I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

Li Shuwen pondered and listened, and after Shen Kang finished speaking, he finally spoke up to learn the full details he wanted to know.

"Mr. Shen, what are the advantages of your high-end matchmaking tourism program compared to ordinary matchmaking? Can you make it successful?"

Li Shuwen paused for a moment, then spoke frankly: "Everyone's time is precious, so I won't beat around the bush and will get straight to the point. If your project is mediocre or even poorly executed, and users dislike it, then as your sponsors, they might also dislike us."

Shen Kang nodded, "I understand Mr. Li's concerns. As for advantages, our high-end matchmaking tourism project does have some advantages."

"The first advantage is a greater chance of success."

"There are so many people in a tour group. If you don't like one, you might like another. If one doesn't like you, another might. Compared to traditional one-on-one blind dates, the chances of success are much greater."

Upon hearing this, Li Shuwen commented, "So, the advantage of group blind dates is..."

Shen Kang nodded, "That's essentially true. But compared to other group blind dates, we have a new advantage, which is the second advantage I'm going to talk about."

At this point, Shen Kang didn't continue immediately. Instead, he asked Li Shuwen a question, "I wonder if Mr. Li is familiar with the current matchmaking market?"

Li Shuwen smiled and said, "This really touches on an area I'm unfamiliar with. I've been married for over ten years, and I really don't know how young people these days go on blind dates."

Shen Kang then said, "Then I can first give Mr. Li a brief introduction to the current blind date model."

"Generally speaking, in a one-on-one blind date, when a man and a woman sit down, they will start chatting and lay out their respective conditions."

"For example, when I go on a blind date, I say that I work in supply chain management, earn 6,000 yuan a month, own a car but no house, have 50,000 to 60,000 yuan in savings, and have no debt. The woman says that she works in HR at a small company, earns 3,000 yuan a month, owns no house or car, has 20,000 to 30,000 yuan in savings, and has no debt."

"If everyone's conditions match, and you absolutely cannot accept them, then you can have a quiet meal together and go your separate ways afterward. If you can barely accept them, then you can continue talking."

Li Shuwen seemed quite interested and even shared his opinion, "It is indeed a bit different from what we had back then. Back then, we only asked about the job, not the income."

"If you worked in a state-owned factory, government agency, or military unit, that was considered the 'top-tier' job back then, meaning a secure job, housing, and social security. Although self-employed individuals could earn more money, they weren't as sought-after in the marriage market at that time."

"Back then, there were no commercial housing units; houses were allocated by work units. So they wouldn't ask if you owned a house. They would ask more subtle questions, like, 'Is your home spacious?' or 'Is it possible for your work unit to allocate housing?'"

At this point, Li Shuwen became interested and enthusiastically recounted an event that still left a deep impression on him.

"I remember a blind date I had back then. He asked really inquiries. He didn't ask about my house, but he asked me how I rinse soap bubbles when I shower at home in winter. Mr. Shen, do you know what that means?"

Shen Kang genuinely didn't know for a moment, and was quite pleased: "I don't know. What do you mean?"

Li Shuwen chuckled and explained to him, "Back then, there were generally three answers to this question."

"The first method is to use a ladle to scoop water and rinse it on your body. This is the most embarrassing situation, indicating that you not only don't have a shower at home, but you don't even have a place to hang a simple shower bucket. Most likely, there is only one public space in your home where you eat, gather, and take a bath. You bring a wooden basin over, fill it with water, and sit in it to bathe. That's why you can only use a ladle to scoop water and rinse it with soap bubbles."

"The second type is that you have a wire mesh installed at home, and you've made a simple shower tub with holes poked in the bottom to use as a showerhead. You rinse soap bubbles under this simple shower tub. This shows that although you don't have a proper shower, you've at least managed to carve out a small space to use as a regular bathroom."

"The third type is, 'Use a showerhead.' Needless to say, this means a standard apartment building with a private bathroom, a condition that surpasses 90% of families at the time. For girls to encounter this on a blind date is comparable to encountering a rich second-generation on a blind date today."

Shen Kang suddenly realized.

Actually, he had also bathed in a wooden tub for a period of time when he was in the orphanage. It's just that Li Shuwen's question had a lot of twists and turns, and he couldn't immediately figure out the logical relationship between "soap bubbles" and "living conditions".

Now, after hearing what Li Shuwen said, I really realize that the people are wise; they even asked such a question. It's amazing.

Shen Kang then asked, somewhat gossipy, "President Li, how did you answer that question back then?"

Upon hearing this, Li Shuwen glanced at Shen Kang and found him even more pleasing to the eye. He then chuckled, his eyes filled with reminiscence: "Back then, my family's conditions were the first type; we didn't even have a small, dedicated bathroom. But I understood the question, so I directly gave the second answer."

"I was originally going to suggest a third option, but then I thought, if someone comes to my house and sees that there's no shower, it'll be easy to spot. With the second option, if they really come, I can still figure out a way to fool them..."

Li Shuwen seemed to get hooked on blind dates back then, becoming increasingly talkative and enthusiastic.

"When you young people go on blind dates these days, do you consider political affiliation?"

Shen Kang shook his head. "I won't look."

Li Shuwen said, "Back then, we were quite particular about it. Being a Party member or Youth League member was a big plus. Also, family burden was something we had to understand."

Shen Kang had a good understanding of matchmaking in that era, saying, "Young people today would also understand this, asking if your parents have a pension, how many siblings you have..."

The two of them were really something else. One was nostalgic for the past, and the other was very gossipy. They ended up talking about the differences between "past and present matchmaking models".

Finally, both sides joined forces and reached a conclusion:

In the past, arranged marriages were about finding a partner to live together.

Modern blind dates are beginning to shift towards "asset restructuring".

In the past, blind dates were less likely to involve meeting in person, had higher decision-making costs, and a slower pace of society, so people were more patient in getting to know each other and tended to fall in love at first sight.

Nowadays, there are more choices when it comes to blind dates, but this also makes it easier to be picky. Any slight incompatibility can be magnified and quickly rejected. So, it's become more difficult to find a partner.

In the past, when people went on blind dates, they were more hesitant to ask questions directly, and were very tactful. "How do you make soap bubbles?" is one example of this.

Nowadays, blind dates tend to be more about "clearly defined prices".

After the conclusion was reached, Li Shuwen suddenly slammed his hand on the table.

"No, Mr. Shen, weren't we talking about your matchmaking project?"