Chapter 182 - 180: I Don’t Want People to Say I’m a Gold Digger
Thirty women were seated in the venue. After the male guests had studied their profiles for five minutes, they entered in an orderly fashion under the direction of Xia Yi and the other organizers.
Most of them looked bewildered.
Matchmaking for government employees was, in a way, quite absurd. Events like this were common: someone was looking for a government worker, and since they happened to be government workers, they showed up.
They knew the women liked government employees, but that was about all they knew.
It was like opening a blind box.
The most ridiculous part was that it was the same even when their superiors at work tried to set them up.
A boss might introduce a new male employee to a potential partner without ever having met the woman himself, only knowing that so-and-so’s family had a daughter who was looking for someone.
This happened so often that many government-employed men attended these matchmaking events in the same dazed state they were in now.
Of course, some were genuinely looking to get married.
Take the current situation, for instance. Seated before the woman Zhang Zhe was responsible for was a middle-aged man in a hat, holding his own profile.
He had clearly come prepared.
"Why don’t you two exchange profiles and have a look first."
Zhang Zhe reached out and helped them swap the documents.
"In one minute, you can start asking each other questions or introduce yourselves."
[Is Brother Zhang matchmaking?]
[Finally seeing you do offline business! Where is it? I’ll come support you!]
[Can we see what the girl looks like?]
The livestream chat was full of confused comments. It couldn’t be helped; they didn’t know the conditions of the man or the woman.
Zhang Zhe knew, but he couldn’t just say it. That would be too deliberate.
But the good thing about these blind dates was that even if you didn’t know their stats, you could figure out a lot just by listening to their conversation.
The one-minute countdown was over in a flash.
Zhang Zhe placed his hands on their profiles, signaling for them to stop reading.
"Now, describe your first impression of each other."
"Ladies first."
"I think you’re a bit old. Is there something wrong with you, being unmarried?"
"And the gentleman?"
"I think her qualifications are pretty good, and she’s a great match for me." The man took the initiative to be friendly. "Actually, I’ve already seen her profile. She’s exactly my type."
"Is that so?" Zhang Zhe smiled and nodded. "That’s great."
He now understood why traditional matchmakers always encouraged men to be simps.
Because women at these matchmaking events were genuinely hard to please. They couldn’t even carry a conversation.
’I don’t know what they’re trying to prove.’
If the man was proactive, at least he, the Matchmaker stuck in the middle, wouldn’t feel so awkward.
"What about the lady? Are you satisfied with the man’s appearance?"
"I’m not picky about looks," the woman said, shaking her head. "I’m more concerned with whether the man is capable."
"If your annual income isn’t at least 300,000, I can’t accept it."
[Damn, that income level... are we really talking about Qing City? Did Brother Zhang go to Shenghai? Is that in Shenghai currency?]
[Just from her voice, you can tell she’s no good.]
[Another one who just wants to marry into money.]
[What’s her annual income? How dare she make a demand like that?]
"Matchmaker, not many government employees can meet that requirement, right?"
The man on the blind date shot Zhang Zhe a look for help, his expression seeming to say:
’Is this person even f*cking human?’
Zhang Zhe quickly helped explain, "She’s talking about total annual income. Not just your salary; other passive or part-time income counts too."
"For example, you could rent out a spare property;"
"Or if you have fixed-term deposits, the annual interest can be substantial if your savings are high enough."
"Do mutual funds and stocks count?" the man asked. "If I’m lucky, I can make over 500,000 a year from stocks alone."
"And if you’re not lucky?"
"I haven’t had an unlucky time yet," the man replied confidently. "I started playing the stock market in 2020, and my returns have been positive every single year. The least I made in a year was 200,000."
"The stock market is actually very simple. If you do short-term trades and don’t get greedy, you can basically always make money."
"Oh, that’s good," Zhang Zhe responded with great restraint.
He fought back the urge to add the guy as a friend and ask him to recommend a couple of stocks.
’Annual returns of over 200,000 for five years... this guy is a stock market god! Warren Buffett is just a sideshow; in our domestic market, anyone who doesn’t lose money is a deity.’
However, despite the man’s impressive claim, the woman had no reaction. She just said flatly:
"So your income is high enough? You’re pretty impressive, then."
"You’ve already surpassed 95% of government employees."
[So you’re only looking for someone in that top 5%?]
[The one accusing you knows best how unfair they’re being.]
[Brother Zhang, this one isn’t serious about finding a partner. Just get her out of here.]
"So, are you satisfied with his qualifications?" Zhang Zhe asked, full of expectation.
The woman’s requirement was simple: find a high-income government employee. The man fit the bill perfectly.
As for the man—a 32-year-old working for the city government—going for a 30-year-old kindergarten teacher with a car and a house was a move that didn’t quite make sense.
If he’d asked for advice on the livestream, he definitely would have been flamed.
But the guy said she was exactly his type.
There’s no accounting for taste. If it’s truly love at first sight, it’s not a big deal if one person’s qualifications are a little lacking.
So Zhang Zhe didn’t try to discourage the fellow. In fact, he was doing his best to bring them together.
"The gentleman meets all your hard requirements, he’s not bad-looking, and most importantly, he’s proactive. Proactive men are getting rarer and rarer these days."
"Why don’t you consider it?"
"I know his strengths. You don’t need to tell me."
"I’m looking for his weaknesses."
The woman’s reply was very professional.
When negotiating terms in matchmaking, seizing on the other party’s flaws makes it easier to gain the upper hand.
She stared at the man’s face for a long time before suddenly blurting out:
"Sir, why are you wearing a hat?"
"It looks to me like your hairline is a bit receded. Can you take off your hat?"
"I..." The man gave an awkward laugh. "I am a little bald, yes."
"Bald? That won’t work." The woman shook her head. "Baldness means there’s a problem with his genes. I won’t date a bald man."
"..." Zhang Zhe had developed a condition where he felt sick every time he heard a woman mention "genes."
’These women, who probably couldn’t pass a high school biology test, were now considering genetics.’
He thought for a moment and asked the man:
"Can we see how bald we’re talking?"
The man was very open about it and took off his hat directly.
He was indeed bald.
His large forehead was shiny and bright. If you put a little wax on it, you could use it as a mirror. It would be super effective against drivers with their high beams on.
"Matchmaker, mine is hereditary."
"I have too few hair follicles, so even a transplant wouldn’t work."
"But I wasn’t like this when I was younger. I only started losing my hair after I turned 30."
"It’s fine, it’s fine," Zhang Zhe comforted the man. "If I were you, I’d just shave it all off. A balding look really isn’t great."
"If you shaved your head, your looks would actually improve a bit."
[Baldness has nothing to do with genes! Isn’t Li Ka-shing bald? Didn’t stop him from making money!]
[Nine out of ten men go bald. How many guys don’t lose their hair when they get older?]
[This woman is so picky. Maybe she carries the baldness gene herself.]
[Baldness is polygenic, it’s not necessarily inherited from the father.]
"Ma’am, if the gentleman shaved his head, would you consider him?"
"Still no."
"Why not?"
"If he shaved his head, he’d definitely look old. If I were seen with him, wouldn’t people think I was only with him for his money?"
"That would be so embarrassing."
"?" Zhang Zhe had never heard that reason before. He glanced at the man—shaved bald, he would indeed look like a rich tycoon.
He had no choice but to try and talk some sense into the woman.
"Don’t worry, you’re not good-looking enough to land a tycoon. Those sugar daddies have better taste than that. No one would get the wrong idea."