Chapter 69: No One Is More Suitable for Marriage Than You
With their meeting set for the next day, Zhang Zhe slept soundly. By the time he woke up, his mom had already prepared breakfast.
Mung bean porridge and soy milk.
A special meal prepared just for him, designed to cool him down.
Mrs. Zhang didn’t know that Zhang Zhe had eaten a Nine Yang Fruit and was now overflowing with yang energy. She just thought her son seemed to be suffering from some kind of internal heat; she could even feel a wave of warmth just walking past him.
Next to the thoughtful breakfast, there was also a blue folder.
Inside were the blind date candidates his parents had carefully selected.
As soon as Zhang Zhe finished eating, Mrs. Zhang hurried over, flipped open the folder, and began her presentation.
"Your dad and I both think this high school teacher is the best."
"Go on a blind date with her first."
"Her mother is an elementary school teacher, her father is a middle school teacher, and she’s a high school teacher. If you have kids in the future, you won’t have to worry about their education at all."
Zhang Zhe gave it a polite glance, holding back a laugh as he asked his mom,
"Then who’s going to handle their kindergarten education?"
"Mom, have you forgotten? You said the reason I’m so smart is because you fed me lots of fish and eggs when I was little."
"An expert on TikTok said that age three is the most critical period for a child’s future success. It determines their entire life."
"Which expert said that?" Father Zhang lowered his newspaper and pointed to an article. "I just read one here who says the transition from elementary to middle school is actually the most critical stage in a child’s life."
"That can’t be right," Mrs. Zhang retorted. "It’s the transition from middle school to high school."
"Whatever. I still think early childhood is the most important part." Zhang Zhe waved his hand dismissively, reminding his parents they had gotten sidetracked. "Anyway, I’m going on a blind date with a kindergarten teacher tonight, so I won’t be home for dinner."
"A kindergarten teacher?"
Mrs. Zhang and Father Zhang exchanged a confused look.
His parents had gone over the profiles Zhang Zhe gave them twice. They were certain there wasn’t a kindergarten teacher among them.
Even if there had been, she wouldn’t have been their first choice.
But before they could object, Zhang Zhe gave them a reason they couldn’t possibly refuse.
"She works at Qing City First Kindergarten, and her family is very, very well-off. You don’t have to worry."
Zhang Zhe’s parents were long-time locals.
They knew perfectly well that the First Kindergarten was a public, provincial-level institution, and they knew how incredibly difficult it was to land a teaching job there.
Not to mention, Zhang Zhe had flat-out told them the woman had powerful connections.
The implication was clear: she was probably the daughter of some high-ranking official.
His parents exchanged another glance, a sense of relief washing over them. ’Their son has finally matured.’
Father Zhang, acting as their representative, spoke to Zhang Zhe in a grave and heartfelt tone.
"We don’t have a problem with you wanting a powerful father-in-law, but know your own limits. Don’t be too obvious about it."
"People are shrewd these days. Given our family’s standing, you’d definitely be marrying up."
"Our bottom line is this: you can marry into her family, but you must have a child who takes the Zhang surname."
"Deal," Zhang Zhe agreed with a smile.
In the past, his father had been adamantly against him marrying into his wife’s family. No matter how wealthy the woman was, the old man had always scoffed at the very idea.
’But reality, it seemed, had a way of making bottom lines flexible.’
’Perhaps this is the allure of power,’ Zhang Zhe thought. ’Sometimes it’s far more attractive than money.’
...
Since he was meeting Xia Yi that evening, Zhang Zhe made a point to find Boss He and tell her he needed to work late.
The older woman seemed incredibly busy. Her hands were a blur across the keyboard, like she was playing QQ Dance, and she had no time for him at all.
After hearing him out, she just mumbled a dismissive, "Okay, okay," and went back to her work. She probably hadn’t even registered a word he’d said.
’I have to admit,’ he thought, ’business at the Zhuyin Marriage Agency is booming.’
Zhang Zhe mulled this over as he returned to his streaming room.
He’d been here for several days now. The Zhuyin Marriage Agency’s official account had only gained a little over 3,200 followers, a far cry from the 100,000-follower mark.
In contrast, his own "Matchmaking Live Stream Room" account had already gained nearly 2,000 followers without him having posted any content yet.
Many of those followers had probably come over out of respect for Granny Xu, while others had been drawn in by his streams on Xiaohongshu.
No wonder people online always said that Xiaohongshu had a high-quality user base.
Especially in niche verticals, the female users there had surprisingly high engagement. Even a minor influencer with fewer than 10,000 followers could make a living promoting products on the platform.
Zhang Zhe was still in an exploratory phase. The live-streamed matchmaking niche wasn’t crowded, but that also meant there were no predecessors whose experience he could draw upon.
But on the flip side, that also meant there was little competition for viewers.
Take his streams on the agency’s official account, for example. No matter when he went live, he could always pull in a few hundred viewers within five minutes.
"Good morning, everyone."
"Anyone who wants to video chat, get in the queue now, or you won’t get a spot later. I even had a guy follow me over to Xiaohongshu yesterday."
[Yeah, right. Who even wants to get married these days?]
[For real? Is Brother Zhang that popular now?]
[Nooo, you’re my secret favorite streamer! Don’t blow up!]
[Everyone report the stream, that way his traffic will get throttled!]
[I sent a request! Connect with me already!]
"See? We got someone already." Zhang Zhe spread his hands toward the camera. "What did I tell you? I’m not exactly hurting for business these days."
"Hello, ’Lonely Square Root of Three’."
"Can you turn on your mic? Please enable your microphone so we can talk."
"Hello? Hello?" The voice belonged to a young woman and was very sweet, but her mic quality was poor. "Can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear. What service can I help you with?"
"Service B, I guess. I’d like Brother Zhang to help me analyze what kind of guy would be a good match for me."
"Alright. Go ahead, tell me about yourself first."
Zhang Zhe expertly pulled up a form. He was a seasoned matchmaking streamer now.
The woman immediately began to describe her situation.
"I was born in ’97, so I’m 28 this year. I’m 160cm tall and weigh 50kg. On a scale of one to ten, my looks are about a three. I’m not pretty."
"I come from an ordinary family in a small county. My parents divorced when I was in high school. While I was in college, my father passed away. My mother has since remarried and has a young son..."
"I live by myself."
"Right now I’m working as a sales associate at a supermarket downtown. My monthly salary is around five or six thousand yuan, and I haven’t managed to save much."
"My dad left me 200,000 yuan, but other than that, I don’t have anything else..."
"Brother Zhang, what I really want to ask is... with my circumstances, am I even marriage material?"
When Zhang Zhe heard her question, his hands froze over the keyboard.
He looked into the camera and spoke with utter sincerity.
"The truth is, you already know the answer to that question in your heart."
"Look at how you started. You listed all those things about yourself, and almost none of them were strengths. It gives me the impression that you couldn’t even be bothered to mention your good qualities, because your shortcomings have already convinced you that there’s no point in you getting married."
"Right?"
"Yes," the woman replied, just as earnestly. "I just feel that, with my situation, if I go on blind dates, any man who takes an interest in me would only be doing it because I can give him children."
"It’s impossible that he would genuinely want to marry me for who I am."
"Theoretically, you’re right," Zhang Zhe said with a nod. "To be blunt, most men on the matchmaking market wouldn’t be interested in your profile."
"I’d love to just agree with you and say that staying single is a perfectly good option."
"But the truth is, your situation is precisely why you’re a great candidate for marriage. In fact, among average women, you’re in one of the best positions to get married."