Chapter 27: The Last-Place Player on the Bounty List
"Seriously? So if I don’t help you find a partner, you’re going to get people to cyberbully me?"
"Huh? She already ran off?"
Zhang Zhe had wanted to see just how furious the woman would get, but he didn’t expect her to just bolt.
[Man, streamer, you’ve got some bad luck.]
[LMAO, does this woman think she’s an influencer or something? Threatening to get the streamer canceled.]
[This woman has no idea what a rock-solid reputation the Zhuyin Marriage Agency has locally.]
[Streamer, what rank of Matchmaker are you at the agency?]
[All you feminists in the chat, save your energy. The streamer’s agency is a heavy hitter.]
[Sisters, let’s retreat. Don’t give this guy any more clout.]
If it weren’t for the chat’s reminders, Zhang Zhe would have almost forgotten he had the city’s largest marriage agency backing him up.
No wonder no one was questioning what he said.
It was because the agency had a good reputation.
Besides, his words were very objective. Most of the normal people in the stream could understand his perspective and wouldn’t, like those feminists, assume he was putting women down out of misogyny.
Anyone who had ever been on a blind date, or had friends and family share their experiences, knew the matchmaking market was just as realistic as Zhang Zhe described:
If you were an ordinary person with flaws, you could only find another ordinary person with flaws to marry. The only question was whether your flaws were in different areas and could complement each other.
Perhaps because the previous woman’s call to action had worked, Zhang Zhe only got two calls in the next two hours.
His efficiency dropped quite a bit.
Just as Zhang Zhe was idly waiting for the next viewer to call in, Boss He sent him a message telling him to get ready to clock out.
"Xiaozhang, I know you guys in Shencheng City usually get off work after 9 PM, but the pace is different here."
"You’ve worked hard all afternoon. Go home and get some proper rest."
"I’ll add you to the group chat later. You can get to know the other Matchmakers in there. If you have any questions, just ask them directly."
"From now on, we’re all family."
Zhang Zhe glanced at the time. It was only 5:30 in the afternoon.
Boss He had a bit of a stereotype about people like him who’d worked in Shencheng City, thinking they all clocked out at 9 PM.
That was a complete misunderstanding.
Zhang Zhe usually started work at 10 AM and got off at 11 PM. Sometimes, pulling an all-nighter was completely normal. Add to that the alternating five- and six-day work weeks, and it was a real treat.
In his memory, the only time he had ever gotten off work at 5:30 was on the afternoon of New Year’s Eve, because even if they didn’t clock out, everyone at the office was just slacking off and waiting for the holiday to start.
"Alright, everyone, that’s it for this afternoon’s stream."
"I’ve got to go offline now."
Zhang Zhe glanced at the number of people in his stream. There were just over 300 viewers left.
At its peak, he’d had over 1,000 viewers, but after he was accused of being a misogynist, it quickly dropped back to over 500. Then, because fewer people were calling in, the audience slowly trickled away.
The sharp rise and fall of his viewer count was just like the fate of an internet celebrity.
Fortunately, Zhang Zhe didn’t rely on streaming to make a living.
After ending the stream, he first checked his account’s follower count. In the half-day he’d been running it, he’d already gained over 800 new followers.
They were all real followers. Although there were probably some haters among them, it was still pretty good.
Then he checked his system points.
He had a balance of exactly 10 points.
Zhang Zhe quickly went to check his list of redeemable items.
He remembered that 10 happiness points could unlock a new item. It was...
[Congratulations, Host, you have unlocked a new item: Rejuvenation Pill (Redeemable only once)]
[Rejuvenation Pill: A pill claimed to bring the dead back to life. However, after authoritative, randomized, double-blind controlled trials, its only confirmed effect is the restoration of male function. The effect is extremely potent, capable of restoring function even in a eunuch. The drug also has certain side effects. Host, please use with caution.]
?
A question mark slowly formed above Zhang Zhe’s head.
’Do I look like the kind of guy who has... performance issues?’
’This Rejuvenation Pill could make a eunuch fire up his backup power reserves. If a normal person took it, wouldn’t they be insanely potent?’
It was quite reasonable for the Perfect Marriage System to reward a drug like this. It was basically like giving someone a second life.
If Zhang Zhe were the type of player who gets reckless with an extra life, then this pill would be something he’d keep on him at all times.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t.
He was the cautious type, the kind of person who gets anxious when his phone battery hits 30%.
Besides, anyone who played games knew that even if you had a Meat Mountain Shield or a Resurrection Armor, you couldn’t just make a suicide run, because the enemy would just camp your corpse.
So, this Rejuvenation Pill was useless to him for the time being.
’The system has a free inventory anyway,’ he thought. ’I’ll just redeem it and store it there in case I ever need it.’
[Congratulations, Host. Redemption successful.]
[Rejuvenation Pill x1 has been placed in your inventory. The Host may use it at any time.]
[20 more points are needed to unlock the next new item. Please continue to work hard, Host.]
"So there really are more new items later on. That’s a relief."
Zhang Zhe stroked his chin, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.
’A system I got in exchange for being single for 30 years... it really is something else.’
’So much more potential to uncover!’
Zhang Zhe suddenly felt a twinge of regret. He shouldn’t have agreed to Boss He’s suggestion to clock out. He should have just kept streaming into the evening; after all, he was used to getting off work at 11 PM.
But now that he had agreed, he had to leave on time and get going.
...
When Zhang Zhe walked out the main entrance of the marriage agency, the evening sun was still high in the sky.
Back at his old job, he could only catch a glimpse of the sunset through the gaps between skyscrapers. Now, he could take in the whole view. This life was too comfortable.
"Xiaozhang, you’re quite something, kid!"
The older woman’s voice came from behind him. Boss He was about to lock the door, but when she saw it was Zhang Zhe, she came over.
"It’s only your first day on the job, and you’re already on Xiaohongshu’s bounty list."
"Bounty list? What’s that?" Zhang Zhe was completely bewildered. "Boss, you use Xiaohongshu too?"
’An older woman in her fifties also uses Xiaohongshu... that app really is a model of a niche internet product. But what the heck is this bounty list?’
"The bounty list is just something we have in the Matchmaker circle."
"When those young ladies encounter a Matchmaker they don’t like, they’ll post about them on Xiaohongshu to warn others, like a wanted poster."
"There’s a blogger who sorts these posts by region, tallies up the Matchmakers mentioned, and ranks them from most to least mentioned. In our line of work, we call it the bounty list."
"Not bad, kid. You’re already ranked 99th on the city’s list."
Zhang Zhe had been a little nervous at first. Since Boss He used Xiaohongshu, and an old girl is still a girl, what if it was a "girls-help-girls" situation? Wouldn’t that woman’s complaints cause trouble for him?
But from the sound of it, Boss He seemed to find the whole list amusing.
She didn’t have a strong reaction to Zhang Zhe being called out by the sisterhood; instead, she seemed to think it was impressive.
A bold guess suddenly occurred to Zhang Zhe. "Boss, don’t tell me you’re on that list too?"
"Of course not." Boss He shook her head. "How could I still be on the city list? I graduated to the provincial list a long time ago. I’m currently the 46th-ranked expert in the entire province."
"Whoa, badass."
"They go after a veteran practitioner like you, too? You must have brought thousands of couples together, right?"
Boss He smiled faintly and held up three fingers. "I’ve been in this business for 35 years and have matched over 3,000 couples."
"But ever since Xiaohongshu came along, I’ve learned that I’m apparently a Matchmaker who panders to men, helping them gain a gender advantage in dating by putting down women."
"How ridiculous is that?"
