On December 24, 2004, Yang Zhenning and Weng Fan officially married in Shantou, Guangdong. After this news was announced, it immediately sparked a wide discussion in society.
The huge age difference between this couple has sparked all kinds of speculation among the public.
Yang Zhenning, a giant in the field of physics, is no longer known only for his academic achievements. Nowadays, his name is more associated with a love story that spans ages.
Although this relationship has caused many speculations and questions, Weng Fan has been accompanying Yang Zhenning in obscurity for 18 years, making him a centenarian.
Is their union out of love or profit?How did they come together?
Yang Zhenning was born on October 1, 1922 in Hefei, Anhui Province, and his father Yang Wuzhi was a famous educator. Yang Wuzhi studied at the University of Chicago at public expense, and after returning to China, he served as a professor of mathematics at Tsinghua University.
Influenced by his father, Yang Zhenning has shown extraordinary wisdom since he was a child.
He was able to master more than 3,000 Chinese characters at the age of 5, and he had a soft spot for his father's esoteric mathematical works, and he could always easily solve mathematical problems that were difficult to understand in the eyes of others.
Due to the family origins, Yang Zhenning and Deng Jiaxian have been friends since childhood, and the two spent a very happy childhood. Although Deng Jiaxian has been dead for many years and is known as the "father of the two bombs" in the country, when he was a child, he always took Yang Zhenning as a role model and idol.
In 1945, Yang Zhenning cherished his dream and went to the University of Chicago for further study. In a campus full of talents, this yellow-minded Oriental still has become a top student in the hearts of many American students with his outstanding talent and incomparable self-confidence.
A student recalled: "In one physics exam, it took us a full hour to barely complete the paper, but Yang Zhenning only took ten minutes to hand in the paper.
After receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, Yang joined the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton as a postdoctoral fellow, where he began their collaboration with Tsung-Dao Lee.
Before leaving the country, Yang worked as a teacher in a middle school for a year, during which he taught a girl named Du Zhili. Du Zhili's background is extraordinary, and her father is the famous general Du Yuming.
In 1949, Yang Zhenning unexpectedly reunited with Du Zhili in a Chinese restaurant in Princeton, and both of them were deeply touched in their hearts. Yang Zhenning recalled: "I didn't know that she would come to the United States, that encounter was like a fateful arrangement, sooner or later, we would have missed each other, but fortunately, we met again at that particular point in time, which cannot but be said to be a miracle."
In August 1950, Yang Zhenning and Du Zhili tied the knot in New York. This marriage not only brought him sweet love, but also made his career flourish.
At the age of 35, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics with Tsung-Dao Lee. Whether it is family background or scientific achievements, Yang Zhenning is the object of Weng Fan's admiration, but who would have thought that their lives would be so closely linked.
In 1976, Yang Zhenning was 54 years old and has become famous all over the world. Weng Fan was born in Chaozhou, Guangdong, and his father Weng Yunguang was the head of a travel agency, who loved traditional literature, was good at poetry and songs, and was a person with profound cultural accomplishments.
Weng Yunguang has three daughters, Weng Fan is the youngest of them, and he has been loved since he was a child. Weng Fan grew up in a family full of traditional culture, and he has formed a beautiful temperament for everyone, coupled with his beautiful appearance, he has been in the spotlight since school.
18-year-old Weng Fan was admitted to the Department of Foreign Chinese Language and Literature of Shantou University with excellent results, and his future path is full of hope. In 1995, Shantou University held an event called the "World Chinese Physics Conference", and Yang Zhenning and his wife Du Zhili were invited to participate.
At that time, the student representative who was responsible for receiving Yang Zhenning and his wife was Weng Fan, who was only 19 years old. At that time, Weng Fan was in the prime of her youth, and her beautiful and generous appearance, slender and tall figure and big watery eyes made her loved by people.
When they first met, Weng Fan was nervous about Yang Zhenning, a master in the physics field, but after contact, he found that Yang was knowledgeable, sincere and humble, and couldn't help but admire. Yang Zhenning also admires this attentive and thoughtful young man, and encourages her to study hard and Xi so that she will have the opportunity to study in the United States in the future.
