Became a National Couple with My Ex Chapter 45: No Longer Playing Nice

Bian Xu always talked like he was completely in the right—even when he clearly wasn’t.

It was like the laws of physics bent to his will.

If the world ever falls apart, Liang Yixuan thought absentmindedly, it’ll probably be because Bian Xu finally stopped talking.

Fortunately, Zhao Meng’en either wasn’t fully awake or had somehow picked up on the unspoken tension—she just muttered "oh" a couple of times, looked at the two of them with wide, dazed eyes, then slowly made her way downstairs.

Liang Yixuan breathed a sigh of relief, took her blanket back from Bian Xu’s arms, and walked toward her room.

Bian Xu followed. As they passed a single room in the hallway, he caught the faint sound of an alarm going off inside and suddenly stopped.

"Liang Yixuan," he called out, "Want me to give you a ride to work?"

She turned around, glanced at the room next to him—Pan Yu’s—and quickly held a finger to her lips in a shh gesture.

"Go back to bed," she whispered.

"You don’t want me to drive you?"

"You’d be driving tired," she said, keeping a straight face.

Bian Xu reluctantly nodded.

"Then come home early after work, okay?"

"For what?"

"For nothing," he smirked, leaning against the wall. "So I can miss you a little less."

"You wish," Liang Yixuan muttered and quickly slipped back into her room.

Liang Yixuan had spent the last few days pretending nothing was happening, burying her head like an ostrich. But tonight, she finally came up for air.

She didn’t plan to stay out late on purpose, but even after her usual training overtime, it was already past 7:30 by the time she got in the car to head back to Beijiao.

And 8:00 PM was when the new episode of the show aired.

Not knowing if all those unsuitable-for-broadcast scenes with Bian Xu had actually been cut, she anxiously opened the latest episode—Episode 10—on her phone while riding in the back seat.

To her surprise, the second the episode started, she was met with a flood of real-time comments from eager viewers:

"First!"

"Front row seats—get your popcorn and soda!"

"Back at it again with Bian & Liang!"

At this hour, students and office workers were just kicking off their Friday night downtime, so it wasn’t surprising the viewer turnout was huge.

Ever since the explosive Monday night performance between her and Bian Xu—and with the extra attention brought by the Rosabella incident—the show’s popularity had skyrocketed.

Search trends and ratings kept breaking records for Chinese dating shows, both with celebrities and with regular people.

Tons of new viewers had binge-watched the first nine episodes over the past week and joined the fandom.

The couple hashtag "#BackAtItAgainWithBianLiang" was flooded with new fans and had stayed in the Top 3 of the CP Super Topics list all week, breaking recent records for male-female pairings in Chinese entertainment fandom.

And all this happened even though Liang Yixuan hadn’t officially responded to Bian Xu’s feelings yet.

So when Episode 10 opened with the text message results from Monday night—and it was revealed that they had finally, for the first time, mutually chose each other—the comment feed practically exploded.

The sheer volume of excited messages nearly crashed the video player——

「Finally! Finally! I can shout "BianLiang Forever szd" on the public chat and mean it with my whole chest!」

「The goddess casually says ‘Just send it,’ and he turns into a giggling fool on the couch—I’m crying, how about you guys?」

「My boy has been ‘waiting faithfully for Liang’ for so long, and now it’s official! Mom’s in front of the screen, overwhelmed with joy and in tears!」

「Been single since birth for 20 years, but watching this scene moved me more than getting into a relationship myself…」

「After shipping so many fake couples over the years, I finally got one that’s real. I swear to skip milk tea and late-night snacks for a whole month—please let BianLiang have a happy ending next week!」

「‘Between the moonlight and the snow, you are the third kind of beauty’—that’s a reference to Rosabella’s lyrics, right? I’m not afraid of educated flirts, I’m afraid of straight guys saying stuff like this QAQ」

Since there was no Wi-Fi in the car, Liang Yixuan had to go through two failed loading attempts before finally pulling through that segment.

The next scene showed the following morning, when Bian Xu came to explain his trip abroad.

Just moments before, the chat had been a full-blown celebration, but now it split into two camps. One side anxiously yelled at Bian Xu: "Why are you going abroad again for no reason? Work later! Don’t lose momentum—strike while the iron’s hot!"

The other camp made fun of him for being long-winded: "Stop dragging it out like a shy bride! If you’re leaving, then leave already. Be a man and just go downstairs!"

The comments made Liang Yixuan chuckle softly in the backseat.

The driver glanced at her through the rearview mirror and asked cheerfully, "Young lady, are you dating someone?"

