Chapter 61 Part 2

How had she suddenly flipped the script?!

This was going to get him torn apart by the netizens!

Zhen Tian struggled to keep his smile in place, desperately trying to backpedal. “Darling, that’s not quite how it went, is it? W-we had an agreement back then, right? We mutually decided we weren’t right for each other…”

Kris looked utterly heartbroken. “Yeah, I know. You’ve always wanted a really wealthy girl—ideally one whose dad could boost your career. Your family’s business was struggling at the time, so I didn’t want to put you in a tough spot. I knew I couldn’t really help you with anything…”

Bullet comments: ?

Zhen Tian: ?! ?!

Zhen Tian was utterly speechless at this point—

He was cornered like a rabid dog, snapping at his innocent-looking ex-wife. “No! Don’t make it sound like you loved me so much! We were both just using each other, weren’t we? You latched onto me for the material perks and citizenship, right? I haven’t even called you out for showing up pregnant to trap me! Who knows if that kid was even mine?!”

Zhen Tian had completely lost it, his temper flaring up in a desperate bid to tear into her right there.

He was hoping a mutual dogfight would somehow salvage his image.

Shen Li glanced at Qian Xingzhi.

Qian Xingzhi’s lips curved in a cold smirk. He could tell Shen Li was itching to step in with some righteous backup, so he murmured, “Why don’t you go ahead and complete that mission of yours.”

Shen Li: .

Qian Xingzhi’s voice was low and steady. “He cried first. I’ll back you up in a bit—shed a little tear with me.”

Shen Li: ?

Shen Li shot Qian Xingzhi a cool look. After spending a few days around Kris, he’d gotten a bit too immersed and wasn’t in the mood for jokes.

He neither agreed nor refused. He simply set down his chopsticks with a sharp clack—a small sound, but pointed.

He crossed his hands loosely, resting his chin on them, and fixed Zhen Tian with a steady stare.

【This show’s so damn intense—I’m feasting on drama every day.】

【No wonder live variety shows blow up compared to edited ones. Unfiltered live streams = endless tea.】

【Look at that smug face. Now I’m wondering if he tricks foreign girls by pretending to be some mega A-list celeb here.】

【The real international superstar hasn’t even chimed in yet…】

【Qian Xingzhi’s just silently staring at Shen Li.】

【Netizens are dying here, Qian Xingzhi—mic up and curse him out! Where’s that energy you had roasting the director? Or trash-talking your wifey? Or that sweet sense of justice? [smirk] [smirk] [smirk]】

The viewers were getting antsy, but Qian Xingzhi still hadn’t unmuted.

Zhen Tian’s accusations against Kris only grew harsher, the argument escalating wildly. Even Yao Shuang couldn’t rein it in.

“What the hell do you mean by that? Believe me, I’ll sue you! What’s your angle spreading these lies? Did you not get enough settlement money or something?”

Yao Shuang tried to intervene. “Alright, calm down. It’s just a chat—why get so heated? Everyone take a breath.”

Kris’s native tongue slipped out. “…You’re being so unreasonable. The only reason I came on this show is because I still love you. And I only brought it up after checking with you first—you said it was okay to talk about it…”

Zhen Tian’s face turned beet red, veins bulging in his neck. He was seconds from slamming the table. “Quit your goddamn yapping—I was drunk too! I didn’t do anything wrong! How am I getting karma like this!? Let me tell you, if you don’t help me clear my name, I’m definitely suing you. Don’t think just because you’re a foreigner you can…”

His words cut off abruptly.

Kris, seated to his left, suddenly burst into tears. Yao Shuang, to his right, stood up.

Zhen Tian, lost in his rage, barely noticed.

Until Shen Li slid into the seat Kris had vacated.

Only then did Zhen Tian glance at Shen Li with odd confusion. What the hell was this play?

Suddenly stealing the spotlight?

Come to rubberneck the drama and snag some camera time?

It was almost laughable.

Zhen Tian put on a deeply wounded expression, ready to keep ranting, when he noticed Yang Zhiqi in his line of sight. Yang Zhiqi was rubbing his temple and shaking his head at him, signaling to cool it.

