A couple of years ago, a young college student spent several hundred yuan, a huge sum for a student at that time, to buy a Coke and candies for every girl in the dormitory across from his, and arranged for their room lights to be turned on at the appointed moment to make the shape of a heart. The boy hoped to win the heart of the girl he loved by employing this spectacular way of courtship. It was a small thing. But it was just the beginning.

Next we saw a boy, a college student too, who declared his everlasting love for his girlfriend to the world by using 9,999 roses to form a pattern of an enormous heart in a city square. In Chinese, the number nine is pronounced the same as the character ¡°long? so the number 9,999 implied his love would last forever.

That was not glittering enough, though. Some time ago, we had yet another college boy who, in order to create an atmosphere of great rejoicing in a big way, rented two huge balloons and a pair of scrollworks from an advertising company to set up a ¡°Love Gate?on a leisure square to pay court to the girl he had an affection for. Holding 99 roses in his hand in front of a big crowd, he called out to his dear one, and asked her to come and accept the flowers, saying if she did not show up, he would be standing there forever.

On Valentine¡¯s Day this year, the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium provided special services for marriage proposals in which the boys staged a happy surprise for their girlfriends by asking professional divers to emerge from under the deep water pond with paper boards decorated with roses and inscribed with the words ¡°I love you¡±and the lovers?names.

These days we have heard of similar heroic undertakings by resolute wooers. And it seems there is no end of such skits. But is one¡¯s commitment to love and loyalty as simple as that? Does it only require a single brilliant feat that amazes the world to prove a man¡¯s unswerving love? Surely, the answer to these questions is ¡°No? Then why do some young men take a real fancy to such bizarre courting shows and not get bored with them?

I think the love, if any, which exists between the couples involved is probably not solidly founded in the first place. Or worse still, a love in the true sense of the word is nearly non-existent between some of them. The ¡°love?may well have been something imagined by the boys who are still wet behind the ears. The reckless moves they make in staging such farces show nothing but their lack of confidence in pursuit of love.

Young people today are free as never before to pursue what they believe is chic and cool. And dating and romance are ¡°in? They hope to make their extraordinary acts of romantic courtship a moment indelibly imprinted on the minds of their lovers. This is understandable. However a romantic form of wooing itself does not necessarily bear rich fruits of love, nor will it automatically lead to a practically oriented marriage and further on to enjoyment of married life.

Even if the girl in question silently acquiesces in the carefully calculated performance or accepts the flowers, of her own will or otherwise, does it necessarily mean the boy has succeeded in his suit? Can he thus secure a true love from her? I am afraid not. Because love can neither be all on one side nor be imposed.

The mentality of longing for quick success and benefits currently prevalent in our society also plays its role in spurring young people to come up with something different and original, which they hope can produce instant results at one go. They want a ¡°short cut?to winning a girl¡¯s favour. Unfortunately they fail to realize that love is something that cannot be asked for with importunity, nor will it come overnight. Love must be nurtured over time, and rooted in mutual respect and fidelity.

Actually such bizarre ways of courting can yield nothing substantial except for giving the scene a romantic and novel twist and causing a fleeting sensation. So why spend all the time, efforts and money on it?