"Hm?" Liang Yixuan quickly stifled her smile and took out one earbud. "No, sir."

The driver shook his head knowingly. "You can’t fool an old-timer like me, girl. Tsk, I wonder which lucky young man landed someone like you…"

Liang Yixuan lowered her head shyly and tried to control her facial expression.

Meanwhile, the episode had moved on to scenes with the other guests. She wasn’t really involved in the next few days, so she skimmed through and jumped to the last third of the episode, landing right on Thursday night—when she overheard Pan Yu say something about "playing hard to get" at the staircase corner.

The production team knew how to create drama. During this part, the show cut back and forth between the living room argument and her reaction in the hallway. One side showed the tension rising, the other showed her stunned face.

Plenty of viewers, like her, skipped through the unrelated middle parts and jumped right to this drama-filled scene.

In the comment feed, some blamed Pan Yu for stirring up trouble, some thought she had a point, others defended Bian Xu, and many sympathized with Liang Yixuan—there were opinions of all kinds.

The production team played it smart, waiting until the last fifth of the episode before inserting a scene Liang Yixuan hadn’t been aware of—

It had happened earlier that morning after she left the house. Pan Yu, Cheng Nuo, and Duan Ye were eating breakfast at the dining table.

Duan Ye, who never ate breakfast, must’ve been dragged there by a producer. He looked half-asleep and turned to an equally sleepy Cheng Nuo: "Didn’t sleep well?"

Cheng Nuo nodded. "Mr. Bian came back in the middle of the night."

Duan Ye: "What’s that got to do with you?"

Cheng Nuo: "Well, wasn’t I sharing a room with someone who’s involved with Mr. Bian?"

At that moment, the scene cut to footage of Bian Xu entering the girls’ room on the second floor late at night.

With Cheng Nuo’s voiceover and this flashback, the truth behind Bian Xu’s trip abroad was finally revealed.

The BianLiang shippers, who had been anxious for half the episode, came alive again.

Liang Yixuan watched the editing closely. Once she saw that they only showed Bian Xu entering her room—but not carrying her out—she finally relaxed.

But the audience wasn’t satisfied——

「That’s it? That’s it?! I was about to scream and that’s all you give me?!」

「My teacher always said ‘hearing is false, seeing is believing’—I don’t want Cheng Nuo to tell me, I want to see it myself :)」

「Nobody stop me, I’m about to body-swap with yesterday’s Cheng Nuo!」

「@ChengNuo, my friend really wants to know what happened in that room last night. If I get rid of Duan Ye for you, will you spill the tea?」

「Duan Ye: What did I do now?!」

Just as the comments were turning sour, the show abruptly rearranged the timeline and saved the footage of Liang Yixuan and Bian Xu’s morning conversation in the upstairs hallway for the very end.

To avoid revealing that Liang Yixuan had spent the night in Bian Xu’s room, the camera didn’t show her holding the blanket. Instead, they used an overhead angle focused entirely on Bian Xu, framing the scene as a casual early-morning encounter.

The moment ended with Bian Xu saying, "I’m not doing anything—just trying to think about you a little less," and the screen froze. Then, one of Bian Xu’s most well-known commercial songs started playing, giving it full-on romantic drama vibes.

The production team had probably gotten authorization from Bian Xu himself to use it.

Right after that, the once-skeptical audience melted again and started screaming joyfully.

And some eagle-eyed viewers even noticed a detail that Liang Yixuan herself had missed—

「Wasn’t Bian Xu standing in front of Pan Yu’s door when he said that? Is that a hidden message? Like clearing his name?」

「Nah, not clearing his name—Bian Xu wouldn’t care about that! That was a mic drop to Pan Yu and a way to protect Liang Yixuan’s dignity!」

「Sis, your sugar-sensing skills are next-level Sherlock Holmes! I’m trash—can’t even keep up with the CP crumbs! (:」)」

「I’m crying. That version of Bian Xu who couldn’t talk like a normal person is really gone without a trace now.」

Thinking back on what Bian Xu had said that morning, Liang Yixuan blinked slowly at her phone screen.

When Liang Yixuan returned to the villa, she saw that everyone except her and Pan Yu was gathered in the living room.

Tonight’s game segment was hosted by Cheng Nuo and Duan Ye, and right now, Cheng Nuo was loudly scolding Duan Ye.

In the kitchen, Lin Xiaosheng and Zhao Meng’en were washing up the dinner dishes.

On the far end of the couch, Bian Xu was sitting quietly, wearing a pair of thin, gold-rimmed glasses. He rested one elbow on the arm of the sofa, casually flipping through a magazine.

