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Became a National Couple with My Ex Side Story · Ye Cheng CP (Part 10): Not Sure If Your Boyfriend Can Handle This

The video finished playing. Cheng Nuo slowly lifted her eyes and looked at Duan Ye, then rolled her eyes.

"…What do you mean, ‘what’s wrong with it’? Don’t take things out of context. Girls who laugh a lot tend to have good luck, and I just happen to like laughing. What’s wrong with that?"

Duan Ye had been sulking all evening, his expression cold the entire time. But at that moment, he finally let out a laugh.

And it wasn’t the kind of wholesome "boys who smile often are lucky too" kind of laugh.

Cheng Nuo felt a chill run through her at his laugh. She started to wonder if what she’d just said was also somehow "wrong."

Duan Ye lowered the hand holding the phone to his side and said, "Jiejie, you’re really not cut out for crisis management."

"…?"

"Shouldn’t you have just said you broke character and started laughing during the scene?"

"…"

"You didn’t say it was a blooper, does that mean you’re guilty?"

"And you’ve been avoiding me all day today too, isn’t that also a little suspicious?"

"And now, you’ve come out of the shower, and instead of coming to claw my eyes out, the first thing you do is explain how you weren’t trying to seduce me. That’s even more suspicious, don’t you think?"

One three-part question, and one three-part shutdown.

Duan Ye leaned down slightly and stared at her as he delivered his final verdict: "Honestly, it doesn’t seem like you’re pretending to be my girlfriend. Seems more like you’ve caught real feelings."

The height difference and the pressure from that line completely crushed Cheng Nuo’s will to argue. With one hand behind her back, she twisted the doorknob and shot back, "Dreaming already and you haven’t even laid down yet,"

then darted back into her room and slammed the door shut.

Duan Ye stared at the closed door, then leaned in close and said, "Jiejie, I can hear your heartbeat through the door."

Cheng Nuo, who had been leaning against the door trying to calm herself, immediately jumped back from it in panic.

Thump thump thump—she skipped a few steps away, only to hear Duan Ye laugh again from the other side.

"Just kidding."

"…!"

The man was full of tricks. You could never see him coming.

Cheng Nuo took a deep breath and shouted toward the door, "I feed you and give you a place to sleep so you’d be well-rested and strong enough to disrespect your sponsor? Pack your stuff and get out tomorrow!"

Cheng Nuo was so angry even her hair felt like it was smoking. She lay on her bed, unable to fall asleep, full of regret about not doing better in their argument.

She felt she couldn’t let this slide. She had to find solid evidence to take back the upper hand. So she opened Weibo and entered the "Ye Cheng CP" super topic, scrolling through every video compilation of her and Duan Ye being on screen together. She kept watching and scrolling, and eventually fell asleep hugging her phone.

When she woke up, it felt like all that steam coming out of her head had gone straight into her throat. Her throat burned with dryness, and swallowing hurt so much her whole face scrunched up.

Her whole body felt weak. Too lazy to get up for water, she checked the time on her phone, it was only 4 AM. She wrapped herself back up in the covers and tried to fall asleep again. But the more she tried, the colder she felt, shivering uncontrollably.

Cheng Nuo turned onto her side and groped toward her nightstand. She turned on the bedside lamp, opened the drawer, pulled out an ear thermometer, and took her temperature.

38°C.

She sighed.

Not only had the water shut off mid-shower and left her exposed, now it had also given her a fever.

Not knowing her temperature was one thing but once she knew, Cheng Nuo felt like her body was getting worse by the second. Now she had a splitting headache on top of everything else. Her brain felt like it was about to explode. She couldn’t lie down anymore, so she picked up her phone to make a call.

She had just scrolled to Duan Ye’s number when she suddenly remembered the harsh words she’d thrown at him before bed. She gritted her teeth, put the phone down, climbed out of bed, wrapped herself in a blanket, and opened the door. Looking like a frail old woman, she hunched over and shuffled slowly into the kitchen.

When it rains, it pours—her insulated water jug was bone dry, not a drop left. Shivering, she went to the sink to get water, only to discover the water supply still hadn’t come back on. She opened the cupboard, hoping to find bottled water.

Footsteps sounded behind her.

Duan Ye walked over.

"What are you looking for?"

Cheng Nuo’s eyelids felt too heavy to lift. She squinted as she turned back, her mouth already forming the shape of the word "water," but no sound came out.

Her hoarse, dry voice gave her away instantly.

Duan Ye’s eyes flickered slightly when he noticed the unhealthy color of her face. He stepped forward and placed the back of his hand on her forehead.

"You’ve got a fever?"

Cheng Nuo desperately wanted a glass of water. Seeing the cupboard was empty and unable to act tough any longer, she nodded and rasped out, "Where’s the bottled water you bought?"

Duan Ye frowned, wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and started guiding her out of the kitchen. "You have a fever and didn’t think to call me? Go lie back down, I’ll warm it up and bring it to you."

Cheng Nuo was trembling from the cold and instinctively leaned closer to him for warmth.

