若不是春花姑姑一再苦苦相求
“If Aunt Chunhua hadn't pleaded repeatedly,”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
你私养外室在先 又瞒着春花姑姑倒卖生漆敛财
“You kept a mistress and secretly sold raw lacquer to make money without Aunt Chunhua's knowledge.”
若不是 春花姑姑一再 苦苦相求
“If Aunt Chunhua hadn't pleaded repeatedly,”
“how could I let you work at the ink workshop?”
“You are worthless and ungrateful; you only have this job because your aunt begged me.”
Securing employment via personal pleading places a heavy moral burden on the recipient; breaching trust afterward brings intense public disgrace upon their sponsor.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
if it were not for / were it not that
A counterfactual connective used to highlight the single crucial reason that prevented a different outcome.
to plead bitterly / to beg earnestly
A four-character expression denoting intense, humble, and desperate entreaty.
