no matter what; whatever happens; in any situation; rain or shine
to live; to exist; to make a living; to subsist; to be in effect; to be in use
papier-mâché; something that looks good superficially; sham
seeming; pose; show; pretense; sham; mock
to bend; to crook; to lean; to tilt; to bend (the truth); to distort
to break (into pieces); to be broken; to collapse; to crumble; to become less formal; to throw off reserve
unsightly; ungraceful; clumsy; awkward; unpresentable; unshapely
(not) very; (not) so; (not) very much; (not) particularly; (not) especially
antipathy; antagonism; animosity; revulsion; ill feeling
there's no (other) way; cannot be helped; unavoidable; it's no use (doing); pointless; hopeless (person)
attitude; posture; preparedness; readiness
from now; from this moment; henceforth
to begin; to start; to happen (again); to begin (anew); to date (from); to originate (in)
to quarry; to cut (timber); to begin to talk; to break the ice; to start a fire (with flint, by rubbing sticks together, etc.); to select and extract (from a media file)
older brother; elder brother; brother-in-law (spouse's older brother or older sister's husband)
April; fourth month in the lunar calendar
sleeplessness; insomnia; wakefulness
to raise; to bring to (someone's attention); to appeal to (reason, emotions, etc.); to work on (one's emotions); to complain; to sue (a person)
to become like a different person; to have a change in personality
first; firstly; first of all; Introduction; Preface
university student; college student
preface; introduction; preamble
to crush to death; to press to death; to squeeze to death; to suppress (a laugh, one's anger, etc.); to stifle; to subdue (one's voice)
intermittently; bit by bit; little by little; in drops (e.g. of rain)
to get better; to get well; to recover (from an illness); to be cured; to be restored; to heal
to run (up hill, stairs, etc.)
belt (worn around the waist); (machine) belt; belt; zone
till; to; concerning (an area of expertise); swearing by (one's sword, God, etc.)
being lost for words; becoming speechless; jueju (Chinese quatrain with lines of either five or seven syllables)
pitiful; pathetic; painful (to look at)
direct; immediate; personal; firsthand
to tie; to restrain; to confine; to bind; to fasten
to hang down (from); to dangle; to be within one's reach; to dangle (before one's eyes); to be completely reliant on; to be entirely dependent on
as (X, then Y); with; in accordance with; in proportion to
surface; face; outside; exterior; appearances; superficiality
as if; as though; (not) at all; (not) in the slightest; really; completely
doll; puppet; marionette; puppet (person under the control of another); straw man; yes-man
-like; sort of; similar to; resembling
death by suffocation; death by choking
to swell up; to bulge; to swell (of a budget, population, etc.); to increase significantly; to balloon
darkish; dusky; dark; murky