三顾茅庐 (sān gù máo lú): lit. to make three visits to the thatched cottage (allusion to an episode in Romance of the Three Kingdoms 三國演義|三国演义[San1 guo2 Yan3 yi4] in which Liu Bei 劉備|刘备[Liu2 Bei4] recruits Zhuge Liang 諸葛亮|诸葛亮[Zhu1 ge3 Liang4] to his cause by visiting him three times); fig. to make earnest and repeated requests of sb

sānmáo

lit. to make three visits to the thatched cottage (allusion to an episode in Romance of the Three Kingdoms 三國演義|三国演义[San1 guo2 Yan3 yi4] in which Liu Bei 劉備|刘备[Liu2 Bei4] recruits Zhuge Liang 諸葛亮|诸葛亮[Zhu1 ge3 Liang4] to his cause by visiting him three times); fig. to make earnest and repeated requests of sb

Liu Bei called three times at Zhuge Liang's hut before he agreed to serve. For courting someone worth the persistence.