Chapter 56: Announcing the Ex

"Who do you think will be the first to appear..." Li Jiayan picked up a throw pillow, covering half her face.

Awkwardness hung in the air of the living room.

Some bit their lower lips, anxiously awaiting the scene about to play out; some covered their eyes with their hands but peeked through their fingers; some wore an indifferent expression, though their hearts raced; some drifted off, desperately recalling whether their behavior had been proper during that first meeting; some were utterly unafraid; some watched with great interest...

As the last number in the countdown faded, the television screen flickered, then switched to a familiar scene.

The pink bus, the day they first met.

A handsome young man’s profile appeared on the screen—he was sitting by the window on the bus, waiting for someone to arrive.

On the sofa, Lu Zhou pressed his lips together with a small smile. Well, so he was the first to be featured.

"Hey? Lu Zhou!" Wen Yiming called out, stirring the group. "Here it comes! Who’s your ex?"

Li Jiayan pressed her lips together, too embarrassed to make a sound.

On the screen, a woman boarded the pink bus—first, a close-up of her high heels, then the hem of her dress, before finally revealing her face.

Someone laughed and called out, "Jiayan!"

Another whispered excitedly, "I guessed right!"

Someone else wore a "I knew it" look.

Zhang Chen raised his eyebrows in surprise, thinking to himself: Li Jiayan is Lu Zhou’s ex-girlfriend? He had thought it was Qi Jiajia...

The more he thought about it, the more Zhang Chen was amused. Did Lu Zhou even know his ex still had feelings for him?

On the screen, the awkwardness of their first encounter played out—they seemed like strangers, as if they hadn’t seen each other in years. When they greeted each other, they even joked, "Hello..."

The scene stunned the others.

How many years had it been since they’d broken up, for them to be so formal as to say "hello" to each other?

By the end of their meeting, everyone reached the same conclusion: this pair had truly moved on, with not a single thread left between them!

From their conversation, one could deduce the reason for their breakup—it seemed Li Jiayan had thought Lu Zhou wasn’t reliable enough at the time.

The video was short, ending quickly.

Wen Yiming wanted to gossip about Lu Zhou and Li Jiayan’s history, but the production team didn’t give them a chance to catch their breath—instead, they immediately played the next video.

And this time, the person on screen was Wen Yiming himself.

His face showed embarrassment, and his interest in others’ affairs vanished.

The girl who appeared next was Qi Jiajia.

Now that the answers became clearer, no one stirred up the crowd; they all watched the video intently.

Unlike the previous pair, Wen Yiming and Qi Jiajia’s meeting wasn’t polite at all. They were more like adversaries, exuding an atmosphere that suggested they might argue at any moment.

Some classic lines from their video:

Qi Jiajia: "I thought you’d already found a new girlfriend. Never expected to be on a show with you."
Wen Yiming: "You always like to misunderstand me."
Qi Jiajia: "So, should we get back together?"
Wen Yiming: "Are you serious?"
Qi Jiajia smiled: "Do you think that’s possible?"
Wen Yiming also smiled: "I’ll take it as a joke."
Neither would back down; it was clear their breakup involved significant conflict, and that not much time had passed since.

If they didn’t sit down and resolve their issues after coming on the show, there was little hope of reconciliation—and even if they did get back together, it probably wouldn’t last long.

That was Lu Zhou’s judgment.

After watching their video, Qi Jiajia was left fuming, finding Wen Yiming even more disagreeable. His expression was none too pleasant, either.

The living room’s atmosphere grew stranger by the minute.

Then the video shifted to the next pair: Xu Junze and Chu Yao.

This pair felt different. Meeting again on the pink bus, tears welled up in their eyes at first sight.

Clearly, these two loved deeply and hadn’t truly let each other go.

Their greeting was unlike the previous couples—it was full of emotion.

Xu Junze smiled, eyes wet, his voice hoarse, "You’ve lost weight."

Chu Yao: "You too."

Xu Junze: "Without you by my side, the world’s delicacies don’t appeal to me anymore."

Chu Yao just smiled, saying nothing.

