Sugookie

Became a National Couple with My Ex Side Story · Ye Cheng CP (Part 2): Rich Lady, Freeloader, Hungry

The livestream location was set in Cheng Nuo’s rented apartment.

Apparently, after Duan Ye moved out of the villa, he temporarily stayed at the auto repair shop. That place was way too messy to use as a livestream background, so the production team suggested using the girl’s place instead.

At 6 PM that evening, the staff arrived first to set up the equipment.

Cheng Nuo had just finished doing her makeup and asked when Duan Ye would be arriving. The staff said they weren’t sure either, but they believed Mr. Duan wouldn’t miss the livestream.

Cheng Nuo believed it too—"only an idiot would turn down money." Even if Duan Ye had to grow wings, he’d find a way to make it on time. Still, she was worried their "plastic couple act" would fall apart live on air, so she wanted to go over their story in advance. At the very least, they needed to have their "hot and heavy dating life" from the past two days straightened out.

Since she’d pulled an all-nighter binge-watching dramas, Cheng Nuo had spent the entire day catching up on sleep. Late in the afternoon, she finally got up and drafted a fake date itinerary for the past two days. She was about to text it to Duan Ye but paused when she saw their last message still sitting in the chat—a very fresh breakup notice. Suddenly, her whole "let’s pretend to be in love" message felt embarrassingly awkward. She couldn't bring herself to send it, so she gave the itinerary to the show’s staff instead and asked them to pass it along to Duan Ye.

But Duan Ye never responded. No one knew whether he’d even read it.

Cheng Nuo asked the staff to call and hurry him up.

The call rang all the way through without anyone picking up.

A wave of nameless frustration surged through Cheng Nuo.

They were both going to lose face if things went wrong—so why was she the only one stressed out and sweating, while he was chilling like some unmoved Zen master?

The staff was still busy adjusting the setup, with no time to blow up Duan Ye’s phone, so Cheng Nuo rolled up her sleeves and decided to do it herself. She called him.

She was fully prepared to call him ten times in a row if she had to—but to her surprise, the phone was picked up after just two rings.

"Hello?" came his voice through the receiver, leaving Cheng Nuo speechless for a couple seconds.

Apparently, Duan Ye had guessed the reason for her call and said bluntly, "No money for a cab. I’m at the subway station."

"It’s this late already! Isn’t the production team reimbursing you?" Cheng Nuo nearly passed out from frustration.

"They are. Two hundred."

"Then why—"

She stopped mid-sentence.

A flat two-hundred reimbursement meant it wasn’t actual expense-based reimbursement. If he took the subway both ways, he could save on gas and taxi fare—basically pocket the entire amount.

"Bro, big bro, I have money, I’ll cover it, okay? Just get a cab and come here already."

There was a burst of background noise on the other end, and Duan Ye’s voice came through again amidst the chatter: "Train’s here. Keep your money. I’ll be on time."

"……"

Cheng Nuo exhaled slowly, trying to stay calm. "Okay, did you read the notes the team sent you?"

"What notes?"

"The date itinerary for the last two days. Memorize it while you’re on the subway. If the audience asks during the livestream, don’t screw up."

"Oh."

Cheng Nuo’s last ounce of patience drained away. She hung up.

*

At 6:55 PM, with just five minutes until the livestream, the doorbell finally rang.

Cheng Nuo opened the door to see Duan Ye standing outside, out of breath, holding a windbreaker over one arm. She grabbed his arm and yanked him inside.

He didn’t even get a chance to take off his shoes before she dragged him into the living room and shoved him down onto the couch.

"Sis," Duan Ye ruffled his mess of short hair, "can I get some water first?"

After an hour of waiting, Cheng Nuo’s temper had been completely worn away. She didn’t bother saying a word—just poured a glass of water and slammed it onto the coffee table in front of him.

Duan Ye chugged it in one go.

A crew member reminded them, "Three minutes left. Please tidy up your clothes and get your expressions ready."

Cheng Nuo sat down next to Duan Ye, glanced at her own perfectly fine sweater dress, then noticed his hoodie collar was crooked—no clue how he managed to make a sprint here like he did.

"Fix that," she said, pointing at his collar.

Duan Ye lowered his head.

Seeing how slow he was, Cheng Nuo simply grabbed his shoulder, straightened the collar herself, and asked, "Did you memorize what I told you?"

No response.

She pinched the edge of his hoodie and lifted his head—only to find Duan Ye staring straight at the top of her head.

"I’m talking to you."

He looked away. "No."

"No?!"

"Got dizzy on the subway. Can’t read on it."

"……"

Someone please give her CPR. "If you get dizzy on the subway, why did you even take it?!"

"Just found out today."

"……"

Cheng Nuo quickly pulled out her phone, opened the memo app, and showed it to him. "You have two minutes. Memorize this."

Duan Ye scrolled a little and frowned. "Sis, your script is too long. How am I supposed to remember all that?"

"Then what are you planning to say later?"

"You’re the one who writes scripts—don’t you know how to wing it?"

