Chapter 96: Visiting a Senior

Chapter 96: Chapter 96: Visiting a Senior

"I’m not making a recommendation. I’m waiting for you to list your requirements."

"Your only requirement is 500,000 yuan. That’s like telling you a chemical compound contains carbon and asking you to fill in the rest."

"So, does that mean anything is possible?"

"Oh, so that’s what you mean." The woman finally understood. "You should have just said that from the start. Then I would’ve gotten it."

"I thought you were saying my only option was a bald guy."

"I can’t stand baldness. When I was doing experiments, my hair used to fall out in clumps. I swore back then that I would never marry someone with the balding gene."

[Baldness is a dominant gene. What if you and your partner are both heterozygous?]

[A PhD’s unique grudge against baldness.]

[She seems like the book-smart but not street-smart type, with zero social experience.]

[She’s focused all her energy on her studies. It’s normal to be a little slow in other areas.]

"Good. As long as you understand."

"I’ve seen your photo. On a scale of one to ten, your looks are a 3, which is average. And now that we’ve talked for a bit, I’d say your emotional intelligence in relationships isn’t very high, either."

"In other words, you’d have a hard time providing emotional value to a partner."

"So, my advice is that you shouldn’t expect your partner to provide you with much emotional value, either."

"Does that mean I can’t look for someone witty and humorous?" the woman asked.

"It’s more than that." Zhang Zhe waved his hand dismissively. "Being handsome provides emotional value. Having a great body with a six-pack is the same."

"If you’re demanding someone with good financial means, you’ll have to accept that he might look like Wang Xun, have a bit of a belly, and not be great with sweet talk."

"Let me think..." The woman hesitated, then said with some confusion, "In that case, I still think you’re a better option."

"You’re way better looking than Wang Xun."

"Thank you." Zhang Zhe cupped his hands toward the camera. "But I have a low income."

"Just imagine it. In the future, I’ll be earning less money than you."

"What if I lose my income entirely and have to rely on your support to live? Could you handle that?"

"I probably couldn’t accept that, no."

"Exactly. So, the upper and lower limits for your potential partner, across several dimensions, are pretty much set," Zhang Zhe analyzed bluntly.

"A rich Wang Xun, or a broke me."

"The choice is yours."

He could tell from her 500,000 yuan annual income requirement that this woman had never been through the wringer of the dating market. She was looking for someone handsome, rich, *and* who could provide emotional value.

In short, she wanted a guy who was maxed out in every stat—a ’hexagon warrior.’

Too bad Zhang Zhe wasn’t that guy. He might be one day, but she was already 32. She wasn’t looking for a growth stock; she needed a blue-chip stock.

"I get it. For now, my only option is Wang Xun." The woman was reasonably smart and didn’t try to argue senselessly. "So, does this mean our matchmaking session is over?"

"Yep."

"What a rip-off. 500 yuan just to chat with you for a few minutes."

[The streamer charges for matchmaking?]

[Brother Zhang is that cheap now? Sign me up for two minutes of fun!]

[I thought joining the stream was free. When did he start charging?]

All the careful plotting of a villain is no match for a fool’s random remark.

Zhang Zhe hadn’t even flinched when that boxer had put him on blast on Xiaohongshu, but this single sentence from the PhD student successfully made him panic.

"I didn’t take any money from you! Miss, I think you’ve been scammed."

"It wasn’t you, the Matchmaker took it," the woman said, sounding dejected. "I told her I was looking for a local man who makes 500,000 a year, is handsome, and is younger than me. The Matchmaker said she could find someone for 500 yuan."

"To be honest, I was quite satisfied with you."

"It’s just that your income isn’t high or stable. I’m getting older, so I really want to find a partner with a stable, high income."

"Miss, you shouldn’t be throwing your money away like that!" Zhang Zhe didn’t know if a dating agency had taken the fee, but wasn’t this a blatant rip-off?

"The kind of person you’re looking for doesn’t exist in Qing City."

