The Marriage Matchmaking System!
Inside a teahouse in Taohua County.
Customers of all ages sat around in small groups, eating pastries, drinking tea, and chatting animatedly about all sorts of topics.
Only at a table in the corner was the atmosphere somewhat different. A young man was enthusiastically saying something to the pretty young woman seated across from him, while she appeared absent-minded and only gave lukewarm responses.
After talking for quite a while until his mouth went dry, Young Master Liu finally noticed that the person opposite him seemed distracted and couldn’t help frowning. “Miss Shen? Miss Shen? Did you hear what I said?”
Shen Taohua casually replied, “Mm-hm, I heard you, I heard you.”
Young Master Liu looked skeptical.
What he didn’t know was that Shen Taohua truly wasn’t spacing out. She was merely using the pale pink translucent panel that only she could see to verify whether what he said matched the actual facts.
Judging from the information displayed by the system, he really hadn’t lied. He had explained everything that needed to be explained fairly clearly, so at least he seemed sincere enough.
Young Master Liu cautiously probed, “Then… what do you think of me?”
Shen Taohua glanced at the data on the panel.
【Compatibility: 30.】
【Affection Level: 50.】
【Ideal Match Index: 60.】
Shen Taohua said, “You seem pretty good.”
Young Master Liu was instantly energized. “Really? Then what about us?”
From her chest, Shen Taohua magically pulled out a stack of papers.
“Your conditions are indeed quite good. I just happen to have a few girls here whose family background and personalities suit you well. Take a look and see which one you like. I’ll have a matchmaker I know to help arrange it for you. Don’t worry, I have plenty of good girls on hand, my resources are no less than a professional matchmaker’s.”
Young Master Liu: “??”
He looked at her in complete shock. “Miss Shen, what do you mean by this?”
He had come here for a matchmaking meeting with the Shen family, how did it turn into him being introduced to other women?
Shen Taohua said sincerely, “It means I’m not interested in you. There’s no way this will work out between us. But you definitely want to get married, right? Since that’s the case, isn’t it better if I introduce you to someone suitable?”
As the saying goes, since you’re already here, you can’t just leave empty-handed.
Fifteen minutes later.
When Young Master Liu left, he was completely dazed, his expression indescribably strange.
It wasn’t quite disappointment, nor was it happiness, something just felt off. In short, he looked extremely conflicted.
On the other hand, Shen Taohua looked refreshed and in high spirits as she called her maid, Ping’an, who had been waiting for her, and the two of them headed off to stroll through the streets together.
“Second Uncle Liu, one hand-grab pancake, please.”
She first called out to the stall owner who was making pancakes, then turned to the middle-aged woman at the neighboring stall. “Aunt Hua, one serving of sugar-roasted chestnuts.”
A stall owner known as Aunt Hua noticed Shen Taohua and her eyes lit up. She casually grabbed a handful of the sample chestnuts beside her and stuffed them into Shen Taohua’s hands.
“Miss Shen, how did today’s matchmaking go? Did it work out?”
Second Uncle Liu also perked up his ears.
Their stall was not far from the teahouse, and they had already seen Shen Taohua go inside earlier. They knew she must have gone for another matchmaking session today, so they had been eagerly waiting out of curiosity.
With her fair, slender fingers, Shen Taohua skillfully peeled open a chestnut shell and popped one into her mouth as well. The sweet, glutinous, and richly flavored chestnut filling melted on her tongue, making her squint in satisfaction.
Truly wild chestnuts really are delicious!
She mumbled, “Didn’t work out.”
Aunt Hua was stir-frying chestnuts with cross-shaped cuts in a wok while nodding in understanding. “Let me guess, you tried to introduce them to another girl again, didn’t you? You, honestly, when you get home, Master Shen and Madam Shen are definitely going to lecture you again.”
Shen Taohua chuckled. “What’s there to be afraid of? They’re already used to it.”
Over at the side, Second Uncle Liu, while making her pancake, disagreed. “They’re arranging these matches for you because they want you to have a good life in the future.”
Shen Taohua nodded. “I know. But I just didn’t meet anyone I liked. A forced melon isn’t sweet.”
Aunt Hua gave her a reproachful glance. “You’re just making excuses.”
They had all watched her grow up, so how could they not know she simply didn’t want to get married? In the end, it was still the parents who had to worry.
Having a daughter really is a debt owed in a past life.
Shen Taohua stuck out her tongue. “I just specially planned to buy some of my parents’ favorite snacks to cheer them up. Aunt Hua, your cooking is so good, my mother and the others will definitely forget to scold me after eating this.”
Aunt Hua laughed so hard she could barely close her mouth. “You really do have a sweet tongue.”
