Song Tan's Notes

The setup for a matchmaking event at the factory started as soon as it was announced.

Yunduo hauled an entire trunk full of decorations from town, filling the back seat as well, just as Aunt Zhang Hong had said:
[It should have a festive feel, but not be too flashy or attention-grabbing, otherwise everyone will be too busy taking pictures to chat.]

Such an abstract requirement meant that Song Tan was giving her the authority to select products online; otherwise, it would have really caused a lot of trouble for a group of people.

Aunt Zhang Hong's study of the scriptures was very thorough.

Weren't the city's matchmaking events initially planned for the Forest Park? I heard that people are saying the Forest Park has arranged a lot of activities this year, like flowers lining the paths and men and women in ancient costumes greeting people...

They're all too busy visiting tourist attractions, taking photos, and holding hands with men and women in period costumes. Who would even notice a regular blind date?

That's how it was converted into a simple restaurant.

Aunt Zhang Hong wholeheartedly agreed.

Some people aren't particularly attractive at first glance, but you can get used to them after a few more looks. However, if there are always other people around to make them stand out...

Hey!
She had gone to great lengths to help the men and women working for the Song family! But when she thought about the other projects she had arranged, Aunt Zhang Hong suddenly felt a surge of enthusiasm and her voice became much louder as she urged everyone to pop the balloons.

Everyone involved was in agony.

With so many people, the work shouldn't be that tiring, but Aunt Zhang Hong's work assignments are so detailed!
Not only was she meticulous in her work, but she was also incredibly frugal. She made 500 balloons but refused to buy an electric air pump, insisting on making them all by hand!

If we divide it among ourselves, the task isn't impossible to complete, but everyone has their own tasks to complete!

Aunt Zhang Hong's words also made a lot of sense:
"Oh dear, seeing that you're all still single, I can tell how tough it is for young men to find a suitable partner these days. Don't tell me you're not picky; if you didn't have standards in your minds, how come you're still single?"

But this is a two-way street. You have your standards, and the girl who meets your standards also has hers. We don't know anything about that right now, so all we can do is try our best to improve our own personal qualities.

How do we bring it up? Since it's something invisible and intangible, let's start with the broader context.

First, we need to clean the factory canteen inside and out until it's sparkling clean and the environment is nicely decorated. We can't let people think we're being perfunctory as soon as they come in, because even the best impression will be diminished. Whether the decorations are rustic or modern, it's all about whether we've put our heart into it.

Then there's personal quality.

Haircuts were done where needed, face masks were applied where needed—nothing? I borrowed one from a female colleague.

Wash and prepare the clothes in advance, make them smell nice, and do the same with the shoes, make sure they are clean.

That's really difficult; nobody can do it.

"Auntie, look at this weather. The clothes I washed last week are still wet this week. How can the shoes possibly dry?"

"Oh dear!" Aunt Zhang Hong was exasperated by their bunch of blockheads: "If you don't have it, then buy it!"

We don't buy those designer shoes. Right now, with all the special offers and promotions, brand-name shoes are probably less than 100 yuan after the discount.

"You all want to find a partner, but you can't even afford to spend money on your own appearance?"

What she said makes a lot of sense.

Therefore, when Yunduo hauls packages from the town, a large portion of them are clothes and shoes belonging to these people.

With all the preparations made in a grand and elaborate manner, those who originally intended to make a solemn show seem perfectly natural, and thus become even more relaxed.

The self-taught girl also wants to find a suitable young man—actually, she prefers to find a security guard on a farm, since she's never been in a relationship and doesn't know how to approach someone!
It's only natural to take this opportunity to chat for a bit.

Having worked in the workplace for a long time, she had even honed her makeup skills. Now, wanting to lay the groundwork in advance, she took out an eyebrow trimmer and offered to trim everyone's eyebrows.

Good guy!
After finishing their work, they all had to line up and sit on stools while the self-taught sister used her shiny eyebrow razor to shave their faces.

Surprisingly, after all this fuss, even some people who initially thought it was just a formality started to take it seriously.

It's even rare for everyone to have the same mindset:
I've put in so much effort, I should at least let someone I like see it, right? Otherwise, wouldn't all my efforts be wasted?

And amidst all these hopes and expectations, the weather cooperated. Aunt Zhang Hong checked the calendar every day and finally found a cloudy weekend amidst the continuous rain forecast.

What a perfect weekend!
Regardless of how accurate the weather forecast is, at least it doesn't look like it's going to rain right now. And with the past few days seeing only brief periods of light rain, the chances of good weather are high!
She quickly set a time.

