打扫房间

My room has been a mess for a whole week now. This morning when I got out of bed, I took one look at the floor and finally decided: I can't let it go on like this.

I'm Xiao Yue, and I run a little dessert shop in Hangzhou. Today I'm not making cakes, I'm cleaning my room. I'll chat with you while I clean, and you can learn some Chinese along with me.

So why did my room get this messy? Honestly, the reason is pretty simple. The shop was extra busy this week, and every day when I got home, all I wanted was to lie on the couch and do nothing. Clothes ended up on the chair, cups stayed on the table, and the pile just kept growing.

So today is my big cleaning day. I put on an old T-shirt, tie my hair up, and then turn on some music. When there's music playing, cleaning somehow doesn't feel so tiring.

The first step of cleaning isn't wiping, and it isn't sweeping, it's putting things away. One by one, I put everything on the table back where it belongs: books back on the shelf, pens into the pen holder, and the cups go to the kitchen to be washed.

Only while tidying up do I realize how much stuff I have that I never use: three pens that don't write anymore, two notebooks I've never opened, and a whole stack of delivery boxes. I put them all into a big bag to throw away.

There's one thing that always happens when you clean: you suddenly find something you haven't seen in ages. Today I found a photo in a drawer, taken on the day my dessert shop opened. I sit down on the floor looking at it, and just like that, ten minutes go by.

Okay, okay, no more looking, there's still a lot to do. I pick up a damp cloth and start wiping the table. There's a layer of dust on it, and after wiping it's all shiny, it looks so much nicer.

Next up are the windows, and windows are the most annoying part. While I'm wiping, I notice something: the sky outside is actually really blue. I always thought the view out there looked a bit grey, but now I know the grey wasn't the sky, it was my window.

Then I start sweeping the floor. Under the couch and under the bed is where the dust really hides. I move the couch out a little, and what I sweep out gives me a shock: one sock, two sweets, and a whole lot of cat hair.

Speaking of cat hair, here comes my cat, Xiao Hua. She lies down right where I just swept, looks up at me, as if to say, this spot is mine. All I can do is give her a little pet, and then invite her to go play in another room.

After sweeping, I go over the floor with a mop. A freshly mopped floor is still wet, so you have to walk carefully. Xiao Hua, of course, is not careful at all. She runs across it and leaves a neat row of little paw prints. I laugh, and mop the whole thing again.

The floor is clean, so now it's time to do laundry. I put this week's clothes into the washing machine, add the detergent, and press the button. With the machine humming away, I go do something else.

My favorite step is changing the bedsheets. Take off the old sheet, spread out the new one, and smooth it flat bit by bit with my hands. Lying down on clean sheets at night, that feeling is pure happiness.

Halfway through the cleaning, I'm getting a bit tired. I pour myself a glass of water, sit down for a five-minute break, and eat a slice of leftover cake from yesterday. After the break, I've got my energy back.

Next I go tidy up the kitchen. I open the fridge and take out everything that's gone bad or past its date, and throw it all away. Suddenly the fridge is half empty, but it looks so much cleaner. From now on I should buy a little less, and stop letting food go bad in there.

Last is my desk. I line up my notebooks, wipe the laptop clean, and set a small vase of flowers on it. When the desk is clean, you actually feel more like sitting down and getting things done.

Three hours later, I'm finally done. I stand in the middle of the room and look around: the floor is shining, the table is clear, and the whole place smells faintly of laundry detergent. The room is clean, and my mood has lifted right along with it.

I've noticed that when my room is a mess, my head feels like a mess too. Once the room is clean, whatever I want to do, it's easier to get started.

Cleaning your room really isn't hard; the hard part is starting. You don't have to clean everything at once. Wipe one table today, sweep the floor tomorrow, and little by little, your room gets clean.

If your place feels a little messy too, just start with the smallest spot in front of you. All right, I'm going to go lie down on those clean sheets and rest for a while. Thanks for cleaning with me today, and I'll see you next time.