Anecdotes from the Dating Corner

Anecdotes from the Dating Corner

□? Lake? Mountain

One

On Friday night, I received a call from a woman , she asked me to meet at the blind date corner tomorrow.

The caller was my sister-in-law Ziying. She confided in me that her son An An was too shameful. He was a leftover man in his early thirties who still had no girlfriend. She saw her classmates getting married. He is not in a hurry, is indifferent to the important matter of marriage, and has no sense of crisis at all. He is simply wasting his youth. She said she couldn't stand it anymore and asked me to work together with her to go to the blind date corner to go on a blind date for An An.

On Saturday morning, Ziying and I came to People’s Park. Walking into the Blind Date Corner from the north gate of the park, I was stunned by the scene in front of me. I had no idea that the blind date scene here would be so spectacular. In the huge People's Park, there are marriage advertisements everywhere and people meeting each other everywhere. It is as lively as attending a big fair during the Chinese New Year. Numerous matchmaking companies occupy the best positions in the dating corner. Their marriage advertisements are placed in rows on the ground and hung in rows on the trees.

I suddenly discovered that the protagonists of the blind date here were not the unmarried men and women, but the parents of the unmarried men and women. They do not trust matchmaking companies, preferring to do it themselves and serve as matchmakers for their children. As the crowd walked in, there were many open folding umbrellas standing on both sides of each road. The colorful folding umbrellas stretched in zigzag directions as far as the eye could see. There is a blind date sticker pinned to each umbrella; behind each umbrella, there is a blind date parent sitting. The devotion of father's love and mother's love makes the white-haired blind date here become a unique scenery in Shanghai.

There are all kinds of dating posts with similar contents. Each one is a real social person. Their age, education, place of origin, household registration, housing, and occupation are all written on a piece of white paper, becoming indispensable elements for blind dates. Each blind date element corresponds to specific marriage requirements, forming a customary blind date threshold. Those who do not have a Shanghai registered permanent residence, do not own a house in Shanghai, and do not have a stable job are classified as the "three no products" of the blind date corner. As for those who are older, look different, and have been divorced, they are directly classified into the "five black categories of blind dates."

The blind dates here are mainly those born in the 80s and 90s, about thirty years old, and are older leftover men and women. Most of them are well-educated, and many are returnees with overseas study experience. Marriage seekers with a master's degree or above account for almost half of the dating angle. It is simply a talent market. Among the tens of thousands of marriage seekers, there are far more girls than boys. It is said that the ratio of men to women here is astonishingly one to ten. This situation of more girls than boys can be said to be a gender advantage for nephew An An's blind date.

One of the reasons why Ziying asked me to come here was to help An An prepare a blind date note. Ziying attaches great importance to the writing of the blind date post. She asked me to use about 160 words to express An An's marriage proposal concisely and comprehensively. It must be completed that night, and the blind date will officially start tomorrow morning.

二

But what I am worried about is that Ziying’s approach is a bit arbitrary. She decides to go on a blind date on his behalf without obtaining An An’s consent. This kind of wishful thinking often leads to Good intentions are not rewarded well, and it is easy to cause resistance in children.

Perhaps the worries were unfounded. Ziying called me in the evening, and his tone was a little excited. He told me that An An agreed. However, he has a condition, that is, he only looks for girls from Shanghai and not girls from other places. He believes that only by finding a girl from Shanghai can he better integrate into Shanghai. After answering Ziying's call, I started writing a blind date note for An An. My niece Yiyi came in. She looked at the paper I wrote with a look of disdain. I thought that the palms of my hands and the backs of my hands were all flesh, so we should treat both children equally, so I asked Yiyi: "If you agree, I will also write a blind date note for you and take it to the People's Park tomorrow." After hearing what I said, she immediately became unhappy. She said to me with a dark face: "Uncle, please don't bother me with this. Do high-quality boys nowadays still need to go to the dating corner?"

After half a sentence, I immediately stopped and didn't dare to say anything anymore.

Three

On Sunday morning, Ziying and I came to the blind date corner early. I took out the blind date sticker from my bag. There were two copies of the blind date sticker, one printed on the computer and the other written with a calligraphy pen. Ziying took the blind date post and read it carefully, studying it word by word. She said that the blind date post was well written, the content was concise, well-measured, the marriage proposal elements were complete, and the font size was moderate, which showed that I had good intentions. Ziying chose the handwritten one. She said that the font of this blind date post was very beautiful and better than the one printed on the computer. It could be appreciated as a calligraphy work and could better reflect the cultural quality of the parents.

Ziying brought several photos, which were obviously carefully selected. There are photos of An An's daily life, as well as photos of his teaching work, close-up shots, and full-body shots of him standing. These photos show the glorious image of a handsome young man from different angles, which can attract the attention of parents of girls.

