Livestream Matchmaking: My Intel Infinitely Refreshes

"This Matchmaker is pretty good," Father Xia concluded after watching Zhang Zhe’s livestream for fifteen minutes. "It’s rare. He isn’t just spouting emotional nonsense; he’s actually giving these young women real advice."

"And it’s all very practical advice."

"Aren’t other Matchmakers like that?" Mother Xia asked from beside him.

"Of course not," Father Xia said, a bit annoyed. "These days, some matchmakers only want to do business with rich people. When an ordinary girl asks for a consultation, they can’t be bothered to give them the time of day."

"Either that, or they’re constantly finding new ways to hint that you need to pay up."

"Just the other day in our city, a woman called the police, saying a matchmaking agency had scammed her out of over 30,000 yuan. It turned out all the men she went on dates with were hired actors. She never would have found out if she hadn’t seen one of them acting in a short online drama."

Mother Xia frowned. "That’s just despicable."

"Now that you mention it, this Teacher Zhang does seem pretty decent. He’s a bit young, but he definitely doesn’t have the devious minds of those older Matchmakers."

"So, can I ask him for a blind date?" Xia Yi asked eagerly.

What she meant was, she wanted to find Zhang Zhe and go on a blind date *with him*.

But her parents automatically filled in the blanks, assuming she meant "ask him to arrange a blind date with someone else."

"Alright, let’s start with him then."

"How much does he charge? Do you have enough?"

"It costs money?" Xia Yi asked, a little confused. "Isn’t a blind date just meeting someone?"

"That was in the past."

"Coincidentally, someone at my office did a report on this," Father Xia explained to his daughter. "It used to be that for matchmaking, the woman just had to register for free, and the man had to pay to meet her."

"That was the business model for famous dating sites back in the day."

"They’d find some fair-skinned, rich, and beautiful women, put their profiles online, and then trick male clients into buying memberships to pay for dates."

"But that trick doesn’t work anymore. Men have gotten smarter. A lot of them aren’t even trying to get married; they just play those stupid video games all day. Trying to get them to spend money? Not a chance."

"So now, it’s the women who have to pay."

"Some Matchmakers even charge both sides."

"Oh, I see." Xia Yi nodded. She knew her parents had misunderstood, thinking she was going to Zhang Zhe to have Teacher Zhang introduce her to a potential partner.

But she didn’t feel like explaining. ’After all, if things don’t work out with Zhang Zhe, I really do plan on asking Teacher Zhang to introduce me to someone else.’

"I have money," she said. "If it’s not enough, I’ll ask you for more."

"Alright then. Go on your dates, and keep your eyes wide open." Father Xia patted his daughter’s shoulder, his voice filled with earnest emotion. As a father, he felt a mix of relief and wistfulness.

’His daughter is already going on blind dates,’ he thought. ’She probably isn’t far from getting married.’

Mother Xia, by contrast, was far more practical. She quietly pulled her daughter aside.

"Now that you’re starting to go on blind dates, can you be straight with me?"

"What kind of man are you actually looking for?"

"I don’t really know." Xia Yi shook her head. ’I truly haven’t thought it through,’ she thought. ’I was hoping to figure it out by talking with Zhang Zhe.’ "Mom, what do you think?"

"I think you’re better off not looking for someone who works in the government."

"Having one official like your father in this family is more than enough. If there’s another one, my time off will feel just like being at work."

"Okay, Mom. You married a government man, so you have experience. I’ll listen to you."

"When you’re looking, find someone who will treat you well. Someone with money, but not *too* much money." Mother Xia had clearly thought this through for her daughter long ago. "You’re not like me. You’ve never had a tough day in your life. If you marry a man and have to do all the laundry and cooking, you won’t be able to handle it."

"That’s why you have to find someone with money."

"But he can’t be *too* rich. If he’s too wealthy, even your father’s status won’t be enough to keep him in line, and there’d be no way to guarantee you aren’t mistreated by his family."

"I get it. So you’re saying I should find a small business owner."

"Mhm, something like that. But he can’t be some uncultured nouveau riche. He has to be educated, so that when he comes over for the holidays, we’ll at least have something to talk about."

"Argh..." Xia Yi scratched her head. "Mom, that’s a lot of requirements."

"What do you know? Your mother has been thinking about these things for years, and I’m not even finished yet."

"There’s more? No, no, let me just start by trying to find someone who meets those two conditions."

"I’m not even sure you’ll be able to find that."

Xia Yi’s expression grew troubled. ’Wait,’ she thought. ’Zhang Zhe works at a matchmaking agency. He’s not a small business owner.’

’Doesn’t that mean he’s already disqualified by Mom’s criteria?’

’But I already agreed to go on a date with him.’

...

「In the blink of an eye, the weekend arrived.」

Zhang Zhe and Xia Yi had arranged to meet at one of the most expensive restaurants in Qing City: a one-star Michelin Japanese restaurant.

The cost per person was rumored to start at 2,000 yuan. They served only the freshest ingredients, flown in by air—sea cucumber, tuna, Arctic surf clams, and every other kind of seafood imaginable.

Zhang Zhe had found the place on Xiaohongshu.

He trusted that the girls on there who were trying to pose as socialites wouldn’t lie about this sort of thing.

Before they went inside, Xia Yi took in the understated yet luxurious decor and whispered to Zhang Zhe, "This place must be really expensive, right? The girl who just walked out was carrying an LV bag."

"Maybe we should go somewhere else? I know a teahouse nearby..."

"It’s fine, don’t worry. This place is perfect," Zhang Zhe said with a smile, looking at Xia Yi.

Miss Xia was wearing light makeup today. Her oval face was complemented by a light pink lip gloss, and her long eyelashes fluttered when she spoke.

She wore a light blue floral-print long skirt paired with a white blouse, which was cinched perfectly at her waist.

’Every part of her look is exactly my type,’ Zhang Zhe thought.

’The system really does have good taste.’

Zhang Zhe himself hadn’t dressed up much. When it came to blind dates, he believed that as long as a man looked neat and clean, that was already a huge plus.

"Okay, I’ll trust you then."

"I guess this counts as a fancy meal, then." Xia Yi chuckled. "I’ve never been to such a nice restaurant before. It’s mainly because my dad doesn’t allow it."

"To be honest, I’ve never been here either."

"Come on, let’s get a taste of how the rich live."

Zhang Zhe knew why Xia Yi had never been here. ’Her father has to worry about his public image. If someone took a picture of his daughter at a place like this and reported him, his career would be over.’

’As for me,’ he thought, ’the only reason I’ve never been is because I was too poor.’

’If it weren’t for the system’s request, he wouldn’t be spending money here, even with the cash he’d earned as a Matchmaker.’

As they entered the restaurant, a waiter in a suit immediately came to greet them.

The restaurant assigned a dedicated waiter to each table for one-on-one service, which included presenting and explaining each dish. Zhang Zhe had done his homework, so he asked the waiter for a table that would be good for conversation.

While they waited for the first course to arrive, Xia Yi discreetly gestured for Zhang Zhe to hold out his hand.

"What is it?" Zhang Zhe held out his hand, and she passed him a folded piece of paper. He opened it to find it covered in dense, neat rows of characters.

The title at the top read:

Ms. Wang Xue Mei’s Basic Requirements for Miss Xia Yi’s Potential Match.

It seemed Xia Yi had ultimately been no match for her mother and was forced to listen to the entire list of conditions her mom had spent years perfecting.

But hearing them didn’t mean she had taken them to heart.

"These are all the conditions my mom listed."

"Could you take a look for me? Can you tell me which ones are unrealistic, and which ones are just pointless?"