Sugookie

Became a National Couple with My Ex Side Story · Ye Cheng CP (Part 3): Weren’t You the One Who Dumped Me First?

A thirty-minute livestream felt like a full-blown rollercoaster—ups and downs all the way through.

One moment, Cheng Nuo was wiping away tears of joy from the beautiful love stories she’d made up—so convincing even she almost believed in love again. The next second, Young Master Duan casually dropped a bomb that blew everything up.

They were asked what movie they watched today. Caught off guard, Cheng Nuo blanked out. Thinking he had remembered their script perfectly, Duan Ye jumped in and gave the movie title—but what came out of his mouth and the real title were about as far apart as "3 Idiots" and "4 Fools Storm Veggie Town"—the only thing he got right was the word "idiots."

Then they were asked what they liked most about each other. Cheng Nuo pulled out her best starry-eyed look and said he looked pretty cool when playing games or fixing cars. When it was Duan Ye’s turn, she thought he’d at least say something like "she’s cute," but nope—he said, "Her cooking’s not bad."

Later, they were asked at what point during the reality show they started falling for each other. Cheng Nuo made up a sweet story about their last "date" in Nancheng, watching the sea together. Duan Ye shamelessly copied her answer. But when asked exactly which moment it was, with no lines left to borrow, he hesitated, then said… "Maybe when we were eating barbecue by the sea?"

Cheng Nuo stared at the barrage of comments flying across the screen:

「Hahahahahaha」

「King of Eating, Duan Ye」

「What kind of fake couple am I even shipping」

「You two are like a snack grinder—zero fluff, only crumbs」

She was so angry she nearly turned into a steam engine.

At that point, she gave up pretending. She didn’t bother fixing any more mistakes, didn’t try to salvage the show—just streamed the rest of it with a "whatever, let it burn" attitude.

Once the livestream ended and the camera turned off, Cheng Nuo slumped on the sofa, completely drained, just about to calm herself down—when she saw Duan Ye flop back the same way beside her.

Cheng Nuo slowly sat upright. "I’ve been cleaning up your mess this whole time and haven’t even complained. What’s with the dead fish act now?"

Duan Ye pointed at his stomach to say he was hungry.

"That’s why all you could talk about during the stream was food?!" she shouted.

Duan Ye rubbed his ear. "Keep it down, jiejie (older sis)."

"Okay, hold up." Cheng Nuo squinted at him. "Why are you so obsessed with calling me ‘older sis’? Aren’t you like a month older than me?"

"My birthday was entered wrong on my ID. November got typed in as January."

"…"

So actually, he was nine months younger than her—almost a full year. He really could call her "older sis."

A crew member packing up the equipment said goodbye to the two of them and started heading out.

Cheng Nuo called out, "Wait—aren’t you taking him with you?"

"Uh…" The crew scratched his head. "Didn’t you say you were gonna cook for Teacher Duan?"

Cheng Nuo looked at the crew, then at Duan Ye—who also seemed to be waiting for something. "Wait, wait—you guys never heard of ‘just playing a role’?"

"Jiejie, I’m seriously starving. I won’t charge for the ride—just give me something to eat. Instant noodles are fine."

"…" Somehow, now that she knew he was actually nine months younger, hearing him call her "jiejie" really did give her a strange sense of responsibility.

Cheng Nuo stared at him in disbelief. "How long has it been since you last ate?"

"A whole day."

"You’re not seriously telling me you can’t even afford a pack of instant noodles?"

"I overslept. Woke up and came straight here."

"…"

Who else would be hungry if not someone who literally slept through three meals in a row?

If he hadn’t spent the past month living in a villa where meals were taken care of, he probably would’ve starved to death by now.

Seeing that his job was clearly done here, the crew member packed up the gear and left the apartment.

Cheng Nuo, speechless, headed to the kitchen.

Duan Ye struggled to get up from the couch and followed her in. His eyes roamed around the kitchen until they landed on the fridge.

"There’s nothing in there. I haven’t cooked in over a month," Cheng Nuo shut down his wishful thinking. She boiled a pot of water, opened the cupboard, and pulled out a packet of instant noodles.

Duan Ye came over, broke off a chunk of the dry noodle block, and started munching on it with loud crunches—clearly trying to take the edge off his hunger first.

Cheng Nuo was stunned for a moment. When he swallowed that piece and broke off another, she hesitated, then handed him the whole packet. "Fine, take it. Just eat it like a snack." Then she dug out a second packet for herself.

The water had barely come to a boil when Duan Ye had already finished crunching through the entire packet.

Cheng Nuo couldn’t help but ask, "Young master, when no one’s around to feed you, how do you even survive?"

"Friends’ places."

"And now?"

"They cut me off."

Cheng Nuo blinked. "Huh?"

