Chapter 91: Auntie Wants to Register

The preparations for If You Are the One were still under way, and with money and manpower both urgently needed, Lin Chuan and Yuan Ye dared not waste a single moment.

Early the next morning, the two of them hurried off to the bus station.

Because it was rush hour, the roads were several times busier than usual. However, the taxi driver seemed to know Beining’s streets very well. After getting Lin Chuan and Yuan Ye’s approval, he took a circuitous route through a maze of side streets.

Though it was a bit of a detour, it was still far better than being trapped in a traffic jam somewhere.

Before long, the taxi reached a wider avenue, where the traffic was lighter and only the occasional bus passed by.

Yuan Ye, who had been playing on his phone, suddenly looked up. Surprise flickered in his eyes.

“Isn’t this the place where Yangyang goes to kindergarten?”

Lin Chuan said nothing. He merely turned his head and looked out through the car window, as though lost in thought.

Not far ahead, several private cars were parked by the roadside. Young parents were helping their children out of the cars and leading them into the kindergarten.

At the gate, two young teachers were smiling as they greeted every child and parent who came through.

After watching for a while, Lin Chuan could not help feeling disappointed. Because at the kindergarten entrance, he had not seen that familiar figure.

“Who are you looking for? Don’t tell me you’re searching for Wang Yue?” Yuan Ye said with a mischievous grin.

“No. I was just feeling a little sentimental. It’s been more than a month since I was last here, and somehow it feels oddly familiar.” Lin Chuan gave an awkward smile.

“Oh, spare me. You can say that to other people, but do you really think you can fool me? You’ve only been away for a little over a month. What sentimental feeling could you possibly have? I’d say you’re just getting emotional over the scenery, ha ha ha!” Yuan Ye burst into loud, unrestrained laughter.

“What emotion am I getting over? I didn’t even study here.” Lin Chuan rolled his eyes.

“Fine, I won’t tease you anymore. I’ve got some inside news for you: Wang Yue has already resigned. She’d long since stopped working here.” Yuan Ye’s grin faded, and he spoke in a mysterious tone.

“She resigned? How do you know?” Lin Chuan froze.

“It’s called inside news. Trust me, it’s one hundred percent accurate. If you don’t believe me, go ahead and call and ask.” Yuan Ye said.

At that, Lin Chuan frowned and looked again toward the kindergarten. After confirming that Wang Yue’s figure was nowhere to be seen, he withdrew his gaze somewhat reluctantly.

...

By the time the two of them returned to Spring City, it was already past two in the afternoon. When they rushed to the television station without even pausing to catch their breath, they found the place already packed with people.

At a glance, there seemed to be thirty or forty of them. More than half were middle-aged men and women over forty, and a small number were women in their thirties.

As for women in their twenties, they were as rare as hen’s teeth. You could count them on your fingers and still have some left over.

What surprised Lin Chuan and Yuan Ye even more was that among the crowd were several old ladies with hair as white as frost, so frail they could barely walk without help. They too were standing there anxiously, waiting for something.

In addition, several television station employees were maintaining order, but with little effect. They were practically powerless.

Those aunts and grandmothers were gathered in little clusters of three or five, chattering endlessly.

“Oh my, Sister Chen, you came too?”

One of the aunts, in her forties and a little plump, said with a smile.

“Well, I heard the TV station was holding a blind date event, so I came to take a look and register my daughter while I was at it. What about you? You’re not here to register one of your family’s kids too, are you?”

“Ah, you’re telling me. Our girl is already old enough to be looking for someone, about to turn thirty, and she still hasn’t found a partner. Her father and I keep urging her every day, but she doesn’t even seem to care.”

“Miss, let me ask you something. Is this where you sign up to find someone?”

As they were talking, an old lady with a head full of silver hair and a cane in her hand tottered over. Judging by her age, she had to be at least in her seventies.

“Auntie, this is indeed the place to find a partner. Are you here to register too?”

“Yes, I want to register my little granddaughter. She stays at home all day staring at that computer, never works a proper job, and won’t look for a boyfriend either. It’s enough to make a person anxious.” The old lady sighed.

The same scene kept repeating outside the television station. Seeing this, Lin Chuan and Yuan Ye both frowned.

This chaotic mess no longer looked like a registration site at all. It had completely turned into a marketplace.

The two exchanged a glance, each seeing helplessness in the other’s eyes. With a quiet sigh, they headed toward the television station building.

When those long-waiting aunts saw the two young men walk in without any obstruction, they were instantly displeased, and many of them began grumbling.

“Hey, what’s going on? Those two boys just went straight in?”

“Exactly. We’ve been waiting this long, and there isn’t even any first come, first served?”

