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Became a National Couple with My Ex Side Story · Main & Side Couples: Sweet Moments Interview

During the National Day holiday in golden October, more than seven months after getting their marriage certificate, Liang Yixuan and Bian Xu held their wedding on Bian Xu’s private island.

Cheng Nuo, Xiao Jie, and Zhao Meng’en served as the bridesmaids, while "Duan Ye, Zhou Zirui, and Lu Yuan" were the groomsmen. "Peach" was the flower girl.

Every friend and relative who had helped bring the two together came to witness this grand and joyful wedding.

Taking advantage of the combined National Day and marriage leave, "Liang Yixuan and Bian Xu" spent a ten-day honeymoon in Europe. When they returned, it coincided with the premiere of the third season of the reality show "You Are My Late Arrival of Joy."

The show’s production team invited "Liang Yixuan and Bian Xu" to attend a special "One-Year Anniversary Interview" commemorating the second season’s premiere. The plan was to record a teaser episode with them to build hype and attract viewers for the new season.

When Liang Yixuan received the message, she was lying on the couch with her head on Bian Xu’s lap, watching TV. She waved her phone in front of him and asked for his opinion.

Without even thinking, Bian Xu took the phone from her hand and directly replied with a voice message.

He said, cool and casual, "You want to celebrate the one-year premiere anniversary? Then what, next month are we doing a finale anniversary too? And next year the two-year mark? Once someone’s been on your show, do they have to commemorate it for the rest of their lives?"

Liang Yixuan felt embarrassed by his blunt rejection and tried to sit up to take the phone back.

Bian Xu pushed her back down onto his lap and added while holding the phone, "Also, if you’ve got something to ask, talk to me directly. Stop always picking the easy target."

"Who are you calling an easy target?" she shot back.

Liang Yixuan grabbed the phone back and was just about to delete the message when Liu Peng (the producer) replied with a voice note: "Oh come on, Teacher Bian, it’s not about picking the easy one, it's just that I know who really makes the decisions in your house!"

Bian Xu went silent.

Liang Yixuan lit up and looked up at him. "So, Teacher Bian, who makes the decisions in your house?"

"My wife," Bian Xu replied smoothly, switching both his tone and facial expression. He looked down and smiled. "So, is Mrs. Bian interested in the interview?"

"She’s still thinking about it."

If the invite had only been for her and Bian Xu, Liang Yixuan would’ve felt it wasn’t necessary to go. But Liu Peng explained that they had invited all eight cast members from season two.

It’s just that coordinating a group shoot was unlikely, and since the show had ended nearly a year ago, the contestants who hadn’t stayed in touch were now strangers, forcing them into the same room would only make things awkward. So aside from the two successful couples, who would appear together, the other four cast members would film their segments separately, and the clips would be edited together.

Hearing that the other six guests had already agreed to participate, it would feel rude if she and Bian Xu turned it down.

"It’s just a few questions, should we just say yes?" Liang Yixuan poked Bian Xu in the waist.

Bian Xu clicked his tongue. "Listen to Mrs. Bian."

*

The two of them agreed to the interview and headed to the studio with full makeup that weekend.

When they arrived, they saw Cheng Nuo and Duan Ye already in the studio, bickering as usual.

"Answer properly later, okay? If you embarrass me again like you did in last year’s livestream, you’re sleeping on the couch when we get home—for at least a week."

"Come on, babe, it’s all real this time. What are you worried about?"

"Wasn’t it you who caused that whole mess last time?" Cheng Nuo rolled her eyes at him. Then she turned around and saw Bian Xu and Liang Yixuan walking in, and waved, "Thought you two weren’t coming."

Liang Yixuan tilted her head toward Bian Xu and said, "It’s his fault, he overslept, and then we got stuck in morning traffic."

Bian Xu raised his eyebrows and replied, "Alright, my bad."

Cheng Nuo patted Duan Ye on the shoulder. "Same here. This one didn’t get up until the alarm went off about eight hundred times."

"It was just five minutes, babe."

