Chapter 48: The Troubles of Big Bro A9
Zhang Zhe hadn’t even started his stream when his mom knocked on the door.
"Son, have you looked through the profiles of these girls? Is there anyone you particularly like?"
"Your dad and I gave them a quick look. We’re fine with all of them."
"It doesn’t matter if you’re fine with them." Zhang Zhe stretched with a smile. "Your son only has so much energy. Pick out three for me to start."
"My limit is meeting three at once. Any more than that and I’m afraid I’ll get them confused."
"What? How are we supposed to choose?" Mr. Zhang complained from outside the door. "Are you just pawning this off on us because you can’t decide yourself?"
"You know too much, Dad."
"If you can’t choose, just rank them, and I’ll go down the list," Zhang Zhe said, having already thought of a plan. "Remember to put the one you think has the best chance at the top. Otherwise, someone else might snatch her up."
"Alright, fine. We’ll rank them then."
"Let’s go, let’s go. Didn’t you hear what our son said?"
Hearing his mom hustle his dad back to the living room, Zhang Zhe finally put on his headphones and prepared to start the stream.
This time, he was using Mrs. Xu’s account.
Actually, she should be called Boss Xu now, since Zhang Zhe was a hired hand getting paid. The pay was low, though, so he could fire his boss anytime he wanted.
"Hello, everyone. Good evening."
"Some of you might have seen me yesterday. I was on Teacher Xu’s stream for a blind date. I’m back because I still haven’t found the right person."
"This time, I’m not just here for a date, I’m also offering relationship counseling."
[Whoa, did he get promoted? Is he helping Teacher Xu with her streams now?]
[I knew it! I suspected your appearance yesterday was scripted. It was all a setup.]
[Teacher Zhang, are you really not married? Can you be a Matchmaker if you’re not married?]
"Don’t call me Teacher. Just call me Brother Zhang."
"Or if there are any older ladies in the audience, Xiaozhang is fine too. Whatever you’re comfortable with."
"It’s true, I’m not married. However, I have extensive experience with livestream matchmaking on other platforms. You can trust me completely."
"Otherwise, Teacher Xu wouldn’t have let me come on, right?"
Before the stream, Zhang Zhe had already spoken with Mrs. Xu, and the older woman told him not to worry about a lack of callers.
First, there was Teacher Xu’s stellar reputation.
Second, if even those snake oil salesmen selling health supplements could fool people, how could a legitimate Matchmaker like Zhang Zhe not find anyone who believed in him?
However, it turned out that Zhang Zhe and Mrs. Xu might have been a bit too optimistic.
There were over 2,000 viewers, true, and the bullet comments were flying, but it seemed no woman was willing to be the first to take the plunge.
Zhang Zhe could only chat with the bullet-comment audience and wait patiently.
"Oho, we have a caller. Welcome, Mr.... She?"
"Are you a man?"
Zhang Zhe accepted the connection, still a bit skeptical.
This was Xiaohongshu. Just because someone called themselves "Mr." didn’t necessarily mean they were male.
"No, no, no, Brother Zhang, you’re the ’brother’ here."
"I’m the little bro."
"Haha, alright, little bro." Although Zhang Zhe was a little disappointed it wasn’t a woman, his top priority right now was to keep the livestream from going cold. "Are you here for marriage counseling?"
"Um, yes... and no."
"I’m not really sure what to call my situation. How about I introduce myself first?"
"Sure." Zhang Zhe turned and pulled over the whiteboard he had just bought today. "You talk, I’ll write."
"Age?"
"Born in the 2000s, 25 years old."
"Measurements?"
"I don’t know those, Brother Zhang. I’m a guy."
"My bad, force of habit. How about height, weight, and looks?"
"175 cm tall, 75 kg. I’d rate my looks a 5 out of 10, because I do take care of my skin."
"Oh?" Zhang Zhe circled the words "take care."
’His voice sounds magnetic,’ he thought. ’If he regularly takes care of himself, he’s either in an industry that relies on looks, or he’s rich with time to spare for beauty treatments.’
’Most guys stop caring about their face after puberty.’
