TV
A young woman in Shenzhen has stunned the internet after reports emerged that she persuaded her 20 boyfriends to each buy her an iPhone 7, which she then sold to fund the down payment on a house.
The woman, identified only by her pseudonym “Xiaoli,” became a viral sensation on the Chinese social media platform Weibo when a co-worker, blogging under the name “Proud Qiaoba,” shared her extraordinary story.
According to the post, Xiaoli asked each of her boyfriends for Apple’s flagship iPhone shortly after its release in September 2016. She then sold all 20 phones to a mobile recycling company, Hui Shou Bao, for approximately ¥120,000 Chinese yuan (around US $17,700 at the time). The money was reportedly used as a down payment on a property in the Chinese countryside.
Hui Shou Bao confirmed to the BBC that they had indeed purchased 20 iPhone 7 devices from a single customer in early October 2016, paying about ¥5,750 per handset.
The story sparked heated debates across China. The hashtag #20mobilesforahouse trended on Weibo, garnering over 13 million views in a matter of days. While some applauded Xiaoli’s ingenuity and determination to achieve homeownership, others criticized her for what they perceived as manipulative behavior.
Xiaoli herself has reportedly declined all interview requests and has remained silent on the matter amid the media frenzy. The incident has since been dubbed “iPhone Gate” by netizens and has reignited conversations about China’s housing market and gender dynamics in modern relationships.