Next to him sat Shen Ji, also reading a book.

Bian Xu had 75-degree nearsightedness in both eyes, but rarely wore glasses unless reading or working in the studio, so Liang Yixuan wasn’t very familiar with the way he looked in them.

Lately, she’d often seen him reading idly and couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

But today, seeing him and Shen Ji side by side—both wearing similar silver-rimmed glasses—she suddenly understood why.

Because Shen Ji looked like a refined scholar in glasses.

And Bian Xu looked like a refined rogue.

Shen Ji read to gain knowledge.

Bian Xu read like he was just killing time… while waiting to catch something.

Sure enough, it was the "rogue" who first noticed the rabbit entering the room.

Bian Xu lifted his eyelids, closed the magazine, uncrossed his long legs, tilted his head slightly toward her, and mouthed silently: "Fifteen."

He meant he’d been thinking about her for fifteen hours—since 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Liang Yixuan had just finished watching the episode’s ending, so she instantly got the message. While changing into her slippers, she glanced around at the others—though even she wasn’t sure why she felt so sneaky.

Bian Xu smiled subtly, lowered his eyes, and stood up, walking toward her. He nodded toward the coffee table: "Waiting for you to pick a date spot."

Liang Yixuan glanced at the cards on the table. "Weren’t we supposed to pick a person?"

"Who else would you pick?" Bian Xu shot her a look. "You weren’t here, everyone already drew their cards. Only one left—and it’s the same color as mine."

Who knows how many cards he had to go through to make sure it ended up this way.

Liang Yixuan shot him a glare, then followed him to the couch. On the coffee table, there were only two cards left—one said "North City," the other "West City."

"So far away?" Liang Yixuan blinked in surprise. Then she remembered the production team had recently confirmed their ID details—turns out it was for booking flights for the final date.

"It’s an overnight trip—two days and one night," Shen Ji put down his book and explained. "Xiao Zhao and I don’t mind where we go. It’s up to you to choose."

"Do we have to go?" Liang Yixuan frowned and looked at Bian Xu. "Can we ask the crew to make an exception and let us stay in Nanhuai?"

"You sure are getting picky, Liang Yixuan," Bian Xu glanced sideways at her. "If you don’t want to go to North City, then go to West City."

"It’s not like I have anything against North City," Liang Yixuan mumbled.

"Then you’ve got something against me?" Bian Xu blinked.

Liang Yixuan choked a little and looked at his expression before slowly replying, "What do you think?"

Just as Bian Xu opened his mouth to respond, he glanced around at the others and the cameras nearby. He grabbed her wrist and led her upstairs to the nanny room—the only spot without surveillance.

Inside, their dog Peach had been dozing off. The moment she saw Liang Yixuan, she perked up and jumped toward her in excitement.

Bian Xu picked up the dog and set her aside: "I’m going first, you wait your turn."

Peach flopped down with a pitiful look.

"What’s the big deal about spending a night out of town?" Bian Xu frowned. "We shared a room last night and I didn’t do anything to you, did I?"

"Well, who knows what might happen if we leave the province."

Bian Xu turned away to calm down, then looked back at her. "Have I ever forced you to do anything?"

Liang Yixuan glanced at his sour expression and muttered, "Not before… who knows about later."

Bian Xu took a deep breath. "Liang Yixuan, am I—"

She couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing.

Bian Xu paused, caught off guard.

"I’m messing with you," Liang Yixuan said, nudging her chin in his direction.

"?"

She composed herself. "Didn’t you just fly to Amsterdam and back? And now you’re flying again this weekend? Aren’t you tired?"

Bian Xu lowered his gaze and looked at her with a flicker in his eyes. "So that’s why you didn’t want to leave the province?"

"Mm-hmm."

Bian Xu pointed downstairs. "Then why didn’t you say that down there?"

Liang Yixuan pouted. "Weren’t you the one who said I should get back at you a little? So you’re allowed to tease me, but I’m not allowed to tease you?"

Bian Xu shook his head and looked at her. "And what exactly did you get out of teasing me?"

"You looked so worked up—just like…" Liang Yixuan pointed at Peach by her feet, "just like the dog."

With that, she quickly opened the door to leave the nanny room.

Bian Xu’s face darkened, and he immediately followed.

Liang Yixuan rushed into her bedroom, but didn’t shut the door fast enough. Bian Xu slipped in through the crack.

He pressed his back against the door, trapping her in his arms from behind, wrapped his arms around her waist, and leaned down to murmur, "Liang Yixuan, you just said I’m like a dog—well then, don’t blame me for not acting human anymore."