One minute at the wedding

表姐结婚前一天，舅舅让我听他准备的发言。

Biǎojiě jiéhūn qián yì tiān, jiùjiu ràng wǒ tīng tā zhǔnbèi de fāyán.

The day before my older cousin’s wedding, my uncle asks me to listen to his speech.

他从认识女婿讲起，读了五分钟，还没讲到表姐小时候的事。

Tā cóng rènshi nǚxu jiǎngqǐ, dú le wǔ fēnzhōng, hái méi jiǎng dào biǎojiě xiǎo shíhou de shì.

He starts with meeting his son-in-law. After five minutes of reading, he has not even reached my cousin’s childhood.

我问他，最想对女儿说的是什么。他放下纸，说：“就是……以后不管多晚，想回家就回来。”

Wǒ wèn tā, zuì xiǎng duì nǚ'ér shuō de shì shénme. Tā fàngxià zhǐ, shuō: “Jiù shì… yǐhòu bùguǎn duō wǎn, xiǎng huí jiā jiù huílai.”

I ask what he most wants to tell his daughter. He puts the paper down. “Just… however late it is, if you want to come home, come home.”

我把这句话写在纸的最上面。舅舅看了看，拿笔划掉了下面两大段。

Wǒ bǎ zhè jù huà xiě zài zhǐ de zuì shàngmian. Jiùjiu kàn le kàn, ná bǐ huàdiào le xiàmian liǎng dà duàn.

I write that sentence at the top of the page. My uncle looks it over, then crosses out two long paragraphs below it.

婚礼那天，他只说了一分钟。大家开始鼓掌，他还握着话筒。

Hūnlǐ nà tiān, tā zhǐ shuō le yì fēnzhōng. Dàjiā kāishǐ gǔzhǎng, tā hái wòzhe huàtǒng.

At the wedding, he speaks for just a minute. The applause starts, but he is still holding the microphone.

他看着女儿，问：“家里的钥匙，还在你包里吗？”

Tā kànzhe nǚ'ér, wèn: “Jiā li de yàoshi, hái zài nǐ bāo li ma?”

He looks at his daughter and asks, “Is your key to the house still in your bag?”