SUGOOKIE+ Premium
Get access to exclusive content for an entire year at a special price!Premium Benefits
- Request a new series
- Early access to new chapters
- Receive 500 gems
Became a National Couple with My Ex Chapter 41: I Am a Beast
Right now, Liang Yixuan didn’t have time to deal with Bian Xu’s unpleasant words.
She raised her hand slightly, signaling him to wait, then turned aside and tried to recall things carefully.
During her seven years studying in Beicheng, she usually stayed at school or competed and performed during summer breaks, and went back to Nanhua to rest during the winter holidays. The only exception was Chinese New Year when she was seventeen.
At the time, she was six months away from graduation, and two options were in front of her: go on to higher education or join a dance company as a professional performer.
Because her physical ability and skill level were enough to qualify for a top-tier national ballet troupe, her teachers encouraged her not to waste her prime years and to go straight into a professional career.
Her mother felt the same way. She often hinted—more and more explicitly—that she hoped Yixuan would get into the Beicheng Ballet.
Yixuan was used to following her mother’s lead when it came to her career, so at first, she silently agreed with the plan.
Since the Beicheng Ballet’s preliminary audition was just after the New Year, her mom was afraid she’d be distracted by traveling back and forth. So she brought Yixuan’s grandmother to Beicheng and decided the family would spend the holiday there.
That New Year’s Eve, the three of them had dinner at the teachers’ apartment where they lived. After dinner, Yixuan overheard a conversation between her mom and grandmother outside the kitchen.
Her mom said, "If Xiaoxuan gets into the Beicheng Ballet, I’ll stop teaching at the academy and go with her into the company."
Her grandma asked, "You’ve been away from there so long. Will they even want you back?"
Her mom replied, "I’ve already reached out. It’s not a big issue. Worst case, I’ll work outside the system. As long as I can stay close to Xiaoxuan, that’s enough."
In that moment, a crushing sense of pressure made it hard for Yixuan to breathe.
She had started ballet at six, gently introduced by her mother. For four years, she trained under her mom’s guidance. After age ten, she entered a professional school—and continued to study under her mother’s watchful eye, calling her "teacher" every single day.
Other kids might get scolded at school, then go home to the comfort of loving parents. But for Yixuan, school and home were one and the same.
Before she turned six, her mom barely paid her any attention. After that, her mom transformed into a strict instructor. Over the years, Yixuan often felt an emotional disconnect and wondered: Is Liang Qin really my mother?
Why did other girls her age get to cuddle with their moms, throw tantrums, act spoiled, and still feel loved? For her, the closest she ever got to her mother was polite respect. Outside of ballet, they had nothing to talk about—no feelings to share.
She once believed that after graduating and stepping into adult life, she could finally break free from this distorted mother-daughter dynamic and let her mom be just a mom.
But now her mother was saying she planned to keep following her—even into the ballet company—to keep teaching her forever.
That thought made Yixuan feel suffocated. She had the overwhelming urge to escape that apartment.
But she didn’t even have the courage to just walk out the front door. She still worried it would make her mom and grandma anxious.
So before leaving, she changed into a practice outfit and told her mom she was going to the studio to train for a bit.
Once outside, she wandered the streets for a long time until she somehow ended up at the school’s sports field. There, she saw the round plaza.
She remembered how just before the break, she had helped shoot a promotional video for outdoor ballet on that very plaza, along with other student reps. During the shoot, she had made a mistake in front of a well-known senior in the field. Her mom didn’t speak to her for three days, and Yixuan herself couldn’t sleep for three nights.
After eleven years of dancing ballet, she suddenly found herself doubting everything. Was ballet really the only thing in her life? Was there any other path?
If she quit ballet, would the sleepless nights end? Could she and her mom finally just be a normal mother and daughter?
She didn’t know what got into her that night. Maybe she just needed to vent but had no place to do it. Without realizing it, she walked under the pavilion on the plaza, as if she couldn’t feel the cold, and—still in her practice clothes—re-performed the dance she had messed up before.
