Chinese online short story 罪恶有痕 Traces of Sin 4 (Intermediate to Advanced)

The portraits of the two suspects were completed and released in the local TV news. A little girl told her Mom that one of the suspects looks like her brother.

[simplified Chinese]
罪恶有痕 4

 

“一号嫌疑人比较靠谱, 二号嫌疑人没有一号画得成功. 因为目击者的印象不够清晰, 所以只能尽力而为了.”

刘明天和另几个刑警来看画像时, 老曾特意做了说明.

“我看二号画得也不错嘛, 好象看起来还有点眼熟呢.” 同事们七嘴八舌地调侃起来.

刘明天问老曾, “这两幅画像能不能公布?” 老曾又认真看了看自己的作品, 说, “我看可以, 公布吧, 一号这张把目击证人自己都给吓到了, 她说太像了. 但愿她的记忆是准确的.”

当晚的电视新闻中, 老曾的嫌疑人画像, 在千家万户的屏幕上被反复播放.

 

“妈妈, 那个画上的人好象哥哥啊!”

正在厨房里洗碗的中年女子, 用袖子抹了抹脸上的汗, 歪着头瞟了一眼客厅里的电视, 又转头对女儿无奈地笑笑,”佳佳, 快做你的作业! 你哥咋能象那个人呢? 那是抢劫犯, 是大坏蛋! 不懂不要瞎说.”

她麻利地把手在围裙上擦干, 走过来关了电视. 慈爱地抚摸着女儿的小脑袋. “是不是想哥哥了?”

“嗯.” 女儿委屈地撅起小嘴.

“那过两天妈叫哥过来吃饭?”

“好啊, 好啊!” 女孩仰视母亲的小脸, 立时笑成了一朵花.

 

[vocab table]
Simplified Chinese     Traditional Chinese     Mandarin Pinyin     English Definition

靠谱
   

靠譜
    kao4 pu3     reliable; reasonable

尽力而为
   

盡力而為
    jin4 li4 er2 wei2     to strive one’s hardest; to spare no effort;

特意
        te4 yi4     specially; intentionally;
七嘴八舌         qi1 zui3 ba1 she2     all talking at once

调侃
   

調侃
    tiao2 kan3     to tease; chitchat

麻利
        ma2 li5     swift; agile

围裙
   

圍裙
    wei2 qun2     apron

 

[pinyin]
 zuì’è yǒu hén 4

 

“ yīhào xiányírén bǐjiào kàopǔ, èrhào xiányírén méiyǒu yīhào huà dé chénggōng. yīnwèi mùjīzhě de yìnxiàng bùgòu qīngxī, suǒyǐ zhǐnéng jìnlì ér wèile.”

Liú míngtiān hé lìng jǐge xíngjǐng láikàn huàxiàng shí, lǎo céng tèyì zuò le shuōmíng.

“ wǒ kàn èrhào huà dé yě bùcuò ma, hǎoxiàng kànqǐlái háiyǒu diǎn yǎnshú ne.” tóngshì men qīzuǐbāshé dì tiáokǎn qilai.

Liú míngtiān wèn lǎo céng, “ zhè liǎng fú huàxiàng néng bùnéng gōngbù?” lǎo céng yòu rènzhēn kàn le kàn zìjǐ de zuòpǐn, shuō, “ wǒ kàn kěyǐ, gōngbù ba, yīhào zhè zhāng bǎ mùjī zhèngrén zìjǐ dōu gěi xià dàoliǎo, tā shuō tài xiàng le. dànyuàn tā de jìyì shì zhǔn què de.”

dàngwǎn de diànshì xīnwén zhōng, lǎo céng de xiányírén huàxiàng, zài qiānjiāwànhù de píngmù shàng bèi fǎn fù bōfàng.

