也不能靠儿媳妇活着吧
“can't live off our daughter-in-law.”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
就算她不上的话 那咱们一家三口
“even if she didn't, the three of us”
也不能 靠儿媳妇活着 吧
“can't live off our daughter-in-law.”
卖了吧
“Sell it.”
“It is totally humiliating for our whole family to live off her; we need our own dignity.”
In traditional Chinese households, parents-in-law relying entirely on a daughter-in-law for financial survival can feel deeply humiliating and inverted regarding family prestige.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
rely on ... to survive/make a living
A strong expression highlighting complete financial or material dependence on someone.
surely we can't... / it's unacceptable to...
A rhetorical framing used to reject an unacceptable situation or behavior on moral or dignity grounds.
Softens the rhetorical objection, prompting the listener to agree with the speaker's standard of decency.
VOCABULARY & EXPRESSIONS
Parallel Spoken Cinema Scenes (语义近邻切片)
“Honey... Wait... It's not... There's nothing between us!”
“We saved up half our lives to buy a wife for our son. She just vanished. No grandchild for us now.”
“His wife felt she couldn't rely on him,”
“That's not even enough to get a wife.”
“I have a presumptuous request.”
“Qian has been through a lot.”
“Isn't it just playing the role of a good daughter-in-law?”