It was a freezing New Year’s Eve, and there she was… really acting like someone who had nothing better to do.
……
Liang Yixuan slowly came back to her senses and gave Bian Xu, who was waiting nearby, a slight nod. "That night… I held on… just barely."
"What the—"
"Oh my god!"
—From the sofa, Cheng Nuo and Zhao Meng’en gasped at the same time.
Bian Xu looked at Liang Yixuan for a moment, then shook his head with a soft smile, like he found the whole thing unbelievable.
Liang Yixuan’s throat tightened.
Did Bian Xu think she was so obsessed that she was trying to steal credit as the inspiration?
But that New Year's Eve had meant something special to her. That was the night, standing in that circular plaza, when she first thought about leaving Beicheng—and her mother.
She couldn’t be mistaken.
She hadn’t planned to ask about who inspired 《Rosabella》 at all—unless Bian Xu had brought it up first. But now that things had unfolded this way…
Out of all the dance schools in Beicheng, could there really have been another idiot like her, wandering around like that on New Year's Eve?
She looked at Bian Xu and asked, "Back then, did you see a circular plaza with a warm shelter set up?"
Bian Xu turned his eyes aside, trying to remember. "…"
On the sofa, Cheng Nuo and Zhao Meng’en went from slouching lazily to kneeling upright, gripping the backrest and staring at them without blinking.
Just like she had done earlier, Bian Xu made a wait-a-moment gesture, then called someone. "That New Year’s Eve four years ago—did you pick me up from Beicheng Airport?"
The driver on the other end seemed confused by the sudden question and answered cautiously, "Boss, I really don’t remember…"
Well, if he didn’t even remember that, then there was no point asking which streets they passed that night.
Bian Xu frowned and thought hard, but he just couldn’t recall which dance school it had been.
Before he turned twenty, he had spent more time in Europe than in China, so he wasn’t familiar with Beicheng. All he remembered was that the car had stopped at an intersection, and he’d casually glanced over and seen someone dancing inside the fenced-in sports field. He had asked the driver what place it was, and the driver had named a school.
He had asked him to pull over, rolled down the window, and watched for a while from afar.
"Which dance schools would you pass between the airport and the old house?" Bian Xu asked, trying another approach.
The driver thought for a moment and replied, "Not schools, Boss. There aren’t multiple dance schools along the way. Maybe a few regular schools, but as for dance schools—it’s just the Beicheng Dance Academy and its affiliated secondary school."
"…" Bian Xu hung up, his hand slowly lowering with the phone still in it.
Zhao Meng’en suddenly remembered that Liang Yixuan had mentioned her alma mater before and asked urgently, "Wait—was it really the affiliated school of Beicheng Dance Academy?!"
Bian Xu pressed his index finger to his temple but didn’t answer. His expression alone made the truth obvious.
Liang Yixuan stared at him closely. Recalling the lyrics of 《Rosabella》 that mentioned a "snowy night" and the "moon," she confirmed, "But I remember it was overcast that night—there was no moon, and it didn’t snow."
Bian Xu sighed. "The ‘moon’ was a streetlamp. The ‘snow’ was just frost on the grass."
"…Well, I wasn’t dancing a piece by Adolphe Adam."
"But I think you were wearing a white leotard dress, right?" Bian Xu spread his hands. "It just reminded me of Giselle."
All the details lined up.
Liang Yixuan fell silent.
Bian Xu didn’t speak again either. But the look in his eyes—some mix of resignation and helplessness—said enough.
He had always been the type to write a song, toss it aside, and move on. As long as his creative itch was scratched and the process satisfied him, he was done with it.
He had written so many songs over the years, and 《Rosabella》 was just one more, nothing special. The inspiration behind it—just like the others, whether it was the sky, the ocean, or a forest—was never anything he paid much attention to.
Whenever people asked about《Rosabella》, he’d think they were being ridiculous and nosy. He never gave the "real-life inspiration" much thought.
Or at least, he thought he hadn’t.
