Sugookie

Became a National Couple with My Ex Side Story · Main Couple (Part 1): What Women Say in Bed Can’t Be Trusted

On the weekend when the southern version of《Giselle》moved from the North City performance back to the South Huai venue—

Early in the morning, Liang Yixuan was rudely awakened in their Lanchentianfu apartment by the shrill ring of her alarm clock.

As her eyes opened, she stared blankly at the dark ceiling and blinked. Her mind hadn’t quite woken up yet when a hand reached over her and fumbled across her bedside table. After a bit of searching, it grabbed her phone and pressed the lock button, silencing the alarm.

"Liang Yixuan," a low and raspy male voice came from above her head, "what did you say to me last night?"

Liang Yixuan’s mind finally caught up.

Last night, after she finished a performance of 《Giselle》 at the South Huai Dance Center and with today’s show being the alternate cast and also her day off. She had promised Bian Xu that they would enjoy a rare day to themselves. Since he had been getting up early with her for so long, it was her turn to stay in bed with him and sleep in.

But she had overlooked one small thing: forgetting to turn off the alarm.

"A woman’s words in bed really can’t be trusted," Bian Xu sighed as he put the phone down and lay back on his back, shaking his head under heavy eyelids.

"I wasn’t trying to wake up early to do yoga or anything," Liang Yixuan mumbled as she turned on her side to face him. "I just forgot to cancel the Sunday alarm. Last Sunday was the premiere in North City, remember...?" She trailed off, grumbling, "You didn’t remind me either…"

"Hm, after you drained me dry last night, you still wanted me to remember to turn off an alarm?" Bian Xu muttered sleepily, his eyes half-closed. "You’re really good at blaming others now."

Liang Yixuan almost snapped back, wanting to say it wasn’t her who drained him. But thinking better of it, this was a touchy topic for early morning. She ignored the first part of his sentence and blinked, replying, "When did I blame others?"

Bian Xu perked up like he caught her in a trap. He turned to face her, clearly amused: "If it wasn’t someone else, then who?"

"…" Liang Yixuan immediately turned her back to him and said flatly, "Okay, okay, go back to sleep."

Bian Xu pulled her back into his arms, his hand slipping under her pajama top and giving her side a playful pinch. "Say it clearly before we sleep."

She shrieked from the ticklish touch, curling up as she tried to dodge him and push his hand away. "Stop it, I can’t go back to sleep if you keep that up…"

"Then let’s not sleep." Bian Xu picked up the remote and turned on the bedside lamp.

Liang Yixuan peeked at him and whispered, "But I just called you that last night."

"And you also ate last night. So what, are you skipping meals today?"

"You can’t compare that to—" Liang Yixuan paused. "You treat that like food?"

"Ever heard of food for the soul?"

Before this, Liang Yixuan never realized how obsessed a man could be with the word "husband." Ever since the proposal a week ago, Bian Xu took every opportunity to make her call him that.

As if one "husband" could echo in his ears all day long.

But she still hadn’t gotten used to the term. Every time she said it, it felt awkward and too hot to handle.

So she mumbled her refusal: "That’s illegal soul food, you skipped the formal steps."

Their families hadn’t officially met yet. They’d planned to handle that over Chinese New Year, and get their marriage license after the holiday.

To Bian Xu, that whole process didn’t matter much. As far as he was concerned, once she said yes to his proposal, it was a done deal. But every time Liang Yixuan dodged the word "husband," she used the lack of formalities as an excuse—

"If you’re gonna hide behind that, fine," he said. "I’ll call Lu Yuan right now to fly over with our household registration book."

Liang Yixuan laughed. "You’re really going that far?"

"What about you, huh? Is calling me ‘husband’ gonna make you weigh an extra pound next time you get on the scale?"

She froze for a second, then gave him a light punch and whined, "Why are you cursing me like that—?"

Even gaining two ounces would send her into panic and self-reflection. He was clearly just messing with her.

Frustrated, Liang Yixuan threw the blanket over her head. "So annoying. Don’t even think about hearing those two words again today."

"……"

A Wonderful Holiday Begins with Annoying Mrs. Bian

On the day Bian Xu was just about to forget the painful price he'd once paid for speaking carelessly, a small lesson came to remind him again: humility helps you grow, pride makes you reckless, and while you can eat carelessly, you definitely shouldn’t speak carelessly.

Because of one offhand comment, Bian Xu stayed home for lunch with Liang Yixuan and ate a low-fat meal as a show of sincerity. He even raised his glass and solemnly toasted, "May your weight today be the same every year from now on."

