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Became a National Couple with My Ex Side Story · Main Couple (Part 4): Are You a Pervert or What?!

After finding out the value of the chips, Liang Yixuan started sitting up straight like she was in a serious meeting.

Noticing how nervous she looked, Bian Xu slowed down his pace in playing cards. Every now and then, he’d ask her how many points to call or which card to play, just to give her a bit of participation so she wouldn’t feel bored.

So Liang Yixuan sat there watching the game while listening to the three men chat casually. Their banter kept her smiling the whole time, and she even joined in here and there.

Over an hour passed, and the stack of chips in front of Bian Xu grew taller and taller—forming an actual miniature mountain of gold. Not just metaphorically.

As the next hand was dealt, Bian Xuemin glanced at his cards and shook his head with a sigh. "What’s up with my luck today? I bet the good cards went to you two again."

Bian Chen shook his head. "Mine are just average."

"Oh, so when you win it’s skill, but when you lose it’s bad luck?" Bian Xu raised an eyebrow as he sorted his cards. "Aren’t you a bit old to be blaming the cards? You gamble, you accept the outcome."

Liang Yixuan glanced over at him.

That mouth really doesn’t spare anyone, not even his own dad.

"You’ve got lucky hands and we can’t even say it? Come on, just admit you’ve got the best cards this round."

"Ask your daughter-in-law. She’s honest." Bian Xu flipped his hand of cards for Liang Yixuan to see. "Would you say these are good?"

Liang Yixuan took a quick look, furrowed her brows, and thought for a moment before speaking the truth: "Hmm… honestly, they seem pretty average…"

"See?" Bian Xu spread his hands innocently.

"Well, if the cards are fair," Bian Xuemin sipped his tea and said, "let’s raise the stakes for this round. Winner takes all the remaining chips."

Bian Chen nodded. "I’m in."

Bian Xu smirked and called out, "Three points."

Seeing that Bian Xu was about to take on both of them again as the landlord, Liang Yixuan tugged on his sleeve and whispered, "Your hand isn’t that great—what if you end up losing everything you just won?"

"Sister-in-law," Bian Chen reminded her with a grin, "no regrets once the cards are played."

Bian Xu turned to her and said calmly, "Why panic? This is the thrill of the game."

Seriously, the thrills for CEOs like them sure come at a high price.

Since the stakes were set, Liang Yixuan just sighed, "Alright then." Watching Bian Xu rotate his neck and roll his shoulders like he was warming up for a match, she got up and walked behind him, giving his back a light massage—like she was sending him off to war.

Bian Xu exhaled slowly, calm and composed.

Bian Xuemin let out a dramatic sigh and said to Bian Chen, "Kinda missing your mom. You?"

Bian Chen played along and nodded, "Also kind of missing your eldest daughter-in-law."

"You guys just keep missing them then." Bian Xu leaned lazily back in the rattan chair, smirking as he reached up to brush Liang Yixuan’s hand behind him.

Liang Yixuan cleared her throat awkwardly, then sat back beside him and leaned in to peek at his cards.

The final round began.

Bian Xu opened with a straight from 3 to 10. The two across from him both waved it off, letting it pass. He followed with a set of three sevens and four side cards.

This time, Bian Chen and Bian Xuemin responded, each playing a hand. When it was Bian Xu’s turn again, he laid down three tens with a side three.

Then—

Bian Chen dropped a bomb: four kings.

Bian Xue-min didn’t play against his own family. He waved a hand to pass.

Liang Yixuan swallowed nervously as she saw Bian Xu calmly lay down four twos.

Bian Xue-min’s mouth formed an exaggerated "Whoa": "Xuan, I only bet on him because I believed you! Don’t tell me you thought twos were the lowest cards and said his hand wasn’t good because of that?"

"I just saw a lot of number cards…"

Bian Xue-min and Bian Chen both burst out laughing.

Bian Xu turned to glance at her, amused. "One little comment and you sold me out—and gave away my hand too?"

"…My bad." Liang Yixuan rubbed her nose sheepishly.

Bian Xu chuckled, pulling her into a side hug. "It’s fine. Even if I showed them my whole hand, they still couldn’t beat me."

Liang Yixuan silently focused on the game, watching as Bian Xu skillfully arranged and played what looked like a relatively modest hand. One move after another, he shut down any chance the others had to play.

Bian Xue-min managed to block a round with a joker bomb, but Bian Xu regained control on the next play. He shot Bian Chen a look, urging him to jump in.

Bian Chen laid down a bomb of five Jacks—only for Bian Xu to crush it with five Aces. Bian Chen shook his head, admitting defeat.

It was the first time Liang Yixuan had watched such an intense and exhilarating card game. She didn’t blink the entire time, staring at the table until her eyes went dry. Finally, the other side ran out of cards.

