Most of us have probably done stupid things in the name of puppy love. But one 20-year-old man in Guangzhou has raised the stakes significantly.

The man, Xiao Cao, is facing jail time after he tried to cheat his girlfriend’s parents out of RMB25,000 by threatening to “sell her”, according to The Nanfang Daily.

Two weeks after having a meeting of the minds online, Xiao Cao met up with Xiao Zhi and they immediately fell in love.

However, Xiao Cao, a migrant worker without even a middle school education, was unable to win over the parents and they did not allow their daughter to date him.

Subsequently, Xiao Cao camped outside the family’s home, begging the parents to accept him. A week later, the parents yielded. They said they would allow him to date their daughter…on condition he pay them RMB42,000, an unimaginable sum for the young man.

Xiao Cao was too proud to beg for the money, so he hatched another plan. When he saw Xiao Zhi leaving her home, he followed her to Xinshi where they had an argument. During the argument Xiao Cao dropped his phone on the ground and broke the speaker. Xiao Zhi said she would help him fix it.

Xiao Cao said that was not necessary but asked her if he could share her’s. He then asked if she would accompany him to Huadu District to see his cousin. They then went on a four day trip during which, unbeknownst to the girl, Xiao Cao was using Xiao Zhi’s phone to text message her parents, saying: “Your daughter owes me RMB25,000, if the money isn’t returned I will sell her to a human trafficker in another city.”

Over the next four days, Xiao Cao was using the girl’s phone to haggle with the parents. During this time, Xiao Zhi had no idea she was a “hostage.”

Xiao Cao has now been detained and the case is under investigation.