Boys gotta stick together.

Fat lot of good it did.

Zhen Tian was starting to realize—Kris was almost certainly out for revenge!

His own ex-wife had fucking played him!

They’d had it all squared away, but she’d switched up today. What else could it be but payback?

His blood boiled. Screw it—at this point, the traffic was locked in. Whether he could whitewash his image later was another story, but infamy beat obscurity any day!

He jabbed a finger at Kris’s nose, facing the camera dead-on. “You guys might not know this, but these foreign exchange students? They take our scholarships, barely do any real academics, waste our money here, and fake their research to boot…”

Kris shot back, “What are you talking about? Who said I didn’t…? I have my own projects—I never faked anything…”

Shen Li heard her start defending herself and knew it was time to cut in.

In his calmest tone, he finally interrupted them. “Zhen Tian, age 25, from Hezhou Taiyang. At 17, your grades were so poor you went abroad to M Country for three years of prep school before scraping into a music conservatory that would take you. You dropped out, then leveraged family connections to become a trainee and break out. Right?”

Zhen Tian: ?!?

Zhen Tian’s brows furrowed deeply.

That buried resume—he’d paid people ages ago to scrub it clean. Not even Shen Li, and certainly not Qian Xingzhi, should’ve known. No one in the whole industry did!

How the hell did he?

“…What’re you bringing that up for? Spouting nonsense…”

“How old were you when you met your ex-wife? 21 or 22?”

“23,” Zhen Tian answered reluctantly. “What’s it to you? Got a problem?”

If not for Qian Xingzhi’s history with him, he’d have cursed him out already. But for Xingzhi’s sake, he forced out an answer.

Shen Li continued, “Wrong. Try again—22 or 21. Think carefully.”

Zhen Tian: ?

Why did Shen Li act like he had the damn answer key?!

“It was 23! I started as a trainee at 22, met Kris after dropping out at 23,” Zhen Tian argued stubbornly, neck stiff. “Don’t buy this crazy bitch’s lies—we met at 23.”

Kris shook her head, sniffling through her tears, her innocent eyes brimming with grievance. “No… He was 21. It was four years ago. He just never let me tell anyone…”

Zhen Tian exploded. “Fuck off—are you seriously lying about that too?!”

Shen Li: “No rush. Let’s look at the marriage certificate. That’ll show who’s telling the truth.”

“Fi-fine, bring it out!” Zhen Tian blustered, acting like he had nothing to fear.

Kris sniffled and shook her head. “He forged a fake one. I don’t even know where the real one is.”

Shen Li replied evenly, “No big deal. Just head back to the registry and get a replacement. The photocopy you submitted to the Program Group? It looks legit at a glance, but get a pro to check it, and the fakeness stands out.”

Shen Li’s mind worked like lightning, breaking it down as if it were just a minor paperwork hiccup—nothing complicated at all.

Zhen Tian went dead silent, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed hard.

Even his few remaining diehard fans shattered in an instant.

【Wait, 21?! So he hid his marriage history while playing idol???】

【Wahhh my life’s so tragic. I was gonna accept a high-educated pretty sister-in-law, but this too???】

【This ain’t even about idols dating anymore. If everything Kris said is true, this guy’s just scum.】

【Hold up? How does Shen Li know all this? Did he dig it up ahead of time, or figure it out on the fly? No way, right?】

【No matter what, I just feel like his tone… really carries so much authority… even though his voice isn’t that loud.】

【Hahaha, for real! Zhen Tian was so cocky one second, totally silenced the next.】

【The legendary commanding presence without even getting mad.】

【Ahh, Shen Li is seriously handsome!】

【Why’s it in Traditional Chinese?】

【Because Shen Li’s handsomeness is on another level [Go go go][Go go go]】

【I don’t get it—how did these two actually get married and divorced? Whose story is the real one?】

【Don’t worry! Our Little Cat has it all under control!! Didn’t he just expose the secret marriage and idol thing? No need to rush!!】

Zhen Tian had indeed lost his composure.