At parting, Du Zhili and Weng Fan exchanged *** agreement to keep in touch often. Since then, Du Zhili has often communicated with Weng Fan through letters, guiding her in her studies and Xi and work, hoping that she can achieve success in her career and make more contributions to society.
Every festive season, Weng Fan will take the initiative to send blessings to Yang Zhenning and his wife, showing the well-behaved and sensible younger generations. After graduating, she did not choose the path of further study suggested by Yang Zhenning, but stepped into the workplace.
At first, he worked for a company in Shantou, but after only a little more than a month, he resigned and went to Shenzhen to work as a translator at a golf club. While working in Shenzhen, Weng Fan met an ordinary Hong Kong company employee and fell in love.
Weng Fan was once carried away by love and entered the marriage hall with a partner with poor economic conditions. Despite the dissuasion of her relatives and friends, she resolutely quit her job and devoted herself to family life.
However, the trivialities of life and the pettiness of life gradually wear away the once romantic feelings, and she realizes that she has a very different concept from her husband. The marriage lasted less than two years before it broke down.
Weng Fan, who has returned to society, found that it was difficult for him to adapt to the rhythm of the workplace.
All of her former classmates and friends have successful careers, but she needs to start from scratch. Du Zhili once told her: "Women must first learn to love themselves in order to find a more suitable partner, and the basis of loving themselves is not to give up their careers, let alone their Xi careers."
Weng Fan recalled these words and made up his mind to pick up the book again and embark on the road of knowledge again. In 2002, Weng Fan was successfully admitted to the graduate school of the Department of Translation of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies.
In addition to Xi studying hard during his time at the school, Weng Fan also actively expanded his contacts and established contacts with elites in various industries, among which academic giants like Yang Zhenning naturally need to maintain frequent exchanges.
In October 2003, Du Zhili died of illness, and she spent 53 years with Yang Zhenning. Yang Zhenning is a single-minded man, in the past 53 years, he has always had only his wife Du Zhili by his side, and he has never had other confidantes, so after the death of his wife, his sadness is naturally indescribable.
When Weng Fan learned the news of Du Zhili's death from TV, she immediately wrote a letter of condolence to Yang Zhenning. Yang Zhenning has always liked to be lively, and it was okay when he was accompanied by his wife before, but now there is only a TV set left at home to accompany him, and the children have already married a family, so it is inconvenient to disturb.
The bitterness in his heart had nowhere to tell, and at this time he received a letter from Weng Fan. In order to relieve loneliness, Yang Zhenning regarded Weng Fan as the object of confiding, and Weng Fan often asked him for academic questions, and the contact between the two became more and more frequent.
In the past, Yang Zhenning regarded Weng Fan as a junior, but recent exchanges have led him to see the young girl as a friend and confidant. The topic of the two became broader and deeper.
Weng Fan's feelings for Yang Zhenning gradually changed from admiration to admiration. They gradually realize that they are in love with each other, but the huge age and status gap makes them afraid to face their hearts and be ashamed to admit it.
In 2004, Yang Zhenning plucked up the courage to call Weng Fan and said, "Let's meet at Sun Yat-sen University!."”
Weng Fan felt very nervous after hanging up**, she recalled that she was an energetic schoolgirl when she last met, and now, after a marriage, she has become more mature.
She couldn't help but start thinking, what about the other party Yang Zhenning?Is he old too?At that time, Yang Zhenning was 82 years old, although he had a good time talking to her in **, but if he was just a trembling old man when they met, how would they get along?
However, after meeting, Weng Fan found himself overly worried. Although Yang Zhenning is over eighty years old, he is well maintained, clear-headed, flexible, and humorous.
This meeting was not as strange and restrained as she imagined, and the more the two chatted, the more they fell in love.
Yang Zhenning and Weng Fan crossed the age gap of 54 years and fell in love bravely. This is the second time they have met in nine years, Yang Zhenning boldly took the initiative and confessed to Weng Fan in the way of young people.
In Yang Zhenning's eyes, Weng Fan is simple and intellectual, and these two seemingly contradictory qualities are integrated in her, which Yang Zhenning has never seen in other women.
