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Became a National Couple with My Ex Chapter 11: Find a New Boyfriend
Liang Yixuan sat up straight, her back stiff. For a few seconds, she forgot to breathe.
When she finally took in a breath, a faint cedar scent with hints of ocean breeze filled her nose—and she immediately recognized it. Bian Xu was wearing the custom cologne from the specific shelf in the walk-in closet.
The way he stood so close, the nickname he used, the deeply familiar air about him—it all made her feel exposed, like she was stripped bare, sitting there in front of him.
Her eyes slowly scanned the composed waitstaff and musicians nearby, and the camera crew behind each lens, steady and unaffected…
Everyone but her was perfectly in sync with the script.
Everyone knew this was a setup.
In fact, the scheme had probably started days ago, when she began getting inexplicably cold treatment.
While she was silently wondering what mistake she had made, the one behind it all had been watching everything unfold, comfortably seated behind the scenes.
Liang Yixuan’s nails dug into her palm, sharp with frustration.
Suddenly, from the entrance of the dining hall came a host’s greeting: "Welcome—good afternoon! Are you Mr. Shen?"
A polite male voice replied, "Hello, yes, I am."
"The person you’ve been waiting for seems to be here," Bian Xu said casually as he straightened up and smoothed the front of his shirt. "A date with three people... now that’s interesting."
Liang Yixuan frowned, barely able to hold in her anger as she muttered, "Bian Xu, that’s enough."
—But it was already too late.
Bian Xu mouthed the words "Too late" at her, then slowly stepped back to the proper distance. With a pleasant smile, he reached out his hand. "Hi, nice to meet you—Bian Xu."
Liang Yixuan didn’t move, her head tilted up as she stared at him.
Bian Xu raised an eyebrow and glanced toward the glass window, where Shen Ji’s reflection had just come into view.
And Liang Yixuan understood exactly what he was hinting at.
Bian Xu was the one the show had brought in—the so-called "surprise fourth male guest."
But Shen Ji, and the other guests, didn’t yet know that this new arrival had a history with her.
The earlier footage could be edited however the producers liked, but this three-person encounter—they were definitely going to air that.
Shen Ji was getting closer.
Liang Yixuan slowly unclenched her hands and stood up from her chair. With a cold expression, she reached out and shook Bian Xu’s hand. "Hello, Liang Yixuan."
Bian Xu gave her hand a brief, polite shake—gentle, gentlemanly.
That is, until his fingers brushed the crescent-shaped mark left in her palm.
Liang Yixuan yanked her hand back immediately.
Shen Ji arrived at the table and glanced at Bian Xu. "A new friend?"
"Bian Xu," he said, raising his eyebrows and offering his hand.
"Shen Ji," Shen Ji smiled as they shook, then turned to Liang Yixuan. "Sorry—I stopped by the office this morning, so I’m a little late."
"It’s fine," Liang Yixuan said, forcing a smile while still fuming inside. She had no idea whether her smile looked as fake as it felt. "I just got here too."
A waiter came over to add a seat.
Liang Yixuan shifted her chair to the left so she was now sitting directly across from Shen Ji.
She picked up the towel by her side and forcefully wiped the hand that Bian Xu had touched, then tossed the towel into the return basket.
The way Bian Xu paused mid-sit, his eyes narrowing as they shot toward her, could’ve frozen the room.
The waiter standing behind Liang Yixuan flinched under his gaze. His hands shook slightly as he poured sparkling wine—and some of the pale golden liquid splashed onto the back of her white dress.
"I’m so sorry!" the waiter bowed in a panic.
"It’s fine." Liang Yixuan took a quiet breath, glanced at the wet spot on her lower back, then turned—and saw two hands offering her a towel at the same time.
The waiter, well aware of the tension between the three, held his breath nervously.
Sensing the awkward moment, Shen Ji began to pull his hand back—but Liang Yixuan took his towel with a smile. "Thank you."
Bian Xu’s hand hung awkwardly in the air.
The wine stain was stubborn. Even after wiping it with a towel, Liang Yixuan still had to go to the restroom. She spent quite a while scrubbing the stain at the sink. She finally managed to clean it off, but the lower back of her dress was now embarrassingly soaked.
Frustrated, she let out a sharp breath. For a moment, she seriously considered just walking away from all of this.
But then she thought about the mess Bian Xu had already created for the production crew—and she couldn’t just leave it all for Shen Ji to deal with.
After a few minutes of leaning on her forehead and collecting herself, she opened the door.
The moment she stepped out, she saw Bian Xu leaning against the sink counter with his hands in his pockets, holding a black suit jacket in one arm, staring directly toward the women’s restroom.
Liang Yixuan’s steps faltered. She turned her head away and closed her eyes for a second.
