团购的麻烦事

团长，你每天晚上都要在群里发好几十条消息，组织大家团购明天的菜，这么麻烦，你图什么？

Group leader, every night you send dozens of messages in the group chat organizing everyone's vegetable order for tomorrow. That's so much trouble, what are you actually getting out of it?

我不觉得麻烦，反而觉得挺划算的。你想，同样的菜，团购比楼下的店便宜不少，还更新鲜，你为什么不试试？

I don't find it troublesome at all, actually I think it's a really good deal. Think about it, the same vegetables, group-buying them is noticeably cheaper than the store downstairs, and fresher too. Why don't you give it a try?

便宜是便宜，我上个月试过一次，可是我忘了去楼下取货，那袋菜在取货点放了两天，最后还是坏了。你说这样算划算吗？

Cheap, sure. I tried it once last month, but I forgot to pick up my order downstairs, and the bag sat at the pickup point for two days and went bad in the end. Would you call that a good deal?

那确实可惜，不过忘记取货是你自己的问题，跟团购本身没有关系吧？你不会因为一次没取好，就再也不团购了吧？

That's genuinely a shame, but forgetting to pick it up is your own problem, that's got nothing to do with group-buying itself, right? You're not going to give up on group-buying forever just because of one missed pickup, are you?

也不是因为那一次。是我发现，团购的群里消息太多了，天天都有人在问明天要不要跟，几点截止，去哪儿取，手机响个不停。省下的钱可能就几块钱，我却要花时间看几十条消息，你觉得这样值得吗？

It's not just because of that one time. I've noticed the group-buy chat has too many messages, every day someone's asking whether to join tomorrow's order, what time it closes, where to pick up, my phone won't stop buzzing. The money saved might just be a few coins, but I have to spend time reading dozens of messages. Do you think that's worth it?

我倒不觉得看消息麻烦，因为我本来就习惯每天看看群里在聊什么，这对我来说不是负担，反而像是跟邻居们聊天。你不常跟邻居说话，是不是也觉得有点可惜？

I don't actually find reading the messages troublesome, because I'm already in the habit of checking what's being said in the group every day, for me it's not a burden, it's more like chatting with the neighbors. You don't talk to your neighbors much, don't you feel that's a bit of a shame too?

那倒是。我们这栋楼，除了在电梯里点点头，平时确实很少说话。可是我还是觉得，为了省几块钱去看几十条消息，不划算。你花的时间，难道不比省下的钱更值钱吗？

That's true actually. In this building, apart from nodding at each other in the elevator, we really don't talk much normally. But I still think reading dozens of messages to save a few coins isn't worth it. Isn't the time you spend worth more than the money you save?

时间是值钱，可是对我来说，那二十分钟本来也是要刷手机的，与其随便看看新闻，不如帮大家把菜订好，还能跟人说说话，我觉得这时间花得挺值。

Time is valuable, but for me those twenty minutes were going to go into scrolling my phone anyway. Rather than just looking at random news, I'd rather get everyone's order sorted and get to talk to people too, I feel like that time is well spent.

我明白了，你图的不是那几块钱，是每天晚上有点事做，还能跟人聊聊天。可是我下班已经很累了，就想安安静静休息一会儿，不想再多看一个群。

Now I get it, what you're after isn't the few coins, it's having something to do every evening and getting to chat with people. But I'm already tired after work, I just want to rest quietly for a while, I don't want one more group chat to check.

这我理解，你想要的是省心，不是省钱。那你不团购也没关系，我不会怪你，反正每次我都会多问一句，你要不要跟。

I understand that, what you want is peace of mind, not saved money. Then it's fine if you don't join the group-buy, I won't blame you for it, I'll still ask you each time anyway whether you want in.

谢谢你还记得我。不过我发现，你们这些做团长的人，好像图的从来都不是钱，是别的东西。

Thanks for still remembering me. But I've noticed that people like you who become group leaders never seem to be after the money, it's something else.

你说得对。钱是小事，能被邻居们需要，才是我天天愿意花时间的原因。

You're right. The money is a small thing, being needed by the neighbors is the real reason I'm willing to spend time on it every day.

团长，那下次有便宜又新鲜的菜，你还是可以在群里提醒我一下，我不一定每次都跟，但至少可以看看。

Group leader, next time there's something cheap and fresh, you can still remind me in the group chat, I won't join every time, but at least I can take a look.

好，那我把你也拉进群里吧，看不看消息，随你。

Sure, then I'll add you to the group too, whether you read the messages or not is up to you.