Thanks to our parents, Congxin saw this wonderful world for the first time on December 14, 1994 in Hebei, Tangshan, and Minying started her princesshood as the "oriental pearl" on January 16, 1995 in Shanghai.

18 years later, Congxin found Minying on the CUUS (Chinese Undergraduates in the United States) website forum as Minying was bragging about her Early Decision offer from University of Richmond. As someone who received the 2nd round of Early Decision offer from the same university, Congxin had to let Minying know that she was just as good as him. Allegedly, Congxin and Minying were the first two Chinese students to make contact in their class.

Studying abroad in a place that has 12-hour time zone difference from home can be scary for any 18-year-olds. Therefore, as the founder of our QQ group chat, Minying decided to lead Congxin and several other friends to fly together from Shanghai to Richmond to officially leave their teenage lives behind. The only task Minying gave Congxin was to book hotels for everyone, and somehow, he still booked an extra room, showing some early signs of incapability in managing travel logistics and a desperate need for majoring in mathematics and economics.

Congxin and Minying became close friends during the first semester of their sophomore year, when they took business statistics and accounting classes together. They sat next to each other during classes, but never traded answers during exams. While Minying was trying to get perfect scores on every quiz and exam, Congxin was satisfied with a 93 out of 100. They were both very curious about each other but for very different reasons. Minying was amazed at why Congxin could not answer all the questions correctly, as they seemed so simple, while Congxin could not figure out why someone needed to study so hard but still got the same grade as him (in Minying's defense, it was A+ vs. A). These mysteries remain unsolved to this day.

At the end of the sophomore year, Congxin went back home in China for summer vacation and Minying stayed on campus in Richmond for summer classes. Congxin began to realize that something was not right as he started to think about Minying day and night. Minying also slowly realized something was definitely not right as Congxin started to send her numerous WeChat messages and cute kitten emojis every hour, regardless of the time zone difference between them. During this summer, Congxin’s parents were a bit concerned why their son had his phone glued to his hands and sometimes smiled in a silly way while looking at the phone screen.

After a summer long, or maybe a century long, of trading texts and emojis, Congxin flied back to Richmond to began his summer classes. Unfortunately, Minying's flight back home was on the very next day. Congxin knew he had less than 24 hours to fight for the next 80+ years of his life. Actually believing a lame excuse like "I want to borrow some videos from you", Minying was lured out by Congxin to walk around the campus on this beautiful summer night. After being awake for more than 24 hours, Congxin successfully made Minying feel sleepy and dizzy after wandering together for 3 hours. Eventually, he convinced her to officially start their relationship as a couple.

After surviving from graduation, visa issues, 1-year long-distance relationship, job changes, relocation, and COVID, Congxin decided to propose to Minying on the day when they revisit University of Richmond for their 5-year class reunion. Congxin invited their friends from all over the US to witness this historic moment, and more importantly as free labors, to set up balloons and flowers at the scene. As Congxin anxiously led Minying to the designated place, she had no idea about what was going to happen. Still pondering why it took her so long to say yes to Congxin 7 years ago, she found herself in tears, saying yes again to the big question, and a Harry Winston ring on her finger.