Once he was invited as a guest to Beijing TV’s “The EighthZone”。 During the show， the two hosts gave him a shotgun quiz onhis Beijing dialect with very obscure words and expressions. Cao Caopassed easily and got his “qualification diploma”。 He made an affected“acceptance speech”， which carried the TV studio audience away withroars of laughter. Asked for the best ways to learn a foreign language，Cao Cao recommended， among others， dating a pretty girl as one ofthe best. “You will have so much to talk about with the girl you love.
So you have to try your best to convey to her your intimate feelings.
You will use gestures if you cannot do it verbally.” He exaggeratesthese gestures with his long limbs. “You have to use all means to makeyourself understood， so you are forced to enlarge your vocabulary. The hosts， convulsed with laughter， unanimously agreed it was thebest “secret recipe” to learn a foreign language.
Cao Cao became well known in show biz for his role as adocumentary director in a 1999 movie. From then on his performing career in China took off，with contracts comingone after another. Hisrelationship with Li andtheir mutual attachmentstrengthened with eachpassing day. Cao Cao had found success in both love and career. Whilefilming a movie in Yunnan Province， in 2002， Cao Cao almost lost hislife in a small mountain village bordering Myanmar. He contractedappendicitis， but treatment was delayed for three days because of thehumble local medical conditions. That led to a perforated appendixthat worsened into peritonitis. He was hurried on a night flight to theprovincial capital Kunming for a surgical operation. Zhiyin， who wasthen in Shanghai on business， immediately put aside her work on handand flew to Kunming to look after Cao Cao.
When Cao Cao came to his senses after the surgery， he found inZhiyin his guardian angel. Not knowing how to take care of the sick，the dainty girl tried her best. Three days later， her company promptedZhiyin to go back. Worried to tears by the news and loath to partfrom each other， the two decided to remain together and melted into asmile again. “Forget Shanghai. Everything will be fine.” Having gonethrough this bad break， Cao Cao firmly believed that he had found hisbetter half and proposed to Zhiyin. Instead of exchanging engagementrings， their keepsakes were a jade pendant and a jade bracelet.
Cao Cao always admired the historical Cao Cao’s deviation fromorthodoxy. Zhiyin and Cao Cao， who both hated common customs，even the symbolic ring of marriage， got married with only a marriagecertificate issued from the relevant government department.
Financially Li Zhiyin runs the show at home and has the final sayin spending. Cao Cao is glad to be financially “handcuffed”。 She spe4cialized in finance and so it is wise “to make the best use of her talent and let her control household matters， he thinks. Every time he returnshome from a movie shoot， Cao Cao hands all the money he earned tohis wife. She allots him 100 yuan a day （equivalent to ＄12 US dollars）
as pocket money. For any special expenses he has to submit a “budget to her for examination and approval. Of course， the wife also tries tolearn and pursue his hobby of collecting works of art. She goes withhim to “nose around for treasures” and allocates money for it.
Like all newly-wedded couples， Cao Cao and Zhiyin are “adaptingto each other”。 They have some disagreements caused by theirdifferent cultures as well as their differences in personality. To Zhiyin，Cao Cao is not a man of calm temper. Whenever they have a spat， itis always Cao Cao who is first to reconcile and apologize. But he alsopoints out her faults and asks her for an apology. This kind of masculineclear-cut reasoning indeed makes the innately emotional womanfeel both fond and annoyed.
Although the two are at cross-purposes every now and then， theyare assured of their loyalty to each other. Cao Cao was absent fromhome for periods of time due to work. He sometimes has beautifulactresses as his performing partners. In order to put his wife at ease，Jonathan made a gentleman’s agreement with her that whenever hehas to do a romantic scene， he would call her first to tell how the scenewould be played out and how pretty the actress was. Only then wouldhe proceed with her approval. But Zhiyin never “abused her veto power”。
She took time to pay him short visits and sometimes even stayedwith the crew in order to take care of the matters in his daily life. Thistransnational couple’s deep affection for each other aroused admirationand envy from his crew colleagues.
Zhiyin is now expecting. She has quit her job and now enjoysrest and relaxation at home — no more accompanying her husband toshooting sites. Cao Cao has been happily collecting ideas for a girl’sfirst name that matches the Chinese surname Li. I asked him how heknew it would be a girl， since Chinese hospitals are prohibited fromrevealing gender results from ultrasound scans. Delighted， he said， “I am a foreigner and they leave one side of the net open for me.” I assuredhim that his coming baby would be very pretty as it is said thatbabies with mixed blood usually inherit only the beautiful aspects ofeach of their parents. Upon hearing this， Cao Cao beamed with smiles.
Every Day Is a Good DayJonathan makes a handsome income out of writing， TV hostingand performing in movies. They purchased an apartment in a fancycommunity in the Panjiayuan area. When they bought it as a developmentfuture， it was an empty lot; as Jonathan put it， just “a mass ofair”。 The price they paid per square meter was 8，000 yuan， which hasnow risen to 13 ，000 yuan. The neighborhood is friendly and most ofthe residents are from Japan and Germany， just like a diplomatic quarter.
But Jonathan has so far not found any of his fellow countrymen inhis neighborhood.
The apartment， high up on the 25th floor， is decorated in such arefined and elegant way that the owner’s cultural tastes are clearly displayed.