He commented on Weng Fan: "Youth is not only related to age, but also related to spirit. Weng Fan is both mature and youthful, and I believe that anyone who sees her will like her. ”
Weng Fan was once disheartened by love, but after meeting Yang Zhenning, she rekindled her passion for love. She herself couldn't believe that she would fall in love with a man older than her.
She takes great pride in associating with world-renowned physicists. In order to express her love for Yang Zhenning, she wrote a poem: "No complaints, no regrets, only joy, trying to escape, but has fallen deep into ......."Touch the forehead of **, feel the breath blowing through the palm of your hand, silent is better than sound.
Yang Zhenning generously published this romantic poem on social ** to share their sweet love with everyone.
Someone once compared Weng Fan's ** with Du Zhili's ** when he was young, and found that the appearance of the two was a little similar. Therefore, the outside world speculated that Yang Zhenning saw Du Zhili's shadow in Weng Fan.
Half a year later, Yang Zhenning proposed to Weng Fan in **. When Weng Fan heard the news, he was immediately stunned. For her, this proposal seems a little sudden, because their union needs to overcome many difficulties, such as the perception of the outside world, Weng Fan's parents, Yang Zhenning's children, and so on.
Yang Zhenning said frankly: "I understand that you may feel a little sudden, but I must tell you that you should know my age very well, I really love you, so I am so eager to build a love nest with you."
Weng Fan said lightly: "You are so unromantic, you neither tell me in person, nor send me flowers." Yang Zhenning heard Weng Fan's acquiescence, was overjoyed, and said that he would definitely send flowers to her.
For Yang Zhenning to marry Weng Fan, the biggest challenge is naturally Weng Fan's parents. For a daughter to marry a man who is 54 years older than herself, it is a process of acceptance for any parent.
Before Weng Fan and Yang Zhenning decided to get married, Weng Fan had already confessed their feelings to his parents. She said firmly: "We love each other deeply, regardless of age, regardless of the world.
He was a great scientist, and I would not want to marry anyone but him. Although Weng Fan's parents were reluctant, they finally respected their daughter's choice and agreed to the marriage.
In 2004, 82-year-old Yang Zhenning and 28-year-old Weng Fan held a wedding in Shantou, where they first met. The wedding was very simple, no bride price, no diamond ring, Yang Zhenning wore a gray suit, and Weng Fan put on a white wedding dress.
Due to Yang Zhenning's special status and the huge age gap between the two of them at 54 years, it has aroused widespread attention in the society, and ** has made a comprehensive report on this marriage.
This "love across ages" has suffered a lot of malicious speculation, and almost no one believes that Weng Fan is sincere to Yang Zhenning, thinking that she may just take a fancy to Yang Zhenning's reputation and wealth.
In the eyes of many people, it is impossible to have true love beyond the age of 54. In those months, Weng Fan endured more insults than she had ever experienced in her life.
Yang Zhenning's property has long been in the name of his children, and his villa in Tsinghua Garden, Weng Fan can only enjoy the right of residence, not buy and sell. It was rumored that Weng Fan's abacus fell through, and in the end he found nothing.
However, Weng Fan was not crushed by these remarks, she never tried anything against Yang Zhenning, but was attracted by his profound knowledge and personality charm, and was willing to take care of him by his side.
When a reporter asked Yang Zhenning if he was worried about being deceived by Weng Fan, he calmly replied: "She is willing to take care of my old man's old life, which proves that she has no ill will towards me, why should I doubt her?"
Weng Fan's parents have long accepted her choice, and Weng Yunguang said in an interview that her daughter's virtue of giving is reflected in her willingness to take care of Yang Zhenning in her later years.
Yang Zhenning's children admired Weng Fan very much, believing that without her careful care, his father's later life would not have been so happy. From the moment they entered the marriage hall, people around the world were speculating about how long Weng Fan would hold on and when he would show his "flaws".
However, this speculation lasted for 18 years, and Weng Fan took care of Yang Zhenning as a centenarian. Yang Zhenning enjoys a high reputation and great wealth, but his married life is not luxurious, but very simple and simple.
They live together in a small courtyard at Tsinghua University, with the door sign reading "Return to the roots". The furniture in the home was chosen by both of them. In their spare time, they will occasionally go on trips to enjoy the magnificent mountains and rivers of their motherland.
