Zhiyin, a native of Beijing, met her present American husband Caocao in 1998. She was a college junior student then international trade, hoping that she could find a good job and an ideal husband after graduation. It seemed that her hopes were soon realized, for after graduation, Zhiyin found a good job in a foreign company and at the same time, she began to date Caocao.

One day, a mishap changed Zhiyin's life completely. At that time, she and Caocao had been in love for four years and Caocao was an actor. Once, when acting in a film in Yunnan, Caocao was sent to hospital for appendicitis. Hearing this, Zhiyin put her work aside in Shanghai and flew to Kunming to take care of Caocao. Under her intensive care, Caocao recovered very quickly. A week later, Zhiyin received a call from her company, asking her to go back soon to finish her work. However, when Zhiyin was about to go, Caocao cried and wouldn't let her go.

"That's the first time I saw him crying. He was so helpless, like a baby. He sat close to me and held me tightly, as if I would disappear at any time. I said to him, 'What's the matter with you? ' Then he cried and I began to cry, too," Zhiyin recalled.

Then, Zhiyin decided to quit her job and stayed in Kunming.

A month later, Caocao was totally recovered. On the day when he was released from the hospital, he asked Zhiyin to marry him. Later, the two went back to Beijing and finished the marriage procedure.

After marrying Caocao, Zhiyin became a full-time housewife. At that time, Caocao could speak Chinese fluently but he still didn't know any Chinese characters. To solve this problem, Zhiyin marked all the Chinese characters with their Pinyin phonetic symbols so that Caocao could pronounce the Chinese words. "We couldn't afford to find an assistant to help me. So I will do the work," said Zhiyin.

Despite all this, Zhiyin had to spend a lot of time reading the scripts, check the lines, and analyzing the roles Caocao was going to play. Only through this work would Caocao be familiar with his roles. Also, Zhiyin would go through all the important performing contracts for Caocao before he signed them.

With her support and advice, Caocao was able to act different roles in various films and TV series. Little by little, he built up his fame in the entertainment circle. He is now one of the highest-paid foreign actors in China. 

(China News Service January 4, 2007)