"Five minutes isn't the issue. It’s about having a sense of time." Cheng Nuo pointed at Bian Xu. "And what’s with the attitude? Learn from Teacher Bian, okay?"

"Alright, my bad," Duan Ye replied in a flat, robotic tone.

Liang Yixuan shook her head with a laugh and sat down with Bian Xu on the two-seater sofa next to Cheng Nuo and Duan Ye.

Once the lighting and sound equipment were in place and the host entered the set, the staff gave the signal, and the interview began.

After the opening remarks, the host smiled and asked, "We collected lots of questions from fans in advance. But before we get to those, I’ve got a personal question. A year ago around this time, did any of the four of you imagine you’d be here today, doing an interview as couples?"

Liang Yixuan and Cheng Nuo exchanged a glance and answered in unison to the camera: "Nope."

Duan Ye shook his head as well.

Bian Xu glanced at the three of them. "You guys really don’t have much imagination, huh?"

"So Teacher Bian did imagine it?"

Bian Xu shrugged. "Halfway."

The host looked a bit confused. Liang Yixuan sneaked a glance at Bian Xu and explained, "He means he imagined being a couple, just didn’t think there’d be an interview."

The host laughed in understanding. "Then, since you’ve got such a vivid imagination, Teacher Bian, can you guess what fans are most curious about when it comes to the ‘Zai Xu Liang Yuan’ CP?"

Bian Xu nodded and said, "We’re not planning to have kids yet. Next question."

Liang Yixuan: "…"

"Teacher Bian is still as concise and straight to the point as ever," the host said with a thumbs-up before turning to Duan Ye. "Then, Teacher Duan, can you guess what fans are most curious about when it comes to the ‘Ye Cheng’ CP?"

Duan Ye nodded. "Can’t afford a wedding for now. Next question."

"..." Cheng Nuo slowly turned her head to look at him.

"What? Weren’t you the one who told me to talk like Teacher Bian?"

"So if I told you to eat crap, you’d do that too?"

The host gave an awkward laugh to smooth things over. "Well, that’s great, actually. The first thing fans wanted to know was when you two plan to get married. The second was whether Teacher Duan has money now. And with that one line, he’s answered both."

Cheng Nuo: "..."

"Teacher Bian, I assume money isn’t a problem for you?" the host turned to Bian Xu.

Bian Xu raised his hand. "If you’re struggling to find a smooth transition between questions, just edit the footage. It’s better than asking pointless ones."

Liang Yixuan shot him a sideways glance. "...Can you stop being a conversation killer? Would it kill you to just say ‘no’ like a normal person?"

Bian Xu let out a long sigh, made a gesture to the camera.

"Cut that last part." Then properly answered, "No."

After about fifteen minutes of warm-up, the host finally got used to Bian Xu and Duan Ye’s rhythm, and the interview began to flow more smoothly.

Host: "We heard the ‘Zai Xu Liang Yuan’ couple held a dreamy island wedding earlier this month. The ‘Ye Cheng’ couple were part of the bridal party. In one sentence, how would each of you describe your impression of the wedding?"

Duan Ye: "Rich people finally ending up together."

Cheng Nuo: "Poor people watching it happen in real life."

Host: "And ‘Zai Xu Liang Yuan,’ could you share a particularly memorable or special moment from the wedding?"

Liang Yixuan: "When we exchanged rings. Peach carried the ring box in her mouth and brought it to us."

Bian Xu: "When we read our vows from the cards."

Host: "Oh? Why that moment?"

Liang Yixuan: "Because it was the first time in his life he ever spoke so seriously and properly."

Host: "One more thing fans were curious about: why was Teacher Duan part of the groomsmen, but not Teacher Shen? Is it because there’s tension between Teacher Bian and Teacher Shen?"

Liang Yixuan: "Not at all."

Bian Xu: "Yes."

Liang Yixuan: "...He’s joking. We did invite Teacher Shen to be a groomsman, but he was busy. So one of Bian Xu’s assistants filled in. Teacher Shen did come to the wedding banquet, though."

Host: "Did you two plan anything special for your honeymoon?"

