Livestream Matchmaking: My Intel Infinitely Refreshes

"Just ask her out? Take her to dinner?"

"If you’re not in a hurry to get married, going Dutch is fine."

Zhang Zhe always analyzed things on a case-by-case basis.

For people who were fine with living alone, weren’t in a rush to marry, and just went on blind dates to see if they could find a life partner, insisting on going Dutch was no problem at all.

Because there’s no need to invest in someone who isn’t a good match.

For them, blind dating is just trying their luck. If they get lucky, they get married. If not, so be it.

But you’re different, Big Bro. You want to get married, so you have to spend the money that needs to be spent.

Even though it might not do much good, for him right now, this is "tuition."

"If you don’t spend this money on meals, let me be honest, when you get a little older, the money you saved will just end up going to a marriage agency anyway."

"That’s right." Teacher Wang nodded from the side. "We have quite a few 35-year-old men in your exact situation."

"They want to get married, but they’re too goal-oriented. They grudgingly pay the introduction fees and meet one woman after another, but when it comes to buying a girl dinner, they’re so stingy. I have no idea what goes on in their heads."

"Uhh..." The big bro was a bit embarrassed by her words.

Because he really was planning to go to a marriage agency in a little while and pay a Matchmaker to help him find a partner.

"Taking a woman out to dinner is mainly to learn how to talk to the opposite sex. Just think of it as paying for a private tutor. How much you can learn during one meal is all up to you."

[You can think of it that way?]

[Honestly, if the big bro just sincerely asked the woman for her opinion, some girls would actually be willing to give him some pointers. Not necessarily reliable ones, though.]

[This big bro isn’t like most guys. He’s been single his whole life, and now he’s starting his solo queue from scratch.]

[Forget it, this is too much trouble. It’s better to just live alone.]

In fact, you could tell from the way the big bro spoke that he had a typical STEM-major mindset—extremely goal-oriented.

He only went on blind dates in order to get married, so reasons like ’I’m not good enough for this woman’ or ’I don’t want to marry someone who’s lived with a partner before’ would cause him to stop everything instantly.

It was a bit like running a program; if it couldn’t proceed, it would just keep printing "error."

"Just remember one thing: you’re spending money on dinner not to marry her, but just to chat with her offline," Zhang Zhe said with great confidence. "I refuse to believe that, under these circumstances, you could still hold back from talking to her."

"If you don’t talk, you’ll have wasted your money."

"I get it." The big bro nodded. "But what if I meet the kind of woman who just shows up, buries her head in her food, doesn’t talk, and plays on her phone the whole time?"

"Isn’t that simple? Just make an excuse to go to the restroom, then run for it. Problem solved," Zhang Zhe said nonchalantly.

"Won’t the matchmaker blacklist me for that?"

"What? You’re worried about the matchmaker blacklisting you? For introducing you to someone like that, you should be the one blacklisting them first!"

Zhang Zhe couldn’t help but rant:

"Honestly, what if the Matchmaker is just setting you up with a dinner scammer? You’re worried about being decent, while they’re just trying to rip you off."

[As long as you’re the one who picks the restaurant, you pretty much eliminate the possibility of a dinner scammer.]

[When you think about it, the cost isn’t that high, since you’ll be dining and dashing most of the time.]

[Some guys are just too concerned with saving face, and they end up getting completely owned by shameless women.]

"Is that so?" The big bro was listening in a daze.

"Besides just taking them out to eat, you have to remember one thing: never, ever give them any gifts," Zhang Zhe added.

This was the most crucial part. If you don’t give gifts, it’s hard to get taken advantage of.

"Don’t buy anything. Even if she tests you, hints at you, or even tries to provoke you with taunts, don’t buy it."

"Just stick to simple dinner dates."

Zhang Zhe offered the big bro a new way of thinking:

"Just pretend you have a girlfriend, and it’s a long-distance relationship. When you have time, you meet up for a meal."

"The only difference is that this ’girlfriend’ is a different person every day."

"The day you finish your first meal and the woman takes the initiative to invite you out in return, wanting to keep talking to you—that’s when you’ll know you’ve graduated."

"Damn, that sounds a little tough." The big bro grimaced and sucked in a sharp breath. "I’ll probably have to sink the cost of a few dozen meals into this."

"Not necessarily. Maybe after a few blind dates, you’ll have an epiphany and realize that not getting married is pretty great too."

Zhang Zhe looked at the big bro and smiled. He was actually a little eager to see what state this peer of his would be in two years from now.

Up to this point, the big bro had, at most, only been on that one blind date with the woman who had lived with a partner. It went without saying that he still held unrealistic ideas about marriage.

A few more blind dates would set him straight.

"Alright, I’ll listen to Brother Zhang." The big bro nodded. As he stood up to leave, he suddenly sat back down. "I have one last question."

"That type of woman I mentioned earlier—not a local, a bit younger, but with average looks—if I’m looking for someone like that, it’s not a complete fantasy, right?"

"Of course it’s not a fantasy. You need to be more confident," Zhang Zhe encouraged him. "Shida First Affiliated Middle School hasn’t produced any cowards yet. Are you going to be the first?"

"Hehe, you’ve got a point." The big bro smiled and nodded.

Beside them, Teacher Wang watched the man’s departing figure and couldn’t help but sigh.

"What a prime mark. He was just about ready to be reaped, and you talked him into leaving."

"The most annoying part is, he’s indebted to you now. If he really does look for a marriage agency in the future, he’ll definitely come to you."

"Nothing to be done about it." Zhang Zhe shrugged. "Why don’t you handle it personally?"

"Can’t." Teacher Wang glanced at the long line in front of her, shook her head, and quietly sat back down.

...

By a little after 5 p.m., Zhang Zhe had finally dealt with most of the aunties and uncles who needed consultations.

Of course, he’d also offended his fair share of people.

But thankfully, because someone had climbed a tree to pull a stunt earlier, security had been called, and the guards had been on-site helping to maintain order ever since.

When 6 p.m. rolled around, Zhang Zhe had just finished with the auntie in front of him. He quickly stood up and stopped the uncle behind her.

"Uncle, no, no, I’m getting off work."

"What?" The few uncles and aunties who hadn’t gotten a consultation yet immediately swarmed him. "Matchmaker, we haven’t had our turn yet!"

"At least give me an analysis!"

"Yeah, yeah, we’ve been here for hours."

"Come on, Auntie, you just got here less than ten minutes ago. I saw you walk over," Zhang Zhe said with a smile, waving his hands dismissively.

It was already closing time. Soon, the foot traffic in the park would get even heavier. If he didn’t leave now, he might not be able to get home at all today.

"Everyone, don’t panic." Teacher Wang spoke up to help Zhang Zhe out after she had packed up her agency’s sign. "Although our Xixiangfeng Marriage Agency event is over, this Teacher Zhang, from the Mei Man Marriage Agency, will be holding another event tonight on Xiaohongshu."

"Just search for ’Brother Zhang of Qing City on Matchmaking’ and you’ll find it."

"Sister Wang, thank you. But are you sure you’ll be okay doing this?" Zhang Zhe was grateful to Teacher Wang for the advertisement, but her actions made her seem a bit like a corporate spy.

"It’s fine, it’s fine. I’ve already stopped my stream, so the boss won’t know."

"Good, then." Zhang Zhe nodded.

He pulled a small box out of his pants pocket. Inside were 50 business cards he’d had printed in advance. Now was the time to hand them all out.