But now, four years later, after searching all over for a missing spark of creativity, it turned out that same《Rosabella》 was still the one who lit the flame.
So how could he keep saying that 《Rosabella》 was just a random burst of inspiration? That it meant nothing?
She wasn’t a coincidence.
She was inevitable.
He had to accept that fate.
Meanwhile, seeing the storm of unspoken emotion beneath the calm surface between them, Cheng Nuo quietly tugged Zhao Meng’en upstairs to the shared bedroom. Once the door was shut, she shook Zhao Meng’en’s shoulders and screamed, "I’m switching sides! I’m not sabotaging Bian Xu anymore! How can this CP be so shippable?!"
While Cheng Nuo was buzzing with excitement over the unexpected couple, Zhao Meng’en looked more dejected. She sighed, "Sigh… figures. The male idol was destined for the goddess all along. I’m just a side fan."
"At least you got to live under the same roof as your idol for this long—you’re basically the caviar of fans!" Cheng Nuo bumped her shoulder to cheer her up.
"True… oh, by the way, let me tell you a secret—originally, I wasn’t supposed to be the fourth female cast member. I got called in by the producers after Mr. Bian joined the show."
Cheng Nuo froze for a second and then understood: Bian Xu had probably replaced the original male lead, and once he was added, all the show’s attention shifted to him. The producers likely brought in someone who had a connection with him, hoping it would spark some romance plotlines.
"So who was the original female lead then?" Cheng Nuo asked.
Zhao Meng’en shrugged. "No idea."
Cheng Nuo clicked her tongue. "That’s a shame. You didn’t end up with Bian Xu, and you knocked out our Brother Ji’s official ship in the process."
"…" Zhao Meng’en pouted.
After chatting a bit more, Cheng Nuo suddenly remembered something. "Hey, now that we’ve got the real scoop on《Rosabella》, I should totally go on Weibo and shut down those salty trolls! But ugh… that scene won’t even air until Friday, and if I wait till then, it’ll lose the perfect timing for a slap-back!"
"You’re gonna post with your main account? But you can’t really spoil such a big reveal without the show’s permission, right?"
Cheng Nuo scratched her head. True—posting from her main account was out of the question. But if she used an alt and just claimed Liang Yixuan was the real《Rosabella》, no one would believe her without proof.
She flopped onto the sofa and logged into Weibo to check the latest drama.
Sure enough, fans of the "Bian Xu x Liang Yixuan" couple were fighting hard with fans of a suspected rival, Bei Ying.
One side clung to the "first love" trope, saying Liang Yixuan was pitiful for being just a stand-in. The other side—fans of the main couple—insisted Bei Ying wasn’t even worthy of being a stand-in, or accused the trolls of having no morals and ruining their harmless fun.
In any case, the fight was on, but it lacked a truly decisive blow.
Cheng Nuo was practically bursting, unable to say anything, just dying to speak up. Suddenly, she saw a new top comment pop up:「Girls, stop arguing! Go check out the surprise clip just posted by the show’s official account!」
Her screenwriter instincts kicked in—she had a strong gut feeling. She quickly opened the reality show’s official Weibo, and sure enough, just a few minutes ago, the account had posted a video.
The hashtag read: #LiangYixuanIsRosabella#, with the caption:「^_^ Everyone stop fighting~ Thanks for helping Mr. Bian find his《Rosabella》.」
The video was exactly the scene in the living room just now between Liang Yixuan and Bian Xu. There were no filters, no captions, not even any edits splicing together different camera angles—just a single raw take from one fixed shot.
You could tell the production team had rushed like crazy to get it out before fans went to bed.
