Became a National Couple with My Ex Chapter 24: My Dog Would Never Treat Me Like This

Outside the villa, in the front seat of the Bentley.

The driver craned his neck, staring up at the third-floor window with a desperate look. "It’s been ten minutes. Why are the lights still off? If we don’t leave now, we’ll not only get a fine—we’ll miss the flight."

Lu Yuan let out a long, weary sigh. "As Lu Xun once said: You can never wake someone who's pretending to be asleep. Just like you can’t make someone leave if they don’t want to."

He’d rushed here by air in a panic. At first, Lu Yuan had thought Bian Xu was finally serious about leaving. But when he picked him up and the first thing Bian Xu said was, "Let’s go to the north side to grab my luggage," Lu Yuan had a bad feeling he’d come all this way for nothing.

What important luggage would be worth personally going all the way across the city to retrieve?

Peach—the dog—needed to be quarantined again, so there was no way he could bring her back that night. As for everything else? Just stuff. Nothing valuable enough for Bian Xu to bother.

"Wait, when did Lu Xun ever say that?" the driver asked, clearly confused.

"There’s a lot you don’t know," Lu Yuan muttered, fastening his seatbelt with a frustrated click. "Lu Xun also says we should leave—now."

"Don’t," the driver hesitated. "What if the boss comes out and doesn’t see the car…"

"There’s no what if." Lu Yuan raised one finger and waved it mysteriously. "What you think is coincidence… is always inevitable."

That same night, Liang Yixuan had a nightmare.

She dreamed of the first time she met Bian Xu.

She was standing in a sea of backup dancers, surrounded by black uniforms, staring from afar as the grand golden-red doors of the theater were pulled open from both sides.

Bian Xu walked in, surrounded by people. His figure, backlit by the light, stood tall and sharply outlined in her vision.

The crowd parted as he walked straight toward her. He stopped in front of her, raised his eyebrows, and said:

"Nice to meet you. I’m an idiot."

"…"

And then—nothing. That was it.

Liang Yixuan jolted awake from the dream, staring at the ceiling in a daze for a long time before she could even gather her thoughts.

It had to be because of what Bian Xu said last night, right before going upstairs—using a tone like he was declaring himself a genius to say: "I am an idiot."

That line had clearly traumatized her, replaying in her mind until it rewrote their first meeting in a completely absurd way.

Through the crack in her curtains, she saw the sky growing light—it was already 6:30 a.m.

She quietly slipped out of bed, washed up, and went to the second-floor nanny room to check on Peach.

A few days ago, after Bian Xu stormed out, the production crew had taken Peach in to look after her. But Liang Yixuan couldn’t bear the thought of troubling them too much, so she brought her back here.

Border collies were energetic dogs and needed lots of exercise, so she made sure to take Peach out every morning and evening.

Peach had already gotten used to the routine and would usually be waiting in the nanny room at this hour.

But today, the room was completely empty. No sign of Peach.

Liang Yixuan searched the first and second floors, but couldn’t find her.

She knocked on the camera installed near the nanny room and asked softly, "Excuse me… is anyone there?"

No response. The camera remained silent.

It was probably still too early—none of the directors in the monitoring room were up yet.

Liang Yixuan continued searching on the third floor. She looked in every corner, but still couldn’t find Peach. Growing anxious, she happened to walk past Bian Xu’s room. Could that irresponsible owner have taken the dog on a whim?

Hesitating, she knocked on his door.

No response. The gap beneath the door was completely dark—it seemed like Bian Xu was still asleep.

Remembering he sometimes slept with noise-canceling headphones, Liang Yixuan knocked harder this time, giving the door a firm pat.

From inside came a loud clang—the sound of something hitting the floor.

It sounded annoyed, as if protesting her interruption.

Just as she was about to knock again, the door swung open from the inside.

"It’s barely morning and you’re already—" Bian Xu started to complain, his brows tightly furrowed. But then he caught sight of her and suddenly stopped mid-sentence. The tension in his face eased, and the rest of his words stuck in his throat.

"Is Peach with you?" Liang Yixuan got straight to the point.

The faint smile that had just appeared in Bian Xu’s eyes vanished without a trace. The words "You woke me up just for a dog?" were right on the tip of his tongue, but he held them back and simply said, "No."

