Relationships are hard, and take a lot of effort and will to make it work. Sometimes, they just don’t, making breakups inevitable. And different people cope with it in different ways. Some might go on a bender, get wasted, and quickly get into a rebound relationship. Some might get depressed, end up on their couch with a tub of ice cream and sappy romantic movies to keep them company. And even some brave souls brush off the breakup as nothing more serious as a pimple on their cheek, and get back to life with new vigor.

But to spend an entire week in a KFC eating chicken wings?! Now that is perplexing.

Tan shen sitting in a KFC at a train station

Meet Tan Shen, 26, from Chengdu, in China’s southwest Sichuan Province. Apparently, after her boyfriend dumped her, a depressed Tan needed some “finger lickin’ good” comfort food to get over her ex. So what better place for that than good ole KFC, which also happens to be Ms Shen’s favorite place.

Tan Shen laying her head on her arms at the KFC

She said, “I was walking around feeling miserable and decided to stop off at the KFC at the train station. I hadn’t planned on staying there long, I just wanted some chicken wings. But once I got in there and started eating I decided I needed time to think.” Added Shen, “I didn’t want to go back to my apartment because it was full of memories of him. So I stayed.”

After Tan had been there at the KFC for a few days, the workers began to get concerned. One employee, Jiang Li Lung, 22, said, “We work in shifts here and the restaurant is open 24 hours a day, so we get a lot of people coming through. At first no one really noticed her. But after a few days I began thinking she looked really familiar. Then I realized we had been serving her for the past three days and that she hadn’t actually left.”

Lung continued, saying, “When we asked her if she was okay, she said she was and just needed time to think. And then asked for another box of chicken wings with extra large fries.”

He also said that since the woman wasn’t doing anyone any harm, they let her stay there. He added, “She was after all a paying customer, even if a bit of an odd one.”

After a week of having her fill of chicken wings, Shen decided she’d had enough, and when the local media turned up to write about her, she needed to act.

Tan Shen seen through the window of the KFC

“I decided the best thing to do would be to leave the city and go back to my parents. I had already told work I was off sick, so phoned them and said I was leaving,” Shen said. “And I was getting sick of the taste of chicken so there was no point in staying there anymore.”

Her parents’ home is in Quingdao city in east China’s Shangdong Province. So, she boarded the next train there, and left Chengdu.

The KFC employee Jiang Li Lung said, “I guess we kind of miss her. It certainly made work more interesting.”

Well, this is how dumped woman Tan Shen decided to get over her breakup. What other unique and innovative approaches have you tried to get over your breakups? Share in the comments!