上个月，我的手机突然坏了，我需要马上买一个新的。
Last month my phone suddenly broke, and I needed to buy a new one right away.
可是我没有那么多钱，所以我向同事小王借了一千块钱。
But I didn't have that much money, so I borrowed a thousand yuan from my colleague Xiao Wang.
小王笑着说：“没关系，你什么时候有钱，什么时候还我。”
Xiao Wang said with a smile: "No problem — pay me back whenever you have the money."
昨天，我终于拿到了这个月的工资。
Yesterday I finally got this month's salary.
我做的第一件事情，就是去找小王还钱。
The first thing I did was go find Xiao Wang to pay him back.
我把一千块钱还给了他，还请他喝了一杯咖啡。
I gave the thousand yuan back to him and also treated him to a cup of coffee.
小王高兴地说：“谢谢，你真是个好朋友！”
Xiao Wang said happily: "Thanks — you really are a good friend!"
我觉得，借钱容易，还钱更要快，这样朋友关系才会越来越好。
I think borrowing money is easy, but you should be even quicker about paying it back — only then will a friendship get better and better.
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Key words 生词
借jièto borrow
还huánto pay back; to return
同事tóngshìcolleague
突然tūránsuddenly
终于zhōngyúfinally
工资gōngzīsalary; wages
Grammar note 语法点
什么时候……，什么时候……
Repeating a question word like 什么时候 turns it into 'whenever / whatever': the second clause happens at the same (unspecified) time as the first, e.g. 你什么时候来，我什么时候等你.
你什么时候有钱，什么时候还我。 — Pay me back whenever you have the money.
把 + object + 还给 + sb
In a 把-sentence the object moves before the verb to show what is being handled; 还给 'return to' then names the receiver, e.g. 请把书还给老师.
我把一千块钱还给了他。 — I gave the thousand yuan back to him.
越来越 + adjective
越来越 means 'more and more', showing that a quality keeps increasing over time, e.g. 天气越来越热.
这样朋友关系才会越来越好。 — Only then will a friendship get better and better.
Check yourself 小测验
1. Why did the narrator borrow money from Xiao Wang?
2. What did Xiao Wang say when he lent the money?
3. Besides returning the money, what did the narrator do?