Chapter 250 - 248: Let the Leader Come to You

Chapter 250: Chapter 248: Let the Leader Come to You

"It won’t come to that. If you just stick to dating your whole life, you can keep having fun as long as your old man is still around."

"If worst comes to worst, don’t you have your own job?"

"In the worst-case scenario, you can always go the corporate drone route."

"Work... is pretty useless," the man said, his tone a little helpless. "Who actually makes real money from a nine-to-five these days?"

"The salary I save up after a whole year of hard work is what one of my rich buddies can blow through in a single night at a premium karaoke club. It might not even be enough for him."

"If I really wanted to make money, I’d be better off selling my ass."

"That’s actually one way to go," Zhang Zhe nodded. "The biggest risks in selling your ass are selling yourself too cheap or letting people have you for free."

"Since you already know rich people, you definitely have an advantage there."

"Advantage, my ass." The man couldn’t help but laugh. "Seriously, Brother Zhang, look at what you’ve done. I’m an international student, and you’ve got me considering selling my ass."

"Is that right?"

"It’s fine, I won’t judge you," Zhang Zhe said with a small smile. "Look, the chat is on your side too."

"Of course they’re on my side. They love nothing more than laughing at the expense of rich people."

"Okay, I can’t take this anymore. I’m gonna go numb myself in the decadent nightlife, or I’m going to get a case of the ’Yu Yus.’"

"Brother Zhang, I’m heading out, ’kay?"

"Alright, go ahead then."

"Go be free on our behalf."

Zhang Zhe could tell he had bummed the man out.

But there was nothing to be done. This wasn’t his fault as a matchmaking streamer; at the end of the day, the problem was the guy’s own father.

If he’d had a father who actually cared for his illegitimate son, one who might have set up a trust fund or something, the man wouldn’t have needed to get a Master’s in the US. He could have just quietly found someone he liked and settled down.

After finishing with the caller, Zhang Zhe saw it was getting late and thought about taking a break.

He didn’t expect that Xia Yi, who was beside him, wasn’t quite finished yet:

"Is that it? I see a lot of people still want to join the call!"

"It’s fine, as long as there aren’t any paying customers waiting," Zhang Zhe said, smiling as he wrapped an arm around Xia Yi’s shoulder. "The ones who are really in a hurry to get married are the ones who pay to get on a call."

"That makes sense."

"So, does that mean the ones who are even more desperate than the paying customers come to see you in person?" Xia Yi asked, a little hopefully.

Zhang Zhe immediately saw what Miss Xia was thinking.

’She feels like being an online assistant isn’t exciting enough. She wants to handle in-person clients with me.’

"Actually, not many people come for in-person meetings. You were lucky to run into one last time. In all the time I’ve been open, I can count the number of clients I’ve seen on one hand."

"Aww..." Xia Yi sounded a little disappointed.

She glanced out the shop door, and her eyes suddenly lit up.

She tugged on Zhang Zhe’s arm and said,

"Here they come, here they come! We’ve got another client."

"Hm?" Zhang Zhe turned his head. When he saw who it was, he couldn’t help but smile. "She’s not a client. She’s in the same business."

"The same business?"

"That’s right. That’s Teacher Wang. You could say she’s the one who showed me the ropes in the Matchmaker industry..." Zhang Zhe gave a brief, to-the-point explanation of his relationship with Teacher Wang.

’She’s a master who guided me.’

’But she rarely comes to me with good news.’

’The saying "one never goes to the temple for no reason" was practically made for her.’

Sure enough, after Teacher Wang came in and they exchanged some perfunctory pleasantries, she got straight to the point:

"Zhang Zhe, next week there’s a special matchmaking event for teachers."

"On my end..."

"I’m busy!" Zhang Zhe cut her off. "I’m completely booked all of next week."

He could still stomach the matchmaking corner events, but matchmaking for female teachers was a line he couldn’t cross.

Their difficulty level was on par with, if not greater than, kindergarten teachers.

"Oh," Teacher Wang nodded, her expression placid. "Then when are you free these days?"

"?" Zhang Zhe looked wary. "I’m not free any day. I’m streaming every day."

"Look, my streaming schedule is so packed I don’t have time to spend with Xia Yi. I have to trouble her to come here just to see me."

"Mhm, that’s right," Xia Yi chimed in from the side.

Although Miss Xia wasn’t entirely sure what was happening, she knew Zhang Zhe. He wouldn’t turn someone down without a good reason.

’There must be a catch to whatever Teacher Wang is proposing.’

Naturally, she didn’t want Zhang Zhe to walk into a trap.

She helped him out, adding, "Zhang Zhe streams every day from morning to night. It breaks my heart just watching him."

"..." Teacher Wang shot a sideways glance at Xia Yi. ’Looks like I’ve met my match,’ she thought. ’Good thing I came prepared.’ "I know Zhang Zhe is busy, so I already figured out a solution before I came."

"What did you figure out?" Alarm bells screamed in Zhang Zhe’s mind.

"My thought is, since some of the female teachers might not have time to come to the event in person, we can just have them drop by your stream on a couple of specific days."

"We’ll come up with a secret code."

"Then, anyone who uses the code will count as a referral from me, and I’ll give you a five-yuan consulting fee for each one. How about it?"

"I estimate there are probably around two thousand female teachers in the entire city who’ll want a consultation."

"..." Zhang Zhe immediately put his palms together as if in prayer. "Teacher Wang... no, Sister Wang."

"Even executions are swift. If you want me dead, just get it over with."

"More than two thousand people are going to want a consultation?" Xia Yi couldn’t hold back either. "And all for ten thousand yuan, max? That’s not even enough to cover the emotional damage!"

"Sigh, Miss Xia, that’s where you’re mistaken."

"In our line of work, there’s no such thing as compensation for emotional damage."

Teacher Wang spoke with great authority on this matter, mainly because she herself had been driven a little mad by the job.

If she’d been wearing a hospital gown, her words would have been even more convincing.

"Sis, let’s be real. If you can’t handle it, why do you keep taking on gigs like this?" Zhang Zhe couldn’t help but complain. "It’s obvious you can’t manage this many large-scale consultations by yourself."

"I feel like you’re just here to torture me."

"No, no, it’s fine. I just came to see what you thought. If you’re not willing..." Teacher Wang chuckled slyly. "I can just have the leader in charge of this project talk to you instead."

"I hear that leader’s surname... is Xia."

"..." Xia Yi and Zhang Zhe exchanged a look. In that instant, they both understood. Teacher Wang knew about their relationship.

’There was a final boss behind this gig.’

’It was arranged by Father Xia.’

’Teacher Wang was just the intermediary; she probably wasn’t even making a cut.’

’Well... that changed everything.’

"This is ridiculous. I’ll go home and talk to my dad," Xia Yi said, shaking her head. "Over two thousand consultations... that’s pushing the limits of human endurance."

"You can give it a try," Teacher Wang said, nodding at Xia Yi before turning to Zhang Zhe. "But you have to give me your word today. I need to add you to the promotional posters when I get back."

"Of course, of course. Thank you, Sister Wang."

"I’m in. And if things get too crazy, I’ll even come help you out at the in-person event."

"I’m sorry, I completely misunderstood you earlier," Zhang Zhe said apologetically. "I should have known you weren’t that kind of person, Sister Wang."

"As long as you know," Teacher Wang said with a smug nod. She glanced at Xia Yi, then back at Zhang Zhe with an envious look on her face.

’Why couldn’t some leader’s son take a liking to me?’ she thought.

’Look at the connections Zhang Zhe has. It’s only a matter of time before his career takes off.’