Thread by @xii31vii20

🔶💧 #ZhongChi
we got married au

The world was in an uproar when TYVT hinted the couple they were having for the first season of their variety show We Got Married: Global Edition.

The cause of commotion?

Zhongli was one half of the couple!

The veteran actor who never participated in any drama or movie that involved any romance in its plot?

Zhongli who was never caught in a dating rumor?

Liyue's most beloved actor who expressed disinterest with dating in his past interviews, now getting married on-screen?

Ridiculous! There was no way Zhongli would do that!

...

Except the fans were proven wrong when the actor himself tweeted on his Twivat account about how he was excited to be a part of their first global season.

Well...

The actor had always been quite eccentric and full of surprises, so his fans took the news rather well after Zhongli confirmed the news.

The next gossip then was who was he getting married to?

The show had been secretive and very good in hiding the identity of Zhongli's spouse-to-be, that even the actor himself didn't know who they were.

Anticipation built up until the first episode finally aired.

As seen on the television, Zhongli was driving his car to the Golden Palace—which was Liyue's museum, also the biggest in Teyvat—given a mission to rescue his spouse from the evil witch.

He was wearing the traditional ceremonial red robes used for Liyuen weddings.

He already went trending not even five minutes to the show.

Some fans went wild upon recognizing the first person that Zhongli came in contact with, who will apparently give him the first challenge.

It was Pantalone from the rookie co-ed idol group Harbingers!

They were the hot thing these days, with their music playing on malls, cafes, and just about everywhere in the street with how diverse their genre was.

Could it be that one of the Harbingers will be Zhongli's wife?

Some fans started placing their bets on the members then.

The highest bets were a close fight between Signora because of her beautiful looks and maturity, versus Tartaglia who was the youngest with a boyish charm and bubbly personality.

Back to the show, the actor didn't seem to recognize the idol that he was talking to.

It was somewhat expected of him though. He seemed like the type to listen to classical music instead of pop which was the hype these days.

Anyway.

Zhongli easily passed Pantalone's challenge and the search continued.

With every Harbinger that gave Zhongli a challenge, the closer they got to the big reveal.

Things got heated when predictably, only Signora and Tartaglia were the last members that the actor hadn't met yet.

When the screen showed Signora as one of the members who gave challenges, those who placed their bets on Tartaglia cheered in victory, already thinking of the ship name they will call with him and Zhongli.

Of course the actor easily passed her challenge and he moved forward to the largest door in the museum.

Upon opening it, there was a figure wearing a long white gown in the center of the room. When they turned around, the fans were shocked to see...

The Tsaritsa?

Wait, the founder of Fatui Entertainment where the Harbingers were under? She's the bride?

Where's Tartaglia?!

But Zhongli, the wise man that he was, calmly asked her if she was the 'evil witch'.

Oh.

Right.

They forgot about the evil witch part with how many challenges Zhongli had already gone through. Give the man a break.

Alas, it was the final challenge and he could finally meet his wife if he passed her test.

The challenge was to score higher than her in karaoke.

Oh.

Zhongli might not get married.

The man couldn't sing to save his life after all.

However, the actor wasn't one to back down on a challenge. He might still have a chance since karaoke machines could be faulty.

He can do this.

He looked at the score that he needed to beat after the Tsaritsa finished singing.

98.

Ah.

He was doomed.

Still, the show must go on and he needed to bring his wife home, so he started singing.

Shouting was probably the right term.

He'd read somewhere that singing loudly on karaoke machines gave the highest scores so he might as well put it to the test.

When he was done, he waited with anticipation on what his score would be.

A whopping 100.

The Tsaritsa could only stand there flabbergasted while covering her ears, saying that the machine was rigged.

Oh well, at least Zhongli won her challenge at the cost of embarrassing himself and proving the karaoke theory to be true.

With that, he moved forward to a smaller door leading to the next room.

There, standing in the center was Tartaglia–which his fans called him as 'Childe' affectionately–wearing a matching ceremonial red robes as Zhongli with a red translucent veil covering his face.

The staffs and the harbingers appeared behind them, as well as Zhongli's closest friends in the industry, and right then and there, they had their mock wedding ceremony.

It went smoothly, and when the time came to uncover the bride's veil, the camera zoomed in to show both of their faces.

Childe was looking beautiful as always, but he seemed rather shy which was unusual for his charismatic front with the Harbingers.

Meanwhile, Zhongli looked lovestruck and he was blushing.

The fans never saw the actor looking so in love before since he never participated in anything romance-coded until now, which made them shocked.

The episode ended with Zhongli leaning forward and kissing his bride, with Childe's eyes wide open and blushing from his face all the way down to his neck.

