Reported Speech

A few days ago, Mr. Zhou asked Mrs. Zhou if she would like to go to town with him. They could go at about ten, after he had finished putting up those shelves. Mrs. Zhou said that that was fine because she had some house cleaning to do but she would come along. She told him that she had to get Weiwen a present for his birthday and a pair of shoes for herself. She then asked if they could leave a little later than ten, because she needed to finish the washing and cook lunch for Weiwen.

Mr. Zhou protested and said that she did too much for that boy. He also asked if he was old enough to get his own lunch. He argued that when he had been Weiwen’s age, his parents had expected him to do his share of the housework. Mrs. Zhou said that had been 20 years ago. Things had changed since then. Mr. Zhou added that he agreed with her and said that they had changed for the worse and commented that children had become spoiled and had too many things and they didn’t appreciate their parents. Mrs. Zhou disagreed and said that Weiwen is a sensitive boy who gets easily upset but he does appreciate them. Mr. Zhou added that when they buy him toys and said they would go to town at eleven, if it suits him better.