While Cheng Nuo was watching the video, the comments section was already exploding with traffic—
「awsl what kind of god-tier plot twist is this?! I’ve shipped a lot of couples but never guessed Liang Yixuan was the《Rosabella》!」
「Bian Xu: Look at my face—does it look like I knew?!」
「Liang Yixuan: So I was… standing in for myself?」
「Listened to《Rosabella》again and now I’m shook… Is it just me or are those lyrics kinda… suggestive? Please, someone pure tell me it’s not what I think it is??」
「Sorry sis, I was pure, but after listening… not anymore…」
「You guys seriously underestimate what counts as ‘suggestive’—this isn’t just suggestive, this is a tank charging through!」
「Okay but seriously, Bian Xu was 20 and Liang Yixuan was 17, right? If we keep fantasizing like this, are we gonna get arrested…?」
「If Bian Xu isn’t worried, why should you be? [doge]」
「Can we talk about how this couple is insanely good-looking even from the worst camera angles? Their visuals are Mt. Everest-level. (Okay that’s not the point ×)」
「Back to the main point: Listen to me—if Bian Xu and Liang Yixuan don’t end up married, there’s no satisfying ending to this story!」
「So 'Bian Xu x Liang Yixuan = Destiny Reunited' was literal all along!」
「Proof that CP names really matter. (sobs from a fan of a one-night-stand CP that flopped ages ago)」
「This is so dramatic. Did Bian Xu really not know, or was he faking it? Did he go on the show because he realized Liang Yixuan was《Rosabella》?」
「If he was faking it, then he’s been planning this for a while. If he really didn’t know, then it’s fate. Either way, I’m swooning.」
After the CP fans finished screaming with joy, they remembered it was finally time to flex and retaliate. A new comment thread popped up—
「@CertainSaltyChicks, does your face hurt now?」
「@AlltheKeyboardWarriors, we CP fans are thriving. Are you uncomfortable?」
「@Someone’sFanbase, instead of being bitter, maybe go help your idol figure out why they lost another endorsement.」
「@AlltheJealousOnes, thanks for calling《Rosabella》 Bian Xu’s 'ballet goddess' and ‘white moonlight’. Our queen humbly accepts the title :)」
None of those @ mentions got any replies.
Well, who would still have the energy to argue at this point?
At the same time, Liang Yixuan and Bian Xu walked out of the control room with the director team.
Earlier, Cheng Nuo had pulled Zhao Meng'en away—probably to give Liang Yixuan and Bian Xu some private space to process things. But right after they left, Liu Peng came over in a hurry to bring the two to the surveillance room, asking if they could approve the footage as a bonus clip to be released early.
Bian Xu had no objections, so the production team rushed to get the video out.
As they stepped out of the control room, neither of them spoke right away.
It seemed like they were both still caught up in their emotions from earlier. For once, they were quietly getting along—peaceful and calm.
After a while, seeing there were no cameras around, Liang Yixuan finally asked the question she hadn’t gotten the chance to earlier: "Why did you compare Rosabella to a rose?"
Bian Xu thought for a moment and replied, "Because of the thorns."
So it was the same answer Shen Ji had given.
Liang Yixuan asked again, "That night... how long did you watch me dance?"
Bian Xu honestly couldn’t remember the details. But since she seemed genuinely curious, he tried to recall: "Not long. Just one dance, I think. My whole family was waiting for me to come home for New Year’s dinner. The fact that I even stayed to watch one of your dances—that’s already impressive."
"……"
So, most likely, Bian Xu hadn’t seen the part where she broke down crying on the ground afterward.
She suddenly wondered—if he had stayed just a little longer that night, would anything have been different?
But thinking about it more carefully… never mind. He didn’t seem like the type who would stop and comfort a girl crying on the street anyway.
Liang Yixuan shook her head to herself and asked one final question. Her voice was soft this time, as if she wanted to ask but was afraid he’d actually hear: "Back then, did you really not think anything else…?"
Bian Xu straightened up slightly and said seriously, "What do you mean, nothing? Can’t you tell from the lyrics of that song?"
The lyrics had pushed the boundaries pretty far for something not marked 18+. Of course Liang Yixuan had understood them—otherwise, she wouldn’t have been so hung up on the song all these years.
She muttered, "We were all underage at the arts high school…"
"So what?"
Bian Xu raised an eyebrow, then leaned in with a small smile and whispered by her ear: "I’m a beast—what, is that a problem?"