When we were kids, we were often told to “listen to your mother” or “do as dad says”, and many of us probably went through a time when we secretly swore that we’d never listen to our parents again once we grew up. But as age catches up, some of us begin to realize that our moms and dads do make more sense than we do sometimes.
A Chinese couple recently ignored their parents’ objections to their union and secretly tied the knot, only to later discover that they were actually cousins!
Like many youngsters these days, Qiang Zhang got to know his girlfriend, Li Li, through online chat. They started chatting back in 2011 and hit it off from the start, and before they knew it they were deeply in love. Although they lived hundreds of miles apart, Zhang in Hangzhou and Li in Dalian, they managed to maintain their relationship through frequent phone calls and video chats.
In November 2011 last year, they decided to get married, but their cyber romance was met with objections from their parents. Unable to convince their parents to give them their blessings, the couple decided to tie the know anyway, and went ahead to register their marriage in Dalian.
It was only in February last year that Zhang met his in-laws for the first time and boy did he get a surprise! He belatedly found out that his mother-in-law was in fact his aunt. In other words, Li’s mother was Zhang’s father’s sister. Which makes the couple actual cousins.
It would seem that Li Li’s parents faced objection from their own parents (Li Li’s grandparents) when they were younger, so Li’s mother left her family and moved to Dalian to live with the man she had met and fallen in love with. She never contacted her family since then, which explains why Qiang Zhang and Li Li never knew they were cousins.
Although the truth was shocking, Zhang was quick to make the decision to have their marriage annulled. Based on the fact that Li and Zhang were blood relatives and had yet to have children of their own, the authorities approved the annulment of the marriage.
Such drama! This is a perfect example of a drama serial scenario taking place in real life. Although their case may be considered rare, the couple could very well have saved themselves a lot of trouble (and perhaps shudders every time they remember their more intimate moments?), if only they had put in the effort to get acquainted with each other’s families before tying the knot, don’t you think?
Source: ETtoday
Image: Public Seek