Lonely hearts under pressure

Rent a girlfriend

　　For China's lonely hearts, Spring Festival can be a psychological nightmare.

　　Xi Anjie, an office worker in Shanghai, is among those singles who takes a bashing each year from relatives concerned by their marital status.

　　Unable to find a girlfriend to parade in front of his matchmaking-obsessed relatives, Xi, 35, elected to stay at home after a brief celebration with his parents for this week-long holiday.

　　Others have devised more elaborate ways around the problem.

　　Last month, a Beijing University student was offering 1,000 yuan ($125) to potential "girlfriends" if they would rent themselves to him for 10 days during Spring Festival to impress his parents.

　　Wang Jisheng, a professor with the Psychology Institution of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that China's singles should be careful not to confuse filial piety with lies and deception.

　　However, a domestic website suggests that these days more people are finding it difficult to meet a partner.

　　Xici.net has already been flooded by over 100 lonely hearts ads since the start of the lunar new year. Most of the marriage seekers are ladies aged between 24 and 30.

　　对于那些单身人士来说，春节以说是场“噩梦”。

　　上海的办公室职员席安杰就是其中之一，每年春节他都要忍受关心其婚姻大事的亲戚们的唠叨。

　　今年35岁的席安杰由于还没找到女朋友，没法向关心他的亲戚们交待，因此今年春节除了陪父母简单过个年外，他一直没出过家门。

　　对于这个问题，另有一些人想出了更为详细的解决办法。

　　上个月，北京大学的一名学生出价1000元“租女友”回家过年见父母，期限为10天。

　　中国社会科学院心理学研究所的教授王继生说，单身人士们应该注意，不要把这种欺骗和撒谎当作孝顺父母。

　　然而，日前国内一家网站指出，如今越来越多的人发现找对象很难。

　　从春节开始，西祠胡同上就贴了100多个征婚广告。大多数征婚者是24岁至30岁之间的女性。

　　Vocabulary:        

　　marriage seeker : 征婚者

 

来源：英语点津