No One's Number Is More Than ±20

One day, I suddenly saw a number above every man's head.

Coworker A [11.4], team lead [16.9], deputy general manager [8.5]

I understood. I'd awakened a System, and these were everyone's base stats.

The numbers probably meant... a rating?

That's right. I'd personally seen the team lead rescue a nest of stray kittens, while the deputy general manager liked to spit on the road and skim money from projects. As for Coworker A, he was just completely ordinary.

Once I'd confirmed my theory, I introduced the team lead to my best friend, Ye Xiaojing.

At first, she thought I was being ridiculous. "Luoluo, you know I won't date a guy unless he has an eight-pack."

I insisted. "Trust me, he's really a good person."

Two weeks later, Ye Xiaojing brought me two boxes of fruit, looking terribly bashful. "Oh my, how did you know he..."

"He, he's such a good person?"

Silly girl. It was all because I'd awakened a rating System.

Then I saw a number above my best friend's head, too: [-16.9].

What a coincidence. It was exactly the same as the team lead's.

Could it be a matchmaking System?

From then on, I started seeing numbers above every woman's head.

Coworker B [-8.5]

Accounting [-13.6]

Coworker B was something else.

The [-8.5] above her head matched the deputy general manager's [8.5] perfectly. I secretly became convinced the two of them were having an affair.

Sure enough, the deputy general manager's wife soon showed up at the company to catch her husband's mistress.

I gossiped with Coworker D. "Wanna bet it's B?"

B was always plain-looking, outspoken, and fond of wearing tacky, rustic clothes.

Coworker D didn't believe it. "It's the gorgeous F from the department next door."

We made a bet: whoever lost had to buy the other bubble tea for a month.

Afterward, Coworker D looked at me with admiration. "The deputy general manager has such unusual taste. You saw right through him."

That's right. I chewed on my pearls, because the System I'd awakened was a matchmaking System.

Men's numbers were positive, women's numbers were negative.

The men's numbers were tied to their character, while the women's numbers were simply for matchmaking.

If the numbers matched, it was a successful pairing. Simple enough.

But then, one day, two people shattered everything I thought I knew.

Coworker A had another number above his head besides [11.4]: [-15.7].

The female creative director did, too: [-17.1] [-14.6]?

Still, one rule never changed.

No one's number ever went beyond plus or minus 20.

That must have been the limit for a person's character.

Until I spotted the company president from a distance in the cafeteria.

Coworker D complained, "Why is he lowering himself to eat in the common cafeteria?"

But I was so shocked by the number above his head that I couldn't say a word.

A full [22.8]!

He'd broken through the limit for character.

Such an incredible person...

Thinking of the happy life my best friend Ye Xiaojing had now, I looked at my own life and realized I didn't even have anyone around who cared for me.

I'd never even dated, and yet I'd awakened some matchmaking System!

The president?

So what if he's the president? I'm going for it anyway.

Much later, I looked at the [-22.8] above my own head in the mirror, on the verge of tears.

I was furious!

Damn it, so that's what that number means!

*

Fu Linchen hurried back from Switzerland and ate with his assistant in the cafeteria.

Several tables around them were left empty.

An unspoken rule.

Suddenly, a young woman hurried over with her lunch tray, beaming. "Can I sit here?"

~A short, sweet story about falling in love while gossiping.

~The heroine is an ordinary woman.

~Third-person narration.

~Everyday-life focused.

Theme: Be brave and pursue love.