Not long ago, a news item titled "A 20-year-old girl followed her 35-year-old black husband to West Africa" continued to ferment on social media.
While many netizens are puzzled by this girl's choice, they are also worried about what kind of life she will live in a strange land, after all, in all aspects, West Africa is synonymous with "backwardness and poverty".
In fact, such a thing is no longer a novelty, as early as the 60s of the last century, there was an 18-year-old girl named Lin Bichun in Taiwan, who married far away from Africa and became the wife of Central African President Bokassa.
Back then, after marrying Bokassa, Lin Bichun lived a prosperous life in Central Africa, but this life only lasted for a few years before Bokassa ruthlessly broke it.
Before meeting Bokassa, Lin Bichun's family's life was as poor and hard as many low-level people.
The Lin family has a total of 4 children, Lin Bichun ranks second, and the family's financial resources all rely on a small restaurant run by his father.
Although the business of the hotel is acceptable, in the face of the expenses of a family of six, it can only make a family survive.
It was precisely because of the family's financial reasons that Lin Bichun's studies stopped at the junior high school stage. After dropping out of school, Lin Bichun entered the society early and took on a responsibility for the family with her thin and thin shoulders.
In the factory, Lin Bichun is always the hardest worker, in order to make as much money as possible, she often works on the assembly line for more than ten hours.
Even though Lin Bichun worked so hard, the meager wages of assembly line workers really made her see no hope, and she was tired of it.
Soon after, Lin Bichun quit this job, and in the following years, she successively did many different jobs, such as hotel cleaner, restaurant waiter, advertising distribution clerk, etc., but these are just helpless choices made by Lin Bichun to make ends meet.
The real change happened when Lin Bichun was 18 years old, when she had been in society for many years, and she had grown from a little girl to a down-and-out girl, and her appearance was more outstanding and charming.
At this time, Lin Bichun, after many tosses, entered the Kaohsiung Chenghu Yuanshan Hotel as a waiter, although this job looks no different from before, but in fact, this hotel was quite famous at that time, when it was established, it was the first five-star hotel in Kaohsiung, and many celebrities and dignitaries would come to enjoy it.
Lin Bichun entered the Yuanshan Hotel, hoping to find an opportunity to change his life during his work, and this opportunity soon came.
At the end of 1965, Bokassa, the first chief of staff of the Central African Army, staged a coup d'état, snatching power from the then president, his cousin Darko, and assuming the presidency himself.
What needs to be particularly noted here is that Bokassa has always had a bad attitude towards the mainland, and he broke off diplomatic relations with the mainland after he came to power, and it was only a year and a half since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the mainland and China and Africa.
In 1968, in order to consolidate his regime, Bokassa needed to enlist the support of the international community, and against this background, he went to Taiwan for a so-called "visit".
During her stay in Taiwan, Bokassa stayed at the Kaohsiung Yuanshan Hotel, and at this time, Lin Bichun won the favor of her superiors because of her excellent business level and appearance, so she was sent to take care of Bokassa's daily life.
Lin Bichun also knows that the object of his care is the president of a country, and if he can seize this opportunity, he may be able to change his life.
So in just a few days with Bokassa, Lin Bichun took care of him almost meticulously, and the latter also had a good impression of her, and even asked Lin Bichun to accompany him when he traveled in Taiwan.
Lin Bichun may never have imagined that these few days of interaction would make Bokassa feel in love with her, and he proposed to marry her and return to Africa to live.
Due to the rush of the situation, after making a request, Bokassa only exchanged contact with Lin Bichun and left in a hurry.
Lin Bichun might have thought that this sentence was just a joke at the time of Bokassa's rise, but just a few days later, she made the front page headlines of Taiwan's major media and newspapers "without warning".
It turned out that after returning to Central Africa, Bokassa could not hold back his inner thoughts for Lin Bichun, so he sent an invitation to the Taiwan authorities inviting Lin Bichun to visit Central Africa.
The Taiwan authorities regarded this as an important opportunity to establish friendly relations with China and Africa, so they immediately agreed to this request, and then the news was quickly learned by the major media and newspapers and spread a lot of publicity.
