Chapter 152: The Master Arrives
"Ma’am, in your daughter’s situation, she’s not a good fit for the matchmaking market."
"She’s better off finding someone in her daily life."
"What do you mean?" The older woman didn’t understand. "Why can other people come to the matchmaking market, but my daughter can’t?"
"Some of them don’t even make half of what my daughter does."
Zhang Zhe glanced at the woman. He was sure she wasn’t pretending; she genuinely saw no problem with her daughter’s circumstances.
In that case, he could only tell her the truth. Otherwise, she’d just keep going down the wrong path.
"Ma’am, the problem is your daughter’s profession."
"The profession of a livestreamer is inherently at the very bottom of the matchmaking market. It’s possibly seen as even worse than a woman who’s just studying for the civil service exam."
[Studying for the civil service exam means she can live off her parents and has a clear goal]
[The barrier to entry for livestreaming is too low. Cats, dogs, any little animal can be a streamer]
[To put it bluntly, livestreaming is a young person’s game. That’s true even for streamers who sell products]
[No guy is willing to take that gamble. What if you get one who isn’t ’clean’? Aren’t you just screwed?]
The bullet comments showed varied opinions on female livestreamers.
Zhang Zhe’s line of thinking was simpler:
He’d explain it using a concept that modern women would most easily accept. In their eyes, a good marriage is a way for a woman to "cash in" on her assets. This includes looks, figure, conversation skills, and emotional value—basically, any attribute that can be assessed. The goal is to "cash in" at their peak value.
The more they cash in, the more they feel the marriage was worth it.
What they get from cashing in might be pure money, like a bride price, or it could be a stable family, a husband with a promising future, or a powerful family-in-law.
But for many livestreamers who rely on their looks, they have already cashed in once, or even multiple times.
Their youth was already traded to their top donors for cold, hard cash.
Trying to come back to the marriage market and cash in again using conditions like "unmarried with no children" and "good looks and elegant demeanor"... where would you find such a great deal?
From a marriage perspective, these women are pretty much the same as women who have been mistresses. They might even be worse.
But what’s even more ridiculous is that these people often want to use the money from their previous "cashing in"—the cash earned from their top donors—as a stepping stone to marry into an even higher social class.
Do they really think the rich men in the matchmaking market are idiots?
They’d be better off learning from the more professional streamers and just date their number one donor for life. After all, if they have a good reputation, someone will always be willing to send gifts, and there will always be a number one donor.
"My daughter’s profession is fine," the older woman said, frowning with a very annoyed tone. "Aren’t there tons of streamers these days?"
"But very, very few streamers can earn enough for two houses and a car."
"Doesn’t that just prove she’s very capable?"
"..." Zhang Zhe suspected the woman was playing dumb.
But then, some jerk in the crowd suddenly shouted, following up on the mother’s words:
"Capable in *bed*, you mean?"
Hearing this, Zhang Zhe shot to his feet. "Who was that? Who would say something so vicious?"
Seeing this, Teacher Wang secretly gave Zhang Zhe a thumbs-up. ’Young people are so quick on their feet,’ she thought. ’The older woman hadn’t even processed it yet, and he had already spoken up.’
Otherwise, if they couldn’t find the person who said something so stupid, the woman might have ended up blaming the two of them, the Matchmakers.
Zhang Zhe was speechless too. ’There aren’t any kids here, so why don’t people use their brains before they speak? How could anyone say something like that?’
You could tell from the older woman’s face that if Zhang Zhe hadn’t reacted so quickly, she would have already gone on a full-blown rampage.
Thankfully, Zhang Zhe’s interjection had softened the blow.
Although the woman also stood up, she just glared viciously in the direction the voice had come from, without exploding outright.
"Ma’am, this is what I meant by finding someone in her daily life. People have huge prejudices against the livestreaming profession."
Zhang Zhe couldn’t say whether this prejudice was right or wrong, but the reality was what it was:
"In the real world, men have run into too many strange female livestreamers, so they naturally view women in this line of work with prejudice."
"Actually, streamers who sell products, gaming streamers, and even abstract Go streamers are all perfectly normal. They bring joy to their audiences. But many people still can’t accept it. They feel that these women give their best side to the viewers and leave their worst side for their families."
Zhang Zhe was being very thorough; he even considered the possibility that his analysis was wrong.
After listening, the woman’s expression softened considerably. She spoke to Zhang Zhe with a bit of heartfelt sincerity, "My daughter told me that the men she meets are never serious. That’s why she asked me to come to the matchmaking market to help her find someone who genuinely wants to get married."
"Don’t worry, Ma’am. Someone in your daughter’s situation can find a match." Teacher Wang, who had a great sense of timing, interjected with a solution. "Go home and get some detailed information about your daughter’s work. It would be best to get proof of employment and print out her bank statements. Then come find me at our matchmaking agency."
"I can help you find a partner free of charge."
[Assuming you actually have the nerve]
[The bank statement move is brutal. Real top donors just transfer money directly]
[I bet the mom’s going to have a breakdown after she goes back and checks. The food she eats and things she uses were all bought with money her daughter earned... you know how]
[You guys really think she doesn’t know? She’s just lying to herself]
"And she is...?" the older woman asked, looking at Zhang Zhe and pointing to Teacher Wang.
"She’s our matchmaking agency’s ace," Zhang Zhe explained. "She’s sick, so I’m filling in for her."
"What illness? Is it serious?"
"I have an illness where I cough up blood whenever someone lies to me," Teacher Wang said, putting on an act. "I’ve been lied to by too many clients. I can’t take it anymore."
"Oh, I see." The woman nodded. Since Teacher Wang had put it that way, there was no point in arguing further, so she might as well go home and obediently prepare the documents.
After the woman left, Zhang Zhe and Sister Wang compared notes. They both believed that the mother probably knew her daughter got money from men, but she might not have known the specific details of how.
A livestreamer would never reveal her work process to her family.
"Sister Wang, is your illness for real?" Zhang Zhe was a little curious. He had a system himself, so he wouldn’t be too surprised if other people had special abilities.
"What about it?"
"Have you ever tried getting a blood transfusion while matchmaking? That way, you’d be a human lie detector."
"PFFT—" Teacher Wang burst out laughing. "You don’t need to go to all that trouble. Once you’ve been a Matchmaker for a while, you’ll see that it’s obvious when these people are lying."
"Look at that woman from before. When she talked about her daughter’s houses, car, and income, she wasn’t the least bit hesitant. That proves she genuinely thinks her daughter is outstanding."
"Good point. But I think it’s also possible she’s just hypnotized herself," Zhang Zhe said with a chuckle.
They both figured that once the woman went home and got the full story from her daughter, she wouldn’t be showing up at the matchmaking market again.
But this time, their prediction was a little off. That afternoon, the older woman came back, and she brought her daughter with her.