Duan Ye glanced down at her, his arm pulling her in tighter as he held her close and supported her on the way back to her room. After settling her under the blankets, he headed back to the kitchen.

Cheng Nuo hugged the blanket and waited for five minutes. Duan Ye came in holding a glass of water and handed it to her.

"Where’s your fever medicine?"

Cheng Nuo’s throat had moistened enough that she could finally speak, albeit barely. Pouting a little, she said, "You finished it last time. I haven’t bought more yet."

"…"

Duan Ye ran a hand through his hair and turned to leave.

"I’ll go buy some."

"Hey," Cheng Nuo quickly tugged at the corner of his pajama shirt. "Where are you going to buy it at this hour? I’ll just drink some hot water and wait until morning."

"You really think I can’t find a place to buy medicine? Don’t worry about it. Just get some rest."

Duan Ye prepared a thermos of warm water for her, threw on a windbreaker, and headed out the door.

Cheng Nuo couldn’t talk him out of it. After drinking some water, she drowsily lay back down. The next time she heard a sound was when someone lightly patted her blanket.

She opened her eyes and saw Duan Ye sitting on the edge of the bed, holding medicine in one hand and a cup of water in the other.

"Here’s your medicine."

Cheng Nuo propped herself up on her elbow, took the medicine from his hand, swallowed it, and drank half a cup of warm water. Looking miserable, she stared at him.

"Why does this feel so familiar..."

It was familiar.

Just over a week ago, the exact same scene had played out in the exact same place.

Only back then, their roles were reversed and this time, she was the unlucky one.

Duan Ye pushed her back down into bed and tucked her in.

"Want something that doesn’t feel familiar then?"

Cheng Nuo looked at him, confused.

"What if I just stay here and don’t leave?"

A trace of suspicion crept into Cheng Nuo’s sleepy eyes.

"What are you up to?"

"You’re like this, what could I be up to?"

"..."

"You sleep. I’ll stay here and keep an eye on you. I’ll check your temperature again in an hour." Duan Ye gestured with his chin.

"I’m not a kid with a fever," Cheng Nuo said weakly, but still sharp-tongued. "You’re making a big deal out of nothing."

"Jiejie, you really act like a kid."

"How am I—"

"You threw out some harsh words, and now you’re running a fever, can’t find water, and still wouldn’t call me. Tell me, what kind of adult is that stubborn?"

Well, she couldn't argue with his flexibility.

Cheng Nuo took a deep breath and muttered under her breath, "Taking advantage of me while I’m sick, this kind of smooth-talking isn’t even fun. Wait till I get better, then we’ll argue properly..."

"Sure," Duan Ye turned off the bedside lamp, "Then hurry up and sleep, so you can get better faster."

The room went dark, and drowsiness swept over her like a tide. Cheng Nuo figured Duan Ye wouldn’t dare try anything with her like this, so she stopped arguing and fell asleep.

Because of the fever, Cheng Nuo slept in a half-dreaming, half-awake state. She kept feeling like Duan Ye did a lot while she slept—took her temperature, applied a fever patch, tucked her hands and feet back under the blanket when she kicked them out, and even pulled the blackout curtains shut when the sky began to brighten.

She couldn’t tell if it had really happened or if she just dreamed it all. She didn’t lift her heavy eyelids to check until she was fully rested and finally opened her eyes.

When she did, she found the room pitch black like it was still night.

But her body felt re-energized, which told her it definitely wasn’t early anymore.

She groped around for her phone by the pillow and checked the time.

Sure enough, it was already 9 a.m.

The blackout curtains were just drawn so tightly that she couldn’t see a thing.

She reached over to turn on the bedside lamp and nearly jumped out of her skin.

Duan Ye was still in her room, sleeping on the carpet next to her bed, slumped against the mattress.

He probably hadn’t slept all night. His face looked visibly tired.

Cheng Nuo had drunk a lot of water the night before and needed to use the bathroom. Seeing him sleeping so peacefully, she tried to move carefully and step around him.

But the moment she stretched out a leg, Duan Ye reacted reflexively—his eyes still shut and grabbed her ankle, stuffing her leg back under the blanket.

"..."

So everything from last night hadn’t been a dream.

He still hadn’t opened his eyes, and she wasn’t sure if he was even awake. Cheng Nuo froze for a moment, then cautiously tried to extend her leg again.

As soon as it moved out, he blindly reached out and shoved it back under the covers again.

"Come on, let me go already!" Cheng Nuo gave up and had to wake him.

Duan Ye immediately opened his eyes and sat up straight from the edge of the bed.

Cheng Nuo looked at him awkwardly.

"I need to use the bathroom!"

"Oh..." Duan Ye came to his senses.

"Jiejie, the way you sleep is just incredible."

To be able to train his reflexes like that in just a few hours? "Incredible" was the least of it.

Cheng Nuo was momentarily speechless and had no comeback.

Duan Ye yawned and furrowed his brows, clearly still groggy.

"I really wonder if your future boyfriend could handle you."

"..."