In the public opinion, Lin Bichun was not carried away, but was extremely calm, because she knew that she was only 18 years old, and Bokassa was already a middle-aged uncle who was nearly 50 years old, and this marriage did not seem to be so suitable.
However, because the authorities had agreed to Bokassa's request, Lin Bichun had no choice but to take a plane to Central African land under the arrangement of the authorities.
In Central Africa, Bokassa spent an unforgettable holiday with Lin Bichun, during which Bokassa once again expressed his heart, he wanted Lin Bichun to become the "first lady" of the country, and promised to give her all the glory and wealth.
Lin Bichun couldn't help but waver in the face of this intention and commitment, after all, the identities and other conditions of the two sides are so different, even if they really come together, it is difficult to have a common language.
But under Bokassa's sweet bombardment like artillery fire and the promise of glory and wealth, Lin Bichun finally fell and agreed to Bokassa's marriage proposal.
When the news of the incident was reported back to Taiwan, the authorities immediately instructed the relevant departments to organize the marriage of Lin Bichun and Bokassa, and a newspaper in Taiwan even described the union of the two with "Love Meets Cinderella".
In order to marry Lin Bichun and to win the support of the Taiwan authorities, Bokassa made the wedding extremely luxurious, and sent a special plane to take Lin Bichun and her family to Central Africa and receive them in person.
The flowers used in the wedding were flown in from Europe overnight, and the red carpet was laid for several kilometers, and there were a large number of police and soldiers on both sides of the road to maintain order.
It is said that Bokassa squandered all the funds of the state treasury to the point that he only had tens of thousands of dollars left for the wedding, but he didn't care.
On the day of the wedding, Lin Bichun married Bokassa under the watchful eyes of the people of Central Africa, and Lin Bichun's identity and life have undergone earth-shaking changes since then.
After marriage, Lin Bichun was deeply favored by Bokassa, because of the geographical environment and food culture of Central Africa, she was once unaccustomed to the soil, Bokassa built a magnificent palace for her, and let the chef make oriental dishes.
Bokassa spent a period of time after marriage, spending time with Lin Bichun every day, and the two spent a sweet honeymoon period.
During this period, Lin Bichun enjoyed unprecedented favor, power, status and glory, and her heart was fully satisfied, making her feel that the two hated to see each other late.
Having said that, Lin Bichun is alone after all, and in a strange land thousands of miles away from her hometown, the strong homesickness often makes her sigh for this.
After Bokassa learned about it, in order to alleviate his wife's worries, he specially sent a special plane to take Lin Bichun's family from Taiwan to Central Africa, and also helped them open a Chinese restaurant in the capital.
In this way, Lin Bichun can not only have no worries, but also greatly avoid the discomfort caused by dietary differences.
On the opening day, Bokassa came to cut the ribbon in person, and with such a president's son-in-law, the Lin family's Chinese restaurant can also stand firm without any worries.
After tasting the benefits brought by her daughter, Lin Bichun's family's attitude towards this marriage has also changed from the previous opposition and indifference to enthusiasm and blessings.
If this trend continues, Lin Bichun will continue to live a carefree life until the end of his life, but with the development of the current situation in Central Africa and the deepening of the couple's life, Bokassa's true face is gradually revealed.
Coups and dictatorships are no longer a novelty in the region of Africa, where coups and dictatorships are no longer a novelty, and Bokassa, the president who came to power by coup d'état, began to impose dictatorships throughout the country in order to consolidate his regime.
In addition, Bokassa's character was extremely tyrannical, and his rule was accompanied by brutality and bloodshed, such as Bokassa's order that the first offender of a thief should have one ear cut off, and the second offender cut off the other, three offenders had their hands cut off, and four offenders were sentenced to death in public.
In 1968, the same year that Lin Bichun married to Central Africa, Bokassa had all 48 inmates in one prison cut off their ears and later broke into another prison and killed more than 50 detainees.
In order to make money, Bokassa encouraged all the officials to go into business, he also invested in clothing stores, and made it mandatory for all students to wear the uniforms of the clothing store.