There was a debate among the viewers if the kiss was scripted or not.

After all, the couples on the show before them had never really kissed on-screen.

---

That first episode ended up having the highest rating among viewers from the history of We Got Married episodes.

The couple even dominated the trends in Twivat overnight with the hashtags:

#/ZhongChi

Congratulations

Zhongli red robes

#/ZhongliFirstKiss

#/Tartaglia1stWin

ME AND WHO

#/WGMGE_ZhongChi_Ep1

CHILDE PRETTY

zhongli singing

And with that, they were officially called as the ZhongChi couple and their interactions were highly anticipated by the viewers every week.

The actor and the idol even followed each other's Twivat accounts which fueled the fans' delusions, saying how the couple was real.

On the second episode, as per the tradition of the show, the couple found themselves a house that they will be staying in for the duration of their 'marriage'.

Of course, Zhongli just had to carry Childe bridal style as they stepped inside their chosen home for the first time.

It was more of a getting-to-know each other episode and planning things that they could do in the future, including their honeymoon.

Without the explicit part, naturally.

The highlight of the episode was them cooking for each other and tasting each other's dishes.

It was somehow expected that they were trending overnight again.

---

The next episodes just showed them living their 'married' life. There was that time where Zhongli came to support Childe by watching the Harbingers' live music shows and concerts.

He even went as far as sending food trucks for the fans and staffs as a good luck.

Childe returned the favor by visiting Zhongli on set while he was filming, taking care of him on his breaks like a doting wife would.

The idol was also the actor's plus one on the premiere night of his movie where he played the role of the Geo Archon.

It was a surprising progress as the actor hadn't really brought anyone as his plus one on his premiere nights before.

Their honeymoon episode showed the couple visiting Snezhnaya and doing just about everything that they couldn't usually do in Liyue, like ice fishing and ice skating.

It wasn't shown on-screen, but some fans theorized that Zhongli met Childe's family off-screen, judging by their cryptic Teygram posts.

The other episodes mainly showed them dating outside or doing mundane things in their home where they completed their missions for the episode.

The couple gained more popularity with each episode that aired, and they easily became one of the couples that have a big shipping fandom.

Their chemistry was too good that most people were questioning if it was all just acting or if it was real.

It got to the point that the shippers and the antis would have wars on different platforms every week.

Nonetheless, the ZhongChi couple themselves seemed unbothered by everything and just continued living in the bliss of their married life.

But of course, as it was a show, it all had to come to an end.

On their last episode, they spent it camping outside at night.

They were huddled together in front of the bonfire, reminiscing about the things they did together and the memories they shared.

As a parting gift, Childe cooked Bamboo Shoot Soup for Zhongli for the last time.

Meanwhile, Zhongli serenaded Childe. And no, he wasn't shouting this time.

The actor's voice was trembling a bit, but his singing had improved by a thousandfold which shocked the fans watching.

Even Childe was surprised, and he shed a tear at the romantic love song that Zhongli was singing to him.

Just like the first episode, the last one ended with a kiss.

Both of their eyes were closed this time while holding each other tightly as if they didn't want to let go.

---

There wasn't any interaction between Zhongli and Childe after the last episode aired aside from the occasional liking of each other's posts in their social platforms.

The shippers were devastated, just living with rewatching the couple's episodes and getting crumbs whenever one of the two would like the other's post.

It felt like ZhongChi was a fever dream that a lot of fans experienced, questioning themselves if the thing they thought was real was really just an act in the end.

Even so, the fans that they gathered were dedicated, making them trend one year after the very first episode was released.

#/ZhongChi1stAnniversary

---

Three years later and the fandom was still staying strong.

They may not be on the top, but they still made #/ZhongChi3rdAnniversary trending.

It was all the same where Zhongli and Childe barely interacted, but their fans learned to cope by making fanfics and fanarts without any new content from them.

It was a minute before midnight when two users posted the same picture with the same caption on their Twivat and Teygram accounts.

It was of two people wearing the ceremonial red robes for Liyuen wedding, more extravagant this time and instead of a museum, the background looked like a temple.

Childe was bending and leaning back while Zhongli supported him on his back so he wouldn't fall.

They looked very happy and the picture looked like it was caught in the middle of their kiss.

The photo's caption was a single line.

"We got married... for real this time :)"

It turns out that the two caught feelings for each other and their interactions on the show had all been genuine.

When the show ended, the two decided to start over and have a private relationship.

They were professionals at hiding that even Deezpatch couldn't catch them.

It wasn't a surprise that they went trending for days at the number one spot.

Their fans were cheering and crying because in the end, it was all proven to be true.

#/ZHONGCHIREAL
11.11M Tweets

[end]