Livestream Matchmaking: My Intel Infinitely Refreshes

Zhang Zhe was eating chilled watermelon with Teacher Wang when the mother arrived with her daughter.

The sun was blazing at 12:30 PM, and the usual crowd at the Matchmaker’s Corner had all gone for lunch. Zhang Zhe and Teacher Wang had just finished their own boxed lunches, thinking they could finally get some rest.

But to their surprise, the mother-daughter duo chose this exact moment to show up.

The daughter was dressed very fashionably, covered head-to-toe in sun-protection gear, leaving only her eyes visible.

As she approached, you could tell from her physique and the way she walked that she was the type to confidently show herself off, a far cry from the shy, timid girls one usually saw.

’Oh, crap. She’s here to make trouble for you,’ Teacher Wang thought, suddenly finding her watermelon exceptionally sweet. "Teacher Zhang, come on. It’s your turn to handle a client."

"Sigh." Zhang Zhe let out a breath. "You really make me work for my money."

"Of course! You think money just grows on trees these days?"

"Hurry up and take your seat. I’m going to start the livestream," Teacher Wang urged. The boss of the matchmaking agency had called her during lunch and told her to be more proactive.

That’s why she was in a bit of a rush.

Zhang Zhe remained unhurried. He waited for the mother and daughter to get settled before wiping his hands and slowly taking his seat.

"Have you eaten yet, ma’am?"

"Not yet, Matchmaker," the mother said, her face all smiles, just as it had been the first time. "My daughter just woke up, so I brought her right over. She can explain things much more clearly herself."

"Mom, I can talk with him myself. You go get something to eat," the woman said, pointing toward the park exit. "There are stalls selling stir-fried boxed meals over there. Grab one for me too after you’re done."

"Alrighty," the mother nodded and scurried off.

The woman didn’t speak until her mother’s figure had disappeared from the park exit.

Perhaps it was a professional habit, but her tone of voice had a naturally seductive quality to it, a bit like Chi Lian from *Qin’s Moon*:

"Good afternoon, Matchmaker. Thanks for meeting with me."

"Mm, good afternoon to you too." Zhang Zhe nodded at the masked woman before him.

They were already in the shade and she had sent her mother away, yet the woman showed no intention of removing her face covering.

"Sorry, Teacher. I’m having an allergic reaction and my face has broken out. I don’t want to scare you."

"Okay. It’s not a side effect from plastic surgery, is it?"

"No," the woman shook her head. "You may have the wrong idea. I’m not like those other female streamers. I haven’t had any work done on my face."

"I’ve only had my nose and mouth done."

"It’s fine, it’s fine. Plastic surgery is perfectly normal. I’m just curious what you’d rate yourself now."

"A score? That’s hard for me to say."

"Let me show you a no-makeup photo, Teacher."

The woman was quite open. If not for the harsh flash, Zhang Zhe would have suspected the photo she showed him was a professional shot from a premium gallery that required a 99-yuan entrance fee.

Fortunately, Zhang Zhe was worldly enough not to be too fazed by it. He viewed it with the detached eye of an art connoisseur.

He had to admit, the girl’s looks were a solid 6 out of 10.

That was with makeup, of course, but given her profession, she was rarely seen without it. Even now, coming to meet a matchmaker, she was obviously wearing false eyelashes.

"How long have you been a streamer?"

"Almost... a full eight years now."

"That long ago?" Zhang Zhe thought back. If she started in 2017, that was around the time when Douyu and Panda TV were dominating the streaming world.

The memory of that golden age, so full of vitality and fierce competition, was still fresh in his mind.

"Which platform were you on back then?"

"That platform has already shut down. You probably wouldn’t have heard of it."

"I see. Have you been in this industry all these years? Never thought about changing careers?"

"Once," the woman said, holding up a finger.

"I left for a while to open an esports hotel with a partner. We opened at the end of 2019. Business was great at the start, so we paid three years’ rent upfront and rented another twenty rooms. But right after we finished renovating, the business completely dried up."

"I lost almost three million yuan."

"My partner in the venture ended up over a million in debt. She couldn’t handle it and just married a man in his fifties. I heard she had a son last year. She’s probably quite happy now."

"But I couldn’t do that. I can’t stand the smell of old men, so I just went back to streaming..."

"..." For a moment, Zhang Zhe was speechless.

It reminded him of that famous meme:

An e-girl selling risqué photos online took all her hard-earned money to buy a house, but not only did she never get to move in, she had to go back to her old line of work just to pay off the mortgage.

This woman, by comparison, was much luckier.

When she started streaming, she had caught the industry at its peak. Back then, a gaming streamer with even a little bit of skill could easily make tens of thousands a month. As for an attractive female streamer like her, if she was diligent, pulling in a hundred thousand was a piece of cake.

This woman must have earned a fortune. The assets in her name, plus the apartment she bought for her brother, totaled four to five million yuan, most likely all saved up from that period.

"So why the sudden decision to look for a partner now?"

Zhang Zhe asked, lounging back in his chair. Since she was wearing a mask anyway, he decided to treat it like a remote call with another streamer and make himself comfortable.

"Are you running into financial trouble?"

"I’m definitely making less money than before," the woman admitted with a self-deprecating laugh. "But if I really wanted to make money, being a rich man’s mistress would earn me a lot more than getting married."

[Who does this woman think she is? So arrogant.]

[She’s not wrong, though.]

[You can tell she’s the type who really knows how to make money off men.]

[If you put it that way, does it mean the women who rely on marriage for money aren’t cut out for the other ’job’?]

[To put it bluntly, marrying an honest guy is the last resort for women like her.]

Zhang Zhe also wanted to ask on behalf of all the "honest guys" out there:

’Are we honest guys running a recycling plant or something? Why does everyone want to dump their problems on us?’

But he had to admit, the woman currently had the right to be this confident.

Of course, she could only act like this for another couple of years. Once genetics started to take their toll, no amount of technology could reverse it.

"Teacher Wang," Zhang Zhe said, glancing back at Sister Wang, who was holding her phone. "Didn’t you say you could help her find someone?"

"What do you mean?"

Zhang Zhe couldn’t be bothered to find a match for this kind of woman. He didn’t want to screw anyone over.

’Sister Wang has been in this business a long time,’ he thought. ’Maybe her standards are a bit lower.’

’It’s up to her if she wants to earn this fee.’

"I can’t help her," Sister Wang shook her head. "She should talk to our boss. He’s been in the business longer, and his standards are lower."

Perhaps what Teacher Wang said was a little too blunt.

The woman across from them frowned noticeably. "I’m not as terrible as you’re making me out to be, am I? I’ve asked lots of matchmaking agencies, and they all said they could help me as long as I paid."

"Why are you two giving me the runaround?"

"We can also help you if you pay," Teacher Wang said, an expert at handling such women. "But the fee you paid went to our boss, so he’s the one who should handle this."

"I’m not going to let him off the hook."

"Ditto," Zhang Zhe nodded, making a polite ’go on’ gesture.

’He had really just wanted to confirm his suspicions.’

’Now that he had his answer, he had no motivation to continue the conversation.’

But the woman showed no signs of leaving.