The Pool Regulars Asked Her Rent Before Her Name | Intermediate Mandarin Podcast

Mia started swimming at 6:30am because she wanted the pool to herself. Instead she found six or seven retirees who have owned that hour for years — and somewhere in the last two months, without asking her, they decided she's one of them. Now a lane stands mysteriously empty whenever she arrives, a woman whose name she doesn't know hands her a boiled egg every Tuesday and Thursday, and the morning she overslept, three worried messages landed before 7:30. It's warm. It's also a lot. When the group chat posts a poll for a November hot spring trip, Mia is left holding the real question: can you keep the eggs and the empty lane without accepting everything that comes with them? Ting Mandarin is a lifestyle podcast for Mandarin learners who want to learn without sitting down for a lesson. Follow conversations about everyday life in Mandarin you can actually understand, with synchronized Simplified Chinese and concise English subtitles. In this episode: • Why Lao Zhou will never admit the second lane is for her • Six swimmers correcting her breathing at once — with six different opinions • The question order: age, marriage, rent… and only then her name • Sixty WeChat (微信) messages before 7am • The hot spring poll Mia has left unanswered for four days 00:00 A quiet swim time that wasn't 01:17 The empty lane and the boiled egg 02:40 Six coaches, six different opinions 04:10 Age, marriage, rent — then her name 05:16 Sixty messages before 7am 06:47 The hot spring poll she won't answer 08:38 The Tuesday the egg didn't come If mornings like this sound familiar, follow Ting Mandarin for a new conversation every week. #LearnChinese #MandarinPodcast #ChineseListening