WBSGVS Chapter 220 V2

Because anyone familiar with the script knew that this project was a goldmine for actresses.

—

At 8 a.m., Zhao Muyun, who had spent a restless night filled with anxiety, finally rubbed her eyes and checked her phone.

It was already past eight.

She unlocked the screen, and the last open window was her chat with her manager.

The final message, sent just after 7 a.m., read:

[Manager]: We’ve locked down the trending list. Not only did we act fast, but someone else helped stir things up. That hashtag’s not dropping anytime today.

Zhao Muyun smirked and exited the chat window—only to find a flood of new messages from several people, including actors from her previous shows and new contacts from the current production.

Everyone was asking her the same thing—
Had she offended the screenwriter and gotten kicked off the production?

Zhao Muyun didn’t bother opening every message. She clicked on the important ones and replied vaguely:
[Zhao Muyun]: I’m not sure either… the screenwriter suddenly said she wanted to terminate my contract, so I had no choice but to accept it. [bitter smile]

[Friend 1]: Yeah, it’s okay, don’t worry about it.
[Friend 2]: It’s the screenwriter’s decision. I don’t know what’s going on either.

After replying and receiving a bunch of comforting messages, she finally opened Weibo to see for herself.

The trending topic #ScreenwriterLiuliBulliesProductionTeam was still up there, now with a red “Hot” tag beside it.

Even though it was still early in the morning, plenty of people were already up and ready for drama. It was a workday, after all—early risers were scrolling while still half-asleep, but this kind of juicy gossip was more effective than coffee.

So when she clicked into the comments, they were full of outrage and accusations. A few people were defending Su Qingli, but very few—because both her nephew and her husband had left her, everyone just assumed she must’ve done something truly unforgivable.

To be honest, Zhao Muyun hadn’t planned to take it this far at first.

She was just a small-time actress. This was only her second drama role, and her first paycheck had been 500,000 yuan, which she’d nearly all handed over to her family in a time of crisis.

Then, she put all her eggs in this one basket, waiting for Phoenix Kill to take off. She didn’t take on any other work during that time. When she finally became more well-known, she signed with a management company and got an agent, but her actual earnings were still pitiful.

And now all these PR campaigns, the trending topics, the bots—every cent would eventually be deducted from her future income share.

Of cours,e it pained her!

But she was determined to get this role in Phoenix Kill. She had planned for it even before her rebirth and couldn’t afford any surprises. Su Yan was unreliable, He Tianzhu couldn’t be used, and the one immovable obstacle standing in her way was the screenwriter Liuli, who held the rights to the script.

With no other option, she had stayed up all night plotting with her agent, using public opinion as a weapon to force Su Qingli’s hand.

Her aunt had sworn there was no physical relationship between her and He Tianzhu—meaning Su Qingli’s reason for firing her didn’t hold water. And Su Qingli wouldn’t dare expose the whole thing and risk humiliating He Tianzhu, not publicly.

And now, with the director and his team gone, the production was just an empty shell. Even with actors, they couldn’t shoot without a director. Surely Su Qingli wouldn’t risk it all.

Especially when, in her last life, Su Qingli had once said in an interview that Phoenix Kill was the project she had poured the most heart and soul into—it was her favorite.

She wouldn’t just let it die like this.

Zhao Muyun curled her lips into a smile.
Even if it hurt to spend that kind of money, landing this drama would make it all worth it.

She refreshed Weibo with a swipe.

And suddenly, the trending list changed.

Besides #ScreenwriterLiuliBulliesProductionTeam, a new topic had appeared:
#ScreenwriterLiuliClarifies.

Even more shocking, the third trending topic had been replaced with:
#DirectorHeTianzhuStabbedBelowTheBelt.

Zhao Muyun stared blankly at the sudden shifts in the trending list. A sinking feeling hit her hard.

She rushed to click the second hashtag and saw a marketing account’s screenshot of Su Qingli’s deleted Weibo post:

[Su Qingli]: Just to clarify—there was no bullying. Aside from Zhao Muyun, everyone else left voluntarily, and we have recordings to prove it.
As for Zhao Muyun, her aunt’s ex-husband is the man who stabbed my husband five years ago, three inches below the navel. This was publicly reported by the police and can be verified.
My husband and I have been legally married but estranged for the last five years. You can imagine how traumatic this was for him. So no, I do not believe I’m obligated to cast the niece of the man who nearly destroyed his life. [image]

The image attached was an official news release from five years ago, reporting the stabbing incident.

It clearly stated that a man surnamed Liu had attacked He Tianzhu with a knife out of jealousy, mistakenly believing his wife was having an affair with He. The attacker had stabbed him in the lower abdomen, causing serious injury, and was sentenced to ten years in prison for intentional assault.

The report came from the official Weibo of S City’s public security department. It had never been deleted and could still be found online.

The marketing account noted that Su Qingli had deleted that Weibo post within a minute of posting it. Her follow-up post removed all the sensitive details, but by then, her account was already under a magnifying glass due to the ongoing drama. The original post had been widely screenshot and instantly shared across the internet.

And that’s how it ended up skyrocketing to the top of the trending list.

Zhao Muyun: “……”

She took a deep breath, bracing herself against the dizziness and shock.
She didn’t even need to read the comments to know that public opinion had completely flipped.
Her opponent had effortlessly unraveled a mess she had spent a fortune to create.

So… it wasn’t jealousy.
It wasn’t paranoia.
It was revenge—this deep and specific?

A wave of rage surged through her.
Zhao Muyun stormed into the bathroom where her aunt was washing clothes and snapped:

“Aunt! Why the hell didn’t you tell me what your ex-husband did five years ago?! He stabbed Director He there! I can’t even—seriously?!”

Zhao Rongrong was so startled that she dropped the garment in her hands. She stammered,
“I… I had nothing to do with it!”

How could she dare tell her?

If she had, her niece would’ve cut ties with her immediately, terrified of offending Director He.

Besides, it was her ex-husband who did it—and he had already paid the price. What did any of it have to do with her?

Zhao Muyun glared at her aunt. Watching the blood drain from her face, she finally slumped in frustration, defeated.
“Forget it.”

She had no fight left in her.

Maybe she just wasn’t meant to be part of this hit drama.

At this point, all she could hope for…

Was that He Tianzhu wouldn’t figure out that the whole trending scandal had been orchestrated by her.

Who would’ve guessed Su Qingli would go that far, exposing the most humiliating thing about her husband…

And letting the very scandal that Zhao had created be the vehicle that broadcast it to the entire nation?

Just like that, He Tianzhu was nailed to the pillar of public shame—
And he’d never come down from it for the rest of his life.