Bian Xu studied her expression with obvious amusement. "Liang Yixuan, how come I never noticed before…" He paused, searching for the right words. "You're actually kind of... lively."
"I also never noticed you had a thing for standing guard outside women’s restrooms," she shot back.
"Oh really?" Bian Xu pulled his hand out of his pocket and stepped forward. "Maybe I should help jog your memory. I remember one time, in the Nanba dressing room—"
"Bian Xu," Liang Yixuan’s lips trembled slightly. "What exactly are you trying to do?"
"Shouldn’t I be asking you that? Coming on a show this ridiculous—what are you trying to do?"
"We’ve already broken up. What I do is my own business."
That whole "never got your breakup text" excuse—Liang Yixuan didn’t believe a word of it.
If Bian Xu didn’t acknowledge something, in his mind, it simply didn’t exist. How absurd was that?
"If you really didn’t get the message, I can say it again—"
Bian Xu raised his hand to cut her off, ignoring her words completely. "I came here by choice too."
"Then what is it that you want?" Liang Yixuan frowned, confused. "I’m here to find a new boyfriend. What about you?"
"Look at you getting all bold now," Bian Xu sneered, looking her up and down from above. "Come on, tell me—what kind are you looking for?"
Her head buzzed with anger at the look on his face. Without thinking, she blurted out, "Anyone but someone like you—basically dead inside."
"…"
Bian Xu froze for a second, then let out a laugh that was half angry, half impressed. He stayed quiet for a beat, then backed away, nodding slightly as he unbuttoned one of the buttons on his shirt.
Leaning casually against the wall, Liang Yixuan was trying to steady herself—her legs had gone a little weak.
But after a moment, it was like a surge of heat flowed through her body, clearing her head and loosening every tight knot in her chest.
She had never spoken to Bian Xu like this before. In fact, she’d never talked to anyone this way.
So this is what it felt like to stop holding back—it was freeing.
She quietly pushed off the wall and stood tall again. Calmly, she said, "If you’re here to get a new girlfriend, go ahead. And if you’re just here to watch me find a new boyfriend—well, I’m not stingy. I’ll let you enjoy the show."
Without sparing a glance at Bian Xu’s expression—whether he’d gone pale or flushed red—she turned and walked out.
Just as she stepped out of the restroom, she ran into Shen Ji coming from the other direction.
She hesitated for a moment, unsure if he had overheard her conversation with Bian Xu.
Then she figured—Shen Ji was good at reading between the lines. And honestly, she’d probably worn all her feelings on her face today.
Liang Yixuan sighed silently to herself.
She wasn’t someone who liked fighting over things. The only reason she had insisted on choosing this restaurant for today’s date was because she’d found out Shen Ji had been passing on the voting for her.
He had skipped voting for three days in a row.
And last night, when he invited her to chat in his car, she had coldly turned him down, still caught up in her own emotions.
No matter how she looked at it now, she felt like she hadn’t handled it well. She had already made up her mind—today, she was going to treat Shen Ji to a good meal and have a proper talk with him.
This really was… a mess.
Seeing the tired look on Liang Yixuan’s face, Shen Ji walked up to her. "I was worried you might run into trouble, so I came to check."
Liang Yixuan pulled herself together and shook her head with a smile. "It’s fine now. Everything’s sorted."
"Glad to hear that." The two exchanged a few vague words, not saying much outright. Shen Ji glanced at the damp spot on her skirt, then handed her the gray blazer draped over his arm. "Want to put this on? Don’t want you catching a cold."
When Bian Xu returned to the dining hall, he saw Liang Yixuan wearing Shen Ji’s blazer, chatting and laughing with him.
"Did you eat the sandwich I left on the table this morning?" she asked.
"Got lucky. It was the last one."
Liang Yixuan raised her eyebrows. "I only made one."
Shen Ji chuckled. "Then you’ll have to teach me how to make it next time. I owe you one."
Bian Xu handed his jacket to a waiter, then sat down beside Shen Ji, cracking his knuckles.
Seeing that the table was finally complete, the waiter cautiously approached with a menu. "Are the three of you ready to order?"
"Yes," Shen Ji nodded.
"Who would like to go first?"
Bian Xu gestured toward the opposite side of the table.
"Ladies first," Shen Ji added.
Liang Yixuan took the menu and placed it sideways between herself and Shen Ji. Tilting her head, she said, "Want to order together?"
"Sure." Shen Ji turned slightly and leaned closer to her.
"This restaurant really went wide on the table size," Bian Xu joked with the waiter. "Makes sitting close pretty awkward."
The waiter, clearly not finding it funny, still forced a nervous smile. "Thank you for your feedback, sir. We’ll definitely take it into consideration."
