Chapter 177 - 175: The Matchmaking Event Begins
After reviewing the men’s profiles, Zhang Zhe felt they were acceptable.
Being ’less desirable’ wasn’t an absolute thing.
Compared to others in their same work units, these older single men certainly didn’t have many advantages, but you could always compare them to a different group.
Compared to civil servants in small towns, to ordinary self-employed business owners, or to male teachers, they had certain advantages.
There was no reason those men could get married, but these ones couldn’t.
It could only be that they had a flawed perception of their own position in the dating market.
Even for the dozen or so men who, like Zhang Zhe, had received no interest at all, Zhang Zhe still felt they had hope.
Besides, this matchmaking event was the perfect opportunity.
In the future, even if they were willing to pay, it would be hard to find another chance to meet so many age-appropriate women.
After looking through the men’s profiles, Zhang Zhe moved on to the women’s.
After registration closed, the profiles of all the men and women participating in the event had been posted in advance on the matchmaking agency’s official account.
Each person had a photo accompanied by a written description of their personal details.
You could cast a vote for anyone you were interested in.
Boss He and her team had tallied all the votes. If the women were ranked from most to fewest votes, the girl in first place...
Zhang Zhe clicked on her profile to take a look.
He immediately understood what was going on.
Based on this woman’s photo and physical stats, she was a 6.5 out of 10.
That was already at the level of a pretty online influencer.
Moreover, she was only 28, right in the prime age for finding a partner.
However, the men who voted for her hadn’t really thought it through. For a beautiful woman like her, with a vocational college degree, who had entered the workforce early and was now a kindergarten teacher... the fact she wasn’t married was actually terrifying.
Never mind saying something like "a beautiful flower blooming in a barren land"—just at her own kindergarten, the people lining up to introduce her to potential partners would probably form a queue.
Still, 78 guys just didn’t get it.
Scrolling further down, the votes were basically distributed according to looks.
The prettier the woman, the more votes she received.
The only exception was a 23-year-old girl, but at her age, entering the matchmaking market surrounded by single women around 30, she was already devastatingly effective.
Compared to the men, far more women received zero votes. Zhang Zhe made a point to count them: a total of 32.
Without exception, almost all of them fell into one of two categories: "over 35" or "moderately to severely obese."
Their situation... Zhang Zhe really wasn’t confident he could help them find a match.
Overweight girls had a habit of sugarcoating their weight. Don’t be fooled by the "150 pounds" written down; that might have been her weight a year ago, and since she hadn’t measured it since, she just assumed she hadn’t gained any.
As for the older single women, it was the same old story: their age was the least of their problems.
All in all, after reviewing the profiles, Zhang Zhe had a good grasp of the situation.
With his current abilities, he should be able to handle this with ease.
...
「The day of the matchmaking event soon arrived.」
Early Friday morning, Zhang Zhe borrowed the Audi A6 his dad usually drove to pick up Xia Yi and take her to the venue.
The weather was nice, with the sun shining brightly, so Miss Xia had wrapped herself up in a gray sun-protective jacket, turning herself into a mysterious figure.
"Zhang Zhe, why are you only wearing a short-sleeved shirt? The sun is going to be brutal later."
"It’s fine. We guys can handle the sun."
"Handling the sun isn’t enough. It’ll speed up the aging process." Xia Yi shook her head and quickly got out of the car.
A moment later, she returned wearing cooling sleeves, a sun hat, and sunglasses.
She didn’t get back in the car right away. Instead, she stood by the driver’s side and watched as Zhang Zhe put on all the sun protection gear.
Not only that, but she also took some things out of her bag.
"This is sunscreen for your face. Put it on now, and I’ll help you reapply it when we have lunch."
"Put this Snickers in your pocket. On our last outing, a male teacher fainted from low blood sugar. You should have this, just in case."
"I have a power bank. I brought two, so come find me if your phone runs out of battery."
"Okay, okay." Zhang Zhe nodded as he took the items, saying, "Thank you."
He never imagined Xia Yi would be so thoughtful.
She was an only child, yet her preparations were flawless. ’Maybe this is just what kindergarten teachers are like,’ he thought.
Right now, Zhang Zhe really felt like he was being taken care of like a child.
’This feels great.’
Zhang Zhe basked in the wonderful feeling for a long time, his heart warm all the way to the matchmaking event venue.
...
This matchmaking event was being held at Green Grass Lake Wilderness Park on the outskirts of Qing City. As its name suggested, it was a nature park with grassy fields and a lake.
The park was built a couple of years ago, originally to make it easier to sell the surrounding land. Unexpectedly, after the land was sold, the developers who were supposed to build on it went to jail, leaving the area around the park nothing but undeveloped wasteland.
The citizens of Qing City, however, gained a great new weekend spot. It was accessible by car, had a wonderful environment, offered fishing, and during the summer, people came to camp almost every day.
The matchmaking agency chose this location not just because it was free, but mainly because there was plenty of parking; you could park anywhere on the surrounding wasteland.
After parking the car, Zhang Zhe remembered that he’d forgotten to ask what tasks Xia Yi had been assigned for the day.
"My entire day is packed." Xia Yi’s tone was a little glum. "In a bit, I have to help hand out corsages at the entrance, then help distribute water, and later I have to help you Matchmakers maintain order."
"It couldn’t be helped. The only way to come to the event was to sign up as a volunteer, otherwise I’d have to participate in the matchmaking."
"I see... Do you want me to help you?"
"I have nothing to do right now. I was just planning to play some games, and then when more people showed up, I’d find a chance to promote my matchmaking service. I can help you hand stuff out first."
"No, no, it’s fine. You have your own business to worry about. I don’t want to bother you," Xia Yi said earnestly, looking Zhang Zhe in the eyes.
"It’s no bother. I’ve got nothing to do right now."
"Erm... Actually, it’s because Lanlan is with me. If you come over, she’ll definitely pester you with questions."
"She and that guy she was seeing—the one who insisted on splitting everything—their talks fell through because of the bride price. If she sees you, you won’t be able to get away today."
"The bride price? Yeah, that does sound frustrating." Zhang Zhe smiled. ’Coming from Xia Yi’s colleague, that’s a predictable storyline,’ he thought.
How could a guy who insisted on splitting the bill for dates easily compromise on the issue of a bride price?
"Exactly. And if you come over and she starts pestering you, I’ll be stuck doing all the work by myself. So you go get busy. I’ll come find you later."
"Alright. Just message me on WeChat if you need anything."
Since Xia Yi had put it that way, Zhang Zhe didn’t insist. He walked her to the entrance of the matchmaking event, said hello to Lanlan, and then headed back to the Matchmakers’ rest area by himself.
At this hour, the other Matchmakers from the agency hadn’t arrived yet.
Zhang Zhe wandered around for a bit, originally planning to find a spot with an outlet to claim for charging his phone.
Unexpectedly, he ran into a guy who greeted him proactively.
"You must be Teacher Zhang, right?" The man came right up and shook his hand. "A pleasure, a pleasure."
"Are you one of the male participants this time?" Zhang Zhe asked, sizing up the man across from him.
He was dressed sharply in a suit, stood about 5’10", and had a round plastic sticker on his chest with the number "38" written on it.
He was clearly here for the event, and he had been assigned a rather infamous number. Anyone who saw it would do a double-take.
Noticing Zhang Zhe’s gaze, the man also looked down at his own name tag and couldn’t help but give a wry smile. "Bad luck, getting assigned this number."
"Teacher Zhang, do you have a moment? Could we have a chat?"