Precis

This is Worker Lan from Shenzhen, China. I want to share my love story with a British policeman. In March 2017, I hosted a Spring Gala in Shenzhen, China. My future husband Eric was in the audience. It was his first time visiting his friend in China. After the two hour performance, he was deeply attracted by the elegant hostess, and asked his friend if the beautiful lady was still single? The answer came back: yes!

Helped by his friend, we got to know each other, and became friends. I am usually wary of foreigners, not just because of the language barrier, but culturally too. They are too open for me! But Eric seemed to be a gentleman, so we started to communicate on the phone from our separate countries using translators, because we didn’t speak each other’s language. As time passed, our two hearts got closer. I was touched by his sincerity, kindness, humour and enthusiasm. Finally I agreed that I would marry him.

In November 2017, Eric flew over to Shenzhen on his own. Witnessed by my family, friends and colleagues, he proposed to me – and everyone blessed us. After that we went travelling together – visiting Beijing and Hong Kong, and all the while, getting to know each other better. After the ten-day trip, I was sure that Eric was the Mr Right I had been looking for.

On 21st November 2017, we flew to UK, where Eric was born and brought up, and where we would start our new life together. Two spectacular ceremonies were held – one in Shenzhen, and one in the UK. My daughter’s family came over from Canada, to help us celebrate. Three months went by, and then I was invited by the director of the Spring Gala in Shenzhen, to help my students prepare for their performance. I discussed it with Eric and he was very supportive: this is a job I loved. So I went back to China, and the performance was a big success – even winning first prize.

But when I came to travel back to the UK, I was stopped by customs officials and accused of trying to gain British citizenship through a fake marriage. What’s worse, I could speak little English, and failed to fill in the immigration form correctly. They took away all my documents: passport, ID card, and private belongings – but found nothing suspicious.

In the meantime, Eric had been waiting for me at the airport for over eight hours, without knowing what was going on. He was so worried about me. I asked the officers if I could make a phone call to my husband. The moment I heard his voice, all my sadness poured out, and I couldn’t stop crying. On the other end of the phone, he kept repeating these three words: “I love you. I love you. I love you.”

In the following days, Eric hired a senior lawyer and sorted everything out. It was very costly, and we were thankful to his brother, for helping financially, during our hardest of times. Eric has given me everything he has. Now I know for sure, he is the right man, and we will keep our love alive, until the end of the world.