最后一单
A day in the life of a delivery rider
Name: ________________ Date: ________
周磊每天早上八点打开手机，开始接单。他是一个外卖员，在这个城市已经送了三年外卖。
上午还算轻松。到了十一点半，手机就开始响个不停：一份炒饭、两杯奶茶、三碗牛肉面……每一单都有时间要求，晚了几分钟，就可能被扣钱。他骑着电动车在大街小巷里来来回回，红灯一变绿，他总是第一个出发。
他最怕的是电梯。有一次，他提着一大袋饭菜在一楼等了五分钟，电梯一层一层地停，就是不下来。他只好自己爬到十八楼。到了门口，客人接过饭，只说了一句：“怎么这么慢？”
下午下起了大雨。他把外卖放在雨衣里面，自己的衣服却湿了一大半。一位老奶奶开门看见他，一定要给他一条毛巾。他笑着说不用了，心里却暖暖的。
晚上九点，他准备再接最后一单。手机上跳出来一个新订单：两份饺子，一份韭菜鸡蛋的，一份猪肉白菜的。地址是：幸福小区，三号楼，401。
周磊看着这个地址，一下子愣住了。那是他家。其实家离这儿不远，骑车只要二十分钟，可是他已经三个月没回去了。不是不想回，是太忙了：每天回到租的房子里，他只想倒头就睡。
订单的备注里还写着一句话：“饺子不急，慢慢送，路上注意安全。”
他去饺子馆取了饺子，骑到楼下，上楼，敲门。门一开，妈妈站在那里，身上还穿着做饭的围裙。桌上已经放好了两个碗，两双筷子。
他问：“妈，这是你点的外卖？”
“我知道你每天都在这附近工作。我想，我点一份，说不定就派给你了。”妈妈笑了，“前两天我也点了，送来的人都不是你。”
周磊站在门口，不知道说什么好。手机又响了，他又收到了一个新订单。他看了一眼，第一次在晚上九点把“接单”关了。
“快进来吃吧。”妈妈接过饺子，“吃完了，妈给你一个五星好评。”
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 城市 | chéngshì | city; town |
| 外卖 | wàimài | takeout; food delivery |
| 碗 | wǎn | bowl |
| 要求 | yāoqiú | requirement; request; demand; to require; to demand; to ask |
| 骑 | qí | to ride (a horse, bike, etc.) |
| 变 | biàn | to change; to become; change; transformation |
| 出发 | chūfā | to set off; to start out |
| 怕 | pà | to fear; to be afraid of |
| 电梯 | diàntī | elevator; lift |
| 层 | céng | layer; stratum |
| 爬 | pá | to climb |
| 客人 | kèren | guest; visitor |
English (for the teacher)
Every morning at eight, Zhou Lei switches on his phone and starts taking orders. He's a delivery rider, and he's been delivering food in this city for three years.
The mornings are fairly easy. Then at half past eleven his phone starts ringing non-stop: a fried rice, two bubble teas, three bowls of beef noodles… Every order comes with a time limit, and a few minutes late can mean money taken off his pay. He rides his e-bike back and forth through the streets and alleys, and when a red light turns green, he's always first away.
What he dreads most is lifts. Once he stood on the ground floor with a big bag of food for five minutes while the lift stopped at floor after floor and just wouldn't come down. In the end he climbed to the eighteenth floor himself. At the door, the customer took the food and said just one thing: “Why so slow?”
In the afternoon it started pouring. He kept the food inside his raincoat, but more than half of his own clothes got soaked. An old lady opened her door, saw him and insisted on giving him a towel. He smiled and said there was no need, but inside he felt warm.
At nine in the evening he decided to take one last order. A new order popped up on his phone: two portions of dumplings, one chive and egg, one pork and cabbage. The address: Xingfu Estate, Building 3, flat 401.
Zhou Lei stared at the address and froze. It was his home. It wasn't far, only twenty minutes by bike, but he hadn't been back in three months. It wasn't that he didn't want to; he was just too busy: every night he got back to his rented room and fell straight into bed.
The order had a note too: “No hurry with the dumplings, take your time, ride safely.”
He picked up the dumplings at the restaurant, rode to the building, went upstairs and knocked. The door opened, and there was his mum, still in her cooking apron. On the table two bowls and two pairs of chopsticks were already laid out.
He asked: “Mum, you ordered this?”
“I know you work round here every day. I thought if I ordered something, maybe it would go to you.” His mum laughed. “I ordered the last two days as well, and it was never you.”
Zhou Lei stood in the doorway, not knowing what to say. His phone rang again: another new order. He glanced at it, and for the first time ever at nine o'clock at night, he switched off “accept orders”.
“Come in and eat, quick.” His mum took the dumplings. “When you've finished, Mum will give you a five-star review.”