Shengliver’s Note: A lot of people blamed the Covid Pandemic for their failed attempts. However, this fruitless romance was not caused by the virus but by wavering attitudes. Love conquers all, anyway.

 

A lot of weddings have to be put off due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. A wedding which was scheduled to take place last month around me has evaporated, however, not because of Covid but for a very peculiar reason.

When I was 7, my uncle, my mother’s younger brother, got a girlfriend, who was his high school flame. The girl was a high achiever. After high school, she attended college in Wuhan. Four years later, the ambitious girl, having earned a bachelor’s degree, went even further to a university in Beijing for her graduate studies.

My uncle, by contrast, was not particularly academic in high school. He did not even make it to college. To accompany his sweetheart in Beijing while she was studying there for her master’s degree, my uncle found a temporary job in the Chinese capital. As different in many ways as they were, my uncle and his girlfriend got on well, and their relationship witnessed almost ten years of growth and bloom.

Last year, the girl finished her studies and landed a job in Yichang, Hubei. My uncle followed his love there. Before the rampant virus in Wuhan caught the world’s attention, they decided to tie the knot during the coming Spring Festival. They even had their pre-wedding photos taken by pro photographers.

Out of the blue, the viral eruption brought the entire country to a standstill towards the end of January, 2020. Thus the plan to conduct the wedding ceremony in the Chinese New Year had to be put on hold. During the clampdown months, the girl’s parents expressed strong disapproval at their daughter’s prearranged wedding. In their opinion, my uncle, who is poorly educated, did not match their daughter, who holds a master’s degree under her belt. In the end, they managed to persuade their daughter out of her intention to be my uncle’s spouse. The nuptials, which should have taken place when the shutdown was lifted, vanished without a trace.

My uncle’s plight confuses me. What matters the most to love and romance? Is education level that important?