Chapter 239 - 237: I’m Better Than My Younger Self

Chapter 239: Chapter 237: I’m Better Than My Younger Self

[You there? Why’d you steal my chat history?]

[Just reading these logs is making me see red.]

[With a tone that cold from the very start, why haven’t you blocked her? What are you waiting for?]

[If it were me, I’d block the relative who introduced them, too. What kind of person did they set you up with?]

[Feels like you were being interrogated, bro.]

Zhang Zhe looked at the chat history and couldn’t keep a straight face.

This was just too typical.

Xia Yi, who was beside him, offered a sharp critique, "It feels like this girl is a bit arrogant. Right from the start, she seemed to look down on him."

"It’s not really arrogance." Zhang Zhe shook his head and explained, "They’re interviewing for a husband."

"It’s the same tone an interviewer would use, that’s all."

"Bro, you’ve probably run into a lot of women like this, haven’t you?"

"Yeah." The man on the call started venting. "So many of them are like this. Right away, they tell me to introduce myself, send pictures, blah blah blah."

"After I go through all that trouble, she just says we’re not a good fit and deletes me."

"Sometimes, she’ll even find out if my dog at home is male or female, but by the time I get blocked, all I know about her is that she’s a woman."

"Brother Zhang, you tell me, how am I supposed to get better at these blind dates?"

"There’s really no way to improve. I don’t even know what I’m doing wrong."

"Hahaha." Zhang Zhe laughed and sighed. "It’s alright, I feel you."

"First, let me explain their mentality. These types usually think they have no trouble finding a partner, or they’ve had so much experience with dating and blind dates that going on one is just like doing a daily quest."

"With this kind of woman, unless you’re a really great catch, you’ll be screened out at the speed of light."

"So how do I deal with them?" the man asked immediately.

Zhang Zhe didn’t answer right away, instead asking a deliberate counter-question: "Why do you need to ’deal with’ them? Can’t you just copy and paste the self-introduction you used before?"

"No way. I can’t just swallow my pride like that."

The man refused:

"Talking to them like that, it feels like I’m the one being judged."

"We’re both here for a blind date. Why shouldn’t it be a mutual selection?"

"The problem is, I’m always the one who gets rejected..."

[Bro, that sounds pretty miserable.]

[That’s totally normal. It’s how I lost interest in blind dates too.]

[Sounds like a problem with the Matchmaker. They shouldn’t be introducing women like that.]

[Looking at it this way, at least a matchmaking agency can help you avoid this problem. The money would be well spent.]

"So you want to get some payback, is that it?" Zhang Zhe asked, stifling a laugh.

"Exactly. She rubbed me the wrong way, and I want to return the favor."

"Well, that’s simple. Next time this happens, just ask her, ’What information are you most interested in?’"

"If she gives you a normal reply—like asking about annual income or your parents’ jobs—you can answer directly, or you can first ask back, ’And you?’"

"If she’s completely unwilling to answer, just block her and be done with it."

The key to the conversation is actually to get the other person to follow your train of thought, not just do whatever the woman says when she starts talking.

This is actually an advanced tutorial from matchmaking agencies—"How to Communicate Quickly and Effectively on Blind Dates."

Exchanging information one piece at a time is the fastest and most effective screening method.

After listening, the man muttered the phrases to himself, committing them to memory.

"Alright, I’ll do that next time."

"Brother Zhang, if it doesn’t work, I’m coming back to leave you a bad review."

"Don’t worry, it’s guaranteed to work." Zhang Zhe nodded and continued looking at the other chat screenshots the man had sent.

The man’s experiences were extensive, and also quite tragic.

Looking through the dozens of screenshots, you could clearly feel that his spirit had been crushed many times during his blind dating journey.

But the fact that he was still persisting with blind dates was truly admirable.

"Bro, you’ve got a lot of chat logs here. Can you pick out the highlights and tell me about them?"

"Yeah, okay." The man was very cooperative. "Brother Zhang, hold on a sec. Let me see which chat logs I’ve saved."

"Found one."

"There was this 35-year-old woman who works for a state-owned enterprise. The issue was that the bride price she was asking for was even higher than what younger women around here ask for. I asked her why."

"This was her reply."

The man put on a high-pitched voice, mimicking the woman from the date:

"I was immature when I was younger. But now my self-awareness has increased, and I’ve become a better version of myself. Isn’t it normal for me to raise my standards a bit?"

[Yep, yep, that’s the exact vibe.]

[I’ve heard a lot of nurses say the same thing.]

[Bro, you could start your own stream. You’ve got a wealth of experience!]

[The classic ’I’m better now that I’m over 30.’]

[LMAO, if you’ve become so much better, why is it harder for you to get married now?]"

"Brother Zhang, how do you counter that?"

"You don’t." Zhang Zhe shook his head, laughing. "Too many women nowadays have been brainwashed by this whole ’increased self-awareness’ thing. Now, whenever I hear a woman talk about her ’awareness,’ I just want to laugh."

"Bro, let me put it this way."

"When most women on the dating scene say their ’awareness has improved,’ what it really means is that they’ve become more selfish, more self-centered, and more narcissistic than before."

"They’ve been burned by men before, so now they won’t let it happen again. You can’t fool her, you can’t expect her to spend a dime on you, and you definitely can’t touch her for free."

"In short, she’s no longer willing to give. She only knows how to take."

"When you meet someone like that," Zhang Zhe said with a serious expression, "run. Run fast, and don’t you dare turn back for a picture."

"Holy shit, so that’s what they mean by ’awareness’?" the man exclaimed. "I think you’ve hit the nail on the head, Brother Zhang."

"Actually, it’s a kind of disclaimer in disguise," Zhang Zhe continued to explain. "By flaunting her ’high level of awareness,’ she has a ready-made excuse to reject all the typical things a younger woman might do."

"Let me give you an example of the characteristics of younger women:

They’ll feel bad if you spend too much money on them;

They’ll prepare little gifts for you—in the old days, it might have been knitting a sweater or something; now, it might be writing you a long, heartfelt message reminiscing about all the happy little moments;

Or they’ll be clingy and always want to chat with you, and so on."

"A woman who proclaims her ’high level of awareness’ won’t do any of these things. She’ll only do one thing: demand that you give."

[Do young women like that really exist?]

[SOB... now I’m thinking about my first love. You’re a bad man, Brother Zhang.]

[I can vouch for this. I was born in the 90s and dated a girl born in ’05. She’s exactly like that, but my body can’t really keep up.]

[And these older women will even turn around and mock the younger ones.]

"I get it now."

"So next time I meet one who talks about her ’high level of awareness,’ I’ll just run." After hearing Zhang Zhe’s analysis, the man didn’t even consider arguing with that type of woman again.

He’d tried it before and got roasted so badly he didn’t know what hit him.

As these older single women’s "awareness" improved, their skills in sarcasm and insults had naturally improved a great deal, too.

The man looked at his chat history and immediately asked his third question:

"There was another woman, 34 years old. She said she’s older, but she has a beauty unique to her age, and that after we get married, I’d understand her true value."

"That part is true."

"As the saying goes, ’A young man doesn’t know a good woman when he sees one, mistaking a pretty face for a treasure.’" Zhang Zhe nodded emphatically. "In fact, a 60-year-old woman has her own ’golden years’ beauty, too. Every age has its own unique characteristics."

"The question is, which age group do you, yourself, want?"