A little role play. Photo provided to Shanghai Star

When they arrived at the party, their buddies screamed when seeing her wearing the ring and asked Zhao to replay the proposal. So it was the third time he knelt down, circled by friends holding cellphones and cameras.

"My dear Yi Qun, my love is like the meal I cooked for you. It's far from being superb but it can make you feel full and real. I want to devote my whole life just to you. I want to show our albums to our offspring and flaunt our happiness. Will you marry me?" he said. She nodded yes as friends cheered in the background.

That magic day happened one year after they met through a mutual friend.

Not long after they first met, she caught a cold and he, a power system engineer who works almost seven days a week, sneaked out from the workplace and appeared at her door with some medicine and food.

"Instead of showing appreciation, I shut the door after saying, 'Do you think it's touching, acting this way? I'm not happy. I don't want to meet a guy unprepared, and wearing pajamas'," she laughs.

She thought he might be scared away but soon received a text message from him, which read: "I really want to see you, from my heart. I brought you some medicine and grapefruit tea. I know you don't like water but the tea is sweet so that you can drink more and will recover sooner."

The message moved her to tears.