Became a National Couple with My Ex Chapter 51: I Brought Myself, Do You Still Want Me?

At midnight, Lu Yuan quietly unlocked the fingerprint door of the penthouse at Lancheng Tianfu Tower 1 and tiptoed into Bian Xu’s apartment.

After the show wrapped up for the night, the directors had tried contacting Bian Xu multiple times, but no one could reach him.

At first, Lu Yuan thought this was normal and casually told the crew to let it go. But once he heard the full story from the production team, he panicked: If Bian Xu hadn’t gotten back together with Liang Yixuan on a night like this, it could only mean he’d taken a blow so deep it pierced his heart.

So Lu Yuan rushed over to check on him.

Walking past the entryway, he peeked inside and spotted Bian Xu sitting properly on the couch in the living room. Lu Yuan breathed a small sigh of relief—until he looked again. There, under the coffee table, was a wine bottle knocked over, with a dark red spill staining the carpet like a wound. A third glance revealed the ashtray on the table overflowing with cigarette butts.

Lu Yuan’s heart sank. He hurried over, hesitating a little before calling, "Boss?"

Bian Xu sat on the carpet, leaning against the sofa leg, one leg loosely bent. He lifted his eyes slightly and looked in Lu Yuan’s direction.

But to Lu Yuan, it felt like he wasn’t really seeing him—like he was staring through thin air.

Lu Yuan’s scalp tingled as he surveyed the mess, then suddenly noticed a notebook beside Bian Xu. He craned his neck to get a look.

Bian Xu quickly raised a hand and shut the notebook with a quiet voice: "Get out."

At least he was sober.

But Lu Yuan had never seen Bian Xu like this.

Even when he said "get out," there wasn’t the slightest bit of anger—just a kind of quiet extinction, like someone whose light had gone out.

"You okay?" Lu Yuan asked cautiously.

Bian Xu didn’t respond.

"Then… I’ll clean up a bit before I go?" Lu Yuan offered tentatively. Seeing there was no protest or irritation, he stepped forward, picked up the wine bottle, grabbed the ashtray, and took them to the trash.

Bian Xu’s gaze returned to the notebook by his side.

The sticky notes Liang Yixuan had used only marked the diary entries where she expressed her feelings—probably to avoid highlighting the pain that came after. But he couldn’t help reading further.

He read through every diary entry she’d written since last December, one by one.

He watched, page by page, as a young woman went from excited and joyful, full of hope… to anxious, uncertain, and finally completely devastated.

It was like a delayed knife, slicing him open slowly through time and space.

Every entry forced him to pause, to gather himself before moving on.

But when he reached the very last page, he found a fresh, clean sheet of paper—and one carefully written, solemn line: "If I could, I’d keep all the good things here and take back all the bad ones… so I could fall for him all over again."

In that moment, for the first time in his twenty-four years of life, Bian Xu began to doubt himself—

What could he possibly offer that would make him worthy of a girl like her?

The next evening, Friday at 7 p.m., Liang Yixuan clocked out at the dance center.

As she stepped to the curb, her first instinct was to call a cab to the northern suburbs—then she remembered the variety show was over.

She’d been out of it for days, her mind tangled in thoughts about Bian Xu.

Even when saying goodbye to everyone two nights ago, she’d been in a rush, half-dazed.

Now, the sudden realization that it was all over left her feeling strangely empty.

So instead, she decided to walk to the nearby subway station and take the metro back to Xijiang Huacheng, just like she used to.

On the train, she managed to find a rare empty seat and settled into the corner, pulling out her phone.

Maybe it was just something about girls being on the same wavelength—

Suddenly, a new friend request popped up on WeChat from a user named: "Xiao Cheng Xiao Cheng, Wishes Come True."

Liang Yixuan recognized her at once: Cheng Nuo.

She accepted the request, and soon after, she was added to a three-person group chat——

Xiao Cheng Xiao Cheng, Wishes Come True: 「Finally got everyone’s contact info! I was dying to talk!」

Lin Xi Yin Xin:「Kakaka, how did last night go? Are you officially off the market?」

Xiao Cheng Xiao Cheng, Wishes Come True:「Well, I was... until this morning.」

Lin Xi Yin Xin:「?」

Xiao Cheng Xiao Cheng, Wishes Come True:「Do you have any questions about contract relationships?」

Lin Xi Yin Xin:「That contract expired way too fast. At least wait till tonight's episode airs…」

Xiao Cheng Xiao Cheng, Wishes Come True:「Even the confession lines last night were from a script I wrote. Letting Young Master Duan have a girlfriend for one night was already my limit :)」

Lin Xi Yin Xin:「Got it. He doesn’t deserve you. Next! What about Teacher Liang?」

Xiao Cheng Xiao Cheng, Wishes Come True:「Yixuan, come out! I want my sweet moment an hour before the whole nation gets theirs!」

Liang Yixuan had been quietly watching Cheng Nuo and Zhao Meng'en chatting away without chiming in. Now that she’d been called out, she thought for a moment and began typing on her phone.

She typed slowly, and was being careful with her words. While she was still composing, Cheng Nuo and Zhao Meng'en couldn’t wait and sent more messages.

Lin Xi Yin Xin:「CP fans, calm down. Right about now, Teacher Liang and Teacher Bian are probably on a date.」

Xiao Cheng Xiao Cheng, Wishes Come True:「Ugh, damn it—am I losing awareness just like Duan Ye?」

Her message was no longer usable.