Liang Yixuan: "He took me to places where he used to live in Europe. It felt like I got to know a whole different side of him, like I’d known him for years."

Bian Xu: "You’ve never told me that before."

Liang Yixuan: "It just sounded a bit too sentimental for everyday conversation..."

Bian Xu: "Should I take you to visit the delivery room I was born in next time?"

Liang Yixuan: "..."

Host: "After more than half a year of married life, have you discovered any new flaws in each other?"

Liang Yixuan: "Nope. I already knew all of them before."

Bian Xu: "No. They're all features, not flaws."

Host: "What about the ‘Ye Cheng’ couple, after a year of dating?"

Duan Ye: "Can’t say."

Cheng Nuo: "Just say no if there aren’t any! What do you mean ‘can’t say’? Why aren’t you copying Teacher Bian now?!"

Host: "When was the last time you argued? And what was it about?"

Bian Xu & Duan Ye: "This morning."

Liang Yixuan & Cheng Nuo: "Because he wouldn’t get out of bed."

Host: "So you all argue quite often?"

Duan Ye: "Sort of."

Cheng Nuo: "Small fight every three days, big fight every five."

Liang Yixuan: "I think we’re about the same…"

Bian Xu: "You call that arguing? Then what do you call playful teasing?"

Liang Yixuan: "Okay fine, then we don’t fight that much."

Host: "After a fight, what does your partner usually do to make peace?"

Duan Ye: "Gives me food."

Liang Yixuan: "Does housework."

Cheng Nuo: "Calls me ‘big sis’…"

Bian Xu: "Calls me ‘husband.’"

Host: "If you were to have a child, would you prefer a boy or a girl? And why?"

Duan Ye: "A girl, she might eat less."

Cheng Nuo: "It’d be worse if she inherited your appetite!"

Duan Ye: "…Oh. Then a boy."

Host: "What about ‘Zai Xu Liang Yuan’?"

Liang Yixuan: "If we’re talking genetics, then a girl. I’d be afraid of having a boy with a mouth like his."

Bian Xu: "You think girls can’t talk like that too?"

Liang Yixuan: "…"

*

As the interview neared its end, the host asked the final question: "If you had a time machine that could take you back to one day in the past during your time getting to know each other—just one day—which day would you choose, and what would you change? The condition is, you only get that one day."

Duan Ye let out a sigh as he looked at Cheng Nuo: "Our first date. I wouldn’t take her to a repair shop to sit around doing nothing, I’d take her out for pan-fried buns instead."

Cheng Nuo looked back at him: "Wow, look who’s suddenly enlightened."

"Come on, you’ve been scolding me for that for a whole year, how could I not be?"

Cheng Nuo shrugged: "Well, I don’t really have a day I’d want to go back to. Getting to sit around doing nothing for a day and then having the right to scold him for a whole year? That’s a good deal."

Liang Yixuan thought seriously for a moment: "I don’t think there’s a day I really want to go back to either."

Host: "But didn’t Teacher Liang and Teacher Bian have a missed connection on New Year’s Eve five years ago? Teacher Liang, wouldn’t you want to go back to that moment and meet him earlier?"

Liang Yixuan frowned slightly: "If I only get one day, it might not be enough to change what happens afterward."

Bian Xu raised an eyebrow: "How would you know if you don’t try?"

"I wouldn’t take that risk," Liang Yixuan shook her head. "What if it backfires, and we never end up together?"

Bian Xu, who had been going through the whole interview half-heartedly, finally grew serious.

Even though it was just a hypothetical question, one he might normally brush off with a "how pointless," he clearly understood what she meant.

She was saying: To make sure they’d end up together without anything going wrong, she’d rather change nothing even if it meant keeping those painful eight months.

In that moment, the studio lights, the cameras, and everyone else in the room all seemed to blur into the background.

Bian Xu stared at Liang Yixuan for a moment, then smiled and said: "There’s no ‘what if’."

Liang Yixuan tilted her head toward him: "And how do you know that?"

"Because I’d still be me. And you’d still be you."

In every possible timeline, in every possible world, he would end up with her— only her.