“Auntie Wang, say less. We’ve already waited so long. What’s a little longer? It won’t cost you a piece of meat. Opportunities should be given to the young people. Maybe one of them will end up being your son-in-law.”

“If you put it that way, it does make some sense. Did you see it? One of those two young men was tall and thin, and rather handsome. He’d be a perfect match for my daughter. Yes, handsome man and beautiful woman.”

“What’s the use of being handsome? Can that put food on the table? If you’re looking for someone, you should find an honest, dependable man. I think the other one seems pretty good. He’s not ugly, and he looks mature enough. He barely suits my daughter.”

“What, growing a beard makes a man mature? I still think the other one is better. Sure, looks can’t be eaten, but at least they make you feel happier when you look at them.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Auntie Wang, you’re already this old and still such a romantic…”

And just like that, a dispute over sons-in-law escalated into a full-blown war of words. None of the aunts would give an inch, and they stood there arguing without end.

As for the instigators of this “battle,” Lin Chuan and Yuan Ye, they knew nothing about it.

They went into the lobby on the first floor, expecting the situation to be a little better there. But the reality was completely beyond their expectations. It was even more chaotic inside, with some aunts surrounding the staff and asking nonstop questions, all about this so-called blind date program.

As the person in charge of registration this time, Du Mo was also overwhelmed beyond measure. He was only in his twenties, and faced with these fierce aunts, he had no chance of holding his ground. Surrounded by a crowd, he could barely get a word out.

“Damn, what is this mess?” Yuan Ye blurted out.

Lin Chuan frowned. He was just as baffled.

When he left yesterday, hadn’t he already made things very clear? During registration, they only needed to record the necessary information. So why was this happening now?

Just then, a woman in plain clothes ran out from the crowd, her face anxious.

“Brother Chuan, Brother Yuan, you’re finally back. The situation is getting out of control. Quick, think of something.”

“Don’t panic. Tell us what happened first,” Lin Chuan said.

“It’s like this...” The woman quickly explained everything that had happened today.

After Lin Chuan and Yuan Ye heard the whole story, both of them actually cursed in unison: “Stupid.”

The registration for the female contestants on If You Are the One had officially begun today. In the morning, everything was still fairly normal. There were not many people signing up, but they were basically all young women.

After Du Mo finished making simple records for them, he told them to go home and wait for further notice. But in the afternoon, a large wave of aunts, having heard the news, suddenly gathered at the entrance of the television station.

Not one of them had come alone. Almost all of them arrived in pairs or trios, wanting to register their sons and daughters on their behalf.

Faced with this situation, Du Mo was a little stunned. Because before leaving, Lin Chuan had specifically instructed him to first register the female contestants, then conduct interviews, and only after selection would they be notified to appear on the program.

Du Mo had no experience in this area. He had only recently left university, and had thought this would be a good chance to prove himself. But once that swarm of aunts appeared, all his plans were thrown completely into disarray.

At first, he still politely told the aunts to have their daughters come and register themselves. But the aunts all had their own explanations.

Most of them said their daughters were busy working and had no time to come, so they were just helping sign them up.

If this had been anyone else, they would have handled it the usual way. After all, it was only registration. As long as the contact information was left, that would have been enough. When interview time came, they could simply notify the person concerned. It was all the same.

But Du Mo did not do that. In accordance with his serious and conscientious attitude toward work, he flatly refused those aunts and left them no room to maneuver.

And that was the problem. The aunts were no pushovers. How could they allow someone else to sign up in their daughters’ place? That was unthinkable. If their daughters’ lifelong happiness was delayed, could the television station bear that responsibility?

So, as things worsened, the present situation came to be.

The aunts inside were clamoring to register, while the aunts outside kept arriving in greater and greater numbers. If this went on, even by tomorrow morning there still would not be any result.

“Are you going, or am I?” Yuan Ye asked with a wry smile.

Lin Chuan shrugged and looked at the chaotic lobby.

“You’re the deputy station chief. In a situation like this, it’s your duty to charge in.”

Yuan Ye said nothing more. This was not the time for banter. The most important thing right now was to solve the problem.

“Ladies, please be quiet for a moment and let me say a few words, all right?”

His voice was not loud, but it reached everyone’s ears at once. The aunts in the lobby all turned around and looked him over.

“Who are you? What do you want to say?”

“We’re here to register our daughters. If it’s not relevant, don’t say it. We don’t want to hear it.”

“You’re their leader? Doesn’t look like it. What do you do here?”

All kinds of skeptical voices rose in fragments throughout the lobby.

Yuan Ye smiled faintly and said, “I’m the station chief of the television station, and also the person in charge of this blind date program. If there are any problems, you can come to me.”

No sooner had he spoken than the aunts erupted at once, surging toward him and firing off questions all at once.