The most incredible thing in life, besides coming back from the dead, what else could there be?
Of course, it’s a real god suddenly appearing before you—especially a god with both a bizarre gender and personality.
But following the principle of “seen it all, no big deal,” Chang Fei wasn’t particularly shocked by a god popping up in front of him.
However, not being surprised by the god didn’t mean he wasn’t curious about the god’s artifact.
When the Matchmaker God appeared, rambled on about a bunch of stuff he only half-understood, and then casually tossed their divine artifact to the ground, Chang Fei couldn’t help but pick up the small booklet with great interest.
The moment he touched it, countless streams of text and data flashed before his eyes, making him scream and cover his eyes in shock: “What the heck is this?!”
“Oh! My bad, that’s the archive data,” the Matchmaker God said lazily, picking their nose and scratching their foot, with an indifferent, carefree attitude. “You know, gods these days are pretty lazy.
All that red-string matchmaking stuff? We just program it into computers and let humans handle it themselves.
Fate’s decided by the heavens, so it’s not our problem!”
These actions completely shattered Chang Fei’s image of the revered Matchmaker God under the moon, and he started frowning: “So… you came just to tell me I’m a god now with some weird godly physique?
But why tell me this? Aren’t you busy? Oh, wait, is it because you’ve got computers doing your job, so you’re free as a bird?”
“What are you blabbering about, kid? I’m telling you this because you’re my successor!
Have you not understood a single thing I’ve been saying?”
“Wait, I’m your successor? What about your disciples?” Chang Fei asked, startled.
“My disciples are just minor immortals, not gods. They can’t inherit my position.
They’re off interning at mortal matchmaking agencies, helping out with small tasks.
You’re different—you shot straight up to god status like a rocket.
Your body’s already undergone the initial transformation to a minor god, so you can directly take over my role.”
“Oh… so I’m already the Matchmaker God? But I don’t have to do anything?” Chang Fei scratched his cheek, feeling like being a god wasn’t such a big deal.
The Matchmaker God corrected him: “Wrong. You’re not the Matchmaker God yet—you’re an intern Matchmaker God.
How could a lofty profession like this be handed to a kid who’s never even played with a computer?
You probably couldn’t even beat a single demon, right?
Sure, you’ve got the Matchmaker God’s physique, but I bet you don’t even know how to use a computer.
I need to test you first. If you can’t even handle the basics, you’ll be sent to the mortal world to tie red strings one by one!”
“Oh… cool! How do I tie them?” The idea of old-school matchmaking excited the young Chang Fei.
His words earned him a swift knock on the forehead.
“Ouch…” The teenager clutched his head and crouched down. “I’m a god now—why does getting hit still hurt so much?”
“Why so many questions, kid? Just pass my test first!” the Matchmaker God said in a lofty, divine tone.
Chang Fei looked helplessly at the undignified god and asked, “What’s the test?”
“This!” The Matchmaker God excitedly pulled out a divine tablet much larger than the small stone in Chang Fei’s hand.
With a few taps, a game interface appeared in mid-air—an interactive, face-to-face game…
Chang Fei pointed at the screen: “Grandpa Matchmaker, you’ve got mortal video games in your divine tablet?”
“Ahem… this is for testing new gods!” the Matchmaker God said solemnly.
“Oh… leveled up so high just to crush newbies, huh…” Chang Fei teased.
Before the Matchmaker God could get mad, he asked, “So, what do I do?”
“Take out your divine tablet, channel a fraction of my inner essence—oh, wait, not inner essence, not immortal essence, but divine essence, way above your level!” the Matchmaker God bragged, nose in the air.
Chang Fei grinned: “Grandpa Matchmaker, is this a test or a chance to show off?
I’ve never seen a god as narcissistic and childish as you.”
“Hmph, you’ll soon see if your predecessor has the right to be this cocky!” the Matchmaker God said gleefully, clearly eager to show off.
—Ten minutes later—
“Wait! Hold on! Why am I in the red? How’d you do that? You cheated, didn’t you?!
How’s your attack so high? No, I messed up my moves! I take it back, I take it back!
I said I will take it back! Why aren’t you going easy on an old man? I’m an old man!”
Chang Fei watched the young-looking old man rant and rave, clearly having a blast.
It wasn’t that Chang Fei’s skills were great—the Matchmaker God’s gaming skills were so bad they self-destructed.
The god had been so smug earlier, making Chang Fei a bit nervous, but now the Matchmaker God was thrilled, while Chang Fei wasn’t happy at all.
