可家中胞妹尚小
“but my sister is still young.”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
“I know I shouldn't ask too much about the case,”
可家中胞妹尚小
“but my sister is still young.”
我还想着
“I was thinking”
“Please show mercy and consider my family's plight before taking harsh action.”
In traditional Chinese culture, mentioning vulnerable family members, like young siblings or aged parents, is an accepted pragmatic strategy to appeal to the humaneness (renqing) of figures in authority.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
full younger sister / younger sister of the same parents
A formal and literary term referring to one's biological younger sister.
still young
A formal, concise literary expression to describe an infant or minor child.
Parallel Spoken Cinema Scenes (语义近邻切片)
“Your sister is still missing,”
“All the girls under me are carrying their entire family on their shoulders.”
“What is Changning doing at home?”
“Wanzhi has had it hard since she was little.”
“Then Little Wan'er would become my real sister, wouldn't she?”
“Well, my little sister.”