不过呢 那天晚上是沈总第一次见我
“That night was your first time seeing me.”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
我记得 那个时候 我在你的那家店当促销员呢
“Back then, I was still a sales lady in your shop.”
不过 呢 那天晚上 是沈总 第一次见我
“That night was your first time seeing me.”
“But it wasn't my first time seeing you.”
“You may not remember me from before, but you've been on my radar for much longer.”
Addressing a superior by their surname followed by '总' (short for 总经理, General Manager) is the indispensable norm in Chinese business culture.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
the first time
Essential temporal marker used before verbs to express an initial experience.
that night / that evening
Standard narrative time anchor used to introduce a past event.
Softens the transition after '不过' and adds a light, reflective pause to draw the listener in.
VOCABULARY & EXPRESSIONS
Parallel Spoken Cinema Scenes (语义近邻切片)
“However, you're not the first one to plead for them.”
“But you don't need to talk to them yet.”
“But it won't be in vain.”
“But she came out a bit later than me. Somehow she saw us.”
“Still, a friendly reminder for you.”
“Later, I joined a proper work unit.”