You can't hide your height when you come to Xiaoshan as a son-in-law.

"Age is not a problem, even if she is seven or eight years older than me. The main thing is that I don't want to work hard anymore."

"I haven't graduated yet. Can you find a rich woman for me to rely on, bro? Put my information out there, and when I become rich, I won't forget our company for sure."

"Teacher, please agree with me quickly. I am so eager for love!"

In the past 25 years, Li Jiyang has encountered many male clients like this. They are not looking to be a burden, but are solely focused on marrying a wealthy woman. As a result, without exception, Li Jiyang has turned them all away.

In Li Jiyang's WeChat contacts, there are over a hundred college students waiting to marry into wealth, and he has labeled these people with numbers in their WeChat remarks. For example, "Jiangsu male 04182 college student 211": "04" indicates the birth year; "182" is the height; and the following numbers represent the school.

During an interview, a young man with four properties at home sent a friend request to Li Jiyang. When asked if he had a job, the man replied, "Not at the moment." Li Jiyang rejected his friend request and told him to find a job first.

On Li Jiyang's desk, there is one landline phone, six mobile phones, and a computer displaying his own website, "Hangzhou Golden Idea Marriage Introduction Service Co., Ltd." The website features two pop-up windows: "Youth doesn't last forever, seize the opportunity to fall in love! Find your loved one and be happy for a lifetime!" and "Thousands of members from various social strata, including civil servants, bankers, public institutions, teachers, medical professionals, white-collar workers, engineers, business owners, and ordinary employees."

Sun Jimei, the wife, sat across from Li Jiyuan. She had delicate features, fair skin, and the typical appearance of a woman from the Jiangsu and Zhejiang region. She spoke with a strong Xiaoshan accent. Every time a potential male client expressed a desire to marry into the family, Sun Jimei would interview the candidate together with Li Jiyuan.

Outside the Golden Idea Marriage Agency, there was a height scale corresponding to 160, 170, and 180 centimeters. As soon as someone walked in, Li Jiyuan could roughly estimate their height, making it impossible for them to deceive him.

Li Jiyuan often starts his interviews with "What is your Sesame Credit score?" During an interview, a recent graduate from another province came to apply to be a son-in-law and was asked to open Alipay as per the requirement. Li Jiyuan was pleased to see that the young man's Sesame Credit score was as high as 745 points. He requested that the man's Sesame Credit score be at least 550 points.

The young man had been in Hangzhou for a month and had not yet found a formal job. Li Jiyuan encouraged the young man to come back in two years, saying, "You are good-looking and tall. Come back in two years. Currently, the youngest registered female clients are 26 years old." Sun Jimei added, "You are still young. Go to graduate school or take the civil service exam. When your conditions are better, you will also find a better match."

The female clients who registered at Jindianzi to find a son-in-law indeed had some with assets worth billions, and at the very least, they owned several properties. Additionally, the women generally had stable jobs. They came to register here simply to expand their social circle and seek better marriage prospects. Li Jiyuan said, "Business has been tough in recent years. Some families with factories are not doing as well as before, but a starving camel is still bigger than a horse. The family conditions are ultimately good."

A few years ago, a male client from another province came to visit. He ran an advertising company, was about 183cm tall, and had a secondary education. He came specifically for Zong Fuli, the heir of Wahaha. He thought that Li Jiyuan, who had been deeply involved in the Hangzhou marriage market for over 20 years, would surely have Zong Fuli's contact information. After listening, Li Jiyuan told him, "I have never been in contact with her."

The man didn't believe it and asked Li Jiyuan to think of a solution. Li Jiyuan said, "Doesn't Wahaha have an official website? Have you called the official website?" The man replied, "Do you think I haven't called? I've called many times."

Is being a son-in-law a legitimate way to "lie flat"?

Even if one had some expectations for the straightforwardness of the blind date market, when actually in the communication scene, one's heart cannot help but be shaken. After the young graduate left, a local man from Xiaoshan who drove a ride-hailing car came to register as a son-in-law. The man wore a duckbill cap and was about 168cm tall.