"I’ve looked everywhere and can’t find her. Maybe someone left a door open and she ran off during the night?"

Bian Xu frowned, then seemed to remember something and said, "Oh, that can’t be…"

He paused halfway through.

Liang Yixuan didn’t have the patience to decipher his expressions. She was waiting for a proper answer when he dragged out the word and casually added, "…right?"

She was so frustrated she turned to leave. But Bian Xu gently tugged on her arm.

"Where are you going?"

She froze, pulled her arm away sharply, and said, "I’m going to ask the crew to check the security footage and gather a few people to help search the area. Could you please take some responsibility for your own dog? If you have a pet, you’re supposed to care for it."

Bian Xu raised an eyebrow and grabbed his phone from the nightstand.

Peach was used to running freely on the island. If she got lost in this remote suburb, it could be dangerous.

Not wanting to just sit around, Liang Yixuan hurried downstairs while Bian Xu made a call. She planned to check the area outside first.

But she had barely walked a few hundred meters when she saw someone from the production crew jogging toward her, panting and holding Peach on a leash.

She let out a sigh of relief.

"Don’t worry, Miss Liang," the staff member explained, "I just took Peach out for a walk."

Liang Yixuan crouched and patted Peach’s head. "As long as she’s not lost."

"Sorry, I noticed you weren’t up yet, so I thought I’d bring her back before you noticed. Actually, if it’s okay with you, I could take care of walking Peach from now on."

Liang Yixuan stood up. "No need. You all already have your hands full."

"But Peach has so much energy when she runs, and you just recovered from Achilles tendonitis, right? You already have intense training every day—walking her adds a lot more strain…"

Liang Yixuan blinked. "Wait… how do you know I had Achilles tendonitis?"

"I—" The staff member glanced over her shoulder, then quickly clammed up.

Liang Yixuan turned around.

Bian Xu was walking over, one hand in his pocket.

"Has she had enough walking time yet?" he asked coolly.

"Uh… yes…" the staff member stammered.

Bian Xu narrowed his eyes.

"…Not really?" The staff member scratched his head. "I was planning to walk her one more lap."

Bian Xu beckoned with two fingers.

The staff member bowed and handed over the leash with both hands.

Taking the leash, Bian Xu nodded at Peach and asked Liang Yixuan, "Want to walk her together?"

Liang Yixuan pressed her lips together and held out her hand. "Give me the leash. I’ll take her."

He glanced at her pale, outstretched palm, then looked away and said casually, "After today’s brush with life and death, I realized I’ve been neglecting her. I’m going to walk her myself from now on."

"……"

"Then I’ll head back," Liang Yixuan said, spinning on her heel. But after a few steps, she heard a sigh behind her—

"A dog without a mom is like grass in the wind."

She turned around.

Bian Xu was crouched down, ruffling Peach’s fur into a wild mess.

The still-young dog suddenly looked ancient, like she’d aged into her twilight years overnight.

"……"

Liang Yixuan stood there for a moment, watching the man and the dog together. Then she let out a soft breath and turned to follow them.

With someone as clueless as Bian Xu holding the leash, Liang Yixuan’s body might’ve felt more relaxed, but her mind was completely exhausted.

One second she was telling him to walk faster, the next she was asking him to slow down. Then left, then right—she had to guide him constantly until he finally got the hang of it. Just as he was starting to look like a pro, Peach circled around a large tree and squatted down with her back legs spread apart.

Liang Yixuan’s heart sank.

"What’s she doing?" Bian Xu blinked slowly, puzzled.

"She’s… handling some bodily needs," Liang Yixuan said carefully.

It took Bian Xu a solid five seconds to vaguely understand what she meant by bodily needs.

"Right here? Hasn’t anyone ever taught her…"

"It’s a natural instinct," Liang Yixuan cut him off, frowning slightly. "She usually has to do this when she’s out."

"So… what she leaves behind…"

"Can’t just stay there polluting the environment. We have to bag it and throw it away properly."

"…"

The reason Liang Yixuan had tensed up earlier was because she realized she’d rushed out without bringing any bags.

Bian Xu shook his head, as if still struggling to accept that his dog could do something like this. But when he looked down, the cold hard truth was right in front of him.

