You were supposed to have a fake marriage with the diva, so how did you become her father?

Chapter 401 Matchmaker Wang Po

The scene of Wang Po acting as matchmaker was much more lively than Lu Ran had imagined.

He initially thought it was just a gimmick by the scenic area, where they would just find an old lady on stage to recite some words and make the tourists happy.

But after standing there for ten minutes, he realized that the show was serious.

The woman on stage, referred to as "godmother" Wang Po, was genuinely introducing herself to the young people.

She doesn't just randomly match people up. She asks about their age, occupation, hobbies, and requirements for a partner. After asking all the questions, she selects suitable candidates based on the number of people who have signed up.

The whole process was similar to a regular dating show, only the atmosphere was more relaxed and funnier.

"Come on, young lady, how old are you? What do you do for a living?" Granny Wang asked, pulling a girl in white clothes along.

"At twenty-six, I worked as an accountant in Zhengzhou."

"An accountant is good, they're good at managing money. So what are your requirements for a man?"

The girl thought for a moment and said, "He should be over 1.75 meters tall, have a stable job, not too fat, and preferably don't smoke or drink."

After listening, Granny Wang turned to the audience and shouted, "Did you hear that? Over 1.75 meters tall, with a stable job, not overweight, doesn't smoke or drink. Raise your hand if you meet the requirements!"

Dozens of hands shot up from the audience.

Granny Wang glanced around at the people who had raised their hands and called on a young man in a plaid shirt to come up.

How tall are you?

"1.78 meters tall."

"What kind of work do you do?"

"Programmer".

Do you smoke and drink?

"I don't smoke, but I drink a little beer occasionally."

Granny Wang nodded in satisfaction and pulled the two of them together: "Add each other on WeChat and chat first. If you get along, great; if not, just consider it making friends. It's a win-win situation."

Both of them were a little embarrassed, but they still took out their phones and scanned the QR code.

A chorus of cheers erupted from the audience.

Shen Yuege watched with great interest, her eyes glued to the stage as if she were watching a spectacular show.

Another couple came up.

This time, it's the man on stage, and Granny Wang is helping him find a partner.

The man was in his late twenties, quite handsome, and said he worked in sales, traveling all over the country, so he never had time to date.

When asked what kind of woman he liked, he said he liked someone with long hair, gentleness, and a good personality.

From below the stage, Granny Wang called out, "Any long-haired, gentle, and kind-hearted girls, please?"

Several girls were pushed up by their friends and stood in a row.

The man glanced at them and chose one who was wearing a skirt.

The two stood together; the man was half a head taller than the woman, and they looked quite well-matched.

"Add me on WeChat! Add me on WeChat!" Granny Wang urged from the side.

After they added each other on WeChat, the man offered to treat the woman to milk tea, and she agreed. The two then left the stage together.

Another uproar erupted from the audience.

Lu Ran watched this scene and a smile crept onto his face.

This show is really interesting; it's much more entertaining than those serious dating shows.

Those shows are all scripted, acted out, and completely fake.

This is real. It's all real people and real events, both on and off stage. If it succeeds, it succeeds; if it doesn't, it doesn't. There's no script, no rehearsal.

Shen Yuege tugged at his sleeve: "Look over there, another couple has formed."

Lu Ran looked in the direction she was pointing and saw a man and a woman shaking hands in the audience, smiling as if they had just found money.

In just a short while, three or four couples had formed on the stage.

Some added each other on WeChat, some made plans to have dinner, and one couple even made plans to go to the movies that afternoon.

Shen Yuege became more and more excited as she looked, and her feet began to move forward unconsciously.

Lu Ran noticed her movement and reached out to grab her arm.

"What do you want to do?"

"Nothing much. Just stood further forward so I could see better."

"You're already in the third row; if you move forward, you'll be going on stage."

Shen Yuege didn't respond, but the look in her eyes as she stared at the stage was clearly strange.