Then the two gazed at each other in silent longing, eyes brimming with tears.

The scene was touching—two people deeply in love, yet unable to stay together. The wave of emotion quietly swept through the other women in the room.

Qi Jiajia wept openly, and Li Jiayan sniffled.

Zhang Chen, seeing this, thoughtfully handed a tissue to Ye Fangfei, who only glanced at him in confusion.

He looked into her bright, beautiful eyes—completely dry.

Zhang Chen: "…"

Well, this woman was definitely different from the others.

The video continued, filled with heartfelt yet regretful exchanges.

Xu Junze: "Now that we’re on the show, will you mind if I interact with other girls?"

Chu Yao: "I’ll care, but it won’t change anything."

Xu Junze: "What if it could change things?"

Chu Yao: "Life doesn’t have so many ‘what ifs.’"

Their lingering feelings were like a tear gas bomb, detonating in the living room.

But the next video abruptly shifted the mood, making those with tear-stained faces break into laughter.

The last ex-couple on the pink bus was Ye Fangfei and Zhang Chen.

If the previous pair brought tears, this one carried a touch of dark humor.

Their dialogue went like this—

Zhang Chen: "You blocked me. I’ve been trying to contact you but couldn’t get through."

Ye Fangfei: "Isn’t there a saying? A proper ex should be resting in your phone’s blacklist."

Zhang Chen, half-laughing, half-crying: "…I don’t think that’s how the saying goes?"

Ye Fangfei: "Well, the original was a bit harsh, so I tweaked it. Want to hear the original?"

Zhang Chen’s mouth twitched. "No need."

He tried to curry favor, adding, "How about letting me out?"

Ye Fangfei pointed to the camera inside the bus. "We’re being filmed. Aren’t we not supposed to have our ex’s contact info? You want to break the rules?"

Zhang Chen: "…"

Most of their conversation was Zhang Chen asking, Ye Fangfei answering, the tone oddly comical.

Zhang Chen: "When we were together, we never really got to communicate properly. I regret that. I’m looking forward to being on this show."

Ye Fangfei: "Looking forward to what?"

Zhang Chen: "Looking forward to new sparks between us."

Ye Fangfei: "Sparks? Have you changed that much since we broke up?"

Zhang Chen: "Not really."

Ye Fangfei: "Then maybe don’t get your hopes up."

Zhang Chen: "…Feifei, my feelings for you haven’t changed."

Ye Fangfei: "What a coincidence, neither have mine."

The group watched this segment in silent surprise.

Heavens, Zhang Chen never acted like this usually! To see him like this in front of Ye Fangfei—it was quite the contrast.

Zhang Chen turned red as he watched, cursing himself inwardly. I look like a total simp in this footage...

Ye Fangfei, however, remained calm.

Beside her, Chu Yao frowned, deep in thought.

Meanwhile, Li Jiayan also looked uncomfortable, her gaze lowered, lost in contemplation.

With that, all the exes had been revealed.

Suddenly, everyone grew uneasy.

Before, even if they could guess who dated whom, it hadn’t been public. They could pretend not to know and openly flirt with someone else’s ex.

Now, with everything out in the open… it was hard not to gauge each other’s reactions.

The social difficulty of the show had just jumped a level, and everyone felt distinctly ill at ease.

Of course, some people remained unfazed—like Ye Fangfei and Lu Zhou.

What they had in common: neither intended to pursue romance on the show.

“Bzzz...”

Just then, the guests all received a text from the production team.

[Please send your bedtime message for tonight!]

Lu Zhou saw the instruction and felt a headache coming on.

He replied to the production team: [I don’t have anyone I want to send one to. Can I skip it?]

Soon, the production team replied: [You have to pick someone and send a message.]

Lu Zhou: "…"

Who came up with this rule? He’d like to drag them out for target practice.

Lu Zhou glanced around at the four women present. Who should he choose?

Since the show would air soon and everyone would see these clips, he decided to avoid misunderstandings or unnecessary hostility and picked Li Jiayan.

Then he sent her two words: [All the best.]

After the message-sending period ended, the guests gradually received their replies from the production team. But this time, it was different.