Liang Yixuan patted the empty pockets of her coat. "I didn’t bring tissues…"

Bian Xu turned his head away, stayed silent for a moment, then handed her the leash. He looked himself over, took off the gray vest over his dress shirt, and held it out to her.

Liang Yixuan gave a little cough. "Are you sure…"

Without saying a word, Bian Xu shook the vest out and offered it again.

She took it and crouched down.

Just as her delicate, pale fingers were getting closer to the mess, Bian Xu suddenly took a deep breath. "Wait."

Liang Yixuan looked up in confusion.

He snatched the vest from her hands and, with his eyes closed, wrapped it around the mess himself.

Liang Yixuan almost laughed but quickly composed herself as he stood up.

Holding the vest at arm’s length like it was radioactive, Bian Xu gave her a look. "Funny?"

Liang Yixuan kept a straight face. "Not at all. Hands that are insured can make anything look classy."

"…"

Back at the villa, the kitchen was filled with the sweet aroma of breakfast.

Today, it was Cheng Nuo cooking. From the smell, it seemed like she was making dessert.

Liang Yixuan greeted her with a "Good morning," got Peach settled, and walked over to ask what she was making.

"Crepe cake," Cheng Nuo replied, glancing up at Bian Xu, who walked in with a gloomy expression and headed straight into the downstairs bathroom.

As soon as the door closed, the sound of running water echoed loudly.

Cheng Nuo gave the bathroom door a strange look. After Liang Yixuan finished washing her hands at the sink, Cheng Nuo leaned closer and whispered curiously, "Did I miss something? Why were you two walking the dog together?"

Liang Yixuan shook her head, saying it was nothing, and explained the whole situation from that morning.

The water in the bathroom kept starting and stopping. Liang Yixuan imagined Bian Xu scrubbing his hands for the tenth time and couldn’t help finding it a little funny.

But Cheng Nuo was thinking in a different direction. "Hey, don’t you think it’s a bit weird?"

"What do you mean?"

"Since last night, it feels like the whole production crew suddenly knows about your Achilles tendon issue."

Just as she said that, the bathroom door opened and Bian Xu walked out, heading to the island counter to pour himself a glass of water.

Cheng Nuo eyed him thoughtfully, then continued, "Think about it—wasn’t that foot massage last night kind of suspicious? The massage therapist just happened to have a treatment pack specifically for Achilles tendonitis. And seriously, is there such a thing as a massage therapist who gave up being a doctor?"

Liang Yixuan frowned.

It was a bit strange, but since it helped her, and nothing bad came of it, she hadn’t thought too much about it at the time.

Cheng Nuo glanced at Bian Xu again. He was pouring water unhurriedly, clearly uninterested in the conversation.

"And that staff member this morning, too," Cheng Nuo went on. "Last night, when you mentioned your Achilles to the therapist, only I was there—there were no cameras. So how did the crew even find out? And why were they so thoughtful about walking Peach for you?"

Bian Xu, expression unreadable, took his glass and left the kitchen, heading to the couch.

"Yeah, I found that odd too," Liang Yixuan said, thinking back to when she mentioned the injury at the dance center. Filming wasn’t allowed in the staff hallway, and the cameraman had slacked off and fallen behind—he shouldn’t have heard her either. "The only person I told was Shen Ji."

Cheng Nuo looked over at Bian Xu lounging on the couch, then clapped her hands. "Then that’s it! Shen Ji must’ve felt bad for you and quietly asked the production team to take care of you."

Bian Xu slowly sat up straighter.

Liang Yixuan shook her head doubtfully. "I don’t think so. If Shen Ji was going to do something like that, he would’ve told me first."

That kind of behind-the-scenes move didn’t match his cautious personality.

Bian Xu leaned back into the couch again, relaxed.

Cheng Nuo’s eyes darted. "Then it must be Duan Ye! Maybe he heard about it from Shen Ji. I mean, that therapist last night? Definitely high-end—only someone rich would hire someone like that."

"But Duan Ye and I haven’t really talked lately…"

"Then maybe it was Xiao Sheng? He’s so considerate, I wouldn’t be surprised if he spent a fortune just to help you."

The figure on the couch kept shifting—sitting up, leaning back, then sitting up again.

Suddenly, a loud clack broke the conversation as Bian Xu set his glass down on the table.

He pushed off his knees, stood up, and narrowed his eyes. "Are there only three male contestants on this show?"