If you're going on a blind date, do it properly, don't confiscate my property!

Sister Wang is Xu Lang's landlady. She has said many times that she would introduce Xu Lang to a potential partner. Xu Lang went once, but it didn't work out. Later, Xu Lang made excuses to decline several times.

This time, he brought a box of pure milk and took the initiative to visit the landlord's house.

The large living room was very clean. On the leather sofa, Sister Wang was smoking, wearing a cheongsam, with her long, wavy hair cascading down her shoulders, staring at the TV.

"Sister Wang!"

Xu Lang put on a fawning smile, picked up the milk, changed into slippers at the door, and walked into the living room.

Although Sister Wang is in her forties, she takes good care of herself and looks like she's in her thirties.

Upon hearing Xu Lang's voice, he stood up, a bright smile spreading across his face:

"Xu Lang, come, come, have a seat!"

Xu Lang placed the milk on the floor next to the coffee table and sat down on the sofa. Sister Wang pushed the fruit in front of him towards him.

"Xu Lang, what's gotten into you all of a sudden? I offered to introduce you to someone before, but you refused. Now you're suddenly asking for a widow. What's wrong? Did society teach you a lesson, or were you stimulated by porn movies?"

Xu Lang maintained a calm, slight smile:

"I guess I've finally figured it out. My parents are pressuring me a lot; if I don't bring a girlfriend home soon, they'll have to move my ancestral graves."

"From now on, I won't be picky. I'll go on dates whenever I have the chance. If it doesn't work out, we can still be friends. Having more friends means having more options. Even if she's a widow, I'll still go on dates!"

"Oh, it's not that bad, you're a widow. I was just joking with you last time!" Sister Wang waved her hand and turned to look at the picture frame hanging on the wall above Xu Lang's head.

"You've lived here for a few years, and I like you very much. If my daughter were home, I'd like to arrange a meeting between you two; you wouldn't be bad as my son-in-law!"

Sister Wang is divorced and lives with her daughter. She has raised her daughter very well, and her daughter is pursuing a master's degree at a well-known university in China. Whenever she talks about her daughter, her face is full of pride.

Xu Lang had seen a photo of her daughter. She wore thin-rimmed glasses, was slender, and had a slightly reserved and restrained demeanor. Her clothes were simple and elegant, giving her a cool, intellectual, rational, and introverted sense of detachment.

She's not the kind of girl who's stunningly beautiful; she's more like a certain actress with a first-love face.

"Sister Wang, please stop teasing me." Xu Lang said modestly, but inwardly he was nodding wildly in agreement:

"Maybe your daughter already has a boyfriend at school, and you're trying to break them up!"

"Impossible. My daughter has never had a boyfriend. She often complains to me about her heavy schoolwork, saying she doesn't even have time to go shopping, and I have to buy her clothes myself." Ms. Wang was very certain; she knew her daughter's personality and life inside and out.

"Could you come home a little later this Chinese New Year? My daughter is coming back, and I want you two to meet."

"Let's see!" Xu Lang secretly wanted to meet him.

Sister Wang opened her phone, opened the photo album, and handed it to Xu Lang:

"However, before my daughter comes back, I can introduce you to my friend's daughter. She just returned from studying in the U.S. Take a look, and if you're interested, I'll ask her about it."

Sister Wang's biggest hobby is playing mahjong; she's practically a walking gossip radar in the neighborhood.

Whose son is still unmarried and whose daughter is still single? Whose wife is having an affair? Whose daughter is being abused at home? Whose husband is keeping a mistress?

These are their intelligence-gathering sessions while playing mahjong.

Xu Lang took the phone and glanced at the photo: the girl's makeup was a bit heavy, giving her a mature look, but he had to admit she was quite pretty, the kind of mature, sophisticated woman.

"What do you think?" Sister Wang herself also thought the girl was pretty.

"Her daughter has been back for a few months now, and she's asking me to help her find a boyfriend. She seems to be in a hurry. Should I give it a try?"

"Okay!" Xu Lang agreed without hesitation.

Regardless of what the girl is like, let's get the system reward first!

Sister Wang put away her phone and said, "Don't worry, if it doesn't work out, I have a lot of mahjong friends here. You'll have to try it out with my daughter when she gets home!"