Because they were both locals, Li Jiyuan and the man then began "encrypted" communication, as even though he had studied in Nanjing, Li Jiyuan could only understand a few interjections with difficulty, such as "gama" and "gama hao la." Fortunately, they eventually switched to speaking Mandarin. Li Jiyuan asked the man to take off his hat to see if he had severe hair loss. The man took off his hat, revealing some thinning at the back of his head.

"It seems like you are under a lot of pressure," Li Jiyuan said with a smile. The man candidly replied, "Yes, I do have some pressure." "Do you gamble?" Li Jiyuan asked. The man answered, "I don't gamble." "Do you smoke? What about alcohol?" The man scratched his head and said, "I smoke about a pack a day, and I rarely drink."

Li Jiyuan hesitated and repeated "gama" five or six times. Seeing that Li Jiyuan was quite hesitant, the man told him, "It's okay to just register," and then got up and left. Perhaps Li Jiyuan had already felt that the man did not meet the requirements from the beginning, as he had forgotten to ask about the man's Sesame Credit score during their conversation just now.

On the table, there were many plastic-sealed documents, including an interview with Li Jiyuan and love quotes written by him. Among them, there was a page listing the criteria for rejecting potential suitors written by Li Jiyuan - "Ten Situations in Which Marriage Introduction Services Will Be Rejected!"

1. Having a criminal record;

2. Having a dishonest heart, seeking extramarital affairs;

3. Low quality, rude, and abusive behavior;

4. Having visible tattoos on the body (except for artistic tattoos within 3 centimeters);

5. Engaging in theft or other bad habits;

6. Having a narrow-minded and petty mentality, without bad habits such as drinking or smoking;

7. Causing trouble unreasonably or other illegal activities;

8. Having a psychological disorder;

9. Gambling, drug use, prostitution, or soliciting prostitutes;

10. Having a serious infectious disease.

Once any of the above negative traits are discovered, the marriage introduction service will be rejected, and the fees paid will not be refunded. For those who violate the law, they will be reported to the judicial authorities and held accountable under the law.

When asked by a reporter, "Wouldn't someone with a psychological disorder not directly tell you?" Li Jiyuan laughed and said, "Ah, it's just to scare them, to have a deterrent effect first." Every time he meets a male client who meets the criteria in all aspects, Li Jiyuan will push this paper in front of the other party and let them self-check whether they meet the standards.

Previously, there was a male client who graduated from Tsinghua University, but he was rejected by Li Jiyuan because of the tattoo on his arm, "The woman doesn't like this."

There are many people who come to apply as a son-in-law, but very few meet the standards. Li Jiyuan and Sun Jimei are very strict in their screening, so when male and female parties who meet the criteria come into contact and meet, the success rate is also very high.

In Li Jiyuan's view, the old son-in-law model is more prone to problems because men who come to visit only think about eating and being lazy, and many even have developed a gambling habit. But in recent years, this has changed. Nowadays, the son-in-law competition has already been filled with high-quality talent. Many "new Hangzhou residents" who have obtained household registration not only have a stable job within the system but have also bought a house.

Li Jiyan analyzed that nowadays, the son-in-law has evolved into four forms: first, the economically practical type, where the man's conditions are not good, so he marries into the woman's family in hopes of improving their lives; second, the complementary advantages type, where the woman's family is well-off, and the man has a stable job and high education, and can help with tutoring the children after marriage, giving the next generation a head start; third, the strong alliance type, where the man already has a house and a car, and marries into the family for a more comfortable life, with the woman's parents helping to take care of the next generation, allowing his own parents to have more leisure time; fourth, the icing on the cake type, where the man has his own company and a high income, and marrying into the family might be for social advancement. In short, the son-in-law is gradually achieving the "new four modernizations": normalization, youthfulness, high education, and high quality.

