Just because it’s Friday and I feel like writing something bimbotic, I’ve decided to translate an article I read in the Chinese section of my paper 我报, the free morning paper, which I found very amusing. This article I’m translating first appeared on a China website (doesn’t say which one) and is about six ways of snagging a rich man. These ways are based on the 80-episode Hong Kong blockbuster drama 珠光宝气 (Gem of Life) which is currently still showing in Hong Kong.
Two of the characters, played by Gigi Lai (黎姿) and Ada Choi (蔡少芬), scheme and worm their way into the hearts of the rich men they have set their sights on marrying in a bid to ensure they will live a life of luxury. I’ve no idea what the drama is about since I’m not watching it. My sis, though, tells me it’s enjoyable as there are many twists and turns in the plot. So aspiring tai-tais, to marry rich or what we call 嫁入豪门 (jia4 ru4 hao2 men2) in Chinese, here are the six lessons you can glean from the drama.
1. Don’t bother about the nice but poor guy 不理穷小子
Eddie Kwan’s (關禮傑) character goes to jail for Lai’s character, and Wong Hei’s (王喜) character is the long-suffering dude who does everything in his ability to make Choi’s character happy. But alas, they are poor and everything they do can never measure up to the riches that the two rich dudes the two women have their eye on possess. So nice guys finish last.
2. Arm yourself with some knowledge of the arts 要懂点艺术
Yes, it’s a battlefield out there, so I use the word ‘arm’ instead of an innocuous ‘Cultivate your knowledge’. So upper crust society is into the appreciation of arts and culture. As they say, birds of the same feather flock together. In order to develop the same plumage, you’ll have to be able to wax lyrical – intelligently of course – about a painting as Lai’s character does. Her ability to do so attracts Moses Chan’s (陈豪）character, a rich man’s scion, and makes him see her in a different light.
3. Listen to your mother 听妈妈的话
This brings us back to the old adage of obeying your parents. The matriarch, played by Louise Lee (李司棋), is the mother who, knowing that Kwan’s and Wong’s characters won’t make good son-in-laws, schemes and plots to get rid of these two men – to great success. Thus, she clears the way for her daughters’ path to taitai-dom.
4. Be able to endure a little suffering 吃得苦中苦
Well, you can’t possibly expect everything to be so easy, can you? Take Choi’s character for example. To gain the sympathy of the rich dude, she had to jump into a pool and climb a mountain cave. OK, frankly I don’t know to what extent how hard that was since I didn’t watch it, but I’m guessing it was merely physically exerting, which I suppose to a fragile flower vase IS torturous and constitutes suffering (苦)!
5. Don’t appear too eager or easy 不投怀送抱
The phrase 不投怀送抱 literally means don’t throw yourself into the arms of a man, i.e. don’t appear too eager or easy to get. The logic here is that men want what they can’t get, especially so for rich men who are used to getting what they want by using money. Rich men are used to women throwing themselves at them and actually find that women who are too eager a turn-off.
So then learn from Choi’s character in starting off as friends first and just talking about things like family and kinship. Nothing too threatening you know. Even if you’re very interested, never show your interest and never make the first move in making your feelings known. Just pretend to be blase, sweet and innocent, so as to pique his curiosity slowly but surely.
6. Be in the right profession 要找对工作
Look for a job that allows you to fraternise with high society – Lai’s character is a sales person at a jewellery store; people who can afford to patronise the store are normally the rich and chichi set. Whilst Choi’s character is a public relations officer who often has dealings with the upper crust.
So good luck to all aspiring tai-tais! Dimsumdolly is resigned to the fact that she’ll never become one – not when she sticks around at home all day (so much so that her friend calls her ‘old bird’) and bothers to translates articles like that!