Chapter 179 - 177: Sis, You Have a Good Foundation
"Our matchmaking agency doesn’t have a membership service."
"Then what’s the 99 yuan for? Does it cover one in-person meeting?"
"No. Meetings are free. The 99 yuan is a consultation fee. You pay me, and I’ll help you figure out your position in the dating market."
"I’ll let you know what kind of person you can realistically find right now."
"Okay!" The woman’s eyes lit up. She immediately took out her phone, scanned the WeChat QR code on the business card, and urged, "Add me. I’ll transfer you the money."
Zhang Zhe could tell that the young woman in front of him was in desperate need of some dating advice.
She was wearing a long one-piece dress, looking as if she were going to a prom costume party. But at just over five-foot-three and a bit overweight, the whole outfit just looked odd on her.
To put it bluntly, she kind of looked like a damsel in distress who’d been hit with an uglifying curse by a witch.
Witches don’t usually hold back—just think about how the prince was turned straight into a frog. So in her current state, it would be hard for any guy to be interested in her.
After receiving the money, Zhang Zhe immediately asked for her name and made a note of it.
He happened to have the profiles of the women who had signed up for this matchmaking event on hand. Zhang Zhe asked her to wait a moment while he looked over her basic information:
Tian Min, born November 1998, height 5’3", weight 143 lbs, from Longping Town in Xiangshan County, Qing City, a Chinese teacher at Qing City Experimental Primary School...
After reading, Zhang Zhe was a little puzzled. "Your parents are self-employed. Why don’t you own any property in Qing City? The housing here was pretty cheap years ago, wasn’t it?"
"My dad sold our house a couple of years ago to play the stock market."
"..." Zhang Zhe thought this was incredibly reckless. ’Two years ago, when Ms. Tian was 26, was her prime age for marriage. At such a critical time, her father really dragged her down. People who lose their house in the stock market have usually used leverage; they’re no different from gambling addicts. No one would want a father-in-law like that. A sane person wouldn’t set up a guy with a daughter from a family like this. Wouldn’t that just be ruining the guy’s life?’
"Does your father still trade stocks?" Zhang Zhe asked curiously.
"Yes, he still does."
"Don’t they care about you getting married?"
"They do, but they’ve always thought that since I’m a teacher, it should be easy for me to get married. They think the reason I’m still single is because of my own issues."
"Although, I guess I do have some issues right now..."
"Have you ever thought about... disowning your father?"
Zhang Zhe asked tentatively. A family like this could truly drag a person down.
By "disown," he didn’t mean cutting off all contact—she would still have to support her parents in their old age. But she needed to make it crystal clear to her family that she wouldn’t pay a single cent of his stock market debts.
Otherwise, if her dad was willing to sell the house to trade stocks today, tomorrow he could be forcing his son-in-law to help him with leverage. The day after, he might just jump off a building, leaving a mountain of debt behind.
"Huh?" The woman was shocked. "It wouldn’t come to that, would it?"
"It’s not that it wouldn’t come to that. It could be worse."
"It’s not just about disowning him. You might also have to proactively offer to sign a prenuptial agreement, stating that pre-marital and post-marital assets will be kept separate."
"Why?" the woman asked, confused. "Isn’t that the kind of agreement women who marry rich men have to sign? With my circumstances, it’s not like I’m going to marry into a wealthy family."
"It’s to give the man some security in the marriage."
"What’s your current monthly income?" Zhang Zhe asked.
"Normally, it’s about 5,800 a month. Rent and food cost me about 3,000, and I have to give my mom 800. I can save about 2,000 a month."
"How many years have you been working?"
"Six years."
"So you should have saved at least 140,000?"
"No, no, not that much." The woman waved her hands frantically. "Only a little over 60,000."
"Your math doesn’t add up. On average, you’ve only saved a little over 10,000 a year?" Zhang Zhe looked at her and asked, "The rest of the money... you didn’t give it all to your parents, did you?"
"Yeah, I did." The woman tried to justify her actions. "I’m a pretty filial daughter."
"More than just filial. You’ve also made a contribution to the stock market. You’ve done your part for Cambricon’s stock price."
"That’s great. With your situation, if you don’t make any changes, I think there’s only one path left for you," Zhang Zhe said with a hint of resignation. "You’ll have to expand your dating pool and see if you can find someone willing to accept your family’s circumstances."
"I know my family’s situation isn’t great, but I looked at the profiles of the men at this event. A lot of them are similar to me, and some are even worse off than my family!"
"No." Zhang Zhe shook his head. "I’ve seen all the profiles. No man here is worse off than you."
"How is that possible? I remember there was one guy whose mother is in a vegetative state."
"A person in a vegetative state probably doesn’t burn through as much money as your dad."
"..."
Zhang Zhe’s single sentence silenced her completely. Her reaction, along with her previous words and actions, all pointed to a very weak-willed personality.
’Her mother is probably the same,’ he thought. ’Her household is most likely run by her father’s word alone, and on top of that, the father isn’t even clear-headed. Who would dare marry into that?’
Zhang Zhe couldn’t even help her figure out her market position.
’The truth is, the dating market isn’t afraid of flaws,’ he mused. ’Really. Flaws aren’t the problem. The key is risk. Even major issues like tattoos, plastic surgery, or a history of recurrent miscarriages—you can still find people who will accept those flaws. Someone with tattoos can find someone else with tattoos. Someone who’s had plastic surgery can find someone who’s disfigured. Someone with a history of recurrent miscarriages can find someone who wants to be child-free. These flaws are visible. The future is predictable. The overall risk is manageable. But this woman’s family situation... To be honest, the exact amount of her family’s debt is still an unknown. In a situation like this, whoever marries her could be dragging themselves into an abyss.’
"Matchmaker, what do you think about me marrying a rich guy then?"
"?" Zhang Zhe blinked, finding it hard to believe. "Why would you have such an unrealistic fantasy?"
"With your circumstances, it’s very difficult to ’marry up’."
"That’s not true! My friends all say I have a good foundation," the woman explained with a serious expression. "If I just lose some weight, I should be a 7 out of 10."
"Your friends? Who? The ones from the blind massage parlor?"
"No, my colleagues, my best friends."
"Then your friends are truly vicious." Zhang Zhe stuffed his phone back into his pocket. "Let me tell you right now, I’m not refunding this consultation fee."
"Seeing as you’ve paid the fee, everything I’m about to say is the absolute truth. Listen carefully. How much you can stomach is up to you."
"When someone tells you that you ’have a good foundation,’ they are clearly telling you that right now, you’re unattractive. They can’t think of a single thing to compliment you on."
"If even one part of you—your eyes, ears, mouth, or nose—was good-looking, people would tell you that directly."
"Your current situation is this: low income, overweight, average looks, and a family situation that’s just utterly hopeless."
"Did you see that guy, contestant number 38, who ran off earlier? That’s a normal guy’s reaction after meeting you."
"Run. Run away as fast as you can. He didn’t even dare to turn back and take a picture."
"You have only one option right now: make your dad stop playing the stock market. Have him focus on running the family business properly and improve his reputation among the neighbors. You don’t want a potential suitor asking around your neighborhood only to hear nothing but terrible things about your family."
"Once you’ve done that, and if you lose some weight, you’ll have a chance to find an ordinary guy with a family background similar to yours."
Zhang Zhe said all this in one breath, then quickly took half a step back, just in case his life was in danger.