Livestream Matchmaking: My Intel Infinitely Refreshes

"This Matchmaker’s values are all wrong," Father Xia said, growing restless as he listened to Zhang Zhe. "This preference for sons is a toxic part of our culture. It should have been thrown out ages ago."

"Even so, he shouldn’t be so blunt about it. He’s going to cause discord in people’s families."

"Dad, you’re such a hypocrite." Xia Yi pouted in disdain, making her father blush a little.

"Alright, that’s enough, Lao Xia. Let me remind you one more time."

"Don’t bring that attitude from your office back home," Mother Xia warned from the side. "The more pragmatic this Matchmaker Yiyi found is, the less our daughter will be taken advantage of. Do you understand?"

"Our daughter can’t marry into a family that prioritizes sons. What if she has one child, then another, and they keep pressuring her to have more until she has a boy? How could her body take that?"

"Fine, I get it." Father Xia nodded.

He had no choice. Mother Xia had played the "it’s for our daughter’s own good" card, and he had to beat a tactical retreat.

In the livestream chat, the comments were flying, discussing similar issues.

[Why do so many of them have younger brothers?]

[An only daughter is super marriageable unless she’s incredibly picky. It’s only the Voldemorts who are hard to marry off.]

[I had no idea so many places in this country were still so patriarchal until I went online.]

[It’s common in regions where people have multiple kids. Nothing to see here.]

[Feels like this girl hasn’t really thought things through. She still seems to be trying to marry up.]

"My younger brother won’t necessarily want the apartment," the woman explained. "He’s studying in Guangdong Province and plans to stay there after he graduates. He might not come back."

"Let me put it another way." Zhang Zhe knew the woman was banking on a fantasy. People like her wouldn’t change their minds unless reality slapped them in the face. "Let’s say you have a potential match. His parents own an apartment, but he has a younger brother."

"Would you automatically assume that apartment is his?"

"He’s the eldest legitimate son, you know. In ancient times, he would’ve inherited the throne."

In rural areas, the eldest son is usually expected to get his own place, while the parents’ house is saved for the youngest.

Zhang Zhe thought his example was absolutely perfect.

’Too bad people’s reading comprehension is so poor these days.’

"No way." The woman shook her head. "If the guy doesn’t have his own place, we’d have to live with his parents after getting married. I wouldn’t like that."

"Who asked you about that?"

"Never mind, just tell me straight. What are you looking for?" Zhang Zhe decided it was better to be blunt. He really couldn’t comprehend the logic some women used.

"My standards aren’t high. I hope he’s local, because I’m not really open to a long-distance relationship."

"Second, he should either have a stable job or be a bit better off than me financially. I’m not saying he has to be rich, but he can’t be worse off than my family, right? At the very least, he needs to have an apartment in the city..."

"Miss, your requirements don’t add up."

"Some of your conditions are mutually exclusive," Zhang Zhe analyzed. "You’re a tenured teacher at a rural elementary school. In your local area, you’re at the very top of the dating market."

"Being at the top means you’re up here, and all the other young men in your area are down there."

"If you want to find someone better off than you, you’ll have to look in the county town, or even the city."

"And yet you won’t accept a long-distance relationship?"

[The main issue is that there are too many female teachers in small towns these days. They’ve all come back from the big cities and have high standards.]

[Back in the day, marrying a teacher meant you were really something. It’s completely different now.]

[She’s actually a good match for a village official, but I bet she’d look down on someone like that.]

[Basically, her job makes it impossible to marry up.]

In novels and TV shows, the prettiest teacher in a rural elementary school always marries either the town mayor’s son or a local rich second-generation heir.

But what about the ones who aren’t as pretty?

Marrying a local government official is a good option, sure, but the problem is, there aren’t that many single male officials available.

Their own departments have single female officials looking for husbands, too.

Zhang Zhe had seen situations like this caller’s many times before in studies on the romantic lives of female teachers in small towns.

In the end, many of them "marry down"—to local small business owners, construction contractors, and the like. These men certainly can’t afford an apartment in the city; if they could, they would’ve moved there already.

"The reason I won’t do long-distance is that I want to date someone before marrying them, and long-distance relationships almost never work out," the woman explained. "My last boyfriend and I broke up because we were long-distance after graduation."

"This has nothing to do with dating," Zhang Zhe said, waving his hand dismissively.

"Your problem right now is that you can’t even find someone to date in the first place. Do you get it?"

"Going from dating to marriage is like going from one to a hundred. The problem is, you have to find that ’one’ to start dating!"

[Host, host, I can be the 1 if you’ll be my 0!]

[She can’t find anyone where she is, so she called in to have you grant her a wish.]

[Who still dates after going on matchmaking dates? You think you’re not old enough or something?]

[Someone born in the 2000s is this desperate to get married? I was born in the 90s and I’m still single.]

"Then what should I do?" The woman’s eyes looked lost.

"The only way is to test into a position in the county town or the city," Zhang Zhe suggested.

"Your qualifications are considered good in your hometown, but in the city, you’d be average. And because of that, it’ll be easier to find a partner."

"But it’s really hard to test into a city position..." The woman’s face fell.

Her expression gave her away. She’d clearly had the same thought before but, regrettably, didn’t have what it took.

"Then there’s nothing that can be done," Zhang Zhe said, shrugging helplessly.

This was truly a moment where all he could do was shrug. His hands were tied.

"You’re not happy with your situation, you refuse to lower your standards, but you lack the willpower to change things. The only thing you can do is wait for a romance novel plot to fall into your lap."

"’The domineering CEO falls in love with me. He gives up his life in the big city, all for me, just so we don’t have to be long-distance.’"

"Does that sound realistic to you?"

[Even romance novels aren’t that dumb.]

[What is she thinking? She should just do what the host said and test for a job in the city.]

[If she were good enough to get a city position, she wouldn’t be teaching in a rural elementary school in the first place.]

[Anyone who’s been set up with a teacher knows they generally have very high expectations. They all want to marry well.]

"You’re right, it’s not realistic." The woman was at least self-aware. "So I have two choices, right?"

"Correct. And you need to decide quickly."

"Why?"

"Because the number of single female teachers is growing."

"It’s mainly because the bigger picture has changed."

Zhang Zhe looked at the chat and started talking to his audience.

"Competition in the big cities is too fierce. If you just have a regular bachelor’s or associate’s degree, trying to live and work in a top-tier city is a real struggle. That’s why so many young women choose to go back to their hometowns to become teachers."

"The pay is decent, it comes with a certain level of social standing, and it’s a lot better than slaving away like an animal in a big city."

"Everyone’s thinking the same thing, so teaching jobs in small towns have become a safe haven. But they’re all teachers, and when there are too many of them in one place, it naturally becomes harder to get married."