Jian " I feel like I'm at a bottle neck" !? Asking He Tian how to level up with zhan zheng...

I too was a bit thrown off at the terminology use when Jian Yi said that, "bottle neck".
@_@ :o
Idk if it's just me that's never heard that said before, but by context, I took it as him saying, he felt not able to move up onto the next stage of a 'relationship' with Zhan Xixi?? Or like him wanting to be out from a 'friendzone' level and more onto a relationship type level?
Was I reading too much into it??? Like hoping that's what it meant, lol! (≧∀≦)