"Son, Mom had a dream last night. I dreamed you came home with a chubby man with little glasses and a full beard, and you told me that was the girlfriend you found in Chengdu."
"Your father was so mad he dropped dead on the spot."
"I was stronger. I lasted a minute longer than your father."
"But you still made me die of anger."
"Tell Mom the truth. You’re 30 and still not married. Is there... some unspeakable reason?"
"..."
Zhang Zhe listened to the voice message his mom had sent him yesterday one more time.
The look on his face was incredibly complicated.
’I don’t even have to think about it. This must be another one of the terrible ideas from the aunties Mom plays mahjong with.’
The goal was to force him to go on a blind date.
The evening before last, Mrs. Zhang had pulled a similar stunt. The excuse she used was that she was sick, unable to eat or sleep, and she would only get better after seeing Zhang Zhe’s girlfriend.
Even though he felt it was fake, Zhang Zhe had just been laid off and hadn’t found a new job yet, so he figured he’d come home to check on her.
But when he rushed back, travel-worn and weary, he hadn’t even made it home. Right at the entrance to their residential community, he saw his mom by the roadside, arguing ferociously with a street vegetable vendor over a matter of ounces on the scale.
Her voice was so loud, she didn’t sound sick at all.
If Zhang Zhe hadn’t stepped in to mediate, they probably would have started fighting.
When he got home and asked for details, he found out it was another one of Mrs. Zhang’s old sisters’ ideas—a way to get her thirty-year-old son married, have a grandchild for her sooner rather than later, so she could help raise the kid while she wasn’t too old...
Zhang Zhe didn’t know whether to laugh or be angry.
To hear his mother tell it, you’d think he had stayed single for thirty years and deliberately avoided marriage just to piss his parents off.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to get married. But as a regular 3D modeler with a 996 work schedule, he had no time and lacked charm. Forget marriage—it was hard enough just to have a serious relationship.
This was actually the norm for young professionals working in big cities.
But Mrs. Zhang didn’t see it that way. She knew Zhang Zhe had just been "optimized" by his company, which meant he had plenty of time now. He could go through the whole assembly line: blind date, marriage, and ideally, get a grandchild on the way.
Zhang Zhe couldn’t win against her, so he could only agree to give it a try.
Besides, his mom had said that as long as he showed up for the date, even if he didn’t like the person, she’d be happy. It would count as him coming home to fulfill his filial duty.
"Mom, I’m heading in for the blind date now."
"Look at the picture, this is the place."
Zhang Zhe took a picture of the coffee shop in front of him.
He sent it to Mrs. Zhang, who was lying in wait on WeChat.
Then he straightened his clothes slightly and walked into the shop with confidence.
There weren’t many customers inside. At a table in the corner, his blind date was already waiting for him.
She had been introduced by the brother-in-law of a distant niece of one of Mrs. Zhang’s mahjong friends. Her home was nearby, so she had arrived early.
The two confirmed each other’s identities to make sure they had the right person.
Before coming, all Zhang Zhe knew about her was that her name was Huang Meimei and her parents were both government employees. He knew almost nothing else.
According to Mrs. Zhang, she was a sweet-looking, quiet, and very polite girl—a top student who had returned from studying in Australia.
For now, Zhang Zhe couldn’t tell much.
There was a hint of sweetness, but not much. The woman looked like a budget version of Bichen. She had on heavy makeup, her face caked in a thick layer of foundation. If she made even a slight expression, the powder on her cheeks looked like it would start to bunch up.
"Zhang Zhe, I’ve already seen your profile."
"I’ve been talking to your mother for a while. She said you were a real handful as a kid, a roguishly handsome type who was popular with girls. You even brought a girlfriend home in the third grade."
"I didn’t expect you to become so well-behaved when you grew up, but lose interest in the opposite sex..."
’I can’t believe Mom already did the reconnaissance,’ Zhang Zhe thought. ’It sounds like they’ve talked a lot. Does this mean she’s already passed Mom’s inspection?’
’In that case, this woman must have something special about her.’
Just as he was racking his brain for how to respond, a "DING—" suddenly sounded in his ear.
It was followed by a slightly cold, mechanical voice:
"Host has been detected as single for 30 years. At 30 years old and still not married, how long were you planning to wait? Unlocking the Perfect Marriage System for you now."
"This system is designed to help the Host settle the matter of their marriage."
"The prerequisite for a perfect marriage is a suitable partner."
"Please find a marriage candidate as soon as possible. The system will assist you in analysis and screening..."
"!!!"
"Host detected on a blind date."
