七楼 · 第四天
The Seventh Floor, Episode 4: The Man on the Sixth Floor
Name: ________________ Date: ________
昨天下午，乔安和宁宁在六号楼的最上面看见了一个旧铁门，门上有一把新锁。就在这时候，六楼的一个门开了。
门口站着一个老人。他的头发都是白色的，个子不高，脸上一点儿笑也没有。
宁宁很小声地说：“他是邹爷爷，一个人住在这儿。”
她对老人笑了笑：“爷爷好！我在小区的快递站上班。我想问问您，七楼的快递是谁的？”
“七楼？”老人的声音一下子大了，“这个楼只有六层，哪儿有七楼？”
“那这个门呢？”宁宁问。
“这个门很多年没开过了，上面什么都没有。”他看了看他们两个，“别在这儿玩，快回家吧。”
说完，他就关上了门，声音很大。
六楼又安静了。宁宁说：“他一直都这样，对谁都不笑。”
乔安没说话。她一直看着他家门口的一双旧鞋。
鞋上都是土。土里还有一点儿水，一看就知道是新的。
“宁宁，这几天下过雨吗？”
“没有啊，天天都是大太阳。”
“楼下的路上一点儿水也没有，楼里也很干净。那这些土是从哪儿来的？”
宁宁看看铁门，又看看那双鞋，眼睛一下子亮了：“你是说……”
“对，”她小声说，“他去过七楼。可能就在今天。”
这时候，有人给她打来了电话。是罗师傅。
“乔安，明天早上早一点儿来。”电话那边安静了一会儿，“又有七楼的快递了。这个月，这是第二个。”
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 上面 | shàngmiàn | above; on top of; on the surface of |
| 门 | mén | door; gate |
| 楼 | lóu | building (with more than one story) |
| 门口 | ménkǒu | doorway; entrance; gate |
| 站 | zhàn | station; stop |
| 白色 | báisè | white |
| 个子 | gèzi | height; stature; build |
| 高 | gāo | high; tall |
| 笑 | xiào | to laugh; to smile |
| 过 | guò | (particle) marks a past experience: have ever |
| 快 | kuài | fast; quick |
| 这样 | zhèyàng | like this; this way |
English (for the teacher)
Yesterday afternoon, at the very top of Building Six, Qiao An and Ningning found an old iron door with a new lock on it. Just then, a door on the sixth floor opened.
An old man stood in the doorway. His hair was all white, he wasn't tall, and there wasn't a trace of a smile on his face.
Ningning said very quietly, "That's Grandpa Zou. He lives here on his own."
She smiled at the old man. "Hello, Grandpa! I work at the compound's parcel station. I'd like to ask you: who do the seventh-floor parcels belong to?"
"The seventh floor?" The old man's voice suddenly got loud. "This building only has six storeys. What seventh floor?"
"Then what about this door?" Ningning asked.
"That door hasn't been opened in years. There's nothing up there." He looked the two of them over. "Don't play here. Hurry on home."
With that, he shut his door with a bang.
The sixth floor went quiet again. Ningning said, "He's always like that. He never smiles at anyone."
Qiao An didn't say anything. She kept looking at a pair of old shoes outside his door.
The shoes were covered in soil. The soil was still a little wet; you could tell at a glance it was fresh.
"Ningning, has it rained these past few days?"
"No, it's been bright sunshine every day."
"There isn't a drop of water on the paths downstairs, and the building is clean too. So where did this soil come from?"
Ningning looked at the iron door, then at the shoes, and his eyes suddenly lit up. "You mean..."
"Yes," Qiao An whispered. "He's been to the seventh floor. Maybe even today."
Just then, someone called her. It was Mr Luo.
"Qiao An, come in a bit early tomorrow morning." The line went quiet for a moment. "There's another seventh-floor parcel. That's the second one this month."