Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 318 - 55: Crossdressing? Not a Chance
Li Xinyu’s techniques of empathizing and understanding smoothly opened up the situation for the team of investigators.
Once the manager of Golden Jade Matchmaking opened up their mental defenses, a flood of words, both appropriate and inappropriate, poured out like beans from a split bamboo tube.
"Oh, you want to investigate that Mr. Shi? So that’s it. I must say, this guest is indeed strange, and it’s naturally understandable that you want to investigate him... I was hired seven years ago to be the manager here. Back then, the former manager told me that Golden Jade Matchmaking currently has several big spenders... no wait, golden coin VIPs. No matter what, we must take good care of them, as they are the shop’s long-term, stable cash cows."
Considering Shen Jinghai’s yearly expenditure of over a thousand Spirit Stones, this evaluation is spot on.
"But I’m also puzzled. This matchmaking business is typically a one-time ordeal. For those with demanding conditions, usually, it’s just a matter of setting them up a few more times and collecting more introduction fees. How is it possible for someone to come year after year to spend money here? Isn’t it just ruining the shop’s reputation to be unable to find a suitable companion for such a long time?" After a pause, the manager continued, "Of course, some come here for pleasure, wanting to pick some decent, good-natured young women to toy with. They’re willing to pay high selection fees and subsequent complaint compensations, and yet they enjoy it. But even these playboys wouldn’t persist in blind dating for ten years without fail. It’s also because we have high compensation requirements for these clients. Only this Mr. Shi has kept up weekly blind dates, never missing once in over ten years, yet has never been satisfied."
"Mr. Shi?"
The manager paused for a moment, then comprehended: "The name he used to register here is Shi Buqing."
Shen Ying almost burst out laughing: "That’s a name that announces its own intention! My impression of him is about to crumble."
Li Wanqing commented, "But these people have found no fault in over ten years, which shows the disguise is effective."
The manager blinked and decided not to ask further questions.
"Anyway, this Mr. Shi Buqing pays a service fee every week, requesting us to arrange blind dates for him. But after each date, he finds various reasons to refuse continued meetings..."
Upon hearing this, Shen Qingming couldn’t help but ask, "Are you saying you arranged defective products for him for over ten years? That’s too shady..."
The manager jumped up immediately, protesting, "Heaven knows we’re businessmen who prioritize profit, yet we always operate with integrity and truly aim to find suitable partners for our clients, no matter how high the demands. We try our best to meet them. But gold can’t be pure and people can’t be perfect. Who in this world is absolutely without flaws?" 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
Shen Qingming asked, "What does he ask for?"
The manager sighed, "First is beauty, nearly flawless beauty. You could say, even if loosening the standards a bit, not requiring looks, skin, and figure to be outstanding, they absolutely can’t have any flaws. This is harder than finding a perfect Hainan. Thankfully, the Immortal Techniques for cosmetic surgery are advanced now, otherwise, it would be really hard to meet his requirements."
Shen Qingming was somewhat displeased, "Judging by appearance, that’s really tasteless."
The manager said, "Not exactly. Mr. Shi says the most important aspect in a marital relationship is harmony."
"What’s the relation to appearance?"
"He claims he himself is an extraordinary beauty, one of a kind, and if his wife’s appearance has flaws, walking together in the street would create disharmony in mere appearance. This disharmony might lead to long-term psychological pressure for the woman, causing melancholy or even Heart Demon infestation, so it’s crucial to prevent such risks at the root."
"..." Everyone was shocked by such a blatant display of shamelessness.
The manager said, "Every time Mr. Shi Buqing comes for service, he wears a mask, and no one has seen his true face. He says he doesn’t want his highly prestigious and influential identity to affect the dating process. But overall, when he speaks, his charisma makes people instinctively believe him."
"What else?"
"Additionally, he requires the woman to be below the age of 50 and to possess a high level of Immortal Dao Cultivation, at least the Rain Cover Realm."
"Under 50, Rain Cover Realm, this is a high standard even among cultivators. It’s indeed quite demanding..."
"He thinks his own cultivation is high enough and his lifespan lengthy. If his wife can’t keep up with his cultivation and enjoy the same lifespan, she would inevitably leave him with the suffering of solitude."
"He’s thinking too far ahead, isn’t he? Besides, women in the Rain Cover Realm, how many would register at your Golden Jade Matchmaking? Can you produce such characters every week?"
The manager laughed bitterly, "Of course not. Even in Heaven-Reaching City and Golden Jade City, it’s impossible to have a fresh beauty every week, one after another for ten years. So Mr. Shi later relaxed the requirements, if cultivation can’t meet the standards, as long as the physical constitution is sufficiently robust, able to withstand the potency of various life-extending drugs, it’s fine."
"...Taking such things repeatedly makes you turn into a vegetable!"
"Mr. Shi said it’s okay to be a vegetable, considering older people aren’t much different from vegetative states anyway."
"In this aspect, he’s surprisingly not picky!?"
