WBSGVS Chapter 221 V2

Never did he expect the backlash would hit him instead.

He never thought Su Qingli would go this far. Never imagined she’d expose that.

They’d been married fifteen years. Aside from that one time five years ago when she stood up to him, she’d always been gentle, always protected him publicly, and never argued—except over matters of the bedroom.

Who knew that when she did retaliate, it would be with a nuclear bomb?

He originally planned to use pressure to force her hand. Now? He’d have to beg.

The problem was, he’d walked out way too arrogantly last night—and now couldn’t quite bring himself to eat humble pie.

He sat in silence for a long time, building up the nerve to dial her number.

The call connected quickly. A lazy, indifferent female voice answered:

“What do you want?”

So light and breezy, as if she hadn’t just nuked him online that morning. It made He Tianzhuo’s freshly suppressed anger flare right back up.

He growled,
“Su Qingli, how dare you ask that? What the hell was that Weibo post?!”

Qingli chuckled,
“A clarification. I needed to clear my name. I can’t let people think I bullied the cast, can I?”

“But you didn’t have to drag my injury into it! And you told the whole internet that our marriage’s been in name only for five years?! Have you lost your mind?! Telling people I—I—”
He was too furious to finish the sentence.

It was beyond humiliating.

Men are especially sensitive when it comes to pride in that department.

And He Tianzhuo had always cared deeply about his reputation. Unlike other directors who kept a low profile and focused solely on filmmaking, he’d occasionally appear on variety shows to maintain public visibility—partly for money, partly for clout. Now, the entire country knew he’d been stabbed in a critical area, and his wife had gone online and said all that. Even if he tried to clarify things later, no one would believe him anymore.

Qingli replied innocently, “It was just a little slip-up, wasn’t it? Besides, how else was I supposed to clear my name?”

“You could’ve just said I was injured! Or even brought up those old rumors!” He Tianzhuo was furious with her overly simplistic logic, growing more and more stifled.

Qingli just shook her head with a cheeky smile. “That wouldn’t have worked. No one would’ve been convinced, and they’d think I was overreacting. I did it to help you, you know—to get justice for you. Aren’t you even a little mad at Zhao Rongrong for doing this to you?”

He Tianzhuo fell silent.

He wanted to say it wasn’t Zhao Rongrong’s fault. She was sweet, gentle, obedient—the kind of woman men loved. How could she have been the one to ruin him? The real problem was her husband.

But he couldn’t say any of that to Su Qingli. It would only make her angrier.

Besides, Tianzhuo knew he no longer could cheat, not completely. He had tested it privately. While technically not “completely” dysfunctional, it was close enough—and sometimes the old injury still ached faintly.

He couldn’t afford to divorce Su Qingli. Any further conflict would only hurt him more.

Qingli leaned back comfortably into the couch and said lazily, “So… I’m not gonna take it down!”

Damn it!

He Tianzhuo swore silently and kicked the sofa hard, nearly exploding with rage.

But he couldn’t let himself lose it.

Su Qingli had snapped, just like she had five years ago. Back then, she’d even hired someone to act out a fake romance to provoke him. If he went head-to-head with her again, it would only backfire.

So he chose to hang up before he got even more worked up.

He thought he’d feel a bit better after ending the call. But not even thirty minutes later, Producer Zhang showed up with the contract—and the crew’s legal advisor. With a painfully awkward smile, he said, “Director He, sorry to bother you. But, uh… since you’ve decided to step down, we need to sign the termination contract. Also, the penalty fee is in the agreement…”

He Tianzhuo’s face darkened. “Don’t forget—I’m still one of the investors!”

Producer Zhang replied in a small voice, “Your wife said if you’re quitting, better to do it cleanly. Can’t have two voices in one production…”

He Tianzhuo: “…”

Damn. Su Qingli was ruthless.

His face twitched. He was so mad he wanted to go argue with her in person.

But after just one step, he stopped again. He was afraid. Things were already humiliating enough—if he pushed further, who knew what else she might do? Besides, he figured the penalty fee came out of their shared marital assets anyway, so it didn’t matter. Once Phoenix Kill made money, he’d still get a share of the profits.

Right now, what mattered most was damage control—silencing the online chaos as much as possible.

Having thought things through, He Tianzhuo gave a cold laugh and stretched out his hand. “Fine. Give it to me.”

Producer Zhang grinned from ear to ear. Once all three parties signed, he’d get another 500,000 yuan—money practically falling from the sky!

Qingli had a busy day.

First came the final financial settlements with He Tianzhuo and his team, then with Su Yan and Zhao Muyun.

The last two were easier—everything was black and white in the contract. Just sign, pay, and be done.

Su Yan was a bit surprised, but being a shy young man, he had already declared dramatically to his aunt that he’d quit. Now, despite the pain of the hefty penalty, he clenched his jaw and signed the papers.

By afternoon, Producer Zhang proudly returned to Qingli with all the signed documents.

He even brought the reliable new director team Qingli had requested the day before.

Qingli was very satisfied. She transferred the final payment to Producer Zhang right away—also from their joint marital account—and didn’t feel a shred of regret. Money could be earned back. What she wasn’t going to do was let unpleasant people benefit.

After seeing off Producer Zhang, Qingli received a call from the Su family.

The original Su Qingli was no spring chicken. Her brother was more than ten years older, so their parents were even older. They didn’t use social media and had no idea what was happening online, but her brother and sister-in-law had been keeping a close eye on things.

When they saw their son had quit the show and paid a massive termination fee, they immediately called Su Yan. Upon hearing the amount, they lost it. Su Yan’s mother started yelling, and Su Yan’s father picked up the phone to call his little sister for an explanation.

Qingli answered and calmly held the phone away from her ear as the yelling began.

“Qingli! What the hell is going on? That’s your nephew, and you kicked him out of the production and made him pay that kind of penalty?! After all the help we gave you, how could you—”

She stayed silent, waiting patiently. When he finally tired himself out and realized she hadn’t said a word, he asked, “Why aren’t you saying anything?”

“I’d love to, if I could get a word in,” Qingli replied coolly.

Su Zhen’s expression froze. The Su family wasn’t particularly wealthy—things had only turned around thanks to Qingli’s success as a screenwriter. Later, she even helped Su Yan break into the entertainment industry, changing their fortunes completely.

To them, a 40 million yuan penalty was astronomical.

So even though he realized his sister wasn’t happy, Su Zhen still grumbled, “I just lost my temper. But seriously, what were you thinking?”

He expected Qingli to feel guilty, but instead she sounded just as annoyed: “Brother, I could ask you the same—what kind of son did you raise?”

“Huh?” Su Zhen was confused.

Qingli spoke with righteous indignation: “I’m his aunt. Hasn’t he always known how good I’ve been to him? But the moment I wanted to fire an actress, he insisted on standing with her. I don’t know if he’s just blinded by lust or if he’s stopped respecting me. He said if she’s out, he’s out. What was I supposed to do? I had no choice but to let him go. I mean, I do spoil him, after all.”

Then she added softly, almost to herself, “Was I wrong? Was it a mistake to be so good to him that he turned out this selfish and ungrateful?”

Su Zhen: “…”