They would only receive messages from the opposite sex, and no longer be informed whether their ex had chosen them.

Why the show suddenly changed this part of the rules, only the production team knew.

Zhang Chen, who usually got plenty of messages, received only one tonight:

[Do you still have no intention of getting back together?]

He read and reread the message with furrowed brows, trying to guess who sent it.

After some thought, he decided it must be from Ye Fangfei.

It must be her, trying to test his true feelings at this point?

Convinced, he looked up at Ye Fangfei and smiled.

But in fact, the message wasn’t from her at all—it came from someone else.

At that moment, Ye Fangfei’s phone vibrated—she checked it and found:

[Hope the blacklist is lifted someday.]

The implication was obvious...

Zhang Chen might as well have signed his name at the end.

Is he planning to play the devoted ex until the show ends? Ye Fangfei mused.

Xu Junze soon received a message as well:

[I’m very curious about your story with her.]

"???" Xu Junze stared at the message, bewildered, and glanced around at the women.

It clearly wasn’t from Chu Yao—the message explicitly mentioned curiosity about his past relationship, right after all the exes had just been revealed.

Who could be curious?

Xu Junze had no idea.

But since someone was curious, perhaps she was interested in him? Otherwise, who would care about someone else’s past for no reason?

At the same time, Chu Yao received a bedtime message.

[As you wish.]

Just four words.

It read like a formal farewell, making her nose tingle with grief.

It must have been from her ex, Xu Junze—she was certain.

As she wished. Perhaps so.

“Bzzz... bzzz...”

Twice in quick succession, Li Jiayan picked up her phone in surprise.

She had received two messages.

[All the best.]

[If there’s a chance, let’s go out again sometime?]

Huh? Li Jiayan stared at her screen, confused.

All the best? Why was someone suddenly wishing her well?

She didn’t understand.

For a moment, she couldn’t figure out who had sent it.

But when her gaze met Lu Zhou’s, she suddenly realized who it was.

As for the other message—

Someone wanted to ask her out again?

Thinking back over her days on the show, only two male guests had asked her out: Wen Yiming and Zhang Chen.

Could it be Zhang Chen?

But in the just-aired exes video, he was clearly devoted to Ye Fangfei—even without a positive response, he was still intent on getting back together!

Had he changed his mind during the show? Was that possible?

Li Jiayan thought of her conversation with Zhang Chen’s ex in the anonymous chatroom that night.

No, it couldn’t be him...

She instantly ruled out Zhang Chen.

So the answer was obvious: it was Wen Yiming.

Li Jiayan’s feelings grew complicated.

Meanwhile, Wen Yiming was perplexed by his silent phone.

When he heard Lu Zhou’s phone buzz twice, he realized he probably wouldn’t receive any messages tonight.

But he was puzzled—how had Lu Zhou, usually overlooked, become so popular tonight?

What a strange world...

Lu Zhou, for his part, was equally surprised.

Why had his phone buzzed?

He checked, expecting spam or a non-show-related message.

But it was from the production team:

[Looks like we’re the cool ones tonight.]

Lu Zhou pondered the message.

Tonight? We? Cool?

Nothing special had happened tonight—except for the exes being revealed...

So this was from Li Jiayan.

There was no particular emotion in the words—just an observation that, of all the exes, only the two of them had cleanly parted ways without drama.

Maybe she hadn’t known whom to send a message to either, so she sent it to him?

Lu Zhou didn’t think much of it, then turned to the other message:

[Your song just hit the Douyue hot chart.]

Lu Zhou: "???"

This had nothing to do with the show.

He already guessed who’d sent it.

He looked up at Ye Fangfei, just as she glanced his way.

He smiled at her silently, then returned to his phone and opened the Douyue app.

Music Hot Chart No. 1: "First Love."

It really had charted—at the very top.

Lu Zhou raised his handsome brows, a smile tugging at his lips.

...

That night’s recording ended with all relationships drifting into awkward territory.

Starting tomorrow, "Shall We Swap? Exes" would pause filming, with the next shoot date to be announced.