Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Why Are You All Looking at Me?

???

Boss He’s change of tune was too abrupt.

Zhang Zhe was a little slow to react.

Seeing the old lady’s expectant gaze, he couldn’t help but pour cold water on her idea:

"Our stream had a lot of viewers yesterday because that martial arts guy brought his whole crew over for a ’team-building’ event."

"Normally, we only get a few hundred viewers."

"Sometimes as few as two or three hundred."

"You’ve gone and bragged about having over a thousand viewers. It’s going to be a little difficult to make that a reality."

"Don’t you worry about the audience," Boss He said, pointing at herself. "I still have a little bit of influence. I’ll post about it on my Moments, and I’ll buy some viewers and bullet comments. I guarantee your stream will be lively."

"The key is you."

"What about me?" Zhang Zhe asked, confused. "Can’t I just stream like I normally do?"

"Or do you want to switch me out for someone else? I’m fine with that too."

"No, no, no, it has to be you. Other people’s streams don’t have the same effect as yours."

"I’m just worried, Xiaozhang. You’re not going to get stage fright, are you?"

"Haha, of course not. Don’t worry." Zhang Zhe thought, ’After all this, she really thinks I’m just some greenhorn. So what if they’re local officials? It’s not like I’m trying to get a government job. I couldn’t care less.’

"Really?" Boss He tilted her head and studied Zhang Zhe’s face. Seeing that he genuinely wasn’t flustered at all, she relaxed a little. "Alright then. Don’t stream this morning. Take some time to prepare properly."

"We’ll go live this afternoon."

"I’m going to go arrange for your audience now."

"Alright," Zhang Zhe nodded. He understood. The boss meant for him to go play some games in Puba and relax for the morning, then get into work mode in the afternoon.

Enjoying the free air conditioning, using the agency’s Wi-Fi, and lounging in a 3,000-yuan office chair, he had nothing to complain about.

He might as well play for a while. A stolen half-day of peace!

...

It wasn’t until 2:30 in the afternoon that a message came from Boss He, telling Zhang Zhe he could start preparing for the stream.

After receiving the message, Zhang Zhe looked through the glass and saw three SUVs parked at the agency’s entrance.

The words "Official Use" were written in white on the side of the vehicles.

He didn’t recognize any of the officials who got out.

It wasn’t that Zhang Zhe was bragging, but he genuinely didn’t recognize anyone who wasn’t a national-level leader. There was simply no need to.

From the looks of it, the visiting officials were all over thirty. The oldest one was probably 50-plus. At that age, they would be the backbone of the system, so their ranks probably weren’t too low.

Zhang Zhe took a quick look but couldn’t make out anything significant.

’Whatever, none of my business,’ he thought.

He turned away and opened his stream. Watching the livestream was more interesting than gawking at officials.

From the moment he went live, the viewer count in the top-right corner didn’t stop climbing.

It shot up like crazy, hitting over 1,000 in just two minutes.

These "viewers" seemed like digital life forms—script-controlled accounts that all spammed the exact same message upon entering the stream:

[Zhuyin Marriage Agency, building the number one matchmaking brand in Qing City, helping young people with the important matter of marriage!]

The real viewers in the stream were completely baffled:

[Is there a lucky draw?]

[Why can’t I see a lucky draw?]

[Whatever, I’ll just copy and paste it. You never know.]

Zhang Zhe watched, feeling a bit speechless. ’Boss He is over fifty; she really doesn’t get the internet,’ he thought. ’The digital life forms she hired are so low-tech. It’s obvious they’re not running a local instance of DeepSeek. But maybe this is what the officials like to see. A young guy like me shouldn’t pass judgment. Just let it be.’

"Welcome, everyone, to my stream." Zhang Zhe didn’t care whether the officials were actually watching or not; it was time to start. "Yesterday, people kept calling me ’Teacher,’ but actually, I’d prefer it if you called me Yan Zu."

"If that’s too much of a mouthful, you can just call me Brother Zhang."

"And if a cute girl connects, ’Big Bro’ is fine too."

[Shut your trap, streamer, and get to the calls, thanks.]

[So many people today.]

[The stream is really taking off. We even have bots trying to grab the lucky draws now.]

He didn’t know if it was a shill hired by Boss He, but not long after Zhang Zhe finished his opening, someone requested to connect.