If this drags on any longer, all the balloons at the cafeteria entrance will have popped, and the cleaning will have to be redone.

……

It was the weekend.

Liang Jing didn't get out of the air-conditioned room until nine o'clock, while her mother was still nagging in the living room:
"She doesn't eat breakfast, doesn't wash her clothes, and is so lazy that she can't even find a partner... Isn't the guy that Aunt Chen across the street introduced her to quite a good catch?"

Liang Jing turned a deaf ear, pretending to be deaf.

Please, she's only 27. After rejecting three blind dates, the whole residential compound knows she's too picky.

Her mother was just worrying unnecessarily. The girl was introduced by Aunt Chen from across the street, and she's already 37!
She didn't mind that the person was older, but it was still surprising that someone so old would chat with her so cheerfully on WeChat and ask her:
"You're not the kind of fairy who's into feminism, are you?"

Are you brainless?!
Are you brainless?!

The fact that she didn't post the person online shows she has high moral character and good manners.

Her mother thought: "He was just casually trying to start a conversation. If you're not happy about it, you can tell him. Why do you think it's inappropriate?"

Liang Jing asked, "We haven't even met yet. Respect is mutual, isn't it? Would he dare say that to his female boss?"

Besides, 37 is not 17.

At this age, lacking emotional intelligence and not knowing how to respect are two different things.

In short, seeing her mother hurriedly stuff a boiled egg into her mouth and still nag, Liang Jing simply solved the problem with one move:
"Mom, if you say that again, I'll get angry. If I go on a blind date with a long face, and it doesn't work out this time, don't blame me."

A blind date?!
God, there's a day when even your own daughter goes on blind dates?!

Aunt Liang immediately beamed with joy: "Where shall we meet? Aren't you coming home for lunch? Who introduced you? How old are you? Which company do you work for?"

Liang Jing slowly brushed her teeth: "I'm not telling you."

If they don't want to tell me, they don't want to tell me. This doesn't affect Liang Ma's good mood at all. She turned around and started rambling on:
"Why are you only getting up now for your blind date? Are you still going to wash your hair? Mom will get you a hair drying cap!"

Liang Jing had seen this kind of thing before, so she quickly brushed her teeth and asked:

"Mom, you said it yourself, as long as I find a partner, it doesn't matter if their conditions aren't great."

That's what Aunt Liang said, but...

In short, she nodded firmly: "You're the only one in our family. Your dad and I have prepared a house, and you have your own car. It's okay if our conditions aren't great, as long as you're a reliable young man."

Liang Jingxin said: With these criteria for choosing a partner, people who don't know the situation might think I'm incredibly unpleasant, having no requirements at all.

She glanced at the group chat, where the auntie she'd met at the matchmaking event was enthusiastically greeting everyone:
"Nobody needs us to arrange transportation, right? The address is here. You can eat lunch or dinner here, and we can even take away food..."

"You can check online; the vegetables from our village sell very well, I'm not kidding."

[Cafeteria Photos]

Balloon Arch

[Games Section] [Prizes Section]

[Several pink bills peeking out of the red envelope]

That's right, Liang Jing didn't go on a blind date today at all; she went to make money!
Aunt Zhang Hong said in the group:
I know that people with jobs in the city generally don't look for partners in the village. I didn't intend for this either; I just invited everyone here today to liven things up and make it more lively.

Not only do you receive a gift upon leaving, but you can also win prizes by participating in our games. Our boss is very generous; the biggest red envelope he gave out was 1000 yuan!

If you're worried, you can bring your friends and relatives—just to give your aunt some face, please don't bring your boyfriends or girlfriends.

Haha!

At the last blind date event, Liang Jing was too busy gossiping and even had to gather to comment on the topic of "Can this man be married?" Liang Jing didn't get to the center of the discussion and only vaguely heard the gist of it.

She's so eager now, it's purely because she wants to get the biggest red envelope!
Not only her, but even Xiao Jiang, a single guy from the same workplace, signed up!
Logically speaking, Xiao Jiang is fair-skinned and has a refined appearance, so he should be quite popular when looking for a partner.

But he's too young, only 24!

Moreover, his father used to be a gambling addict, and he gambled away the family's fortune. Now he's working for the government.

So even though Xiao Jiang has a secure job, he's still pitifully renting a place to live! He's an honest man, and with a fixed salary of three or four thousand yuan a month, when will he ever be able to afford a house and support a family?

Whether the girls in the workplace would even be interested in them is another matter, but the parents are not too happy about it.