"I’m a Matchmaker, so I would know."

’It’s hard to believe a PhD could be this naive.’

’But then again, he recalled a news story about a PhD student who was scammed out of 850,000 yuan. The scam wasn’t even sophisticated; it only worked because she’d spent ten years cooped up in a lab, not even looking at her Moments...’

’This demographic really is prone to being out of touch with society.’

’This was the second PhD student Zhang Zhe had dealt with. The first one didn’t grasp the basic principles of matchmaking, insisting that Ms. Dong should just go for President Lei.’

’This one was even more absurd. She was almost completely clueless about the outside world.’

’500 yuan for a single matchmaking recommendation, and she was willing to pay it!’

"Miss, I’m not your potential date anymore, alright? But listen to a word of advice from me."

"Go follow my livestream channel, and my other accounts too."

"You’ll find tons of clips there from my matchmaking sessions. You should study them carefully."

"Treat it like your research project for the next six months."

"Really dig into the fundamental principles of matchmaking, and then you can reconsider what kind of partner you’re actually looking for."

[See? If you’d framed it like that from the start, the PhD would’ve understood.]

[Totally. This is exactly how you need to break it down.]

[I’d suggest she go on 99 dates first, then we’ll talk.]

[I get the feeling she has no idea what a 500,000 yuan annual income for a guy even means.]

"Okay." The woman’s voice held a hint of confusion. "Can marriage really be approached like a math problem?"

"It can, sister. It really is just like solving a problem."

"Just give it a try. If it doesn’t work out, you can come find me again," Zhang Zhe encouraged her. "Honestly, if you can survive that long in a lab, you could probably handle being single for life without any issue."

"But since you’ve decided to look for a partner, you might as well do it right."

"Alright, thank you, streamer."

"You’re welcome." After replying, Zhang Zhe suddenly remembered the 500-yuan "consultation fee." "I’ll ask around for you later. You should be able to get that 500-yuan referral fee back."

’I’m not even charging for this, and someone else is?’

’Zhang Zhe never imagined someone would be pimping him out to make money.’

’And not even giving him a cut!’

’What kind of person does that?’

If he weren’t live on stream, he would have gone to find Sister Qi right then and there to get to the bottom of it.

However, there were still a lot of people waiting for a consultation, so he had to keep taking calls.

...

"Hello, Sir. I was born in ’97, so I’m 28 years old. I’m five-foot-eight and weigh 121 pounds. I’m currently a middle school teacher here in Chengdu."

"With your height, you must stand out from the crowd there, huh?" Zhang Zhe had mostly lived in the south, so in his eyes, any woman over five-foot-seven was definitely tall.

[With that height, her nickname must be ’Skyscraper.’]

[I’m a guy and I’m only 5’6". This girl must have legs for days.]

[Tall girls don’t usually have trouble finding a partner. A lot of guys like a slender figure.]

[She could probably be a flight attendant.]

"Yes, I guess you could say my figure is one of my standout features."

"But my looks are pretty average. Only a 3.5 out of 10."

"That’s not bad at all," Zhang Zhe told her. "Your height is your strong suit, especially in Chengdu. A 3.5 can easily become a top-10 beauty in a room of 100 people with just a little makeup."

"With your stats, you shouldn’t be short on suitors, right?"

"Yes, I am seeing a guy right now. He was born in ’90, is divorced, and has a son, but I don’t really mind that he has a child..."

"Is it because he’s tall, rich, and handsome?" Zhang Zhe could only think of one explanation.

"Yes. He’s tall, handsome, and rich."

"Is he a widower?"

"No, his ex-wife cheated on him. Don’t worry, Sir, I personally confirmed this with his ex-wife."

"Holy shit, that’s bold. You actually went to consult your predecessor?"

"The fact that you went to his ex-wife for confirmation proves you’re already dead set on marrying him. Now I’m curious—did you happen to ask his ex-wife why she would cheat on a guy who’s tall, rich, and handsome?"

——