Even so, when packing the chestnuts for her, she still quietly added more than half an extra portion.
Shen Taohua said, “Aunt Hua, that’s too much. Don’t pack any more.”
Aunt Hua didn’t give her a chance to refuse. “Not too much. If it weren’t for you, how could so many stalls on this street be doing such good business? It’s just a bit of chestnuts, take them. Oh right, this month’s dividend will be sent to you tomorrow. Make sure you check it then.”
Shen Taohua hugged the overstuffed bag of chestnuts and waved her hand. “How could I not trust you? There’s definitely nothing wrong.”
When Second Uncle Liu handed her and Ping’an their hand-grab pancakes, he also nagged them a few more times, and finally said he would send over the dividend in a couple of days as well.
After that, the master and servant went to several more stalls to buy food, fried chicken, stinky tofu, and altogether seven or eight kinds of snacks.
Every stall owner would chat with her for a bit of small talk, occasionally mentioning their own family matters, but more often than not they would ask about her matchmaking results. When they learned it hadn’t worked out, they would start earnestly persuading her again.
Shen Taohua quickly became overwhelmed and hurriedly pulled Ping’an away to escape.
By the time they left the snack street, both of their arms were almost completely full.
Shen Taohua struggled to use one free hand to eat her now no-longer-hot hand-grab pancake.
People in ancient times were honest and generous with ingredients. The food was made with pure, unpolluted ingredients, no additives at all, so the taste was incredibly authentic. No matter how many times she ate it, she never got tired of it at all.
Although ancient living conditions couldn’t compare to modern times, and the variety of ingredients wasn’t as rich, food made without any modern technology or artificial tricks had a kind of superiority that modern food simply couldn’t match.
Pure happiness!
Back at the Shen residence, Shen Taohua was just about to bypass the main courtyard when a booming, furious voice came from the front hall.
“Shen—Tao—Hua! Get over here right now—!”
Shen Taohua let out a silent sigh and turned toward the front hall.
Master Shen, who had been preparing to interrogate her, had just opened his mouth when he saw Shen Taohua, who had been eating all the way home, burp contentedly. The words he was about to say immediately got stuck in his throat.
After a moment, he slammed the table and said, “Eat, eat, eat, always eating! I sent you to a matchmaking meeting, and what do you do? You introduce people to someone else instead! Are you trying to anger me to death?!”
Shen Taohua smiled. “How could that be? Father, you’ll definitely live a long and healthy life.”
Master Shen scowled. “Stop that nonsense! And don’t smile, be serious! Because of your nonsense, people have even started coming to me recently asking me to let you help them judge matches. I don’t even know how to respond to them anymore!”
Although their family wasn’t some noble or prestigious household, they were still one of the wealthiest landowning families in the county. And yet, after just half a year of her matchmaking visits, she had somehow successfully arranged seven or eight couples for others instead, and now she was even gaining a reputation for it, to the point people were coming to their door.
What kind of situation was this?!
Shen Taohua was delighted. “Isn’t that just proof that the couples I matched are living happily ever after? I’m even more reliable than professional matchmakers. As expected of me!”
Master Shen was speechless. So now you’re proud of this?
“Are you planning to steal business from the matchmakers? What was that strange thing you used to say… ‘[1]“Walk the matchmaker’s road so the matchmaker has nowhere to go” is a humorous adaptation of a well-known Chinese internet phrase: … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_2285143_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_2285143_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });walk the matchmaker’s road so the matchmaker has nowhere to go’? Did you offend matchmakers somehow?”
Shen Taohua sighed. “Father, what are you talking about? How can you say the matchmakers have offended me? When I arrange matches for people, which matchmaker has ever come to you to complain? Even though our family didn’t earn the matchmaking fees, I helped them find other matches, and they still make money in the end. That’s what you call a win-win situation.”
She continued happily in her mind: I keep living my free life, the men successfully get married, the matchmakers still earn money, we all have a bright future. Hehe.
Master Shen said angrily, “Everyone else is winning, what about me? When am I going to hold a grandchild?!”
“Father, I know you’re anxious, but don’t be anxious yet.” Shen Taohua picked up a paper-wrapped package she had brought back, opened it, and brought it to Master Shen. “Look what I bought for you? Your favorite fried chicken. Come on, I’ll feed you.”
Eat more, talk less.
She then handed a bag of sugar-roasted chestnuts to her mother.
Madam Shen, a graceful and beautiful woman, waved her hand and asked in confusion, “Taotao, tell your mother honestly, are you planning to become a matchmaker in the future?”
Shen Taohua shook her head innocently. “No, I’m not.”
She wasn’t some meddling auntie; why would she become a matchmaker?