We took advantage of the opportunity in the dating corner, set up a pink folding umbrella, placed An'an's dating stickers on the umbrella, and then sat down and waited for God's perfect match. An'an's conditions, in the entire blind date corner, are more than adequate than inferior. He graduated from 211 University with a master's degree, has a Shanghai registered residence, a Shanghai house, and a decent job. At 31 years old, he is neither too old nor too young for a boy, plus he has good looks and talents, so it shouldn't be difficult to get married. Not long after we sat down, people kept coming towards us, looking at the dating posts, chatting with Ziying, and actively recommending their daughters. Since An An had said it first: I don't want those who are not pretty, I don't want those who are older, and I don't want those who are not Shanghai girls, so waves of people came, and waves of people left. It turned out that these three red lines were drawn, and the scope of selection was Just shrunk by half.

Dating is a two-way choice. You have to choose others, and others have to choose you. Shanghainese have a reputation for xenophobia, and regional discrimination is vividly displayed at the Dating Corner. You think you have good conditions, you think you look good, you think you are a new Shanghainese now, but when many people see that you are from another place, they leave without saying a word, and some even leave a few words before leaving. : "Little girl Ala doesn't look for outsiders."

The real situation is not as serious as imagined. Most Shanghainese are not xenophobic, because they know that whether a person is excellent or whether his married life is happy has little to do with where he comes from. That afternoon, the situation improved significantly. Most of the parents of the girls who came for the blind date were local Shanghainese. If you meet an uncle from Shanghai, the conversation will be simple and direct. If you meet an old and shrewd Shanghai aunt, you will break the casserole and ask the truth. How much is Nong's son's salary and bonus? Should you smoke cigarettes or eat old wine? Especially when it comes to houses, there are many problems. Because a house in Shanghai is very expensive, it is necessary to find out clearly: Where is the house located? Is it a new house or an old house? Is it one-bedroom, two-bedroom or three-bedroom? House, do you still need to pay off the mortgage now? How many names are listed on the real estate certificate? Do their parents also live together? Before she even scratched the horoscope, she could ask a hundred thousand reasons.

In any case, as long as parents on both sides communicate, opportunities can be created for their children. As the sun set, Ziying had received five notes. The contact information on the notes varied. Some left a phone number, while others left their child's QQ number. It was our first time testing the blind date waters, and we finally didn’t come away empty-handed.

Four

After dinner that day, Ziying conveyed the blind date information to An An. An An took the five pieces of paper, followed the phone numbers on them, and began to contact the women one by one. The contact process was a bit funny. First, An An called and rejected three girls with college degrees. Then he called again, and the girl's mother answered the phone. The mother handed the phone to her daughter. After the daughter took the phone, she yelled at the top of her lungs: "I decide my love!", which scared An An and pinched her. The call ended. An An, who hit a wall, sat down and turned on the computer, and started chatting online with the last girl. He laughed while chatting, and his mood did not seem to be affected. In the end, the two people agreed online to meet in Xujiahui tomorrow night.

From chatting online to meeting in person, there is less of a barrier and more reality.

Ziying opened the red umbrella again, pinned An An's dating post again, and sat on the roadside waiting for a good match from heaven. Week after week, month after month, I can’t remember how many phone numbers I received, and I don’t know how many girls I contacted. Anyway, we couldn’t get on a blind date, so Ziying and I continued to persevere, just like what was sung in the TV series "Desire" Like that: the vast sea of ????people, looking everywhere, if you still have a breath, don't say you can't find it...

Suddenly one day, the peach blossom luck fell from the sky. A familiar uncle came in front of us. Ziying quickly remembered, isn't this Jiang Qin's father? The one who dated An An in Xujiahui. My uncle said that his daughter is picky and has not yet reached an agreement. Hearing that we are having a blind date again, my daughter specifically asked him to ask if An An has become a regular employee now. Ziying told Uncle Jiang that An An had been promoted to a regular job a long time ago and was now an officially established middle school teacher. A relationship that had disappeared for a long time was unexpectedly found again.

Nine months after returning to Nanchang, An An and Jiang Qin sent me a wedding invitation. When I received their invitation, I was so excited that I couldn't sleep all night. An An was finally single! Ten days later, I rushed from Nanchang to Shanghai to attend their wedding. The wedding was held in a hotel by the Huangpu River. In the sound of festive music, I watched the two newlyweds walk into the marriage hall hand in hand. The joy in my heart was indescribable. Ziying, who was busy organizing the wedding, raised her wine glass and came to me. She said to me happily: "Brother, our mission is finally completed!"

A year later, the baby was born. Ziying is busy raising her grandson again.