"My family told them not to see me anymore," Duan Ye explained briefly.

Over the past few weeks, Cheng Nuo had spent a fair amount of time alone with Duan Ye. Even though they didn’t talk much about personal matters on camera, she still knew more about him than the other guests.

For example, she knew he’d had his credit cards taken away, his finances cut off, and had been kicked out because his family didn’t want him racing.

But he refused to give it up. So he ran away from home, borrowed money from friends, and bought out a half-abandoned repair shop. There, he collected parts to build and mod race cars, while also doing basic car repairs and washes to make a living.

But from what he just said, it sounded like once his family saw he was somehow getting by, they pressured his friends’ families to stop helping him.

Without their support, the little money he made obviously wasn’t enough to keep going.

No wonder he joined that all-inclusive variety show.

And no wonder he went back to that rundown garage after the show ended.

"You just got paid for the show, right? Why not rent a place and eat something decent?"

"I used the money to pay back debts yesterday."

"…" Cheng Nuo rubbed her temples. "Bro—I mean, little bro—when you pay back debts, don’t you know to keep a bit for yourself?"

Duan Ye glanced at the instant noodle bowl, estimated it was ready, picked up a pair of chopsticks, and began eating like a starving man. He didn’t answer.

But Cheng Nuo pieced it together and understood—when someone’s still your friend, you can borrow money freely. When they’re no longer your friend, better to settle things clean and square.

Cheng Nuo nodded to herself. "Forget it. I don’t want tonight’s livestream cut. You can have the whole payout."

Duan Ye paused mid-noodle and looked at her.

"What are you looking at?" Cheng Nuo gave him a sideways glance. "Don’t get too touched. Compared to you, I’m basically a part-time rich lady."

"Why didn’t you tell me to just go home?" This was the first time someone had heard his sad story and didn’t suggest he go back and make peace with his family.

"You still want to race, don’t you?"

"Is racing even something proper?" Duan Ye shot back.

Cheng Nuo was caught off guard. "If you don’t think it’s proper, then what are you doing right now?"

"I think it is. Doesn’t mean everyone else does."

That made Cheng Nuo laugh with a sudden realization. "Kiddo, you think I’m some old-school auntie? I’m way more modern-minded than you think."

"You fell asleep watching me fix an engine. And you still like racing?" Duan Ye chuckled and bowed his head to continue eating.

"I don’t like racing myself, but I know there’s no such thing as a ‘proper’ hobby in this world. Like, Mr. Bian likes the piano, and Yixuan loves ballet. If they just liked those things for fun, how is that any different from liking video games? The reason people see them as ‘respectable’ is because they poured in a kind of effort and dedication most people can’t even imagine—and turned their passion into a career. So if someone who loves racing is willing to go hungry, sleep badly, even fall out with their family just to keep doing it, how is that any less serious?"

Duan Ye’s slurping slowed down. He looked up and stared at her.

Cheng Nuo clicked her tongue. "Too bad I’m not your mom. Even if I understand you, it doesn’t really help you much."

Duan Ye put down the bowl. "It’s not completely useless."

Cheng Nuo wrapped her arms around herself. "What? You’re not gonna ask me to be your stepmom, are you?"

"…"

"What goes on in your head every day?" Duan Ye stared at her, baffled. Her interruption completely derailed his train of thought.

Cheng Nuo, meanwhile, was still hung up on the live stream earlier. She shook her head. "If I knew you were this broke, we could’ve done a donation drive during the stream. Now I bet you won’t even see much of that tipping money. Give it two weeks, and you might be starving again… The next time I hear about you, it better not be in some news headline like, ‘Man found unconscious at auto shop from hunger and cold.’"

"It won’t be."

"You figured out how you’re gonna make a living?"

"Some other platform’s launching a new dating show. They just started auditions."

"…"

Cheng Nuo blinked, then finally caught on. "Wait—you’re seriously planning to immediately jump into another all-inclusive dating show?"

Duan Ye nodded. "If I can, yeah."

"No way!" Cheng Nuo’s eyes widened. "Are you trying to tell the whole country that I dumped you on national television?!"

Duan Ye shrugged. "Weren’t you the one who dumped me first?"

Cheng Nuo glanced at the two crumpled noodle wrappers on the counter, closed her eyes, and then waved her hand. "Fine, fine, get out of here. Stop eating my noodles and go prepare for your next show."

She shoved him hard, pushing him all the way to the entryway. Duan Ye braced himself on the edge of the shoe cabinet, turned around, and said, "That’s not the only option, you know."

"Huh?"

"If I don’t join a new show… I could just keep doing the old one."

"Wake up. Tonight’s livestream was the series finale."

Duan Ye pointed at her, then at himself. "The official show’s over. But we’re still here. If you’re in, I think we can keep it going—and keep making money too."

"…"