The mainland Chinese drama series (set in 1979–92) I've been watching focuses mainly on two families living in the same courtyard:
* a teacher, his textile factory worker wife, and their son and daughter;
* an engineer, his textile factory worker wife, and their son.
The teacher chap, being the eldest, is expected to fulfil his filial piety duties, which includes giving his whole pay to his parents. This creates a lot of resentment in his wife because the couple has to live on her wages. The accommodation they've been allocated comes with her job, not his.
My eldest sister (with four siblings) was always blamed for our misdemeanours, even beaten for it (for not having set a better example or supervised our activities more strictly). This planted the seed for their bad relationship for the rest of their living days, flaring up regularly.
My brother, being the only son and therefore representing the family for all such occasions, had to fork out money for (the Teochew dialect version) 红白事 ang pek sii / hóng bái shì / "red white matters" or (the Mandarin version) 红白喜事 hóng bái xǐ shì / "red white happy matters" (red for weddings and birthdays, white for funerals). Contributions (in the form of money in an envelope, red for wedding, white for funeral) towards those events are a standard practice in the Chinese culture. There's no question of him asking his sisters to chip in. (This last bit is covered in Chinese sayings: 48, about daughters who have married (https://piccola-chinita.blogspot.com/2025/12/chinese-sayings-48_19.html))
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