Chapter 223 - 221: Admiring the Strong

Chapter 223: Chapter 221: Admiring the Strong

When Sakura first joined the voice chat, Zhang Zhe couldn’t quite place her accent. He was just curious whose Mandarin could be so hesitant.

When she spoke, it was as if she had to process every single word in her head before slowly saying it out loud.

"Sis, where are you from?"

"I’m from Hokkaido."

"Hokkaido?" Zhang Zhe quickly glanced at the chat.

The stream had plenty of natural-born detectives. Every time a guest joined the stream, they would go and snoop on their account.

This time was no exception, of course.

[Whoa, a Sakura?]

[She really is Japanese. Has Brother Zhang’s business gone international?]

[This is my type of girl.]

[I’ve heard Sakura are really family-oriented. Wonder how they compare to the girls here.]

The guys in the stream were clearly very interested in Sakura.

It was mainly because the image of Sakura in various movies, TV shows, and anime basically fulfilled all of a man’s fantasies about his ideal partner.

But Zhang Zhe scoffed inwardly.

He had a friend who used to be a huge fan of Ishihara Satomi and always dreamed of going next door to find a Sakura to marry.

But after learning about the marriage market in that small country next door, he realized that movies are just movies.

The antagonism between men and women over there was also very intense.

The story of Chasing Wind Old Ye happened in our country two years ago;

but over there, they had already evolved to "subway samurai duels" several years ago.

But to be fair, there was one aspect where Sakura were much better than the independent women in his country.

No matter how conniving she might be, after getting married, she could at least appear to be a gentle and considerate wife on the surface.

You almost never saw the type of woman who, after taking the betrothal gift and your salary, would still act entitled, as if the whole world owed her something.

They strictly adhered to the [Value Exchange] principle:

If the husband hands over his salary to support the family, the wife will handle the housework and provide emotional value.

However, this was all just hearsay to Zhang Zhe. Now that he had met a real Sakura, he definitely had to learn more.

"Are you in China right now?"

"Yes, I came over with my uncle and I’m currently working in China."

"So do you plan to stay here in the future? Or go back?"

"I don’t know," the girl said adorably. "I’m already at a marriageable age, but I feel like I haven’t really settled down yet."

"My uncle suggested that I should consider where I want to settle down in the future from the perspective of marriage."

"Is that the right way to think about it?" Zhang Zhe frowned. "Here in China, we usually first consider where we want to live in the future, and then think about finding a partner."

[Their country is small, it’s the same no matter where you live.]

[For a Sakura, the only choice is staying in Tokyo or going back to her hometown in the countryside.]

[The fact that she’s hesitating means she wants to stay in China.]

[Brother Zhang, hook me up. I really like this Sakura.]

"I don’t know if this is the right way to do it either."

"Actually, I have three backup candidates right now. I plan to choose one of them and get to know them properly."

"So I wanted to ask the Matchmaker to help me analyze who I should choose."

The girl had some social skills. After stating her request, she didn’t forget to compliment Zhang Zhe, "I’ve watched your videos, Host. I think your analyses make a lot of sense."

Zhang Zhe smiled and nodded.

His focus was on the "backup candidates" the girl mentioned.

’Three... From the way she puts it, does she mean three backup guys?’

"Did you meet these three through matchmaking?"

"Not through matchmaking, we were just making friends. The three of them are all my friends."

"You’re saying that if you were willing, any of these three men could become your boyfriend, or even your future husband, right?"

"Yes, that’s exactly what I mean." The girl said in a slightly exaggerated tone, "Host, you’re so smart."

"...Thank you."

’That question made it all clear. So she’s keeping three guys on the hook.’

’I guess it fits the stereotype of a Sakura.’

’They might be demure wives after marriage, but they’re not so innocent before it. After all, marriage is a value exchange for them, so of course they have to shop around.’

’They just do it not through matchmaking, but by "making friends."’

"Alright, then just tell me about the three guys."

"If it’s too hard to compare them, we’ll look at your own situation."

[Is there even a choice? Just pick the richest one, right?]

[Damn, that many? The best I can do now is get in line for fourth place.]

[Brother Zhang, help me ask if she has a younger sister. I remember the Japanese like having a second kid.]

[Psychology tells us to pick the third one. Because if the first two were good enough, there wouldn’t be a third option.]

"Okay, I’ll start with Guy A."

"He’s 32..."

"Wait, how old are you?"

"I’m 27."

"Then you really are at marriageable age." Zhang Zhe pulled out his whiteboard and started writing down the details. "Go on. What’s Guy A’s situation?"

"He’s a very outstanding guy. He’s currently an executive at a foreign company, and he’s good-looking with a great physique. But he has one huge flaw: he’s stingy, a total penny-pincher."

"I don’t think that’s a very good trait."

"Do you know the difference between being stingy and being frugal?" Zhang Zhe asked.

"I know that one," the girl answered quickly. "I’ve studied what you’ve said, Host."

"He’s stingy. Because he tells me not to be a big spender, saying the economy isn’t great right now and we need to save money."

"Then that means you just have different views on spending," Zhang Zhe nodded as he analyzed. "There must be a certain gap in your family backgrounds, right?"

"Yes! You’re right again, Host! You’re so smart."

"Thank you. You don’t have to do that." Zhang Zhe suspected this was just a habit of Sakura—a tendency to provide others with emotional value.

’Putting myself in her future husband’s shoes... it’s actually pretty gratifying.’

[A stingy man? Forget it, sis. You deserve better.]

[Saving money is useless these days. If there’s inflation, your money just turns into paper.]

[Can’t you just save money and buy Gold?]

[Guy A sounds a bit chauvinistic. Daring to tell a female friend to save money? He’s really overstepping.]

"Is Guy A’s family background very poor?"

"Yes, you’re right, Host. He told me his family wasn’t rich growing up."

"And maybe because of that, he sounds a little insecure when he talks sometimes."

"Okay, any other flaws?" Zhang Zhe wrote two points on the whiteboard: "poor family background" and "stingy."

Both of these were actually pretty big red flags in the marriage market.

For two people with very different family backgrounds, if they aren’t very tolerant of each other, it’s easy for conflicts to arise over spending money.

These conflicts usually escalate into arguments.

And with too much arguing, even the strongest feelings will slowly fade.

"There aren’t really any other flaws. It’s just his spending habits that I’m a little worried about."

"What about his good points?"

"What is it about a stingy man that attracts you?"