Chapter 85: You Have to Hand It to the Evil Cultivators
"Auntie, you’ve got to be kidding me." Zhang Zhe pursed his lips. "Didn’t my cousin start dating back in middle school? How could he not be able to get married?"
Zhang Zhe’s cousin was a vocational school grad with bleached hair—a real "Teacher Tony" type. He was the current meta, and it was considered a slow day if he only had one girl on the back of his electric scooter.
"Middle school was middle school. That was over a decade ago. He really can’t find anyone now."
"Zhe, I was counting on you to help your cousin after you get married. He’s such a disappointment. You’re the only one who can set him straight."
"That’s easy. Next time, Auntie, just bring him over. I’ll help you tune him up."
Zhang Zhe and his cousin actually got along pretty well. Back when he was working in Shencheng City, the two of them used to team up on weekends to play Delta Force.
He remembered his cousin talking a blue streak about girls in yoga pants from the outer counties. And now he couldn’t even find a girlfriend?
’What a waste of his profession. Teacher Tony, bleached hair, skinny jeans, driving loafers... has that whole loadout gone out of style?’
With his aunt around, Zhang Zhe’s parents were more restrained and didn’t immediately get pushy. Otherwise, they would have ganged up on him long ago, demanding to know the details of his blind date.
His aunt wanted to ask, but her questions just circled around the girl’s appearance and family; she never got to the heart of the matter.
When it was time for dinner, Mrs. Zhang couldn’t hold it in any longer. Using the excuse of needing help washing vegetables, she pulled Zhang Zhe into the kitchen. "So, is that girl satisfied with you?"
"I think so. We’re meeting again next weekend to talk."
"Good. You need to be more proactive next week. This girl sounds wonderful, so you have to seize the opportunity." Mrs. Zhang said in a heartfelt, serious tone, "Just before you got back, your aunt was talking about your cousin, and she was on the verge of tears."
"She’s added nearly fifty Matchmakers on WeChat, but your cousin has only gone on two dates at most. If he keeps this up, his reputation is going to be ruined in the matchmaking circles."
A small town was just as Mrs. Zhang described. There were only so many young men and women of marriageable age, so running into a former classmate or a distant relative on a blind date was a common occurrence.
If the women constantly gave negative feedback, word would spread. Eventually, any girl he met for a blind date would show up with preconceived notions, making the chances of success even lower.
This was also why many people advised looking for a partner in a first-tier city. Shencheng City, with its 20 million people, offered far more options than a county-level city of 400,000.
"Miss Xia didn’t say anything about introducing you to her parents, did she?"
"No, it’s not that fast."
"It needs to be fast. You’re not young anymore, and neither is she. After thirty, she’ll be of advanced maternal age." Mrs. Zhang muttered to herself, "The main thing is, I can still help you two watch the kids now. If we wait another five years, I don’t know if I’ll still have the energy to run around."
"No way, Mom. Don’t worry about it." Zhang Zhe put his arm around his mom’s shoulder. "Forget five years, you’ll still be able to look after your grandkids ten years from now."
’The older generation’s anxiety about the future is a bit much. She’s only in her early fifties and she’s already thinking about the day she won’t be able to run around.’
’In reality, fifty is the perfect age to get out there and make something happen. Retirement is still more than a decade away.’
"Don’t give me that." Mrs. Zhang rolled her eyes at her son. "Hurry it up. Chat with the girl more, whether you have something to talk about or not. Don’t leave her hanging."
"I know, I know." Zhang Zhe quickly agreed.
In truth, even if his mom hadn’t said anything, Zhang Zhe had no intention of just forgetting about her after the date.
At the end of the day, a blind date was just an opportunity for two people to meet. When neither side was short on options, they would naturally prioritize the person they clicked with.
You can’t marry someone if you don’t click; even half a sentence feels like too much then.
...
After dinner, Zhang Zhe made small talk with his aunt in the living room for a while before finding an excuse to slip back to his room.
Mrs. Zhang thought her son was going to chat with his blind date, so she thoughtfully came over and hung the "Do Not Disturb" sign on his door for him.
[Congratulations, Host, for successfully having dinner with your blind date.]
[The entire cost of this dinner was paid by the female party. Your performance has surpassed 98% of same-sex blind daters. You have obtained the achievement "Blind Date Master."]
[The female party’s satisfaction with the first date is 90%. Her only point of confusion is that the restaurant you chose was too high-end.]
[Generating rewards based on the blind date results...]
[Reward for this session: 90 Blind Date Points.]
Although her satisfaction was only 90%, to be honest, Zhang Zhe found this bit of dissatisfaction more comforting than 100% satisfaction would have been.
It showed that Xia Yi had a good sense about money and wasn’t some spoiled rich girl.
The 90 points from the reward, plus the 78 he had before.
A new item was unlocked.
Zhang Zhe thought back. The last time he’d redeemed something was just two days ago. That was fast.
’As expected, the rewards from the Perfect Marriage System are ultimately centered around marriage.’
’Just going on blind dates only lets you win by sheer numbers.’
[The Heart-Opening Fruit has been unlocked.]
[Points required for redemption: 100 points.]
[Redemption limit: None.]
[Item Description: A supreme Spirit Fruit grown from Tongxin Cabbage irrigated by the Heaven and Earth Spirit Spring. Within two hours of consumption, holding hands with a person of the opposite sex will allow you to know their innermost thoughts. A divine tool used by ancient evil cultivators for robbery and murder.]
’So this thing is for robbery and murder?’
Zhang Zhe felt a little ashamed.
’The first thing I thought of was using it to pick up girls.’
’What a failure.’
’You’ve got to hand it to the evil cultivators. If you controlled someone with this and forced them to give up their WeChat Pay password... wouldn’t you end up spending a lifetime behind bars?’
’This thing probably has no use for the time being.’
Zhang Zhe didn’t redeem it this time, deciding to save his points first.
The next item required 200 points to unlock. He just needed to live stream a few more blind dates to have enough.
The next step with Xia Yi was a bit difficult.
[Host, please continue to advance your relationship with Ms. Xia. The next stage requires you to improve mutual affection through daily interactions, leading to Xia Yi proactively introducing you to her parents.]
[Reaching this stage of progress will award 200 Happiness Points.]
The system was taking a pretty big leap, fast-forwarding straight to meeting the parents.
Zhang Zhe really didn’t have much confidence.
This was only their first date. They were still in the process of getting to know each other.
In real life, there were indeed cases where people met the parents after just one or two blind dates, but most of those were "transactional marriages"—the kind where a marriage happens based on the amount of the bride price.
Zhang Zhe didn’t think his situation with Xia Yi was like that.
’You have to actually like each other before it’s necessary to take the next step.’
...
After dealing with the system rewards, Zhang Zhe’s attention returned to his live stream.
Xia Yi had even sent him a message, pestering him for an update.
She said she was already sitting on her windowsill, watching the night view while waiting for Matchmaker Zhang’s stream to start.
’A programmer, and now live-streaming blind dates has become my main job.’
Zhang Zhe had also figured it out. There was no way he was going back to Shencheng City. Hadn’t he had enough of that 20-yuan pig trotter rice?
Being an internet Matchmaker was his real growth opportunity.
Mrs. Xu’s fans were right there for the taking. How many he could convert depended on his own skill.
The "Matchmaking Live Stream Room" account was gaining new followers every day.
Once his followers reached a certain number, it would be a natural next step to stream from his own account.