"Education?"
"I have a master’s from a Top 3 university. I won’t say which one, to avoid being doxxed."
"Got it. Last one, family assets."
"My family’s probably an A9.3. With property, the factory, and savings, it’s definitely over 300 million."
[This is the third A9 I’ve seen on Xiaohongshu this month.]
[Everyone’s an A9 online, but you can’t even find an A7 in real life.]
[Why do I get the feeling he’s just pretending to be rich?]
[Hey Brother Fu, Venmo me 50 to prove it.]
"Are you really an A9?" Zhang Zhe waved his hands. "I don’t mean to doubt you, I’m just not used to this. Could you send me some screenshots of your savings?"
"Sure. I’ll PM you?"
"OK." ’This guy showed up at the perfect time,’ Zhang Zhe thought. ’Tonight’s stream needs him to get things started.’
’An A9 dude watching the stream, and he’s looking for a partner. That alone should be enough to attract some women to call in, right?’
So, it was best to verify his assets.
"Hang on a second, everyone. I’m going to see if this guy is really an A9."
After about three minutes, Zhang Zhe received various screenshots from the caller, including his bank balance, his Yuebao account, and his portfolio on Eastmoney.
Based on these apps, he really couldn’t find any flaws.
This was as far as Zhang Zhe could go. Even offline matchmaking had fakers. Since the guy was so willing to cooperate with the verification and hadn’t shown any red flags, Zhang Zhe would just treat him as a genuine A9.
’Does a guy with hundreds of millions even need to go on a blind date?’
"No need to doubt anymore, folks in the comments. This brother really is an A9. He’s got tens of millions just sitting in the stock market."
"But I am a little curious."
"Does a rich guy like you have a shortage of women?" Zhang Zhe scratched his head, perplexed, and looked at the camera. "Shouldn’t guys like you be having arranged marriages with other wealthy families?"
"We’re not that rich. You’re probably thinking of A10s, Brother Zhang," the young man said with a simple laugh. "The money was all earned by my family, it has nothing to do with me. I myself only make a little over 20,000 a month. The money in the stock market is my grandpa’s, which I manage. I can’t just take it all out to use."
"Are you an only child?"
"Mhm, yes."
"Then there’s no difference," Zhang Zhe analyzed. "In the matchmaking market, the family assets of an only child are generally considered his own."
"A typical only child might have the burden of caring for their parents, but with your net worth, that’s not a concern at all."
[I don’t believe he’s short on women. He doesn’t sound like a ’nice guy’.]
[How many rich guys are actually ’nice’?]
[He’s here for marriage counseling. That means he’s lacking a marriage partner, not just any woman.]
The bullet-comment audience never hesitated to assume the worst about the wealthy.
Zhang Zhe was different. He only hated that he wasn’t the rich one; he held no hostility toward rich people themselves.
"So, what’s your problem?"
"Did you play the field too much and ruin your reputation in your social circle, so now your parents and friends won’t introduce you to any girlfriends?"
"Not at all," the young man denied. "Actually, I’m kind of a romantic. I’ve only had one relationship since college, so I don’t really know what kind of person I’m looking for."
"My parents want me to find love on my own, because they met in school, got married after graduation, and started their business together. So they hope my marriage will have love, too."
"But, how do I put this... I’m just a really unlucky person. I always attract strange women."
"How strange?" Zhang Zhe was suddenly interested.
He had heard that for super-rich guys like Xiaowang, women would proactively send him nudes in his DMs, hoping he would pick them.
Unfortunately, Xiaowang started spending less later on, and Zhang Zhe hadn’t heard much about the lavish lives of the rich second generation since.
But now this caller had just dropped a line like that.
Zhang Zhe felt like he was about to learn something new.
"Most of the women I meet aren’t ideal. It feels like they’re just after my money."
"Almost every one of them has a boyfriend, and I’ve even been cheated on..."
"Huh?" Zhang Zhe felt as if he could no longer understand his own language. "The women who hit on you have boyfriends, but you were the one who got cheated on? Are you sure you’ve got that right?"