"Hello, ’Stranger as Handsome as Jade,’ how are you?"

"Hello, Brother Zhang. I’m here for a blind date, but not with you."

"Alright, go ahead and introduce yourself."

Listening to her voice, Zhang Zhe noticed she had a bit of a heavy accent, like she was from a coastal region.

Qing City was at least two provinces away from the coast, so it was unlikely she was a shill hired by Boss He.

’This boss is so unprofessional. Even teachers giving open lectures know to plant shills to speak before the real students to prevent any unexpected situations. Now, with officials visiting, she actually let a complete stranger barge in. The old lady in the back room had better pray for her own luck.’

"I have a form here." Zhang Zhe pulled up the agency’s registration Excel sheet and put it on the screen. "Just fill out the important information."

"I’ll ask questions about any key points."

"Okay, streamer. I was born in the 90s, and I’m a local in a certain coastal provincial capital. I’m 165 cm tall, weigh 55 kg. In terms of looks, I’d rate myself a 4 out of 10. I’m the cute type."

"My family’s financial situation is pretty good. We have a house and a car."

"I’m an only child, so my parents’ house, as well as the houses from my paternal and maternal grandparents, will all eventually be mine. So you could say I’ll have three houses."

[Damn, what a ’filial’ daughter. Already got her eyes on the inheritance?]

[Inheriting the houses means taking care of the elders. That’s a lot of pressure.]

[The grandparents’ house is probably one of those ’old, small, and crappy’ apartments. In a coastal capital, it’s not worth much.]

[This girl seems to really believe she already has three houses. She has an inaccurate assessment of herself.]

The bullet comments were so sharp they almost scared Zhang Zhe.

’Are these people really here to watch a stream? Or is it a team-building event for a detective agency?’

What he didn’t know was that all the matchmakers at the Zhuyin Marriage Agency had stopped their work and were now intently watching his stream.

And they were sharing their professional opinions.

Their analysis was pretty much the same as the intelligence provided by the system.

[High-Value Intelligence]

[Your blind date target, Yu Yajing, was born in ’92. Her parents are approaching retirement age. The elders on both sides of her family are still alive but have basically no income.

In the foreseeable future, the burden of caring for her parents and grandparents will fall on her as the only child, yet her annual income is less than 100,000 yuan.

Marrying her would result in financial pressure that the Host would be unable to bear. It is recommended not to attempt it.]

The system’s warning was stern, but Zhang Zhe was unfazed.

She had said right from the start that she wasn’t interested in him.

She probably had a specific target in mind.

The girl was honest, at least. She didn’t lie about her income. "My current profession is a kindergarten teacher, with an annual income of around 100,000 yuan."

"Do you have a permanent position?" Zhang Zhe asked curiously.

It’s possible for kindergarten teachers to have one, and in the matchmaking market, having one versus not having one was the difference between heaven and earth.

"Umm... I... I do have a permanent position."

[She hesitated. She probably doesn’t have one.]

[With her profession, she’s basically lost all leverage in the matchmaking market.]

[It’s a profession with almost no future. She’s a suitable candidate for a full-time housewife, though.]

"Alright, so what are you looking for in a guy?" Zhang Zhe asked, pointing to himself. He was now playing the role of the stand-in suitor.

"I’m looking for someone over 1.8 meters tall, around 30 years old..."

"He has to be in the system, because I’m in the system myself."

"And his annual income has to be over 200,000 yuan."

"Preferably, he should be a little handsome, like Wang Yibo."

As the woman stated her requirements, in a temporary stream monitoring room next to where Zhang Zhe was, both Boss He and the senior leader turned to look at the middle-aged man beside them.

"Why are you all looking at me?"

"Xiaoliu, you seem to fit this girl’s requirements perfectly," the senior leader teased. "I think you look quite a bit like that male celebrity... Wang Yibo, was it?"

"No, no, no," the middle-aged man next to him said with an awkward smile.

He was already a Director-level official with an annual salary over 200,000 yuan in his early thirties and a T-level reserve cadre. Even if he were crazy, he would never go for a kindergarten teacher without a permanent position.

"Reporting to the leader, sir, I’m only 1.79 meters tall. I don’t meet her requirement."

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