Quan Yifeng's Great-Aunt & Ex-Actress Mary Chen Sold Her Home To Fans Who Kept Everything As She'd Left It For 29 Years

How far would a fan go to show their idol their devotion and loyalty? 

Former Taiwanese actress Mary Chen, better known as Chen Mingli, recently shared a very moving story about two fans — a married couple — who spent close to three decades waiting for her.

"When I was struggling, I sold my house in Taiwan. The couple who bought the house from me were my fans," revealed Mary, who is also the great-aunt of local host Quan Yifeng, in an Instagram Reel.

The 71-year-old AIA insurance veteran never returned until 2014, when she couldn’t resist visiting her old house.

When she rang the doorbell, the woman who answered was completely shocked.

"Mary Chen, why did you come only today? Do you know how long we have been waiting for you?" exclaimed the lady.

While Mary was taken aback that the couple was longing for her return, the lady explained that she and her husband were thrilled when they discovered that the house they bought belonged to Mary as they had "admired [her] the most".

Out of their love for Mary, the couple even kept everything in the house intact — nothing has changed, even the water and electricity bills were still addressed to: "Mary Chen". 

"I just want you to come back and see this house again," said the lady.

Mary was clearly very touched by her fans, but was unfortunately met with some sad news. 

"She told me: 'It's such a pity. [If only] you came back two years earlier... because my husband passed away two years ago'," shared the fan. 

According to reports, Mary was at the peak of her acting career in Taiwan when she married her Singaporean husband in 1980.

She left showbiz that year before moving to Singapore and joining the insurance industry with her husband in 1982. 

The couple, however, suffered investment losses during the 1984 financial crisis and fell into millions of dollars in debt by 1985.

In a separate video, Mary revealed that she even had to pay S$30K in interest every month.

"At that time, I had no love for my husband at all. I didn't know why he got us into that state," she lamented. 

Mary, however, did feel that her husband loved her very much when she first moved to Singapore.

"He asked to join names for everything, all our accounts were jointed. In the end, there was something wrong with the account. I was dragged into it too and the bank started chasing after me as well," she said.

After knowing that Mary had sold her property to tide through the financial crisis, her mum tried to help too. 

"She told me: 'I'm already in my 70s. You bought me this house so that I could collect rent and live here. Treat it as I'm selling it back to you, let mum do this one last thing for you," recalled Mary.

But after selling that one last house, Mary no longer had a home to return to, not even in Taiwan. "What else can I do? I can only move forward," she said. 

Thankfully, Mary and her husband managed to clear all their debts by 1990, and she went on to have a successful career in insurance. The couple only have one son, who is 27 years old now.