"Okay, thank you, Sister Wang!"

……

Xu Lang returned to the shared apartment and saw his roommate Zhang Yuejiao drinking alone in the living room.

There were three dishes on the table, four or five empty beer bottles on the floor, and the man was completely drunk.

"Sister Yue, what's wrong?"

Xu Lang walked over and asked with concern.

Zhang Yuejiao's cheeks were flushed red. She looked at him, her eyes somewhat unfocused, and waved her hand.

"Xu Lang, you're back. Come on, have a drink with me."

Pull Xu Lang to sit down!

Xu Lang sat down, poured himself a glass of wine, picked up the chopsticks next to him, and took a piece of pig's ear:

"Sister Yue, what's wrong? Why are you drinking so much by yourself?"

Zhang Yuejiao turned to the side and looked at Xu Lang:

"Xu Lang, am I ugly?"

"It's not ugly!"

"I work hard to save money to buy a house and a car. It's not unreasonable for me to ask him to have a house and a car too, is it?"

Xu Lang suddenly realized.

It seems Sister Yue had another bad experience on her blind date, and that's why she's drowning her sorrows in alcohol here.

The two had been renting the two-bedroom apartment together for several years and had gotten to know each other.

Zhang Yuejiao, 35 years old, is an elite representative of the large number of migrant workers in Hangzhou. She earns an annual salary of 300,000 yuan, owns a house and a car, and although she has loans, she is highly capable.

She always portrayed herself as an independent woman of the new era, and deep down she looked down on people from the lower class like Xu Lang.

The only thing that frustrated her was that she always failed in blind dates!

"Not excessive!" Xu Lang nodded in reply.

"I earn 300,000 yuan a year, and I demand that my partner earn 500,000 yuan a year. Is that excessive?"

"Not excessive!"

"I'm 35 years old, is it unreasonable for me to ask someone to be no more than five years older than me?"

"Not excessive!"

"You think it's reasonable too, right? Then why did he reject me? Why?" Zhang Yuejiao grabbed Xu Lang's shoulders with both hands, shaking him a little agitated:

"Xu Lang, if you were him, would you choose me?"

Xu Lang answered without hesitation, "I choose the eighteen-year-old!"

The air froze.

"Go to hell—if you can't speak properly, shut up!" Zhang Yuejiao shoved him hard, almost knocking Xu Lang over, but luckily he reacted quickly and regained his balance.

Xu Lang settled himself in, straightened his collar, his gaze remaining firm, his tone leaving no room for doubt:

Even if you insult me, I'll still choose 18.

"You...uh-uh!" She was furious and broke down in tears, her eyes red and glaring at Xu Lang with a resentful look.

"We're older, but we own a house and a car, and we have high annual salaries. What do young girls have?"

Without hesitation, Xu Lang said, "She's young!"

Zhang Yuejiao glared at him and argued her case:

"We've seen the world, we know a lot, we're gentle and considerate, and we understand human relationships—these are qualities that young girls can't match."

Xu Lang still used those three words, each one piercing to the heart:

"She's young!"

"Get out!" Zhang Yuejiao broke down again, her hair slightly disheveled.

"Besides being young, what else does she have? What else?"

"Being young is enough!"

"Aaaaaah..."

Completely breaking down, she let out a scream.

"Get out! Get out of here! Don't drink my wine, I paid for it."

Pointing at Xu Lang's room, he roared like a kitten whose tail had been stepped on, wishing he could tear Xu Lang's mouth apart.

Xu Lang stepped back a few paces and put his hands in front of him to block his way.

He knew that Zhang Yuejiao looked down on him, an ordinary person with a monthly salary of 7,000 yuan and no house or car; he also looked down on her, a 35-year-old single woman.

He turned around, intending to go into the room.

"Xu Lang, stop right there!" Zhang Yuejiao's commanding voice came from behind.

Xu Lang stopped, turned around, and looked at her.

"Don't you guys see any advantage in the houses, cars, and savings we've worked so hard for with our youth?"

She suffered repeated defeats, but she was unwilling to give up. She had struggled for so long and enriched herself so that she could be worthy of a partner with better conditions.

In the end, the other party's comment about her being an "older single woman" shattered all her hard work.