Multimillionaire gives up all his assets, moves to rural village and marries simple farmer

Those romantic shows and movies that people swoon over? They might not be so far-fetched after all.

Yao Nanshan is a 57-year-old Chinese expat multimillionaire who had been living in Spain -- until love spurred him on to give up everything he had in Europe and move to a rural Zhejiang village for his soulmate.

According to Shanghaiist, Yun's love story started on one of his field research trips in 2013 to Yunhe County, Zhejiang province.

He and his friend had been left stranded in the town after losing track of time, meaning the last bus had already departed.

They then had no choice but to knock on the door of a farmer’s home, asking whether they could stay for a night.

Home owner Liu Lijuan let the two guests stay for free for the night and displayed great hospitality. 

Yao spent the whole night chatting with Liu and was impressed by her kindness. He also learned that Liu had a very difficult life.

Her daughter had been diagnosed with a rare blood disease and her husband had died of stomach cancer, leaving behind huge medical debts.

However, Liu never complained about her life and remained optimistic despite all the obstacles that life threw her way. This made Yao fall for her.

A month after the trip, Yao returned to the rural village and told Liu about his feelings for her.

However, instead of letting him sweep her off her feet, Liu rebuffed her potential Prince Charming, saying that she didn't want to trouble him with her problems.

Even after Yao told her that he was actually a multimillionaire, she insisted on staying in the village to earn more money and pay off her debts.

Yao then left for Spain and signed over all his businesses to his children. At first, his children thought their old man had gone insane, until they flew to flying to China and saw the smile on his face -- something that they had not seen in years.

They thus honoured his wishes.

Yao married Liu in the presence of family and friends on 25 December 2015.

Yao has also built a small inn in the village, so that the couple can make money and Liu can pay off her debts herself.