implied, so as to clear a misunderstanding. It is the exact opposite of 把话说死, met in lesson 8. The complement 开 carries this idea of opening everywhere, from 打开 to 想开.
The phrase 听 + person + 这么一说 means "now that you put it that way". The 一 before the verb cuts the action down to a brief moment, and the whole almost always announces a change of mind. You also find it as 这么一想, "thinking of it that way".
