Chapter 205 - 203: Plato

Chapter 205: Chapter 203: Plato

After ending the call with the woman born in ’85, Zhang Zhe repeated his requirements to the stream:

"The prerequisite for defining your marriage goals is that you actually want to get married."

"Before you join the call, everyone, think carefully. Are you really ready for marriage? Or are you just looking to date without any intention of marrying?"

"A lot of people come on my stream, break down their requirements, and analyze everything, but in the end, it turns out they’re just looking for a younger guy or they’re an older woman looking for a younger man. That’s not the same path as marriage, so there’s very little I can do to help."

"Of course, if you’re completely clueless, you can still join the call, because frankly, your host is out of content."

Zhang Zhe pulled up the list of call requests and showed it to his audience.

Right now, no one was applying.

These days, platforms make you pay for traffic. The quality of organic traffic is too low; very few people are willing to go on camera.

"Oh? A warm welcome to this young woman from Chengdu."

"Alright. Just seeing you’re from there, I already have a feeling you have a hard time finding a partner."

Zhang Zhe clapped his hands to welcome her. The woman was a good sport and immediately turned on her camera.

Her looks were a bit plain. She had joined the call wrapped in a bed comforter.

What was a little strange was that even though she was wrapped in a blanket, she wasn’t barefaced—her false eyelashes were practically standing on end.

She gave off the vibe of someone who had just woken up with a hangover and forgotten to take off her makeup.

"My friend, your face... have you had some minor work done?"

"I feel like your chin looks a little odd."

"No, I’m all-natural." The woman shook her head. "I’m so good-looking, why would I need plastic surgery?"

"..." Zhang Zhe gave a strained nod. "To be honest, you’re not what I’d call good-looking. A 3 out of 10."

"Of course, I’m no looker myself. My rating is purely from an objective standpoint."

"It’s fine, it’s fine. I’m not thin-skinned. Maybe I really am not that attractive, otherwise I wouldn’t have been single for five years."

"Okay, go on then."

Zhang Zhe nodded. The woman’s appearance didn’t give the impression of someone who could endure loneliness. Although she wasn’t a beauty, it didn’t seem likely she’d be unable to find a partner for five whole years.

’There must be another reason. I’ll have to hear her basic stats to figure it out.’

"I was born in ’97. I’m 158cm tall, and I weigh about 105 pounds, which is pretty stable."

"My dad is a businessman. I don’t know what kind of business exactly, because he’s always traveling domestically and internationally. Anyway, his annual income is over a million yuan or so."

"My mom owns her own beauty salon."

[She doesn’t know what her own dad does?]

[This girl sounds kinda air-headed when she talks.]

[Her mom owns a beauty salon? No wonder I thought her face looked a little weird.]

"My friend, you’re 28 years old. You can’t even clearly state what your father does for a living?"

"If I were on a blind date with you and heard you say that, my first reaction would be that you’re not a normal person. Either you’re some airhead who just eats, drinks, and parties all day, or your family’s money comes from a shady source."

"I really don’t know," the woman explained. "My dad is always changing industries."

"But now that you mention it, Teacher, you’ve reminded me of something."

"I’ve been on blind dates with over forty guys, and not a single one has worked out. Could this be the reason?"

"Possibly," Zhang Zhe nodded. "It could be that all those guys were no good."

"But it’s much more likely that the problem is you."

"The chances that all forty of those guys were the problem, that they were the reason your dates went nowhere, are very small."

"I think maybe you just don’t know what you want, do you?"

"Look, the live comments are saying it too. The way you talk gives people the impression that your head is empty."

"That’s not true," the woman said, looking surprised. "I think my own awareness is pretty decent."

"That’s why when I go on dates, I require the man’s perspective, breadth of mind, and understanding of the world to match mine."

[I cringe every time I hear the word "awareness" now.]

[Girls who browse Xiaohongshu all day generally have great "awareness."]

[This girl’s education is probably from a private undergraduate college or a vocational school. If she’d read even a few books, she wouldn’t talk like this.]

[People always flaunt what they don’t have.]

"The partner I’m looking for has to be someone who understands me," the woman emphasized.

"I don’t like the kind of relationship where all you do is eat, drink, go shopping, and watch movies. I think that’s too superficial."

"Got it. You’re looking for a soulmate, right?" Zhang Zhe pretty much understood what she meant.

He could even guess that this woman was probably a liberal arts major, the type who hadn’t been beaten down by the harsh realities of life. She was looking for a partner based on the model of Qian Zhongshu and Yang Jiang.

"Honestly, you’re not going to find that kind of partner in the blind-dating market."

"That kind of person is someone you stumble upon by chance, not someone you can actively seek out."

"My first love was that kind of person," the woman said, pressing her lips together. "I was in a relationship about five years ago. My ex-boyfriend was highly compatible with me on a spiritual level. He just *got* me."

"Our ways of thinking were also very similar."

"But ours was a platonic love."

"..." Zhang Zhe subconsciously covered his nose.

’That reeked of Xiaohongshu.’

After graduating from high school, the only places he ever saw women brag about being in a "platonic love" were on Xiaohongshu and sites like Douban.

It refers to a type of love between two people based purely on spiritual connection.

It’s not that this kind of love doesn’t exist, but it can only survive when both people are relatively innocent. The moment it gets a little tainted by the realities of life, it can’t continue.

"Then just go get back together with your ex," Zhang Zhe suggested, in the spirit of trying to be helpful. "Platonic is platonic."

"If you’ve chosen to pursue spiritual satisfaction, then don’t pursue anything else."

"Unfortunately, he’s already married," the woman said, shaking her head. "And he’s living abroad."

"That’s not a problem, is it? Isn’t your relationship platonic? Whether he’s married or not doesn’t affect that."

"Isn’t that just like Lin Huiyin and Jin Yuelin? A woman who emphasizes her spiritual life is forced by reality to marry Man A, but in her heart, she’s thinking of Man B. Isn’t that considered romantic in your eyes?"

"By the way, forgive me for asking, but what’s your educational background?"

"I graduated from a second-tier university."

"A liberal arts major, right?"

"Yes, I majored in Chinese Language and Literature."

[The reputation of second-tier universities is taking a hit.]

[This "Plato" stuff is hilarious. It was definitely the guy dating down to be with her.]

[Those 40 guys who went on dates with her must have been tortured.]

[She seems like the type who had a crush on her professor in college, tried to be his mistress, got rejected, and has been hung up on it ever since.]

[Brother Zhang gets it. He asks about her education and suddenly everything is clear.]

"My friend, for your situation, I actually have a solution."

"Back in my day, I was a key member of my school’s literary society. I even had my work published in *Mengya*. I can cure this ’soulmate-seeking’ disease of yours."

"You just need to go look for someone within communities that share your interests."

"For example, if you like Rousseau, join a Rousseau book club. If you like Chopin, go to offline classical music mixers. If you love the vast, boundless universe, go find an astronomy major."

"In short, the ’spirit’ is an abstract thing. You need to find where it can be grounded in reality."

"Look, a guy in the comments said it: if you want to be the other man, go apply to be an actor at SOD."

"Don’t limit yourself to the blind-dating market. Expand your social circle and your exposure. Do you really expect the guys you meet on blind dates to understand your spiritual world?"

"Honestly, stop torturing them."