The manager continued, "In addition, Mr. Shi has some fragmented demands on the hard conditions, like not being born in QingCyan Cloud yun City, and within three generations having no blood relatives with the surname Li... thankfully these are insignificant issues which we can smoothly deal with, such as helping to change a name of blood relatives within three generations... The troublesome part is Mr. Shi’s extremely stringent criteria for the woman’s personality. Over the past ten years, we’ve expended great effort selecting women with outstanding hard conditions who agreed to date, but in the personality test phase, they were all deemed unqualified by Mr. Shi and sent back."
This naturally aroused curiosity among everyone.
"What’s a personality test?"
The steward said, "It’s a comprehensive set of test questions designed by Mr. Shi himself. During the date, he will pose questions in various ways and observe the other person’s reactions. If they don’t meet the requirements, he will reject them."
"For example?"
"Let me check the records... Ah, here, this is a rather typical one. In the spring of 2014, on March 22nd, we arranged a date between Mr. Shi and Ms. Liu. They dined together at the Divine Sword Tower. During the meal, Mr. Shi asked Ms. Liu how many ways there are to write the Chinese character for ’hui’. Ms. Liu said there were three ways, and then Mr. Shi rejected her for having a low cultural level."
"Is he crazy or what?!" Shen Qingming exclaimed, "Aren’t there just three ways to write ’hui’?!"
Suddenly, a bunch of eyes turned towards them.
Shen Qingming was taken aback, and just as she was about to argue, Wang Jiu thoughtfully wrote the character ’hui’ four different ways right in front of her, making the girl feel utterly embarrassed.
The steward ignored this and continued complaining, "In any case, who knows what’s going on in Mr. Shen’s head. For example, in this case, in October 2012, we arranged a date between Mr. Shi and Ms. Kong. During the date, Mr. Shi suddenly asked her, hypothetically speaking, how she would feel if in every aspect, the man were superior to the woman in a relationship."
A few young girls showed interest in this question, whispering to each other before asking, "How did Ms. Kong answer?"
"To learn from those better than oneself. Since the other party is obviously better in every way, I would strive to catch up and make them my goal until I could match them."
This answer is a model of positive energy and main theme, and the young girls nodded approvingly.
"But Mr. Shi said that this kind of subjective idealism and overestimation of one’s capabilities would certainly lead to instability in a long-term marriage. If the woman, after long efforts, still cannot catch up with the man, at best she would become melancholy, and at worst, it would breed a heart demon. Therefore, this risk must be eradicated from the root."
"This person is definitely insane!" Shen Qingming was already exasperated, "I’ve never seen such a shameless person!"
Several people around them also chimed in, each denouncing Shen Jinghai’s perverted behavior.
Wang Jiu, however, curiously asked, "Shameless, why? I think his demands are very reasonable. The most important thing in a married life is harmony. If they can’t pass even such a basic personality test, it clearly indicates incompatible personalities, making them unsuitable for marriage; otherwise, post-marital conflicts would be endless and torturous for both parties."
The group looked Wang Jiu over, seeing his sincere and genuine statement, they couldn’t help but remark, "No wonder so many women liked you back then, yet you’re still single."
——
On the other hand, the current investigation results left the clues on the brink of running dry again.
Shen Jinghai’s decade-long dating experiences are indeed a bit unusual, but the data indicates that he has genuinely been searching for a life-long partner who can accompany him for life.
He conceals his identity to avoid letting his position as Deputy City Lord unnecessarily affect the woman. He is seeking a partner for Shen Jinghai, not for the Deputy City Lord of Shen City, and thus has no demands on the woman’s family background or wealth. In this respect, he is more honest and sincere compared to those who insist on matching social status, or even covet the woman’s property.
Such feelings shouldn’t be blamed by anyone.
After leaving the Golden Jade Match headquarters, a few inspectors fell into distress. Shen Qingming complained, "What’s next? I thought that guy came here to date with some dirty secret, but now I kind of sympathize with him."
Shen Ying also commented, "Although he’s a weirdo, at least he’s a relatively straightforward weirdo. It might be difficult to use this secret to blackmail him — moreover, Shen Jinghai has always been quite tough in his dealings."
Shen Qingming asked, "Then what should we do? Abandon this lead?"
In frustration, suddenly a flash of insight hit Li Wanqing.
"Wait a minute, why do we have to blackmail Shen Jinghai? Let’s think about it from a different angle. To get someone to help you, there are other options besides blackmail! For instance, if we could help him find a suitable partner, then out of gratitude, he might lend us a hand!"
"...Help him find a suitable partner, and then hope he will return the favor?!" For a moment, the group was stunned by Li Wanqing’s idea.
Li Wanqing, however, was excited, "Exactly, he’s been dating for 10 years without finding a suitable partner, yet he refuses to give up, so it shows he’s genuinely yearning for true love. If we can truly help him find such true love, shouldn’t he return the favor, if he has any conscience left?"
This seemed to make some sense.
"The problem is, Golden Jade Match is such a large organization yet couldn’t find a suitable candidate. Where are we supposed to find Shen Jinghai’s true love?"
"Yeah, setting aside looks or cultivation, who could possibly handle such perverse personality test questions?"
Li Wanqing pointed a finger at Wang Jiu, "Isn’t there one right here?"