 

“ māma, nàge huà shàng de rén hǎoxiàng gēge ā!”

zhèngzài chúfáng lǐ xǐwǎn de zhōngnián nǚzǐ, yòng xiùzi mò le mò liǎn shàng de hàn, wāi zhe tóu piǎo le yīyǎn kètīng lǐ de diànshì, yòu zhuǎntóu duì nǚ’ér wúnài dì xiào xiào,” jiā jiā, kuài zuò nǐ de zuòyè! nǐ gē zǎ néng xiàng nàgèrén ne? nàshi qiǎngjié fàn, shì dàhuàidàn! bù dǒng bùyào xiāshuō.”

tā máli dì bǎshǒu zài wéiqún shàng cā gàn, zǒuguò lái guān le diànshì. cí’ài dì fǔmō zhe nǚ’ér de xiǎo nǎodài. “ shìbùshì xiǎng gēge le?”

“ èn.” nǚ’ér wěiqu dì juē qǐxiǎo zuǐ.

“ nà guò liǎng tiān mā jiào gē guòlái chīfàn?”

“ hǎo ā, hǎo ā!” nǚhái yǎng shì mǔqīn de xiǎo liǎn, lìshí xiào chéngle yī duǒ huā.

 

[traditional Chinese]
罪惡有痕 4

“一號嫌疑人比較靠譜, 二號嫌疑人沒有一號畫得成功. 因為目擊者的印象不夠清晰, 所以只能盡力而為了.”

劉明天和另幾個刑警來看畫像時, 老曾特意做了說明.

“我看二號畫得也不錯嘛, 好象看起來還有點眼熟呢.” 同事們七嘴八舌地調侃起來.

劉明天問老曾, “這兩幅畫像能不能公布?” 老曾又認真看了看自己的作品, 說, “我看可以, 公布吧, 一號這張把目擊證人自己都給嚇到了, 她說太像了. 但願她的記憶是准確的.”

當晚的電視新聞中, 老曾的嫌疑人畫像, 在千家萬戶的屏幕上被反複播放.

 

“媽媽, 那個畫上的人好象哥哥啊!”

正在廚房裏洗碗的中年女子, 用袖子抹了抹臉上的汗, 歪著頭瞟了一眼客廳裏的電視, 又轉頭對女兒無奈地笑笑,”佳佳, 快做你的作業! 你哥咋能象那個人呢? 那是搶劫犯, 是大壞蛋! 不懂不要瞎說.”

她麻利地把手在圍裙上擦幹, 走過來關了電視. 慈愛地撫摸著女兒的小腦袋. “是不是想哥哥了?”

“嗯.” 女兒委屈地撅起小嘴.

“那過兩天媽叫哥過來吃飯?”

“好啊, 好啊!” 女孩仰視母親的小臉, 立時笑成了一朵花.

 

[English translation]
Traces of Sin  4

 

“Portrait of suspect one is quite good. The one for suspect two is not as good since the impression left with the witness was not clear enough. That’s the best we could do.”

Mr. Zeng explained specifically when Liu Mingtian and other detectives came to see the portraits.

“In my humble opinion, the portrait for suspect two is not bad, it looks actually a bit familiar.” His colleagues started chit-chat about the drawings.

Liu Mingtian asked Mr. Zeng,”Do you feel OK to release these two portraits?” Mr. Zeng had a careful look at his own drawings once again and said,”Yes, let’s release them. The one for suspect one even scared the witness herself. She said that it resembled the man a lot, I hope her memory is good.”

That night, via the evening TV news, Mr. Zeng’s suspects’ portraits appeared on the screens of million of families.

 

“Mom, the man in the picture looks just like my brother!”

The middle aged woman who was washing dishes in the kitchen wiped her sweat off with her sleeve, and then turned her head around to have a peek on the TV screen in the living room. She then turned back to her daughter, smiling, “Jiajia, mind your own homework please. How could your brother look like that guy? He’s a robber, a scoundrel! For things you don’t understand, please think before you talk.”

She wiped her hands on her apron in an agile manner and walked over to turn off the TV. Then she stroked her daughter’s head affectionately and asked, “Do you miss your brother?”

“Yes.” Her daughter felt upset and put up a pouting face.

“What about I invite your brother to have dinner with us in a few days?”

“Yes, yes!” The girl’s little face looked up at her Mom, blossomed into a flower instantly.