Bian Xu threw down his final pair, tapped his knuckles on the table, and announced: "The car’s mine."

Then he pulled the still-stunned Liang Yixuan to her feet and said, "Let’s go have some afternoon tea."

Bian Xue-min and Bian Chen watched the two walk out of the sunroom. They looked at each other, flipped over their remaining cards—and both had massive bombs left in hand.

"Nice acting," Bian Xue-min said in a low voice.

"You weren’t bad either," Bian Chen replied just as quietly.

Father and son smiled and gave each other a high five.

Liang Yixuan, still within earshot, heard the clap and was about to turn around curiously—when Bian Xu gently turned her head back.

He looked over his shoulder and smiled at the father and son behind them. Then he turned to Liang Yixuan and asked, "What kind of car do you like?"

"I don’t want a car," she shook her head. "I haven’t even gotten my driver’s license yet."

"Then we’ll just park it in the garage as decoration."

"…You’re happy you won, and that’s enough. Don’t make your dad and brother spend money."

"They split the cost of a car and that’s considered a burden?" Bian Xu raised an eyebrow. "If you really don’t want it, fine. But since I worked hard to win it for you, then if you won’t take the car into our home… how about giving me a little ‘compensation’ tonight?"

"…!" Liang Yixuan was stunned for a second, then realized what he meant. She smacked his arm. "Seriously? The whole family’s here—can you not be a perv?"

They spent the entire day at the old house, and to Liang Yixuan’s surprise, she felt completely at ease. She had always been slow to warm up to people, but somehow, in the Bian family’s home, she fit right in almost immediately.

No one acted superior, but no one was overly polite either. They treated her like someone who had been part of the family for a long time.

Because of that sense of security, Liang Yixuan—who normally stayed quiet in social settings—found herself casually chatting with everyone and even starting conversations here and there.

In a house that should have felt unfamiliar, she instead experienced the warmth and lively spirit of a true home.

That night, after everyone had gone off to bed, Liang Yixuan stayed in the room Bian’s mom had prepared for her.

Even though she and Bian Xu had already been living together back in Nanhua, the elders still respected tradition and gave her a separate room since they weren’t officially married yet.

She had been worried Bian Xu would shamelessly show up later demanding his "compensation," but seeing her room was truly separate, she relaxed. After a slow bath, she lay down on the soft, comfy bed.

Less than a minute after turning off the light, her phone buzzed on the nightstand.

Bian Xu:「Lying down already?」

Liang Yixuan:「How do you know?」

Bian Xu:「I can see from the courtyard that your lights are off.」

Liang Yixuan:「You haven’t gone back to your room yet?」

Bian Xu:「You don’t know whether I’ve gone back or not?」

Liang Yixuan replayed that line in her head and realized Bian Xu was up to no good again.

She shut him down in advance:「Go back to your own room.」

Bian Xu:「Baby, I haven’t held you while sleeping for two nights.」

The night before, when they stayed over in the southern suburbs of Nanhuai, Bian Xu had behaved himself and spent the night in the guest room.

Liang Yixuan:「Still no. Behave yourself. I’ve already locked the door.」

Bian Xu:「Did you know there’s a tree outside your window you can climb?」

Liang Yixuan had actually noticed earlier when she stepped out onto the balcony that there was a tree taller than the second floor just outside her window. Before she could reply, Bian Xu sent another message:

Bian Xu:「All roads lead to Rome.」

Startled, Liang Yixuan quickly sent a voice message: "Don’t you dare! That tree is so tall—how could you even climb it? It’s dangerous!"

Bian Xu:「There’s a ladder in the storage room.」

Liang Yixuan jumped out of bed, rushed to the balcony to look out, but didn’t see anyone outside. She wasn’t sure if Bian Xu had gone to get the ladder, so she quickly opened the door to go look for him—

But as soon as the door cracked open a bit, someone squeezed in through the gap.

Liang Yixuan stifled a gasp in her throat. Seeing who it was, she realized she had fallen for his trick.

Bian Xu had never been outside. He only saw the lights go off through the crack under her door.

And he never planned to climb a tree—he just said that to get her to open the door.

No wonder lazy Bian Xu hadn’t called or sent voice messages earlier. He was carefully typing out each word so she wouldn’t hear his voice through the door.

He had been standing outside, lying in wait like a sneaky rabbit hunter.

Putting it all together in a flash, Liang Yixuan got angry and tried to push him back out, whispering furiously, "Are you a pervert or what?!"

But Bian Xu reacted fast—he reached back and locked the door with one hand, then scooped her up into his arms.

Bian Xu: "Baby, since you’ve already called me that… how could I not live up to the title?"