Not only that, but Bokassa also built a zoo in his "royal palace" to raise ferocious beasts, and the food of these beasts was Bokassa's political enemies.
All of this is just the tip of the iceberg of Bokassa's brutal rule, and even if Lin Bichun is not involved in the political struggle in Central Africa, he will be frightened by this brutal and inhuman atrocity.
And what made Lin Bichun feel most unacceptable was Bokassa's change of heart.
Since most countries in Africa are polygamous, Bokassa already had multiple wives before marrying Lin Bichun, and when Lin Bichun gave birth to a child for Bokassa, her figure was unbalanced and out of shape, which accelerated her fall from grace.
Even if the husband and wife are like glue, there will be times when they get bored, not to mention that Bokassa is a person who likes the new and hates the old.
Later, a Romanian woman appeared next to Bokassa, and her appearance made Bokassa completely forget the existence of Lin Bichun, and since then, it is no longer Lin Bichun who has always accompanied him, but this new love.
After losing her favor, Lin Bichun's status plummeted, and Bokassa later took away the wealth that had been given to her, making her life completely ruined.
Bokassa even claimed that he would marry Lin Bichun's sister to Central Africa, which made Lin Bichun feel deeply frightened and uneasy.
After that, Lin Bichun washed her face with tears all day long, and those servants who served her in the past also began to sneer at her, because these servants knew that Lin Bichun at this time was just a concubine who had fallen out of favor, and several concubines before her had also been treated like this.
Lin Bichun used to be the envy of Bokassa's concubines, but now Lin Bichun has become one of them, and the Romanian woman has become the new "Lin Bichun", and one day, she will also become the former.
But Lin Bichun is different from them, she did not choose to compromise, but made a fight, and she vowed to escape from this hell.
Faced with Lin Bichun's request to return to his hometown, Bokassa refused without hesitation, because he needed Lin Bichun as a bargaining chip to maintain his relationship with the Taiwan authorities.
Even though Lin Bichun asked for everything, but in exchange for Bokassa's punches and kicks, and later Bokassa refused to meet her, the disheartened Lin Bichun did not give up hope, and she finally contacted the important members of the Taiwan authorities after many turnovers.
During the conversation, Lin Bichun told all about what happened to him in the past few years and Bokassa's brutal acts, and asked the other party to help him return to Taiwan.
At this time, Bokassa had already planned to transform the Central African Republic into a Central African empire, and ascended the throne as emperor, in order to realize the dream of emperor, Bokassa ordered people to build his own huge statues throughout the country, and frantically advocated the cult of personality, and Bokassa's dictatorial ambition was clearly revealed.
The Taiwan authorities also realized that such a Bokassa had lost the value of friendship, so they agreed to go through the formalities for Lin Bichun's return to Taiwan.
After a series of consultations between the two sides on this matter, perhaps Bokassa also agreed to the matter because he also believed that Lin Bichun no longer had the value of staying in Central Africa.
Finally, after many hardships, Lin Bichun and her family finally boarded a flight back to Taiwan, but she and Bokassa's two children were left behind in Central Africa.
After returning to Taiwan, Lin Bichun was finally liberated, and in the face of many media inquiries, she did not say a word, buried the matter deep in her heart, and never mentioned it since, and never set foot on the land of Central Africa.
After Lin Bichun returned to Taiwan, Bokassa continued his brutal dictatorship, and in 1976 he proclaimed himself emperor and called himself "Bokassa I".
Where there is oppression, there is resistance, and Bokassa's rule eventually led to an uprising, his rule was overthrown, and he was later arrested and sentenced to death, but thanks to the amnesty of then-President Kolimba, Bokassa was able to avoid the death penalty and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
On November 3, 1996, Bokassa died of a heart attack in the hospital, ending his life of crime.
In order to win the support of the Taiwan authorities, Bokassa proposed to marry Lin Bichun, and the Taiwan authorities also wanted to take advantage of this matter to establish relations with Bokassa.
So this so-called "love encounter" is just a game, and Lin Bichun is the only victim.