Lu Ran had seen that look before.

The last time she saw giant pandas in Chengdu, she had this same look in her eyes—wanting to touch them but also afraid of being bitten, so conflicted.

"You don't mean to go up there, do you?" Lu Ran asked.

Shen Yuege turned to look at him, a hint of guilt in her eyes above her mask.

"I'm just thinking about it."

"Thinking about it won't work. You're Shen Yuege; if you go up there, you'll be the number one trending topic the next day."

"I can wear a mask. I'm already wearing one."

"Your mask might fool strangers. What if someone recognizes your eyes? Don't you know how easily your eyes are recognizable?"

Shen Yuege hesitated again after hearing what he said.

But she kept her eyes fixed on the stage.

As she watched, another couple got together, and when they walked off the stage hand in hand, she finally couldn't hold back anymore.

"Lu Ran, I'm just going upstairs for a bit. I won't take off my mask, I'll just stand there for a short while. It won't give me away."

"You really want to go up there?"

"I just want to experience it. Look how happy they are when they go up there. I also want to try what it feels like to be chosen."

Lu Ran was stunned for a moment after hearing this.

Who is Shen Yuege? She's a top-tier singer, the kind who gets surrounded by people asking for autographs wherever she goes. She said she wanted to experience what it's like to be chosen.

He thought about it and realized it wasn't entirely incomprehensible.

From her debut until now, Shen Yuege has always been in a position of being looked up to.

Fans look up to her, colleagues look up to her, and the media look up to her.

She never stood in an ordinary, equal, or chosen position.

It's not that she didn't want to, it's that she didn't have the opportunity.

Now, on Wansui Mountain, among so many people, no one knows who she is.

She was just an ordinary young woman wearing a mask.

She could be like those people on stage, being pulled aside by Wang Po and asked all sorts of questions, being judged by the people in the audience, and being chosen or not chosen by a complete stranger.

This feeling was new to her.

"Okay," Lu Ran said. "You can go up if you want, but I need to tell you first."

"What did you say?"

"Once you go up, Aunt Wang will definitely find you a male guest backstage. You don't need to worry about it, just stand there and don't move. I'll come up."

Shen Yuege blinked, feigning ignorance, and asked, "You came up? What are you doing up here?"

"I'll choose you. What else? Should I let my wife be chosen by someone else on stage?"

After hearing this, Shen Yuege's eyes crinkled with laughter; you could feel her smile even through her mask.

"Then hurry up. Don't wait until I've been chosen before you come up."

"The moment you stood on it, I started to rush upwards."

After the two of them discussed it, Shen Yuege began to move towards the stage.

Lu Ran followed behind her, already planning in his mind how to rush onto the stage without being blocked.

Shen Yuege walked to the side of the stage, found a staff member, and whispered that she wanted to go up and experience it.

The staff member glanced at her, noticed she was wearing a mask, and asked, "Is it inconvenient to show your face?" Shen Yuege nodded.

The staff didn't ask any questions, pointed to the steps on the side of the stage and said to go up from there, and to walk up when Wang Po called for help.

Shen Yuege stood at the bottom of the steps waiting, her heart already racing.

She has performed in stadiums with tens of thousands of people, sung on live television, and stood under countless spotlights.

But she had never been this nervous before.

Because in those situations she knew she was the main character, everyone was watching her, waiting for her to speak.

Things are different now. Now she's just an ordinary girl who wants to try her luck. Nobody knows her, nobody pays attention to her, and nobody cares how long she stands on stage.

This feeling of being invisible made her both nervous and excited.

At that moment, another couple on stage successfully paired up.

After seeing them off, Granny Wang clapped her hands and called out to the audience, "Anyone else want to come up? Young men and women alike are welcome. Granny Wang will make the decision!"

Shen Yuege took a deep breath and walked up the steps.

The moment Shen Yuege stepped onto the stage, the noise from the audience suddenly subsided a little.

