Chapter 113: Career Planning

Chapter 113: Chapter 113: Career Planning

So they don’t ask for a betrothal gift in Shenghai?

But someone in the comments said that while they don’t ask for a betrothal gift, they do require a new house.

The woman’s name doesn’t have to be on the deed for the new house, though.

All in all, that sounds pretty reasonable.

Zhang Zhe had to admit he was in a bit of an echo chamber. He’d only ever paid attention to Guangdong Province and his own area, plus Gan Province at most.

"See? I told you the betrothal gift isn’t really a traditional custom in this country."

"Alright, young lady, on the issue of the betrothal gift, you’re a nearly perfect candidate in the dating market."

"Next topic: having children."

"What are your thoughts on having kids?"

"Well, I think if the man’s side wants me to have a child..."

"Exactly!" Zhang Zhe clapped as soon as he heard her. "Now we’re getting somewhere."

"Elaborate, please."

"Sir, this isn’t some radical feminist rant, don’t get me wrong." The woman felt her mother glare fiercely at her and quickly explained, "I am willing to have children, but I have my own career too."

"If I choose to get pregnant and have a baby during my prime career-building years, wouldn’t the manager position that should have been mine just go to someone else?"

"So if the man is the one who wants a child, he has to give me maternity compensation."

"If I decide I want one myself, I’ll have one when I feel like I have no more hope for promotion. At least then the child won’t get in the way of my career."

"Well said," the woman’s mother chimed in from the side. "If I’d known you could do that, I never would have had you."

"I was in the prime of my career back then, too."

"Having you seriously held back my development. I could have made the Forbes list."

[Hahaha, the mom is hilarious.]

[Is that funny? All I see is a despairing mother.]

[Putting myself in her shoes, if my daughter thought like that, I’d be furious.]

[This is what happens when a child lacks a proper upbringing in a single-parent home. All I can say is, the mom isn’t exactly blameless herself.]

[Seems like it’s essential for parents to sit in on at least one of their kid’s matchmaking sessions.]

"Mom, that’s just ridiculous," the young woman protested. "Didn’t the company you used to work for go out of business?"

"It’s because you had me that you went from being an office worker to a small business owner. In that sense, I’m the one who brought you good luck."

"Hmph, as long as you know."

As soon as her mother said this, it was obvious the young woman’s left and right brain started fighting again.

’Having a child will mess up my career plan? But no matter how much I plan, I’m still just an employee. My potential is capped, and everything depends on luck.’

’What if there are layoffs, pay cuts, the company goes bankrupt, or the founder skips town...’

’Forget becoming a manager; even a director would suffer just the same.’

’At the end of the day, the future for any professional is uncertain. Personal success depends on individual effort, of course, but you also have to consider the course of history.’

"Okay, I have a basic understanding of your situation now."

Zhang Zhe cleared his throat. There was no need to ask all the remaining sensitive questions.

If he kept going, her mother’s blood pressure was probably going to spike.

"You’ve been influenced by that radical feminist rhetoric. It’s gotten to the point where, when you consider a relationship, you’re constantly thinking about your own interests."

"That in itself isn’t a problem."

"The problem is that you have a muddled self-perception. Your view of yourself comes from what other women have told you, not from your own thoughts."

"It’s like how you subconsciously think you can’t be a ’housewife’ after marriage, but you don’t even know how to do any chores in the first place."

"You’re calculating the trade-offs between work and family, and you’ve even figured out the compensation you want for childbirth, but your so-called ’bright future’ currently exists only in your imagination."

"The result is that you come across as if your left and right brain are at war with each other."

"One moment you’re saying, ’I want this,’ and the next, ’On second thought, I don’t.’"

Zhang Zhe had no intention of offering the young woman any solutions. Her own mother was right there listening. Since she’d raised her daughter to be this way, it was up to her as the mother to figure something out.

She’d have to put finding a new man for herself on the back burner.

If things went on like this, the mother would get remarried before her daughter even found a boyfriend.

"Believe me, no normal guy would be willing to date, let alone marry, a muddle-headed girl like you."

"They’ll just think you’re a total enigma."

"You really need to do some serious thinking."

After Zhang Zhe finished speaking, the young woman didn’t respond.

But her mother immediately replied:

"Thank you, sir. I really mean it, thank you."

"I originally thought that with my daughter’s straightforward personality, as long as she was a little more feminine, she’d have no trouble getting married."

"But now... it’s a good thing we came to you for a consultation today."

"I should stop thinking about finding a partner for myself. I need to help her figure out her own future first."

"You’re welcome, ma’am," Zhang Zhe said, offering some warm encouragement. "You two can look for partners together. I have a feeling you might get married off before she does."

"You’d be setting a good example for her, in a way."

"Haha, well, it would still be better if she got married first." The mother chuckled, then urged her daughter to thank Zhang Zhe before disconnecting from the call.

[Folks, this is what young women are like these days. Don’t have any illusions.]

[The mom’s 80s-generation view on marriage is still a bit too human.]

[Who came up with ’maternity compensation’? Can’t you ask the relevant government departments for it instead of your husband? After all, we’re just giving birth to more wage slaves.]

"Actually, this girl wasn’t that bad."

Zhang Zhe couldn’t help but give his audience a heads-up:

"The fact that her left and right brain are fighting means she’s still reasonable. A true master of that radical rhetoric is completely unreasonable. Their brain doesn’t even budge."

"Women like her, whose brains are at war with each other, are a confusing mess. When dating them, guys just need to watch out for when their thinking gets muddled and promptly hit the brakes for them, just like her mom did."

"But this only applies to young women."

"Don’t even think about it with the 30+ crowd. No matter how good-looking they are, don’t even try. I’m afraid you won’t be able to hit the brakes and will end up getting turned into a complete doormat."

...

After the stream ended, Zhang Zhe checked the private messages in his Xiaohongshu backend.

Holy crap, he’d been bombarded.

A ton of accounts with default profile pictures were messaging him, calling him "Matchmaker Zhang" by name and cussing him out.

It was all just filth and profanity, completely worthless.

Zhang Zhe just batch-deleted them and pretended he never saw them.

After checking his messages, he searched for the matchmaker bounty list on Xiaohongshu. The name "Brother Zhang of Qing City" was ranked 67th among matchmakers in Qing City.

A master ranked 67th on the Earthly Rankings.

Congratulations were in order; he had moved up again.

Zhang Zhe suddenly felt a pang of regret. He should have gotten into a flame war with those accounts that messaged him. If he’d gotten them riled up, they might have helped boost his rank even higher.

Unfortunately, the name "Brother Zhang of Qing City" wasn’t strongly linked to his personal brand.

This was partly because he was always streaming on Granny Xu’s account.

People only knew he was from Qing City and called himself Brother Zhang; there was no other information.

Zhang Zhe thought for a moment and decided that to solve this problem, it was time to pay another visit to the old veteran.