A college student in Shenzhen kept accounts over a year that would help him calculate the cost of having a girlfriend. He claimed in late August that it cost 9,800 yuan a year, QQ News reported Saturday.

This revelation has caused quite a stir with netizens as students have to think carefully about how to spend their pocket money during the new school year. The student concluded that, while dating, he could only spend 283 yuan of his 1100 yuan monthly pocket money on himself.

He recorded that of the four most important red letter days in his relationship – birthday, Western Valentine’s Day, qixi, Christmas – he spent 300-900 yuan on presents. He spent 400 yuan on his present for their 1-year anniversary. He and his girlfriend went to the movies twice a month on average, which cost him 700 yuan in one year. He spent 4800 yuan on meals over the year and other activities such as swimming, karaoke and girlfriend’s friends’ birthday parties cost him 3000 yuan.

Other students have pointed out that this student is something of a diaosi, claiming that a romance in Shenzhen should cost at least 12,000 yuan.

Han Jiangxue, identified as an “expert on emotions,” said that if couples don’t take into account the practical aspects of being together, such as the cost of living, then their romance is unlikely to last.

Of course, in calculating and reporting the cost he has revealed the embarrassing fact that he is not the world’s most romantic person. He has also of course revealed that he is a masochist.