It wasn't because she was recognized, but because her aura was different from the other girls who had come on stage before her.

Most of the girls who went on stage before were either pushed up by their friends or hesitated for a long time backstage before finally mustering the courage to come up.

They were somewhat nervous and shy when they went on stage. They walked with their heads down and shrank back subconsciously when standing next to Granny Wang.

Shen Yuege is different.

She walked with her back straight, her steps neither fast nor slow, steadily making her way from the steps to Wang Po's side.

Although his face was obscured by a mask, his composure clearly indicated that he was no ordinary person.

Granny Wang looked her up and down, and her eyes lit up.

"Hey, young lady, you're quite tall. 1.7 meters?"

Shen Yuege nodded without saying anything.

"Why are you still wearing a mask? Is it inconvenient to take it off?"

Shen Yuege nodded.

Granny Wang had seen many customers like this, so she didn't press the issue. She smiled and said, "Alright, wear a mask if you want, it won't bother you. How old are you, young lady?"

"25," Shen Yuege answered succinctly.

Twenty-five.

Granny Wang asked again, "What kind of work do you do?"

Shen Yuege hesitated for a moment, then said that she made a living by singing.

"A singer? A professional singer?"

Shen Yuege nodded.

"Where are you singing? In a bar? Or at some kind of performance?"

Shen Yuege thought about it and felt that it was about right, so she nodded.

She can't exactly say she sang in a stadium with tens of thousands of people, that would give her away.

Wang Po didn't press further, but instead asked, "So what are your requirements for the man?"

Shen Yuege held the microphone, thought for a moment, and said, "Talented, I guess."

Granny Wang paused for a moment, then laughed: "You're an interesting girl. Alright, Granny Wang will give you a shout then."

She turned to the audience, her voice twice as loud as before: "Attention, single young men! This young lady on stage is twenty-five years old, a singer, 1.7 meters tall, and quite beautiful. Although she's wearing a mask so I can't see her whole body, I guarantee she's a stunning beauty—her eyebrows, her figure, her aura! Anyone want to come up and get to know her?"

She then added, "Ideally, they should be talented, able to perform some special skills."

The audience below the stage couldn't stand up any longer when they saw such an exceptional woman on stage.

"I'll do it!"

"Pick me! Pick me!"

"Me! Me! Me!"

Dozens of voices rang out at the same time, a jumbled mess, making it impossible to tell who was who.

Standing below the stage, Lu Ran felt a chill run down his spine at the sight of this spectacle.

He had previously told Shen Yuege, "The moment you stood up, I started rushing upwards," but he underestimated the reaction speed of others.

Before he could even take a step, someone had already rushed past him.

A young man wearing a black hoodie was the first to rush to the front of the stage steps, so fast it looked like someone was whipping him from behind.

Following closely behind was a person in a white jacket, then a person wearing glasses, then a person in a plaid shirt, and so on... a whole huge group of them were all running towards the stage.

The staff had clearly never encountered such a situation before. They were stunned for two seconds before reacting and quickly blocked the steps to prevent people from running up.

But it was too late.

The first boy in the black hoodie to rush over had already stepped onto the steps when a staff member grabbed him.

The person in the white coat behind them was stopped at the bottom of the steps and was so anxious that they kept stamping their feet.

People behind were blocked, but they kept pushing forward, and the crowd surged forward like a tide.

When Granny Wang saw this scene while standing on the stage, she was stunned for a moment, and then she laughed.

"Don't push! One at a time! Everyone has a chance!" she shouted to the audience, but her voice was drowned out by the noise of the crowd.

It took the staff a lot of effort to keep the crowd calm and get the male guests who wanted to go on stage to line up and put them up one by one.

Lu Ran stood in the crowd, being jostled and pushed about.

He tried to push forward, but there were at least a dozen people blocking the way, making it impossible to squeeze through.