Take Liang Jing's mother, for example. She says she'd be okay with someone with poor conditions, but in reality, it's not that simple!
Liang Jing happens to be uninterested in those naive, innocent men, so this time, both of them were aiming for the prize money, and they set off together.

……

Aunt Zhang Hong counted the number of people in the group who were shouting that they had set off, and there were as many as 17!
Damn!

She happily sent Song Tan another voice message:
"Tan Tan, it's all thanks to your generosity that you came up with the idea of ​​playing a game to win prizes to attract everyone..."

Of all the men and women she knew in the group, except for three who were on duty and two who had other commitments, almost everyone came.

Song Tan was also quite surprised:

If we look at it this way, regardless of whether this blind date event will work out or not, our sincerity and scale are definitely on point!

Lu Chuan is right. If spending a little money can make everyone happy, there's no need to hesitate.

She then leaned closer and said, "It's not easy for everyone to come all this way, so how about I raise the price of the red envelope again?"

“Okay.” Lu Chuan thought for a moment: “Spread out the bonus tiers and include a minimum bonus.”

In this way, the players will be more emotional during the game to compete for the prize money, and their personalities will be more apparent.

The guaranteed bonus is simply a way to thank everyone for their support.

To be honest, these days, very few young people are willing to go out so enthusiastically for blind dates.

Your humble servant has submitted a memorial, which Song Tan gladly accepts.

……

Around 10:30, Aunt Zhang Hong had successfully picked up the group members who came to support her at the convenience store's parking lot.

The village's matchmaking event was a big deal, and several middle-aged women were sitting haphazardly at the entrance of the small shop, including Li Lanhua.

Aunt Zhang was very unhappy about this.

“People come here to support us, they certainly don’t come here to find partners. We all know that. You’re here criticizing and picking and choosing... Why don’t you choose your own daughter-in-law?”

"No comment!"

Everyone said in unison, "Your matchmaking event doesn't allow us to go inside the factory, so can't we just wait here on the roadside and take a look?"

"Zhang Hong, you need to cheer up. What if someone really likes our village?"

Li Lanhua hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped.

She really didn't mean to comment on anyone; she just wanted to communicate with Zhang Hong again.

Give his son a chance!
Everyone was indeed assigned a task, but why are some people supposed to be guides, explain the game, or act as game hosts and referees...?

So you asked Zhou Tianyu to help carry the plates of fruit?

She finally found a moment to say it tactfully.

Aunt Zhang Hong almost rolled her eyes.

She was just short of yelling, "Give up!"

After Zhou Tianyu returned and strolled around the village a few times, the whole village knew that he was going back to Beicheng after taking a short vacation.

Unless you're willing to work together, who wants to be in a long-distance relationship these days?

If not, then he must possess some undeniable strengths. He might be handsome, have good character, or have high emotional intelligence.

What about Zhou Tianyu?

Aunt Zhang Hong pursed her cheeks slightly and then quickly put them down: Zhou Tianyu has no connection with any of these three people, and he can't even do as well as the security guards in terms of carrying or lifting.

He used to work in sales, but when he was put in charge of hosting a game and the employees played it themselves, he knew exactly what was going on...

This is a game! Its essence is to promote emotional exchange between men and women. You're insisting on nitpicking that a shooting game's bullseye doesn't count as a perfect score and you can't get the prize money...

Not only do you fail to create a lively atmosphere, you also cut off people's livelihood.

Mr. Song has raised 10,000 yuan for the prize money of this matchmaking event. Is he afraid that someone will take the money?
They were afraid that if no one participated, the atmosphere would cool down, and those who wanted to start a conversation would be unable to speak up!

If you don't help by bringing fruit or something to show that you can share the housework, what other opportunities do you have to demonstrate your abilities?

Poor Li Lanhua's parents!

Aunt Zhang Hong emphasized again: "Let alone people in the city, even in the villages around here, I know that no one wants to have a long-distance relationship. Boys are getting older, at this age, they should either get married or start a career. It's not good for them to always be wandering around outside."

Li Lanhua sighed, "That's why I wanted to ask you to help me find a suitable girl. If Tianyu gets together with her, wouldn't he have to stay for her sake?"

Aunt Zhang Hong: ? ? ?

Does she seem like the kind of matchmaker who's obsessed with money and twists right into wrong?

Today, I stayed in Yuncheng for that girl's sake. If things don't go well for her and we end up arguing again, I'll say she's dragging her down!

Finally, let me say: 【It's all for you!】

Or, "If it weren't for you!"

How much suffering must she have endured! And why should that young woman have to suffer like this?!
Damn it, why is Li Lanhua still so fixated on this and dreaming?! (End of Chapter)