我要想挣钱 我早就下海了
“If I wanted money, I'd have gone into business.”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
“you think everyone's as money-obsessed as you?”
我要 想挣钱 我 早就 下海 了
“If I wanted money, I'd have gone into business.”
我就问你咱家有多少钱
“How much money do we have?”
“Don't accuse me of being greedy; if wealth was my goal, I had plenty of opportunities to chase it.”
Originating in China's Reform and Opening-Up era, 'jumping into the sea' refers to leaving the prestigious state 'iron rice bowl' to venture into market commerce.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
jump into private business (leave the state sector)
A classic historical and colloquial idiom describing leaving a stable institutional job to pursue commerce.
long ago / already
Used to emphasize an unrealized counterfactual condition that could have happened much earlier.
Functions as a modal particle indicating a counterfactual completed state in conditional assertions.
VOCABULARY & EXPRESSIONS
Parallel Spoken Cinema Scenes (语义近邻切片)
“I want to start a business, earn money, and improve my family's life.”
“If you're interested in making money, I can introduce you to some people”
“He's really here to make money.”
“I just wanted to make some money.”
“How could I have known I'd earn this much money?”
“I need to earn more money.”