Before getting married, Yang Zhenning and Weng Fan had their own different life Xi. Yang Zhenning has developed a good Xi habit of going to bed early and getting up early for many years, getting up every morning to read books and newspapers, while the young Weng Fan is Xi accustomed to staying up late to surf the Internet and often going to bed late.
Weng Fan made great sacrifices for Yang Zhenning's health and happiness. She adjusted her schedule, got up at 8 a.m. every morning, prepared a delicious breakfast for him, helped sort out various reports, and accompanied him in Xi practice.
Yang Zhenning is old, and his body often has some minor problems and needs to be hospitalized**. Every time he was hospitalized, Weng Fan would take care of him wholeheartedly and never complained.
Although Weng Fan is taking care of Yang Zhenning most of the time, in some special moments, Yang Zhenning will also show the responsibility and responsibility of a husband.
During a trip to Sanya, Weng Fan occasionally contracted a cold, and Yang Zhenning served her personally in his old age, from feeding to sleeping, doing his best. In order not to disturb Weng Fan's sweet dream, he even chose to read the newspaper in the small bathroom.
These seemingly insignificant daily trivialities moved Weng Fan deeply. After eighteen years of getting along day and night, the two have invisibly influenced each other and changed each other.
In order to let Yang Zhenning's body be better cared for, Weng Fan specially cultivated his Xi of drinking a glass of milk every night. Yang Zhenning likes to read, and Weng Fan often spends the afternoon with him.
Although Weng Fan is young, in order to make her image more compatible with Yang Zhenning, she will choose dark clothes when she goes out. And Yang Zhenning also has the same idea, in order to make himself look young, he often wears brightly colored clothes despite his position as a leader in the academic world.
No matter what the outside world says, it is undeniable that Weng Fan has indeed taken good care of Yang Zhenning over the years, even at the age of 100, he is still physically tough, mentally strong, and still has the energy to attend lectures and meetings.
Weng Fan once expressed his feelings about his married life with Yang Zhenning in an interview: "I cherish my current life very much, and he has given me a world full of love. Although the age difference between the two is obvious, they are always open and honest with each other when it comes to possible future changes.
Yang Zhenning once said to Weng Fan: "If I go first, I hope you can find new happiness." Although Weng Fan was surprised after hearing this, he still understood Yang Zhenning's deep meaning.
Yang Zhenning once compared Weng Fan to the gift of fate, he said: "She is the last gift from God to my old soul, so that I can find the joy of youth in my old age." ”
Although they have been immersed in each other's happiness, the doubts from the outside world have never stopped for many years. Every once in a while, rumors of Yang Zhenning's death will spread on the Internet, followed by ridicule of Weng Fan.
What's even more unbelievable is that some people fabricated the news of Weng Fan's father and Yang Zhenning's great-granddaughter to attract attention and traffic. However, Yang Zhenning and Weng Fan have always remained indifferent to these things, because they were ready to face these when they chose to be together.
Yang Zhenning once said: "When I was young, I learned a love song, and at that time singing love songs would be considered immoral, but decades later, when we look back at those lyrics, we will feel that they are very common."
Maybe you think that our marriage is also immoral, but in a few decades, looking back, you will also feel that it is nothing. Weng Fan likes an English poem "The Road Not Taken", and the last two lines are: I chose the one that is off the beaten track, so my life has become so different.
These unique choices, of course, will attract speculation and doubts from the public, but looking at it many years later, it may just be ordinary. ”
Although Weng Fan's choice was questioned by most people, she spent 18 years proving to the world that her love has stood the test of time. No matter how noisy the outside world is, Weng Fan has always maintained his inner peace, and only those who are confident in their choices can maintain this peace and satisfaction for 18 years.
Their love has never been about status, fame and money, but pure mutual appreciation and attraction to each other. The age gap should not be an obstacle to love, even if it is not accepted by the majority of people, it should be given basic respect, and there should be no malicious speculation.
Life is chosen by oneself, and Weng Fan's courage is worthy of our admiration. Yang Zhenning is 100 years old and expects to live to be 108 years old, and Weng Fan will always be by his side. Their love is like a walk in the sunset, although the steps are faltering, but the heart can go far.