Whether it's the recent popular discussion of the "Tears of the Queen" which explores the marriage of a strong woman and a weak man, or the out-of-the-box male-oriented drama series "Crooked Dragon King" with the classic line "The three-year period is over, what belongs to the Lin family, I want it all back!" accompanied by a semi-permanent wicked smile, many people's imaginations of the son-in-law focus more on the dilemma of the marriage between a strong woman and a weak man, and many are worried that the son-in-law will take advantage of the woman's family wealth and resources after entering the family, and still maintain a patriarchal attitude, showing that the old mindset has not changed.

But in Sun Jimei's view, these men who are preparing to become son-in-laws don't seem to be too entangled. Many of the scenes of struggling are nothing more than filters imposed on them by the outside world. After serving as a matchmaker for so many years, Li Jiyan and Sun Jimei seem to have reached a consensus that the so-called son-in-law is nothing more than a marriage choice, a marriage model that can help parents reduce pressure and create a good life for the next generation. Everyone has the right to choose the life they want.

"We are quite strict in our selection process. Through initial communication, we can get a general sense of a person's character. If someone is too uptight, they won't pass our screening. Moreover, those who can marry into a family usually come from households that are unwilling to see their daughters suffer. So, as long as you treat their daughter well, the family of the bride will definitely treat you even better. You can visit travel agencies and see that during holidays, many couples and their mothers-in-law go abroad together. If the family is well-off, they will have plenty of time to spend together. Less pressure, more relaxed life. Otherwise, paying off a mortgage for decades, how can you have time to enjoy life? Everyone wants to live a comfortable life. It's very simple," said Sun Jimei.

Times have changed, and now women can also marry husbands.

The culture of marrying into the family in Xiaoshan, Hangzhou, has a long history, and son-in-law can be seen everywhere. This seems to naturally create a relaxed cultural environment for marrying into the family, alleviating the psychological burden of cultural customs that have been difficult to change for thousands of years.

Before being designated as a district and a city, Xiaoshan was one of the top 100 economically strong counties in the country. After being designated as a district and a city, it became one of the top 100 economically strong areas in the country. In this fertile land, 22 A-share listed companies were once born, and factories and shops were once found in every household. With the promotion of the one-child policy in the 1980s, Xiaoshan generated a large demand for son-in-laws, and many Xiaoshan entrepreneurs openly sought to adopt son-in-laws.

In addition, Xiaoshan also includes marrying into the family in its demolition and relocation regulations. The 2017 "Implementation Rules for the Demolition and Relocation of Urban Village Houses in Shushan Street" mentioned "son-in-law who meets the conditions for marrying into the family." The conditions for marrying into the family refer to families with one or two daughters and no sons. However, only one of the two daughters can marry into the family, and the other cannot.

This regulation is more targeted at local demolition and relocation households in Xiaoshan. Having one more son-in-law can entitle the family to an additional 70 square meters of resettlement housing, which is real money and also the reason why locals in Xiaoshan like to find son-in-laws. Li Jiyuan sighed, "70 square meters, at today's housing prices, it's worth several million. It's so hard to make money now, and emotions also have to consider reality."

However, in the early days, many men who chose to marry into the family due to demolition had low education levels and did not know how to manage a marriage. Most of them were lazy and even indulged in gambling habits. This may also be the reason why Li Jiyuan repeatedly asked whether the other party gambled, and checking the Sesame Credit was also to verify the other party's credit.

In recent years, the education level and personal conditions of men who choose to marry into the family have significantly improved. Many people joke that marrying into a family in Xiaoshan is as difficult as passing a civil service exam, and some even joke, "There are two turning points in life, one is taking the college entrance exam, and the other is marrying into a family in Xiaoshan." This may be just a joke, but "the economic foundation determines the superstructure" is the consensus of most people.

In his book "The Birth System," Fei Xiaotong wrote, "On the one hand, couples share the joy of life together, and on the other hand, they jointly manage an extremely important and fundamental social undertaking. If both cannot be achieved, one must be sacrificed. In traditional Chinese society, it is the former that is sacrificed."

