A woman in China had a blind date backfire recently when she invited dozens of her relatives along to the candle-lit dinner to test her love interest’s generosity.
According to local reports, the woman allegedly showed up to the romantic dinner for two with 23 family members, turning the occasion into something of a rowdy banquet.
But while the occasion was intended to be a test of how generous her date was, the risky gamble didn’t quite pay off, as she was left footing the £2,300 bill after her would-be companion fled the restaurant upon receiving the bill – understandable, to be honest.
The unnamed woman had gone on the date in eastern Chinese province Zhejiang with a 29-year-old known as Mr Lui, local newspaper Taizhou Evening News reports.
The news outlet states that their unusual rendezvous had originally been set up by the man’s mother, who had grown worried about her son as he had been single for some time.
Being a gentleman, Mr Liu offered to pay for their meal – obviously assuming it would just be the two of them – but was shocked to arrive at the restaurant to find his blind date had bought her extended family along with her.
The woman later told Chinese media that she’d wanted to test Mr Liu’s generosity, inviting her gang of relatives along to see if her potential partner would be charitable enough to pay for 25 people to eat.
But her scheme ended up backfiring somewhat, as by the time the large group had finishing dining, they realisedMr Liu had actually done a runner, with reports saying he darted after seeing the bill.
All of the expensive dishes and alcohol the relatives had gorged on added up to 19,800 (£2,291) extra onto the evening, but eventually the woman had to take care of it herself.
Reports say the duo were able to reach an agreement that meant Mr Liu would pay for a small part of the meal, but that the bulk of the cost had to be shared among the woman and her family.
News of what must have been an incredibly stressful first date for all involved has since sparked the age-old debate about who should take care of the bill.
Commenting online, one person wrote: “Men should pay out of courtesy. But bring 23 people to the meal is unacceptable.“
Someone else said: “Usually the woman would bring one or two friends in case it gets awkward. We as gentlemen should pay. If the woman bring seven or eight people, you should just leave. She wasn’t genuine anyway.”
A third added: “If they like each other after the date, then the man should pay. If not, they should go Dutch.“
