我好不容易去退了婚
“I went through so much trouble to call off the engagement.”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
把甯儿和九娘子的婚事定下来 不行
“and finalize the marriage between Ning and Miss Qin. No way!”
我 好不容易 去 退了 婚
“I went through so much trouble to call off the engagement.”
“Ning absolutely cannot marry that jinx!”
“Over my dead body will we reverse this marriage cancellation after everything I did to break it off!”
Traditional Chinese marriages are alliances between clans orchestrated by parents; breaking off an engagement brings social stigma, so going through the trouble twice causes immense parental distress.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
with great difficulty; after much trouble
Placed before a verb phrase to emphasize that an achievement required grueling effort or perseverance.
to annul or break off an engagement
Refers specifically to dissolving a formal premarital agreement or betrothal contract.
Indicates completion of the difficult action of annulling the marriage, emphasizing that it is already a done deal.
VOCABULARY & EXPRESSIONS
Parallel Spoken Cinema Scenes (语义近邻切片)
“was lucky to break off the engagement.”
“she called off her engagement.”
“I can help you call off this engagement.”
“Nobody wants you, little miss. Even your fiancé ditched you.”
“But I was the one who called off the wedding. It's not worth regretting.”
“I finally got a chance to come back.”