He’d only made three moves, and the Matchmaker God’s character attacked itself… and that was it.
“Fine, you pass! From today, you’re… slightly above an intern Matchmaker God, a new Matchmaker God!
Just do your job well, and your inner essence will grow on its own.
When you break through the Foundation Establishment… uh, that’s too complicated.
In your world’s gaming terms, when you hit level 30, you can upgrade your inner essence to immortal essence.
At level 58, you can ascend to divine essence.
You don’t have to do Matchmaker tasks, but you’ll stay stuck at level 0, unable to do anything. Got it?”
The Matchmaker God nodded at Chang Fei with an approving look, speaking solemnly as if to cover up the earlier embarrassment.
Chang Fei squinted, surprised by the outcome: “So, what do I do, Senior? Isn’t everything controlled by computers?”
“Oh, that question… Well, machines are more advanced than human brains, but they still mess up sometimes,” the Matchmaker God said vaguely.
“Oh~?” Chang Fei tilted his head, raising an eyebrow. “Can I see?”
The Matchmaker God pouted, reluctantly pulling the small booklet from their wide sleeve.
Among the red names connected by lines, there was a chaotic mess of green and yellow.
Chang Fei glanced at it and raised his brows in surprise: “These names… I feel like I’ve heard them somewhere…”
The Matchmaker God waved dismissively: “Of course they look familiar. You need to memorize them.
Enough talk—let me show you.”
They tapped the chaotic names in mid-air, and several palm-sized figures appeared, like holographic projections Chang Fei had seen, but their expressions were strikingly vivid.
Watching these moving figures, Chang Fei’s brows shot up again, and he rubbed his chin, hesitating: “These people really feel so familiar…”
“Who cares if they’re familiar? Humans all look the same—two eyes, one mouth, nothing special.
Just listen to me, alright?” the Matchmaker God said, growing impatient.
Chang Fei obediently sat on the hospital bed: “Go ahead.”
“Kid, these tangled lines are messy because they involve emotional entanglements across generations, eras, and dimensions—love, family, friendship, hatred, sympathy, and other complex feelings.
Computers can’t handle these, so we have to check them in person, judge what’s right or wrong, and sort out the lines to separate them.
For love, tie a red string to the pinkies of the matched pair.
For family, connect a yellow string to the middle fingers of relatives.
For friendship, tie a blue string to the index fingers of friends.
For hatred, link a black string to their thumbs.
For sympathy or relationships that won’t intersect again, tie a green string to their ring fingers.
There’s also another case: if fate is undecided or goes astray, with gray strings wrapped around their necks, you can step in to fix it.
Completing one task earns you inner essence to level up.
Got it?” the Matchmaker God asked after finishing.
Chang Fei thought for a moment, repeated the instructions, and the Matchmaker God nodded in satisfaction: “You’re way more useful than my useless disciples.
From now on, my disciples and the Matchmaker God job are yours!”
“Huh? Grandpa Matchmaker, if you’re not doing the Matchmaker job, where are you going?” Chang Fei asked hurriedly as the god’s figure began to fade.
The Matchmaker God’s form was almost gone, their voice faint: “I’m done with this Matchmaker nonsense!
I’m off to wander the world, seeking my own freedom!
Don’t come looking for me, whether you’ve got problems or not! Got it?”
“Oh, okay. So what do I do now?” Chang Fei asked bluntly.
“Whatever you want! If you feel like it, sort out the mess of lines I just showed you.
Oh, and in the real world, those people will have the same colored strings on their hands.
You need to connect the real people, not just play games here.
How old are you, acting so childish?”
With that final jab, the Matchmaker God vanished completely.
Chang Fei rubbed his eyes, thought for a moment, and, half-understanding, grabbed his divine tablet and the Matchmaker booklet scattered on the bed.
He quietly leaped out of the hospital window.
In the dead of night, the quiet, supposedly haunted neighborhood was eerily silent.
Holding onto the idea that ghosts would fear a god like him, Chang Fei cheerfully set off to find a ghost and see if it was really scared of him.
But halfway there, he heard faint, intermittent sobbing.
His heart skipped a beat, and his steps instinctively slowed, tiptoeing toward the source of the crying.
***
Shang Zhi’s note:
This is the revised Chapter 4 for the Dragon Boat Festival.
The story delves into Chang Fei’s new role as a Matchmaker God, introducing his responsibilities and challenges.
Hope readers enjoy the unfolding journey!