Liang Yixuan deleted her original line and typed again:「No, I just got off work. I’m on the subway. We’re not together… yet.」

Lin Xi Yin Xin:「?」

Xiao Cheng Xiao Cheng, Wishes Come True:「OMG, are you saying the dreams of 300 million CP fans are about to be crushed?! You rejected Teacher Bian last night?」

Of course, "300 million" was just an exaggerated number, but Liang Yixuan was genuinely a little worried about how viewers would react tonight.

Since last night and throughout the day, the production team had been blowing up her phone with messages and calls, asking if there was any result from the confession. They said that if the two of them didn’t give a clear answer, the show wouldn’t have a proper ending.

But Bian Xu hadn’t made any move, and Yixuan couldn’t give a solid response either.

Because even she wasn’t entirely sure.

The past few days, she’d been thinking—like something was missing between her and Bian Xu. But she couldn’t quite figure out what it was.

It wasn’t until she found out about that misunderstanding the other night that she finally realized: it was honesty.

She had never really been honest with Bian Xu about her feelings. She never gave them a real chance to communicate—she’d already made up her mind about him in her heart.

And Bian Xu had done the same.

So last night, despite the awkward past, she gave him her most honest self.

But she also knew the truth and feelings in that diary might be a lot for someone to handle.

Most guys, receiving something like that, wouldn’t be touched at first glance.

If he didn’t feel the same way, then her sincerity might only come across as pressure—so heavy it could make someone want to step back, to take a breath, to escape.

But this was Bian Xu.

So she wanted to take that risk.

Her phone buzzed. Cheng Nuo seemed to pick up on something from her reply:「Wait… when you say ‘not yet,’ do you mean…?」

Liang Yixuan slowly typed back:「I’m waiting for him.」

It was late November, and the temperature at night had dropped to single digits. After getting off the subway, she still had a few hundred meters to walk. Cold wind blew against her as she walked through her neighborhood. She rubbed her frozen hands, head down, until she reached the apartment building—then happened to catch sight of a long shadow stretching across the ground.

She stopped in her tracks and slowly looked up.

Under the streetlamp in front of the building, Bian Xu was standing there, perfectly still, eyes locked on her, not blinking—God knows how long he’d been waiting.

Liang Yixuan pulled out her phone from her coat pocket and checked it.

She had already removed Bian Xu from her block list last night. But there were no missed calls.

Seeing that he was just silently watching her from a distance, Liang Yixuan hesitated and walked over.

"When did you get here? Why didn’t you call me…"

Bian Xu stared at her and said slowly, "Didn’t you wait for me like this once too?"

His voice was dry and hoarse, and it made Yixuan’s own throat tighten.

"I…" As soon as she opened her mouth, she felt a strange urge to cry. She swallowed it down, gripped her keycard, and headed for the entrance. "Let’s go inside and talk."

Bian Xu followed her into the building and into the elevator, his eyes never once leaving her.

In the tight, silent space, Liang Yixuan felt overwhelmed by Bian Xu’s direct gaze. It made her heart race and her thoughts scatter. Wanting to break the tension, she looked up and said, "Weren’t you supposed to bring me roses?"

Bian Xu lowered his eyes to look at her.

"Liang Yixuan, don’t talk like it’s easy. You think I had the mind to spare for roses?"

His words sounded like a joke, but his voice held no trace of humor—only exhaustion, hoarse like he hadn’t slept all night.

A sudden ache rose sharply in Liang Yixuan’s nose again, and she blinked it back.

Ding—the elevator doors opened.

She pulled herself together, stepped out, and started punching in the door code to her apartment. Trying to sound casual, she said, "Showing up empty-handed? That’s a bit much, don’t you think?"

"I brought myself."

The lock clicked open.

Liang Yixuan’s breath caught in her throat. She hesitated, hand frozen just inches from the doorknob.

In the pin-drop silence of the hallway, Bian Xu’s voice came quietly, as if holding something back: "...Do you still want me?"

Tears welled up instantly in Liang Yixuan’s eyes.

After a moment of silence, she gave up trying to hold it all in. She turned to face him and said, "I do…"

Seeing her tears, Bian Xu reached for the door with one hand and pulled her inside with the other.

The door closed behind them, and her back pressed softly against it. In the darkness, she felt his hands cup her face.

Before she could even catch her breath, Bian Xu’s lips were already on hers.

Heat surged between them, warm and desperate. He kissed her deeply—like a lone traveler lost in the desert, finally finding the water he needed to survive.

Liang Yixuan could feel it: his hands, holding her face, were trembling ever so slightly.

Her mind went blank. She stayed frozen for a long moment before slowly returning to herself. She blinked away the tears and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist.

Tears rolled down her cheeks, and he kissed them away. When he tasted the salt, Bian Xu paused, then slowly pulled back. In the dark, he gently brushed her tear-stained cheek with his thumb.

"No more crying," he said softly. "I’m all yours now."

It took Liang Yixuan a moment to understand what he meant.

He was saying: he had given himself to her.

His heart, his love, his freedom—from this moment on, it all belonged to her.

Tears and laughter mixed in her voice as she stood on her toes and kissed him again.

"Okay," she whispered. "You’re all mine now."