"……"

Cheng Nuo never expected that after all these years of writing novels and screenplays, one day she’d be schooled by a non-professional on how to pad the word count.

Well, he seriously underestimated her.

Padding?

Who can’t do that?

As the livestream began, Cheng Nuo waved at the camera and greeted the audience.

Using the excuse that "viewers in front of the screen might not know us," she started with a self-introduction. Then she said she’d been missing group life over the past two days since leaving the villa, reminisced about the time filming the variety show, mentioned that today’s weather in Nanhua was nice, asked how the weather was in the viewers’ cities, and even showed concern over whether everyone had eaten and what delicious food they’d had.

Time flew—before Duan Ye had even said a word, five minutes had already passed in a flash.

Now that was some top-tier padding. Like a fish in water. Like a flood submerging Jinshan Temple.

The bullet comments started out enthusiastically answering Cheng Nuo’s questions—"sunny, rainy, cloudy," "hotpot, BBQ, spicy skewers"—but then the audience began to sense something was off:

「Wait a second, isn’t this livestream supposed to be us asking you questions? I almost got sidetracked after years of shipping experience.」

「She’s amazing at managing the livestream. Most people say ‘three women make a drama,’ but she alone is doing three dramas. \[thumbs up]」

「I had my smile ready to stretch to the sky—are you giving us a one-woman stand-up show?」

「Are they stalling for time? I mean, sure, pad all you want, but why isn’t Duan Ye helping her out?」

「Duan Ye, you there?」

「Duan Ye, you there?」

「Duan Ye, you there?」

Cheng Nuo glanced sideways at the "corpse" beside her and snapped, "They’re asking if you’re there?"

"Barring any unexpected accidents, I’ll be here for the next fifty years," Duan Ye replied, nodding at her.

「They’ve only been together two days and he’s already talking fifty years.」

「Sobbing, I’m melting! It’s not the smooth talkers you’ve gotta watch out for—it’s Duan Ye dropping love bombs like this!」

"Huh?" Cheng Nuo blinked, confused, and asked Duan Ye, "That’s... some internet meme, right?"

Duan Ye nodded. "What else could it be?"

「...Okay, maybe I was just projecting romance onto everything.」

「Never mind, pretend I wasn’t shipping them.」

Only after saying it did Cheng Nuo realize she’d gone off script. She cleared her throat and moved on, "Okay, if anyone has questions, feel free to ask now."

「It’s Saturday—did you two go on a date today?」

"Yeah."

"Yeah."

They answered in perfect unison.

Good thing Cheng Nuo had forced Duan Ye to skim the cheat sheet earlier. She silently praised her own foresight and began recalling the fake itinerary.

「How romantic! Where did you go on your date?」

Cheng Nuo: "The movie theater."

Duan Ye: "The ice rink."

They answered together again—then slowly turned to look at each other.

"We watched a movie first, then went to the ice rink," Cheng Nuo added with a smile.

Duan Ye nodded. "That’s right."

「Did you two eat dinner already?」

Cheng Nuo: "Yes."

Duan Ye: "No."

They stared at each other once more.

Still smiling, Cheng Nuo said, "Well, the delivery guy forgot one of the orders, so he let me eat first."

Expressionless, Duan Ye nodded and gave her a big thumbs-up.

「Is this really the same Young Master Duan from the show who only gets out of bed for food?」

「Mama Meng is crying—my son, who loves food more than life itself, actually gave up a meal for love one day.」

「If this isn’t love, I’ll drink the whole Pacific Ocean dry.」

「So... has that missing delivery order arrived yet?」

Cheng Nuo smiled. "It’s here now, don’t worry."

「Then you can eat while livestreaming, don’t go hungry.」

Duan Ye tilted his head toward Cheng Nuo. "Can I?"

"…" Can my foot! Where on earth was she supposed to magically pull another takeout meal from?

Cheng Nuo turned and gave him a sharp look, hinting that she had just been bluffing.

"Are you trying to start a mukbang right now?" Cheng Nuo shot him a glare.

Duan Ye licked his lips. "Alright then."

「Poor guy.」

「Why does this sweet moment I’m shipping taste a little bitter?」

「Someone tip my boy—let him grab something good after the stream.」

Cheng Nuo cleared her throat, trying to steer the livestream back on track. She said to Duan Ye, "It’s not that I won’t let you eat, it’s just that the takeout was already cold when it got here. Didn’t the doctor say your stomach’s been acting up lately? I’ll cook something for you myself later, okay?"

Duan Ye slowly raised his eyebrows and gave her a thumbs-up. "Signed, sealed, and stamped."

"…" Cheng Nuo looked down at his thumb, realizing he wasn’t just playing a part.

After three seconds of awkward silence, she reluctantly raised her hand and pressed it to his thumb in a "pinky promise" kind of stamp—mostly because of the camera.

When she turned back to the comments, someone had already started questioning her impromptu lie:「Wait, huh? What’s wrong with Teacher Duan’s stomach?」

"Poor digestion," Duan Ye replied calmly to the camera. "Doctor told me to eat more soft rice."