He tiptoed and glanced at the stage. Shen Yuege was standing next to Granny Wang, her hands behind her back, her toes lightly touching the ground, looking very relaxed.

But Lu Ran could guess the expression on her face even from more than ten meters away—she was definitely smiling.

And it's definitely that smug smile that says, "Look how popular I am."

The first male guest to come up was the one wearing a black hoodie.

He ran so fast that he was still panting when he got on the stage, and his hair was all messed up.

Granny Wang asked him, "How old are you?"

"Twenty-three."

"What do you do?"

"I just graduated and am looking for a job."

Granny Wang glanced at him, then at Shen Yuege, and said with a smile, "Young man, your courage is commendable. Alright, you can stand aside for now."

The man in the black hoodie stood on the left side of the stage.

The second person to come up was wearing a white coat. He was twenty-five years old and worked as a designer.

The third person to come up was a 27-year-old man wearing glasses, a civil servant.

The fourth person in the plaid shirt is 26 years old and works in engineering.

The fifth, the sixth, the seventh...

One male guest after another went on stage, and more and more people stood on the left side of the stage.

Lu Ran was still squeezing in from below the stage, and he was getting anxious as the line grew longer and longer.

There were seven or eight people ahead of him, and they were being put up one by one. He didn't know when it would be his turn.

What if Shen Yuege can't wait any longer and just adds someone on WeChat?

Although he knew that Shen Yuege would never actually add someone else on WeChat, the thought still made him feel a tightness in his chest.

No, we have to find a way.

Lu Ran took two steps back and went around to the side of the stage.

There is a small staircase on the side, which is used by staff to go up and down the platform, and is not open to the public at other times.

But the scene is very chaotic now, with staff members blocking people in front and no one paying attention to this side.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, he quickly climbed the stairs and walked up directly from the side of the stage.

Wang Po was busy asking the newly arrived male guest questions and didn't notice him.

Shen Yuege did see it; the eyes above the mask curved into two crescent moons.

After Lu Ran went up on stage, he didn't rush to Shen Yuege's side. Instead, he naturally stood at the back of the line, pretending that he had also come up in line.

After he stopped, the male guest in front of him turned around and glanced at him, but didn't say anything and turned back.

By this time, there were already more than twenty people standing on the left side of the stage.

Granny Wang stopped and counted, then laughed: "Twenty-three. In all my years of matchmaking, this is the first time I've seen so many male guests on stage."

The audience burst into laughter.

Granny Wang walked to the front of the male guests' group and looked at them one by one, examining them very carefully, as if she were picking out cabbages.

When she reached the middle, she stopped, pointed at a boy in a dark blue coat, and said, "Your hairstyle doesn't work. Go back and change it before you come back." The whole audience laughed again.

When she reached Lu Ran, Granny Wang stopped and looked him up and down.

"You're not bad looking. How old are you?"

"Twenty-three."

"What do you do?"

"A game developer."

Wang Po nodded and continued reading.

Lu Ran breathed a sigh of relief.

The fact that Wang Po didn't recognize him means that his disguise was quite successful.

He was wearing a baseball cap today, with the brim pulled down low. With the stage lights shining from the front, most of his face was in the shadow of the brim, making him quite difficult to recognize.

Of course, it's also possible that his fame wasn't enough for Wang Po to recognize him.

After all, he mostly works behind the scenes.

Granny Wang looked through the line from beginning to end, then walked back to Shen Yuege's side and said with a smile, "Girl, look, twenty-three. You've broken my record. The most I've ever had was fifteen. You've made it to twenty-three today."

Shen Yuege lowered her head shyly.

"Alright, let's start the selection now." Granny Wang clapped her hands. "The rules are as follows—each male guest on stage has one minute to introduce himself. After that, you, young lady, decide who to add on WeChat. You can choose not to add anyone, or you can add multiple people. If you choose multiple people, we'll discuss that in the later stages."

"You can also ask them to perform a little talent for you."

...