On an ordinary day in February 2017, the barbershop in the heart of Douala, Cameroon, welcomed a special guest, a migrant worker from northeastern China named Zou Qianshun.
This handsome man in his early 40s looked around the store with a pair of bright eyes, and finally attracted his eyes to a beautiful black pearl.
This black beauty is none other than Sandra, the owner of the barbershop. Born into a wealthy Cameroonian family, she chose to return to her hometown after graduating from university to inherit her father's long-established barber shop.
Although Sandra is 16 years older than Zou Qianshun, and the two have very different backgrounds, at this moment, a wonderful attraction arises between them.
Zou Qianshun was deeply attracted by Sandra's dark and bright face, and took the initiative to invite her to dinner. As a resourceful modern woman, Sandra quickly saw through the sincere nature of this warm and generous Northeast man, and sincerely felt his love for her, so she readily agreed to his invitation.
In this way, a strange love across races and regions began in a small African barber shop. Soon after they met, the two had transformed from strangers to lovers, and within a few months they announced their marriage vows to the world.
Although the age difference between the two is as much as 16 years, during the sweet period of the newlywed Yan'er, the couple only felt that they were born a pair with each other, and they never thought that this foreign marriage might fall apart in the future.
Isolated in a foreign land
In May 2023, a video of a dance from Equatorial Guinea went viral. The protagonist of the video is none other than the once-popular "Black Pearl" Sandra.
I saw her dressed in a gorgeous exotic dance costume, dancing in the leafy pastoral scenery, her movements were elegant and generous, exuding a charming exotic style.
Seeing this video, Sandra's old fans were all overjoyed, and left messages asking her how her life is now, especially with her husband Zou Qianshun, a farmer in the Northeast who has been in love for many years.
What is surprising is that in the face of the enthusiastic care of fans, Sandra turned a blind eye to it and avoided talking about it, as if she had nothing to do with her ex-husband.
Looking back, it is difficult for people to associate the charming and moving dancer in front of them with the "liar" who was once pushed to the forefront. Not long ago, a netizen who claimed to be "not a messenger of justice" ruthlessly exposed Sandra's dark side - her so-called "brother" in the live broadcast was actually her African husband; Her university diploma was forged; The beauty and skin care products she sells online are all three-nil products from unknown sources, and the pills she claims to be "miracle medicine" are nothing more than cheap drink fillings.
In the face of such fierce public criticism, Sandra's influence and business business soon plummeted. Some consumers also reported that adverse reactions such as skin allergies and diarrhea occurred after using her products.
For a while, Sandra's online business was completely in a quandary, and she was repeatedly questioned about cheating money.
Until January 2022, when Sandra celebrated the New Year with her husband and family on social media, it made people think that the previous turmoil was just a false alarm.
Who would have thought that in the second month, she and her husband Zou Qianshun had officially divorced! The netizen who was "not a messenger of justice" stepped forward again, and even revealed that Sandra had returned to her hometown in Africa with her son and took away a considerable amount of cash.
For a time, everyone in the outside world hated this once highly sought-after "black pearl". Is she sincerely pursuing this transnational marriage, or does she have ulterior motives? In the face of such a confusing situation, it may be difficult for outsiders to fully understand her original intentions.
Live life is reborn
In Sandra's ups and downs in life, the webcast is like a "potion of rebirth" for her, re-energizing and motivating her life.
Initially, Sandra started the live broadcast just to pass the lonely and lonely time, so as to show her familiar Chinese Mandarin and outstanding singing and dancing talent. Unexpectedly, as soon as this exotic black pearl appeared, it quickly won the enthusiastic pursuit of countless netizens.
As the popularity of the live broadcast room grew, Sandra began selling everything from cosmetics to nutraceuticals online. With her unique personality and live broadcast charm, she not only achieved financial independence with a monthly income of more than 10,000 yuan, but also became a veritable financial giant in one fell swoop.
With the big stage of live broadcasting, which shows her talents, Sandra seems to have rekindled her enthusiasm for life. She invited her mother-in-law to participate in the live broadcast and share interesting stories about family life.
The conflict between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law originally caused by cultural differences has gradually been alleviated in the intimate contact between the two. The mother-in-law also recognized Sandra's efforts to learn Chinese, cooking and other skills.
Sandra and her husband, Zou Qianshun's son, Daniel, also thrive in this bilingual environment. At a young age, he was able to communicate fluently in Chinese and English, reflecting a strong and independent personality.
Seeing her son's outstanding performance, Sandra was proud and grateful.
The live broadcast gave Sandra a new life experience and rejuvenated her family life. She thought that she had finally found the secret to fitting in a foreign country, and that the difficulties she had been in would be gone.
Who would have thought that bigger life twists and turns were still waiting for her.
Married life is in crisis
After coming to Northeast China, Sandra made great efforts to integrate into this new living environment as soon as possible. She studied Chinese and Chinese cuisine diligently, and tried her best to please her in-laws.
Unfortunately, the cultural differences between the two places are too great, and the gap in living habits is destined to create a gap between her and her mother-in-law.
During the planting season, my father-in-law and mother-in-law worked hard in the fields for a whole day, and when they returned home exhausted, they saw their son Zou Qianshun alone, complaining in every possible way about Sandra's idle and lazy daughter-in-law.
Sandra thought that she could please her in-laws with her well-prepared African-style dishes, but she didn't know the taste of the food, and she was disappointed, and the two called it "messy", and their faces were full of disgust.
What makes the mother-in-law feel even more nerve-wracking is the various ways Sandra treats her grandson Daniel. In the bitter cold weather, she even let the child barefoot outside in the bath. The mother-in-law was terrified, for fear that the child would catch a cold and catch a disease.
In this regard, Sandra sincerely explained that in her native Africa, children grow up in this way from an early age, and it never affects their health. But the mother-in-law's traditional beliefs are deeply ingrained, and she insists that children are young and frail and need extra care.
Whenever she saw Sandra hugging the child in a hurry, her mother-in-law was always nervous, afraid that the child would be injured in an accident.
In the face of her mother-in-law's repeated accusations, Sandra could only patiently explain her actions in addition to admitting her mistakes and correcting them. She said that in Africa, children grow up in such a simple and comfortable way, without affecting their health in the slightest.
Unfortunately, the deep-rooted cultural differences between the two are destined to make it difficult for each other to fully understand each other.
Seeing that married life is at an impasse, contradictions are inevitable. In order to save the family that was about to be broken, Zou Qianshun thought of a temporary remedy - let Sandra dedicate a moving Chinese song to her beloved mother-in-law on her mother-in-law's birthday to express her filial piety.