KUALA LUMPUR: What began as a simple question about where to do laundry led a Malaysian businessman, who was running a delivery service in China, to end his bachelorhood with a Chinese woman.
Zairy Amir, 38, said he was looking for a place to do his laundry and decided to ask a local woman dressed in a hijab for directions.
He said that when she learned he was Muslim, the woman seemed "excited" to meet someone of the same faith, as she and her mother were the only Muslims in their family.
"I, on the other hand, had no friends because I had come here alone to manage this service for Malaysians. So when she wanted to be friends and was a Muslim too, I was happy.
"At the same time, she also asked for my phone number, and the connection continued as she would ask me daily if I had eaten.
"I was planning to end the meeting just like that, but instead, every day she would call to ask me to pick up food she had cooked for me at the metro station," posted Zairy in a TikTok video.
Zairy, who is from Klang, Selangor, lives in Baiyun, the largest district in Guangzhou.
He has been running his business for 10 years and never expected his relationship with Sophia Wang, 40, to lead to marriage.
"She is from Yunnan and has been Muslim since birth. Since we got to know each other, I often visited her house because I was invited for meals, and her mother was always there with her.
"In fact, during Ramadan, she once asked if I could be the imam for them during the Terawih prayers. I was a bit nervous because I had never been an imam before.
"I don't speak Chinese, so we would message each other and use an app to translate, which helped us understand what we wanted to say," he said, describing his wife as someone pious, and always reads the Quran in her spare time.
Zairy also often accompanied Sophia in her daily activities, such as going to the market, meeting her friends, and even helping distribute food for breaking fast. He also took her to work on his electric bicycle.
"One day, Sophia was sick, and her younger brother asked me to check on her. From there, her brother asked if I would consider marrying his sister.
"Finally, on Dec 26, I married Sophia. My family had no objections."