Chapter 2: Miss Bai, the Matchmaking Prospect

Chapter 2: The Match

Since he had nothing better to do, Lu Li simply downloaded the app.

With the power of blazing-fast 5G, it took less than a minute for the app to finish installing.

What appeared on his phone was a very strange icon.

There was no text on it. The background was purple, and on it stood a black human silhouette.

"It looks kind of like a game."

Lu Li glanced around.

There were students sitting together, as well as office workers from the city.

Yes, mostly couples.

In the cafe, he alone sat by himself.

"Tch, why is it all lovers here?"

After muttering to himself for a bit, Lu Li remembered.

Ah, right. The cafe was holding an event today—couples get half off everything.

He sighed and tapped into the app.

First came the usual account registration.

After registering and entering the app, the next step was identity verification.

This app apparently required real-name authentication too.

After filling in his name, date of birth, height, weight, income, and job, Lu Li uploaded a selfie, proof of property ownership, vehicle registration documents, and other certificates.

About five minutes later, the app approved his verification.

Lu Li intended to see what kind of tricks this app had up its sleeve.

After checking it out, he was rather speechless.

"Tch, of course there’s in-app purchases."

Yes—if he wanted to view female members' information, he had to pay extra.

And if he wanted to contact them, that cost even more.

Lu Li was not exactly poor, but he was not wealthy either. Besides, money did not grow on trees.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, a notification popped up in the后台, saying someone had requested to meet him.

So this matchmaking app worked both ways.

Still, given his conditions, it made sense that a girl would contact him as soon as he passed verification.

But this request to meet...

So she was local after all.

Lu Li raised his hand to check the time.

It was 3:30 in the afternoon.

Still plenty of time.

So without much hesitation, he tapped agree.

"What kind of person will come?"

That was the one thing that annoyed him most.

He could not see her information, but she could see everything about him.

Still, if she had requested a meeting, that meant she had passed the app's review.

At the very least, she had to be a woman.

And Lu Li had set requirements of his own, which meant anyone who did not meet them could not even send a request.

His conditions were simple enough.

Over five-foot-five, well proportioned, good-looking, and pleasant in personality.

That was about it.

Yes, that was basically saying nothing at all.

Waiting was always boring.

Lu Li yawned.

Before he knew it, he had drifted off to sleep.

How long passed, he did not know, but a warm, slightly husky, softly elegant voice woke him.

"May I ask if you are Mr. Lu Li?"

Lu Li opened his drowsy eyes and looked up on instinct.

At once, he met a pair of gentle eyes that seemed to smile without quite smiling.

The girl standing before him seemed very tall, so that seated as he was, Lu Li felt as though he had to look up at her.

Her finely tailored black suit jacket was left open, and beneath it a white women’s shirt with a tie embraced the graceful curves of her layered figure.

Her long, smooth legs were wrapped in fitted women’s trousers, faintly stirring the imagination; when she sat, they pressed lightly together, interlacing into a fullness that set the heart racing.

Unfortunately, the table quickly hid them from view.

Only then did Lu Li turn his gaze to her face.

Her bare face was flawless—though perhaps she wore light makeup he could not tell.

She wore no necklace or earrings, and there was no ornament on her slender fingers; she had not even bothered with nail polish or nail art.

Her long black hair was simply tied into a side ponytail that rested against her chest.

This girl was gorgeous!

And with that strangely captivating temperament of hers, combined with her perfect figure, she struck squarely at Lu Li’s sweet spot.

"Ah, yes, I’m Lu Li."

He glanced around.

The cafe was lit by dim golden lamps, and there were no other customers nearby.

Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, the sky had darkened; a hazy curtain of rain obscured the view a few yards out.

Raindrops blown by the wind struck the glass with crisp ticking sounds.

So it had started pouring. And night had fallen.

Lu Li did not care much, though—he had driven here.

His gaze returned to the girl across from him, only to find that her smiling eyes seemed to have been resting on his face all along, never once looking away.

"And you are?"

"My surname is Bai. Bai Muli." The girl opposite him smiled brightly, looking as though she was in a very good mood.

"Hello, Miss Bai."

Lu Li glanced out the window again; the heavy rain had not let up.

"How did you get here? If you like, I can drive you back later."

He casually let slip the fact that he had a car.

Yes, he was tempted.

But he still had a few doubts.

How could a girl of this caliber have no one pursuing her? Why would she need to come to a blind date?

When a beautiful girl came to a matchmaking meeting, there were usually only three possibilities.

One: her personality had serious flaws.

Two: her past was quite colorful.