"Activating Blind Date Intel function!"
"The system will provide you with real-time intelligence on your blind date, safeguarding your future marriage in advance."
"Please proceed with the blind date at ease. Feel free to dig up information on your date and display your personal charm!"
"Friendly Reminder: For every blind date completed, the Host will receive [Happiness Points]. Based on the difficulty of the blind date, you can receive up to 5 Happiness Points for a single encounter."
"Happiness Points can be used to increase your life’s happiness index. Please do not miss out."
’A system?’
’Huh?’
Zhang Zhe was only stunned for a moment.
After all, with the logical mind of a top-tier science major, he quickly processed the strange information that had popped into his head.
’Perfect Marriage System, huh?’
’A little interesting.’
’I wonder what it means by "safeguarding." ’
’Can it protect me from running into gold diggers?’
’Or guarantee I won’t get scammed?’
’Or maybe it can help me run into my high school Bai Yueguang, who has actually been waiting for me all these years?’
Zhang Zhe’s mind was instantly filled with fantasies about the system.
As for the [Happiness Points] reward, he wasn’t in a hurry.
’It wouldn’t be too late to look into that after the date is over.’
"I wonder if Auntie told you anything about me?"
Huang Meimei’s voice brought Zhang Zhe back to his senses.
’Oh, right. I’m still on a blind date.’
He quickly answered her question, lest the date die from an awkward silence. "My mom mentioned a little. She said you studied abroad in Australia."
"Did you go abroad right after high school?"
"Yeah, I left when I was 18."
"So how long have you been back in the country?"
"It... hasn’t been that long. I came back a few years ago."
Huang Meimei clearly hesitated when she answered.
At first, Zhang Zhe didn’t pay it any mind.
But for some reason, after she said that, a red exclamation mark suddenly materialized out of thin air above Huang Meimei’s head.
It was just like a quest marker above an NPC’s head in a video game.
Anyone who could see a red exclamation mark and resist clicking it must have the willpower of a reformed drug addict. In any case, Zhang Zhe couldn’t resist.
But before he had a chance to "click" it, the exclamation mark collapsed.
It collapsed into a line of small, red text:
[High-Value Intel]
[Huang Meimei went abroad to study 17 years ago. She returned to the country due to an unplanned pregnancy and never completed her studies. She has hidden this part of her past from everyone and paid for a diploma from a local university, but she has never used it, so her secret hasn’t been exposed.]
Huh? Zhang Zhe’s pupils contracted.
’What did I just see?’
’The fake diploma doesn’t matter. To be honest, when it comes to universities in Australia, aside from the handful of famous ones you can count on one hand, their quality is... well, those who know, know.’
’Returning to the country because of an unplanned pregnancy isn’t that strange either.’
’Zhang Zhe had heard a friend talk about the frat parties while studying in the Beautiful Country. He could only say that nothing surprised him anymore.’
The real problem was "17 years ago"!
’Doesn’t that mean this Ms. Huang is already 35 years old?’
’Although Zhang Zhe himself was already 30, not to be a hypocrite, but under normal circumstances, shouldn’t he be on a date with a woman around 27?’
’At her age, could she be divorced?’
Zhang Zhe thought for a moment, then asked tactfully, "So, have you been single ever since you came back?"
"Yes, that’s right. I’m still unmarried." Huang Meimei smiled. "I just never met the right person. Guess it wasn’t in the cards."
"It’s actually not that easy to find someone suitable to marry. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be on a blind date, right?"
As she spoke, Zhang Zhe kept staring at the space above her head.
No new intel popped up, which meant she was probably telling the truth.
’So this woman really has never been married.’
"So what do you do for work now?" Zhang Zhe asked after a moment’s thought. Of course, he had to investigate the basic details on a blind date; otherwise, he wouldn’t know how to report back to his mom.
"I’m a freelancer."
"Don’t worry, even though I don’t have a stable job, I do have an income. It’s about 120,000 a year. It’s not as high as your salary in Shencheng City, but the cost of living here is low, so we’re actually about the same."
The moment Huang Meimei finished speaking, another exclamation mark—this time yellow—popped up.
[Medium-Value Intel]
[Huang Meimei’s main source of income is the living allowance from her parents, who give her around 10,000 a month. But it’s not nearly enough for her to spend, and she is currently 450,000 in debt. Her parents have promised a dowry of two apartments (total value approx. 1.5 million), a Mercedes E300 (approx. 500,000), and 880,000 in cash, which is why she is so eager to find a match.]
Zhang Zhe’s eyelid twitched. ’Holy crap, a rich girl!’