The reason she was indirectly helping others form relationships was, aside from her own interests, entirely because she was bound to a marriage matchmaking system.
This system had bound itself to her two years ago, on the day she came of age.
Its origin was unknown, and the reason it chose to bind to her was also unknown.
Unlike the AI systems in novels that are either cute or prone to tricking their hosts, this system had no user manual at all, not even a help or complaint page. It was a completely self-service system.
She had to figure out its functions on her own over a long period of trial and error.
As its name suggested, the Marriage Matchmaking System was mainly designed to help more lovers end up together. Through the system, one could view the compatibility score between a man and a woman, their affection level, personal profiles, and the “ideal match index,” among other data.
Compatibility and affection level were easy to understand, they meant exactly what the words suggested.
The personal profile included a person’s name, age, place of origin, family members, wealth status, upbringing, emotional history, preferences, bad habits, and so on.
The “ideal match index” was a comprehensive evaluation of all factors to determine whether someone was a good marriage partner, regardless of who they were paired with.
All of these metrics were based on a 100-point scale. From the scores, one could judge whether a couple would become a loving pair after marriage or end up resenting each other.
From her observations, a compatibility score above 80 usually meant a deeply loving couple. They might have occasional friction in daily life, but it was insignificant, and their relationship was strong and unshakable.
Above 70 usually meant there were some aspects of each other they weren’t fully satisfied with, but affection still dominated, and they could live quite well together.
At 60, there were already many flaws and frequent arguments. For various reasons they didn’t separate, but there was no sweetness or happiness, just a relationship of mutual compromise.
Below that, things were basically chaotic, constant conflict and disorder. Not only would they not make good spouses, they might not even get along as friends, and were more suited to being strangers who merely crossed paths.
Anything below 30 didn’t even need mentioning, it was a textbook case of a mutually destructive pairing.
There were even occasional negative scores, which indicated a “criminal-type match.”
Cases like killing a wife or husband, or in extreme situations, even murdering an entire family, were possible. Just last year, there had been a case of a husband being killed in a neighboring town.
Most couples fell around the 60-point line, while among wealthier families, compatibility tended to be lower. Scores in the 40–50 range were most common, and 30s were not rare either.
The Shen couple, however, were a rare 90-point ideal match!
Not only was this the highest score Shen Taohua had ever seen, but it was also the only case so far that had exceeded 90. Even scores above 80 were already extremely rare.
With that in mind, didn’t the system seem quite impressive?
And yet, it never issued any tasks requiring Shen Taohua to actively arrange matches for others. It was basically a completely laissez-faire system.
Because there were no tasks tying her down, most of the time Shen Taohua treated it like a fun toy, or something to use for gossip.
It wasn’t until she was forced onto the path of blind matchmaking that the system began to show its real value.
Without the system, whether a match was good or bad could only be judged from surface-level information.
With the system, however, no matter how well someone tried to hide their secrets, nothing could escape it. People’s true nature was instantly exposed.
Take Young Master Liu from today, for example. His compatibility and affection scores with her weren’t particularly high, but his overall “ideal match index” reached 60, which was just a passing grade.
That was why she had introduced other women to him instead.
If someone had bad habits or an extremely low “ideal match index,” she wouldn’t just refuse to marry them herself, she also wouldn’t push others into a pit of fire.
Master Shen said, “I don’t care whether you’re trying to be a matchmaker or deliberately causing trouble. In any case, today I’ll let it go, but next time you’d better take the matchmaking seriously!”
While continuing to feed him fried chicken, Shen Taohua casually replied, “Yes, yes, I know.”
But in her mind, she was thinking that ever since binding with the system, she had barely seen anyone whose compatibility with her exceeded fifty.
They couldn’t even reach the passing line of sixty, what kind of marriage was there to talk about?
Besides, at her age in her previous life, she would still have been in high school. She’d basically still be a kid. Marriage? Wasn’t that just a joke?
The Shen family was one of the most prominent landlords in Taohua County, owning over a thousand mu of fertile land and dozens of shops.
As the only daughter of the Shen family head, she lived a life where everything was handed to her. She ate and lived comfortably without lifting a finger, occasionally strolling around idly like a loafer, enjoying her rich-parents lifestyle to the fullest. What kind of person would be so out of their mind as to want to get married?
Even if Young Master Liu from today had high compatibility and a high “ideal match index,” as long as it would ruin her carefree, leisurely salted-fish lifestyle, she would never agree.
Properly going on matchmaking dates was simply impossible.
Not just today, next time, and the time after that, no matter how high the system’s data was, whether the other party was an ugly disaster or a promising catch, she would absolutely ruin every match.
Everything was for the sake of her long-term, blissful life of comfortably mooching off her family.
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