门庭冷落连几个仆役都养不起
“His household couldn't even afford a few servants.”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
他当初不过是个九品小官
“he was just a low-ranking ninth-grade official.”
门庭冷落 连几个仆役都 养不起
“His household couldn't even afford a few servants.”
是我阿娘带来嫁妆
“It was my mom's dowry that made your Ye family prosperous.”
“He was practically penniless until my mother saved him.”
In traditional Chinese society, an impoverished official relying on his wife's dowry (嫁妆) carries a moral debt, making his subsequent ingratitude a severe ethical failing.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
desolate courtyard, deserted and neglected
An idiom describing a household or venue that lacks visitors, status, or prosperity.
cannot even afford to support...
A pattern used to emphasize severe financial hardship by highlighting an inability to cover basic costs.
