Chapter 17: Chapter 17: Guaranteed Returns

Boss He knew that suddenly popping up and interrupting Zhang Zhe’s stream was out of line.

Livestreams require a sense of immersion. A good stream makes the audience feel like the host is talking directly to them, even if every single viewer feels that way.

But when other people barge in, it shatters that sense of immersion.

Even if she wasn’t some top-ranking supporter wrapped in a bath towel, she was still genuinely ruining the atmosphere.

But for the sake of money, Boss He brazenly showed up anyway.

She had a feeling that if she let Zhang Zhe continue, she might lose this "high-quality" client for good.

Of course, "high-quality" was from the matchmaker’s perspective. For the woman herself, it wasn’t much of a compliment.

"Young lady, with your family’s financial situation, you really don’t need to be competing on looks."

"Competing on appearance is certainly the best way for men and women to climb the social ladder, but your assets don’t match you as a person. The path upward has already been blocked off by your family background..."

Boss He was being very tactful.

She felt that what Zhang Zhe had just said—"Why would someone with a hundred million pick you?"—had already caused the young woman a certain amount of psychological damage. If she wasn’t a bit more diplomatic, she worried the girl wouldn’t be able to take it.

But the old auntie was completely wrong.

Her biggest mistake was overestimating the other party’s ability to understand.

After hearing her out, the woman fell silent again.

Zhang Zhe figured the woman didn’t get it, so he decided to translate for her:

"What our boss means is, your situation is like a traditional nouveau riche coal boss. You have money, but the people in wealthy circles look down on you."

"You’ve got an eight-pack now and even paid your way into Peking University’s school of finance, but so what? In the eyes of people who know your background, you’re still that hopelessly tacky coal boss’s kid, only good enough for a gold digger."

"The people who look down on you will continue to look down on you."

"At your age, you should have realized these things long ago. But even now, you don’t even know what kind of partner you should be looking for. It makes people think you’re not that bright."

When Zhang Zhe finished, the old auntie next to him stared wide-eyed, her expression so exaggerated that her glasses nearly fell off her face.

She couldn’t help but jump in to do damage control. "Xiaozhang, you can’t talk to her like that! Actually..."

Before Boss He could finish, the matchmaking woman on the other end of the video call suddenly cut in, "Teacher, is there still hope for me? Can you teach me?"

"Young lady, you don’t have to be so formal..." Boss He began to answer, but the woman quickly interrupted her. "I wasn’t asking you. I was asking the male teacher."

"You’re just like me—you have trouble expressing yourself. No one understands what you’re saying; you even need the teacher to translate for you."

"Er... Well, Xiaozhang, you can help her out then." The woman’s reaction caught Boss He completely off guard.

The old auntie shook her head, a look of helplessness on her face.

’So after all my earnest pleading, the woman hadn’t understood a single word!’

She shifted her body away from the camera, already feeling like she didn’t want to speak anymore.

"That’s a question I can’t answer." Zhang Zhe shook his head furiously. "After all, I said you’ve had work done on your face, and you insisted you’re all-natural."

"I think you should first learn to recognize and accept yourself before asking others for advice."

’What Zhang Zhe really wanted to say was: You can’t even be honest, and you have the nerve to ask me for help? You’ve got some gall.’

But for Teacher He’s sake, he held his tongue.

He rephrased it more kindly.

This approach actually worked. After listening, the woman paused for about half a minute before responding, "I understand what you mean, Teacher."

"Then I have one last question. Could you answer it for me?"

[Still asking? Have you learned to recognize yourself yet?]

[This woman is a bit dense. The type to fall for a pig-butchering scam when she’s young and then buy tons of health supplements when she’s old.]

[Stop asking, the host isn’t into you.]

"Fine, go ahead and ask." Zhang Zhe nodded politely. They’d come this far; he had to see the matchmaking session through to the end.

"I want to know, for someone in my situation, does your matchmaking agency have a corresponding product?"

Boss He, who had been about to leave, froze.

Hearing this, she quickly turned back, staring eagerly at Zhang Zhe. The implication was obvious.

This was clearly a sucker’s money, and she definitely wanted to earn it.

Zhang Zhe blinked innocently.

’Help promote the agency’s products?’

’That wasn’t in the contract. Livestream sales are supposed to come with a commission.’

"One moment," he said, not rushing to answer the woman. "I’m not sure if we have a product that corresponds to your situation."

"Later, I’ll have our company’s customer service contact you."

"Okay, I’ll be waiting then," the woman replied immediately, as if afraid Zhang Zhe would go back on his word.

...

After disconnecting the call, Zhang Zhe asked his stream viewers for a three-minute break.

He said he had to go to the bathroom after eating some Wallace.

In reality, Boss He had called him out for a discussion.

It was only the first day of streaming, and someone was already asking about the agency’s products. There would surely be no shortage of potential clients in the future.

Small-time clients didn’t matter; the agency wasn’t hurting for that kind of business.

But A8s, or even A9s? That was a completely different story.

They had to be courted.

Originally, the old auntie’s idea was that since it was almost lunchtime, they should go out and discuss it over a meal.

But Zhang Zhe refused flat out.

The stream had a lot of viewers right now, holding steady at around 500. It meant a considerable portion of the audience was hooked, or they were counting on watching the stream while they ate.

’Ending the stream now would show a complete lack of professional ambition!’

Seeing Zhang Zhe so dedicated, Boss He was very touched. She immediately offered to order him a three-combo pig’s trotter rice.

"Forget the pig’s trotter rice. Just have someone bring me a cup of instant pickled vegetable noodles later."

Zhang Zhe was used to an engineer’s way of thinking and spoke bluntly. "I’ll state my position first. In the future, when we get clients who proactively ask for our agency’s services, I can help with the introduction."

"I don’t want a commission. All I ask is that my colleagues at the agency help promote our stream’s Douyin account on their Moments once a week. How about it?"

"I’m in charge of the account now. You promote me, I’ll promote you. It’s mutually beneficial."

"No problem," Boss He was about to agree readily.

"Don’t be so quick to decide. I have one more condition." Zhang Zhe gave a sly grin. "You were monitoring my stream the whole time just now, weren’t you?"

"Then you should also know that I’m in need of matchmaking myself."

"Can you upgrade me to the agency’s highest-tier client, free of charge?"

"As a client, I don’t have any other requests. I just need you to help find at least five suitable matchmaking candidates for me each week to come on the stream and meet me."

"That’s it?" Boss He immediately guaranteed it. "No problem. Forget five, even fifty... on second thought, let’s stick with five."

"Five a week... after a while, we’ll probably have gone through every eligible woman in the city."

"As long as you agree." Zhang Zhe smiled, satisfied.

’He really couldn’t be bothered with the small commission from livestream sales. He had looked into the agency’s products; the most expensive package was only a few tens of thousands of yuan. How big could his cut possibly be?’

’It was better to ask for a stable guarantee.’

This way, even if the stream failed, his supply of matchmaking candidates would be secured.

When he returned to the stream, his brief absence hadn’t caused the viewer count to drop.

In fact, it had even increased.

Seeing him return, a comment immediately popped up in the live chat:

[Host, host! I’m not from your Qing City. Can I still connect for a call?]

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