He and Kris hadn’t gotten their marriage certificate on the mainland. They’d done it back at her family’s place.

Right after the wedding back then, he was about to start as a trainee, so he’d immediately started laying low. He’d told everyone the certificate was lost—when in fact, he’d thrown it away. Now, for the show, he’d gone and forged a fake one.

Shen Li bringing up the timeline issue was something he truly hadn’t prepared for. He’d never imagined anyone would question it to his face, and it left him completely flustered.

Then Shen Li spoke again. “Married at twenty-one, trainee at twenty-two, left the group at twenty-three. As for what you two were just arguing about—whether the divorce was really because of a miscarriage, your suspicion that the child wasn’t yours, and your accusation that your ex-wife took a spot under false pretenses while faking her credentials—no problem. Talk is cheap without proof. Both of you can send your evidence to the program’s official email.

“Once we’ve had professionals verify it, we’ll bring in staff from the notary office to clear up any falsehoods, issue an official statement, and give the audience a proper explanation. Sound good?”

His words hung in the air.

In the camera’s view, Shen Li’s neck formed a graceful arc like polished jade, his calm gaze fixed on Zhen Tian.

Zhen Tian’s eyes were already rimmed red, tears pooling at the corners, his nostrils flaring, lips trembling.

He looked utterly shattered.

What more was there to say?

Nothing.

He’d figured Kris was on her own—no PR team, no fanbase. Even if she was innocent, how could she possibly put together a response prettier than his in the moment? That’s why he’d scrambled to sling mud at his ex-wife.

As long as he could steal her golden window to control the narrative and claim the moral high ground, everything else would fall into place afterward. He knew all too well how public opinion worked. Throw enough money at it to suppress the truth, and even if it surfaced years later—say, seven or eight—it wouldn’t matter anymore. Who would care by then?

He’d been on the verge of victory. So where the hell had this guy come from?

…Shen Li?

And were you so squeaky clean yourself!?

Zhen Tian’s brows shot up in a sharp arc, his dull pupils flashing with a serpentine glint as they bored into Shen Li.

If he was going down, he might as well drag someone else with him.

As his throat bobbed, he forced out a cold sneer. “Shen Li, don’t act like you’re some big shot just because you’ve got a lucky break and think you can play judge and jury. Let me ask you—do you dare say you’ve never done modeling? That you and him didn’t meet because you were a sugar baby? Don’t cover your mouth. You know better than anyone if those photos are real or fake.”

【Whoa? What photos? Got any tea? How come I didn’t know?】

【Uh, a few days ago someone posted on the forums. There were some old pics of Qian Xingzhi on a set, with Shen Li right next to him. They looked pretty legit.】

【So what? One real photo and suddenly everyone’s making up stories? How does that even scream sugar baby? No idea.】

【Clarify it quick if you can. Can’t? Then it’s confirmed.】

【Aaaah, they seem so mismatched in status (just from daily stuff). I really don’t want the sugar baby thing to be true QWQ. So how DID they meet anyway!!】

Shen Li opened his mouth to respond, but then a warmth bloomed on his right shoulder. A cool shadow fell from above at an angle.

He glanced back to see Qian Xingzhi standing behind him, one hand resting lightly on his shoulder, knuckles smooth and warm like ancient jade.

“What? Got a problem with us?” Qian Xingzhi’s voice was cool yet gentle. “Come on, ask me.”

Zhen Tian still didn’t quite dare go toe-to-toe with an industry titan like Qian Xingzhi. Even in his desperation, his confidence was noticeably lower than when he’d challenged Shen Li.

“Tch, if you won’t answer, fine… Yeah, maybe you ended up married. But what about how it started? You gonna claim you don’t know, and shut everyone else up?”

No one in the room—not even the civilian guests, and not Yao Shuang—dared speak up when Zhen Tian said this.

Even Yao Shuang, who’d known them both nine years ago, had no idea how the two had first met.

“Classmates.”

Qian Xingzhi’s voice rang out, clear and crisp with a chill edge.

Before anyone could process it, he added, “Shen Li was my class president all three years of high school.”