Chapter 270 - 268: The Excellent Seek the More Excellent

Chapter 270: Chapter 268: The Excellent Seek the More Excellent

"This..." Zhang Zhe had a bad feeling about this.

But the young woman seemed prepared. "When I registered, the professor told me there would be a Q&A session after the presentation."

"She encouraged us to ask you for advice. If you don’t believe me, you can ask the other women here. I’m sure they were told the same thing."

"That’s right~" many of the women in the audience called out, confirming that the student who wanted to ask a question was telling the truth.

Zhang Zhe remained completely unflustered, a smile still on his face. "I have no problem with that, but are you sure you want to have a consultation with me in front of all your classmates?"

"You could always come and ask me privately after the presentation is over."

"It’s fine," the young woman replied decisively. "I have nothing to hide. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about."

"Alright. Is this consultation for you?"

"It is."

"Then go ahead," Zhang Zhe said, feeling a bit helpless. They hadn’t even provided a chair for him on the stage.

Thankfully, Assistant Xia was keeping an eye on things from backstage and, seeing that he was about to begin the interactive session, quickly brought a stool onto the stage.

Once seated, Zhang Zhe finally felt comfortable. This was the setup he was used to for giving marriage consultations.

The young woman in the audience began explaining her situation, though Zhang Zhe suspected it was highly unlikely to be her own true story.

It was either fabricated, or she was using someone else’s situation to stir the pot.

His suspicion stemmed from the fact that when he’d offered to speak with her privately, she hadn’t hesitated for a single second—not the typical reaction.

"I was born in 2000 and I’m currently in my second year of my master’s program. I’ve been in two relationships before: one in high school, and another during my sophomore year of college."

"The first guy I was with was a total scumbag. We were classmates, and he pursued me relentlessly during our junior year of high school. By the second semester, he’d worn me down, so I finally agreed to go out with him..."

Zhang Zhe let her finish that thought before interrupting.

"You don’t have to go into such detail. Miss, there’s no need to tell me about your second relationship."

"That’s not what I’m focused on."

"First, answer me this: why are you already thinking about marriage when you haven’t even completed your education?"

"Well, when I went home for the Lunar New Year, my family was already setting me up on blind dates," the young woman answered. "People tend to marry young where I’m from."

"When my mom was my age, I was already over a year old."

"I’m about to start working on my thesis, and I also need to decide whether to pursue a doctorate. I want to have my personal life figured out before I reach this critical point."

"If my circumstances aren’t suitable for marriage, then I’ll just give up on the idea entirely."

"Don’t think that way. In reality, very few people are in a position where they’re completely unable to get married," Zhang Zhe said encouragingly. "If you’re looking, you can definitely find someone."

"Alright, tell me your standards for a partner. Never mind whether it’s for dating or marriage—just tell me what kind of man you’re looking for."

"I like..." The young woman paused before continuing in a measured tone. "I like handsome men from well-off families."

"He doesn’t have to be super handsome, but he needs to be clean-cut. Not overweight, and definitely not greasy."

"He doesn’t need to be exceptionally wealthy—owning his own apartment in Qing City is enough. For income, a monthly salary over 10,000 is acceptable."

"Also, he should be athletic and have no bad habits. It would be best if he has a talent, like playing basketball or badminton. I’m a bit of a homebody, so I’d hope he could get me to be more active."

"Okay. Based on your criteria, do you think any of the men here in this audience could meet your requirements?" Zhang Zhe asked, glancing at the male students in the back rows.

"I think so, but I also know that, at this stage, a man like that probably wouldn’t give me a second look."

"I’m guessing that while they’re still in university, they’re more interested in finding a really beautiful girl."

"You guessed it!" a male student catcalled from the back.

Zhang Zhe quickly made a "shushing" gesture, signaling for the audience to calm down. ’The young woman is being perfectly reasonable. Even if she’s probably making this up, there’s no need to jump to mocking her.’

"Since you’re aware of that... couldn’t you lower your standards a bit?"

"But that’s the kind of man I want," the young woman said with a pout. "I’m a good catch myself. Why should I have to lower my standards?"

"Didn’t you just say it yourself?" Zhang Zhe pursed his lips, trying to find a way to phrase his next words gently. "The men you’re interested in are still rather superficial at this age. They only care about looks, so they aren’t looking for someone like you."

"Your only option is to lower your standards, broaden your search, and look for men who aren’t so superficial."

"I don’t want to," the young woman said, shaking her head.

"I believe that high-quality women deserve to be with high-quality men."

"But the reality is that there are far too many high-quality women and far too few men of the same caliber. For example, for every 100 women you could rate as a 90 or above, there might only be 20 men who score that high."

"Among those 90-point women, I’d rank in the bottom 20. If we were to match up one-to-one based on these scores, I’d be left with men who are 80-pointers, or maybe even 75-pointers."

"I don’t think that’s fair to me. The men are the ones who aren’t good enough, so why should I be the one to settle?"

"If they just worked as hard as I do and became a little more exceptional, I wouldn’t have to lower my standards at all."

As the young woman spoke, the female students around her were nodding along in near-constant agreement.

It seemed they all subscribed to this viewpoint.

After hearing her out, Zhang Zhe exclaimed internally, ’Ah, there it is.’

’Her words sound reasonable at first blush, but they don’t hold up to scrutiny. By what logic does a man have to be one of the top 20 to score 90 points, while a woman can be one of the top 100 and still get the same score?’

’Is the disparity between men and women really that vast?’

’That’s clearly wrong.’

’Take the most straightforward example: the college entrance exam. Over the past decade, especially since the elimination of the arts and sciences tracks, the number of male top-scorers has been significantly higher than female top-scorers.’

’And that’s just looking at academic performance. If you were to factor in things like athletic ability and practical skills, the men in a university setting would pull even further ahead.’

’So, Zhang Zhe was certain that the young woman was arguing from a biased position. Simply put, she was operating under the assumption that, all else being equal, women are inherently superior to men.’

’He didn’t know what she based this on, but judging from the audience’s reaction, many of the women found her argument compelling, while most of the men in the back were smirking in derision.’

However, Zhang Zhe had no intention of refuting her. He was here to talk about marriage; it was best to stay in his own lane.

"Miss, your perspective is a bit one-sided, but I’m not going to try and correct you."

"What I want to tell you is that even without lowering your standards, you can still find someone."

"Huh?" The young woman was visibly stunned. "But sir, didn’t you just agree with my point...?"

"That’s right. I did agree that exceptionally talented men at university tend to gravitate toward beautiful women."

"But think about it: do the most exceptional men always end up with the most exceptional women?"

"If you were the campus belle of your university, would you automatically date the campus beau? Why not go find the campus beau at the neighboring Qing City University?"

"Why not go find a tall, rich, and handsome guy at a top-tier university in the next city?"

"Do you see what I mean? An exceptional woman is driven to constantly move upward. She won’t be satisfied with the status quo; she’ll always be looking for someone even better than herself. And that’s where your opportunity lies, isn’t it?"

"Right?" Zhang Zhe said with a warm smile, watching the young woman and patiently waiting for her to respond.

But from the looks of it, her brain seemed to have short-circuited.