Liang Yixuan wasn’t truly angry. After a bit of coaxing and teasing from him, she burst into laughter and asked what his plans were for the afternoon.

Bian Xu’s daily hobbies were, to put it nicely, pretty sparse. He wasn’t like other men in his circle who constantly hung out with friends, playing cards, going to parties, clubs, or bars.

If it weren’t for his ridiculously handsome face and outstanding talent, his lifestyle could be summed up in two words: homebody. And coincidentally, Liang Yixuan, who spent all day in rehearsal rooms and practice studios was basically a homebody too. The two of them were a perfect match in that department.

So when they finally had some free time, they didn’t even know what new things to do. Just going out for a stroll felt pointless in this freezing weather. In the end, staying curled up at home still felt like the best option.

Bian Xu now even suspected that even if that big misunderstanding had never happened in the past, he and Liang Yixuan probably would’ve still ended up spending every day together holed up in their big, sunless house.

After thinking for a bit, Bian Xu opened a movie app and searched for the latest trending films. He handed the phone to Liang Yixuan for her to pick one.

As Liang Yixuan was holding the phone and reading reviews, a push notification suddenly popped up at the top of the screen: "New Arrangement of 《Rosabella》 Released — Are Bian Xu and Liang Yixuan Already Secretly Married?"

She paused, then poked Bian Xu’s arm with her finger and flipped the phone screen to show him.

As the first person to hear the new version of《Rosabella》, Liang Yixuan had already listened to the audio track ahead of time. She remembered Bian Xu telling her the song would officially be released soon by the original singer.

Looks like "soon" meant today.

From the wording of the headline, it wasn’t clear whether the singer’s team was trying to stir up buzz, or if fans were just fueling the gossip on their own.

Bian Xu lifted his eyelids and tapped into the trending post.

The very first item was a post from the singer themselves, sharing the music link——

@Xu Yifeng:「It’s an honor to be the first to witness the next chapter of this story.」

In the comments section, the singer's original fanbase had completely lost control or maybe they never planned to control the comments at all. After all, as the original singer of 《rosabella》, they had already been benefiting from the popularity of the "Bian-Liang" couple for a while now. The singer’s promotion tagline might as well have said, "Come get your free dog food (couple content) here!" So the couple shippers were partying hard in the replies—

「This must be what they mean by 'sitting at home and getting smacked in the face with dog food.’ I’m crying, how are you doing, Sisters Alliance?」

「I kicked over this bowl of dog food, then immediately regretted it and started picking it up off the floor.」

「Just yesterday I was wondering what my favorite ship was up to lately. And today—boom! They’re back in action. I must be the happiest fangirl on the planet.」

「Say no more, I’m already looping this song non-stop.」

「Wait, does this new lyric mean what I think it means? 'Building a home beneath the laurel tree’—a home, a home, a home!」

「Could it be?」

「Is it possible?」

「No way, right?」

「AAAAAH! Sisters Alliance, scream with me!」

「I screamed so loud my roommate put a bag over my head and beat me up. Afterward, she apologized and offered to pay my medical bills. I told her, ‘No need. My OTP is getting married, I’m happy even if I get beaten up.’」

「I screamed so loudly the building manager knocked on my door and asked if I was having a crisis. I said yes, I’m dying of happiness because my OTP might be getting married.」

「I screamed so loud the neighbor upstairs smashed a hole through his floor and my ceiling with a hammer. He fell through and landed in front of me, swearing, ‘What the hell are you yelling about?’ I showed him my phone and said, ‘Bian and Liang might be married!’ He instantly forgot his pain, the hole in the ceiling, everything. He said, ‘No way, you ship them too? Then from now on, we’re not just upstairs-downstairs neighbors—we’re family.’」

Liang Yixuan and Bian Xu:「…」

The two of them stared at each other speechlessly for a moment before the phone buzzed with a new message.

It was a voice message from Xu Yifeng on WeChat: "Bro, I seriously can’t handle this anymore. My DMs and comment section on Weibo are blowing up—everyone’s asking if you have big news. I’ve never been this popular in my entire career. I don’t even dare say anything now…"

Bian Xu couldn’t be bothered with inefficient back-and-forths over voice messages. He just called directly.

"You were bold enough to ride my wave, but now you don’t dare speak up?"

"I just didn’t know for sure if the proposal was actually successful or not!"

Bian Xu let out a short laugh, pressed the speakerphone button, and held the phone up in front of Liang Yixuan.

"Here, let your sister-in-law say hello herself."