Liang Yixuan acted like she didn’t hear a thing and focused on discussing the menu with Shen Ji.
Two minutes later, Shen Ji placed the order for her: "Warm goat cheese salad for the appetizer, duck breast with bitter orange sauce for the main, mint and herb roasted mussels as the side, and a mango tart for dessert. Thank you."
"And what would you like, sir?"
"I’ll have the same. No need to complicate things."
"Got it." The waiter turned to Bian Xu. "And for you, sir?"
Bian Xu chose completely different dishes for each course, then closed the menu with a slight smirk. "I’d have loved to keep it simple too, but oddly enough, every dish Miss Liang picked happens to include something I can’t eat."
"Really?" Liang Yixuan responded coolly. "With all these food aversions, maybe you just don’t mix well with others."
Bian Xu gave a drawn-out "ah" and replied lazily, "That’s right. Miss Liang has quite the eye for people."
Looking at his face—which clearly said I don’t need to fit in, the world adjusts to me—Liang Yixuan started to wonder if she had accidentally complimented him.
She blinked, puzzled. "When you say ‘eye for people’… were you talking about a pig?"
"…"
Bian Xu was caught off guard, about to respond, when Shen Ji turned to him with a friendly smile. "Sounds like Mr. Bian doesn’t interact with others very often?"
"Correct," Bian Xu smiled back. "And you, Mr. Shen?"
"My job’s nature is probably very different from yours."
Bian Xu nodded and looked at Liang Yixuan. "Miss Liang and I are in the same field."
Liang Yixuan looked up at him with icy indifference.
Sensing the tension rising at the table, the assistant director—who had been observing from a distance—finally couldn’t sit still anymore.
Liu Peng, holding a walkie-talkie in both hands, was about to issue instructions but glanced at Bian Xu’s expression, hesitated, and decided to step in himself.
"Sorry to interrupt," he said with a polite smile. "Miss Liang, here's the thing. Teams 1 and 3 don’t have enough footage, and this setting is great. We were hoping to have you do a short dance."
"Director Liu," Liang Yixuan stood up. "As per the additional agreement Nanba signed with the production team, any professional content I perform on the show has to be approved by the dance troupe."
Previously, her troupe had made an agreement with the show that there would be a special episode dedicated to showcasing Nanba’s professional level. However, due to her Achilles tendonitis, she was still in recovery. The troupe had specifically requested she not perform on camera until she was back in peak condition.
"I remember that," Liu Peng said quickly. "So today, it doesn’t have to be ballet. Any other dance style works. And look—Mr. Bian is here. He can play piano while you do a short improv."
This Liu Peng was really going all out for the ratings.
Bian Xu pressed two fingers to his temple. "Director Liu, do you even know how much one of my pieces costs?"
"Oh, come on, Mr. Bian," Liu Peng replied with a dramatic sigh. "I know you haven’t performed in years. If you charged me your usual rate, I’d probably have to sell everything I own and still couldn’t afford it! But I’m thinking—this is a rare opportunity, right? If we work together, we could create some great footage of a golden couple moment!"
He emphasized "rare opportunity" and "work together," clearly hinting at a win-win situation.
Bian Xu glanced up and smiled faintly. "Director Liu, your mind is still as sharp as ever."
"You flatter me, Mr. Bian!" Liu Peng chuckled, then turned to Liang Yixuan. "Miss Liang, Mr. Bian’s already agreed. How about you?"
Liang Yixuan kept a straight face and gave a short "Mm."
Liu Peng was finally reassured. Before leaving, he gave Shen Ji a quick recap. "Mr. Bian just mentioned he and Miss Liang are on the same team. Mr. Shen, could I trouble you to give her a hand?"
Shen Ji looked at Liang Yixuan.
She gave him a small nod.
The three of them returned to their seats, and Shen Ji picked up where the conversation had left off. "So Mr. Bian is an artist as well. May I ask, what’s your area of expertise?"
"I majored in piano and composition."
Shen Ji glanced at the semi-circular stage nearby. "Looks like there’s a piano over there. Would we be lucky enough to hear you play today?"
Bian Xu looked toward Liang Yixuan. "That depends on whether Miss Liang would be willing to dance with me."
Liang Yixuan nodded. "Of course."
Bian Xu’s lips curved into a subtle smile.
"But dancing alone can get a bit dull," Liang Yixuan stood and walked over to Shen Ji. "Mr. Shen, may I have the honor of this dance?"
Shen Ji glanced sideways at Bian Xu’s reaction, then stood up. "The honor’s mine."
Liang Yixuan turned and smiled at Bian Xu. "Then I’ll trouble you, Mr. Bian, to play us a piece."