Chapter 9: Testing the Waters
For them, the contrast was simply too great.
But for Zhang Yang, it was a complete transformation far beyond his expectations. After all, the person under the mask was the version of himself he was familiar with. The fact that wearing a mask could create such a difference was definitely an unexpected surprise.
"I didn't expect such a huge difference between wearing a mask and not wearing one!" A background song inexplicably started playing in his mind.
'I started changing my hairstyle, losing weight, changing my style. I've started moving forward. Sorry about that, but this time I'm definitely going to win!'
Yes, he had already won, and in the future he would only win more.
At noon, after returning to his residence, Zhang Yang simply stewed some beef brisket and made himself a deluxe braised beef noodle soup.
The noodles were evenly thick, and the broth had been reduced by Zhang Yang until it was especially rich and thick. Whether in appearance or taste, Zhang Yang gave himself a perfect score.
While burying his head in the noodles, he didn't forget to open the comment section in the backend of his RedNote account.
'Looking forward to the next stage of your upgrade.'
'I hope you don't ruin your hair. I hope you find a reliable barber.'
'Just do your best. After all, your foundation is what it is. A complete turnaround probably isn't possible, but at least it should be better than before, right?'
'Hopefully. Listening to advice, having perseverance, and taking action are already quite commendable.'
Zhang Yang browsed through them and then posted a reply below.
[Urgent. My family arranged a blind date tonight. Anything I should pay attention to?]
His popularity had increased, and the replies came much faster.
'What!? That's too rushed. Our transformation has only just begun. Going on a blind date now-success or failure is hard to say!'
'You're really trying to cram at the last minute. We're not good at forcing growth like that!'
'Girls, he's asking for help, not for us to pour cold water on him. What I'm saying is-be confident. You must be confident. Girls like confident boys the most.'
'Promise me you won't act like a simp. As a girl, I accept the existence of simps because I enjoy the feeling, but that doesn't mean I would actually accept a simp.'
'Did you change your hairstyle? Did you remove your glasses? Dress neatly, act confident and natural. With such little time, that's about all you can do.'
Generally speaking, most people thought Zhang Yang's blind date was too rushed. But with the mentality of treating a [From the idiom 'treat a dead horse as if it were alive,' meaning to try everything possible even when success seems unlikely.], everyone still began offering suggestions.
Zhang Yang scrolled through the replies for quite a while before posting a new thread with his latest status.
[I've already changed my hairstyle according to everyone's suggestions and removed my glasses. Please give me some advice to help me succeed in the blind date.]
He lifted his front-facing twelve-megapixel camera and took a selfie, then uploaded it.
Moments later, the comment section exploded.
'Help! Is this really you?'
'Wow wow wow, listening to advice really pays off!'
'Why does your hair quality look so premium? That hairstyle is basically a replica of Wong Cho-lam's!'
'You're getting more handsome. Losing weight, changing hairstyle, removing glasses-what step is this already? The change is completely earth-shaking!'
'Even so, his eyes look so bright and lively! Just looking at his eyes, I'm sold!!!'
'Please please please wear a mask. I want to see you wearing a mask!'
Facing such sincere requests, Zhang Yang didn't hold back. He put on a mask and took another photo before uploading it.
As everyone knew, he looked like two completely different people with and without a mask.
The comment section instantly exploded even more.
'It's over. You're already someone I can't reach anymore.'
'Oh my god, you already look like a handsome guy like this, okay?'
'Just weld the mask onto your face.'
'This is super inspiring. I'm actually starting to look forward to the result of your blind date tonight.'
'I don't want to praise you too much in case you get arrogant, but this really works for you.'
'Just go on the blind date like this. Be confident, natural, and gentlemanly. The girl will definitely have a great impression of you!'
'Ding!'
[The system has adopted a new reasonable suggestion.]
[Task]
Testing the Waters
[Objective]
Raise favorability to 80 (Xiong Yaqian)
[Rewards]
5 experience points; +2 cm height
Zhang Yang's expression immediately became excited. A new task had been triggered again!
To put it simply, the task required him to perform well during this blind date and raise the other party's favorability to eighty. Honestly speaking, compared with the previous tasks, this one was somewhat difficult, but the rewards were correspondingly high.
For example, five experience points. Adding the six experience points he had already obtained would allow him to directly reach level three.
What did level three mean? It meant his daily cashback would immediately double to twenty thousand, which meant a yearly cashback of 7.3 million!
And there was also the extra two centimeters (~0.8 in) of height.
His current height was 176 centimeters (~5 ft 9 in), right around the average. If he grew another two centimeters (~0.8 in), it would become 178 centimeters (~5 ft 10 in).
Young people nowadays had good nutrition, so there were quite a lot of tall people, but it wasn't like everyone on the street was 180 centimeters (~5 ft 11 in). A height of 178 centimeters (~5 ft 10 in) was already quite good. And everyone understood one thing—there were no men who were exactly 178 centimeters (~5 ft 10 in) tall, because men who were 178 usually just say they're 180 centimeters (~5 ft 11 in).
"But this favorability… it's currently zero?" Zhang Yang looked at the system and fell into thought.
Xiong Yaqian was the name of his blind date partner. Her favorability toward him was currently zero-no favorability at all.
Thinking about it now, Zhang Yang didn't find it strange.
First, they had never met before. Second, his WeChat Moments were rather dull and had very little content. Third, their chats had basically gone nowhere; they weren't on the same wavelength at all. Combining all these points, he was essentially a complete stranger to her without any direct impression.
Naturally, there was no favorability.
"But it's fine. I'll just take it step by step." Zhang Yang casually sent her the meeting location at the Bund for tonight.
Before long, the other side replied quite quickly.
Xiong Yaqian: "This place? Isn't it very expensive?"
At that very moment, he saw that Xiong Yaqian's favorability toward him had suddenly increased by twenty.
'Just from choosing a high-end restaurant?'
Zhang Yang suddenly felt amused.
Zhang Yang: "The environment is great, the taste is great. Even if it's a bit expensive, it's worth it. If you have a better recommendation, we can change it."
Xiong Yaqian: "No, no. You can decide. By the way, sorry to make you spend so much."
Zhang Yang: "Don't mention it. Where do you live? Send me your location and I'll drive to pick you up."
Xiong Yaqian: "You have a car? Wait a moment, I'll send you the address."
Before long, Xiong Yaqian sent him her location.
Zhang Yang glanced at the address. "Alright, got it. Let's meet at five in the evening."
Zhang Yang chatted briefly with Xiong Yaqian and arranged to drive over and pick her up in the evening.
Just a few minutes of chatting had already raised the favorability to twenty. Zhang Yang immediately felt much more confident about completing the task.
"If I level up smoothly, tomorrow my daily cashback will start at twenty thousand." A faint light appeared in Zhang Yang's eyes.
At this rate, although it still wouldn't be enough to settle down in the Shanghai in the short term, returning to his hometown to live in a villa, drive luxury cars, and reach the peak of life would be effortless.
And if he had a bit more ambition and worked hard, even living in a luxury mansion in the Shanghai wouldn't be a dream!
In the afternoon, Zhang Yang found time to visit MixC Mall and bought himself some clothes.
This outfit was entirely his own choice, but it wasn't random.
Although he didn't know much about fashion, he could learn. A white T-shirt paired with a casual blazer instantly elevated his temperament. It wasn't that he didn't want to dress more youthfully-it was just that he was already twenty-five years old, and the youthful boyish style was no longer very suitable.
This outfit suited his current age perfectly and also matched his temperament.