Three: her standards were far too high.

He needed to figure out the situation first.

"Sure. I walked here."

Bai Muli seemed unconcerned with what kind of car he had, and showed no reaction to the fact that he owned one.

She simply kept looking at Lu Li, her eyes tender.

That, in turn, made Lu Li feel a little uneasy.

This girl... why was she not following the usual script?

"If you get home late, your parents will probably worry, won't they?" Lu Li said with a self-deprecating smile, then went on as if it were nothing. "My parents are at home too. They just retired, and are planning to travel in a few days, though they haven’t decided where yet. I wanted to go with them, but they won’t take me. They don’t care at all whether I get home late or not."

This was another tactic.

First, Lu Li asked about the other party’s family situation.

Then, in an offhand way, he made his own clear.

His parents were both alive, and both had retirement pensions.

They liked spending time as a couple, which meant they would not interfere with the lives of any future newlyweds.

And the fact that they could afford travel suggested the family was doing fairly well.

With just a simple sentence, Lu Li conveyed so much information, while also posing a question, and doing it all naturally.

"I don’t have parents."

Bai Muli said it very calmly.

Lu Li froze, then looked solemn. "I’m sorry."

Both parents gone, then...

"It’s fine. I don’t mind." Bai Muli asked him in return, "Mr. Lu, what are your hobbies?"

She asked about hobbies rather than income?

Did not ask about housing either?

Clearly, she intended to infer his financial situation from his hobbies.

This was an expert.

Lu Li became alert.

Still, he did not think much of it.

After all, if she really had no parents, then being practical was only normal.

Besides, she was rather tactful about it. Lu Li even felt a sense of kinship, as though chess had finally met its match.

"Sometimes I go out to the suburbs with friends to play football. The place is pretty far out, and the field isn’t cheap either—honestly, it’s a bit of a rip-off.

"At home, I usually read, work out, and occasionally play a bit of games.

"Sometimes I also like to eat good food. If there’s a place with a decent restaurant, I’ll go try their signature dishes and so on.

"What about you?"

Lu Li would give his answer a seven out of ten.

In those three sentences, he made it clear that he enjoyed sports and was not short of money.

Working out at home implied he had his own house, and a fairly large one at that.

As for the part about food, he was signaling that when he ate out, he did not look at prices—only taste. In other words, money was not an issue.

The football part indicated not only that he was not short of money, but also that he did not work overtime until midnight, meaning he had time to spend with her.

Finally, he tossed the question back to her.

Nice!

Bai Muli’s expression changed for the first time.

She tilted her head, frowning slightly as if troubled. "I don’t have so many refined hobbies. I just like staying at home, reading, watching dramas, following anime and novels, and chatting. That’s enough for me. Am I very lazy?"

Hiss—

Lu Li drew in a sharp breath.

Damn it! Why did this girl strike so perfectly at his sweet spot?!

Exactly! In truth, what Bai Muli had just said was precisely his own real taste!

This girl... was too easy to get along with!

"No, no, not at all. Actually, that’s what makes you feel the most real. I think that’s great."

The more Lu Li looked at her, the more he liked her.

In twenty-eight years of life, this was the first time he had ever felt this way.

"Then, Mr. Lu, may I ask you a question?" Bai Muli asked expectantly.

"Of course."

Lu Li sat back comfortably. "But let me make one thing clear first: there’s no need to ask about smoking or drinking. I don’t smoke, and when it comes to alcohol, I only drink a little. I definitely don’t drink liquor."

He had decided to show the best version of himself to her.

Cigarettes?

Get lost.

Miss Bai nodded. "Mr. Lu, would you mind any shortcomings I might have?"

Hm? Shortcomings?

Lu Li blinked.

What shortcomings could this girl possibly have?

An orphan?

He certainly would not mind that.

Unemployed?

That would not bother him either.

Or was there some other issue?

Lu Li smiled and asked, "And what shortcomings do you have?"

"Just two main ones," Bai Muli said, looking rather troubled. "I’m picky when it comes to food."

Ah, I thought it was something serious.

Lu Li smiled. "That’s fine. I can be picky sometimes too. For example, I don’t like onions."

"That’s not what I meant..." Bai Muli looked a little embarrassed. "I don’t eat people."

"That’s fine, I don’t eat ei—what?!"

Lu Li felt sure he had misheard. "Sorry, maybe I heard wrong."

"No, I said I don’t eat people. Also..."

Bai Muli lifted her head, and in her eyes flickered a faint, eerie scarlet. Her pale, unadorned face held that same half-smiling expression.

"I’m not human."