Couples need to manage a comprehensive and cooperative life: on one hand, they reduce the cooperation in practical matters, focusing more on emotional harmony, shared interests, and fun; on the other hand, they set aside emotional demands and focus more on economic and career cooperation. According to Fei Xiaotong, "There is no inherent superiority in these different emphases; what matters is the environment of life." Undoubtedly, most people who enter into marriage through arranged meetings tend to choose the latter.

For many people, love seems like a language comprehension question that requires a lot of reading and understanding in order to grasp each other's intentions. However, marriage is more like a math problem, where people bring out their resources for exchange. Many men who marry into the woman's family business are like receiving investment rounds such as Series A, Series B, and angel investment from the woman's family.

Furthermore, Hangzhou has a natural cultural superiority. People often say "Heaven above, Suzhou and Hangzhou below." Hangzhou's Xiaoshan, located in the core area of the Yangtze River Delta, is indeed more economically developed and can enjoy many achievements of urbanization. Therefore, many families are reluctant to let their daughters marry outside the city, and no one would easily leave "heaven."

In other cities, the idea of marrying into the woman's family might still need time to be accepted, but in Xiaoshan, it may even lead to a situation where not accepting a son-in-law from another family is not understood. Sun Jimei once heard neighbors discussing a certain family that was criticized by everyone for not accepting a son-in-law.

Over the 25 years of running the Jindianzi Marriage Agency, the business of marrying into the woman's family has become increasingly popular, and the registration fee has increased from a couple of hundred yuan to fifteen thousand yuan. However, Li Jiyuan and Sun Jimei have not become wealthy because of this. They currently only own an old house of over 100 square meters.

The couple has a daughter and once considered finding a son-in-law, but they only have one property, which does not meet the local requirements for taking in a son-in-law. During the Spring Festival, their daughter took the two elderly people to Xiamen for a trip. Li Jiyuan only went out to take a few photos on the first day, and spent the rest of the time in the hotel busy answering phone calls. Sun Jimei sighed, "He's so busy, he doesn't even have time to rest. Even when he's out, he's working in the hotel."

In addition to Li Jiyuan and Sun Jimei, there are also three "matchmaking headhunters" in the marriage agency, consisting of three retired aunties. They don't have to work in the office on a regular basis, and use their personal connections to find matching partners for members. "With more resources, the success rate naturally increases."

Li Jiyuan also often writes articles for major newspapers and places advertisements in Hangzhou. "Many people think that after running a marriage agency for so many years, we must have a lot of savings. In fact, we don't have any money at all. We need to keep spending money on promotion in order to attract more high-quality young men."

Li Jiyanyan used to be an employee of the Hangzhou Xiaoshan Hardware and Electrical Company and also worked as a Japanese teacher at a night school. The first time he helped someone find a spouse was when he introduced a colleague from out of town to a local resident as a prospective son-in-law. In 1999, after being laid off from a state-owned enterprise, Li Jiyanyan started a unique business called the "Golden Idea Marriage and Son-in-law Company," and the matchmaking agency is still located in the former building where he used to work.

"We mainly focus on matchmaking for young, middle-aged, and elderly individuals, which accounts for 3/4 of our business, while the matchmaking for prospective son-in-laws only makes up 1/4 of our total business. Many people mistakenly believe that we specialize in matchmaking for prospective son-in-laws, but that's not the case. Having prospective son-in-laws is just a local characteristic of Xiaoshan," Li Jiyanyan said.

The wall of the Golden Idea Marriage and Son-in-law Company is adorned with a sign that reads "The Number One Matchmaker in the World," and on another wall, there are numerous photos of Li Jiyanyan being interviewed by the media. Throughout the matchmaking agency, one can see "love maxims" that Li Jiyanyan has compiled, each with its own title: "The Art of Love," "Advice on Choosing a Partner," "The Love Trilogy," and so on.

One of the maxims reads: "I call on families in cities, towns, and rural areas across the country, especially those with multiple properties and financially well-off older and eligible women, to break with tradition and marry off the older and eligible men who currently do not have their own homes! Times have changed, and women can also marry husbands!"