The More Tragic I Act, the Stronger I Get — My Fans Beg Me to Stop Killing Off My Roles-Chapter 249 - 404 "All Villains"!

Chen Mo's reply was almost instantaneous.

It was just one word.

"Okay."

Jiang Ci put away his phone and looked up at Lin Wan.

Lin Wan stood with her arms crossed, the expression on her face that said "I'll see what tricks you can pull" still hadn't faded.

"Jiang Ci, I'm reminding you," she spoke, breaking the silence in the office,

"Director Hou's set is not a place for you to bring friends to experience life. These two roles, even if they only have one line, must be played by professionals."

Jiang Ci nodded.

"I understand."

He didn't offer any further explanation.

Because he understood very clearly that when it came to acting, words were the most powerless justification in the world.

Half an hour later.

The office door was knocked.

Lin Wan said, "Come in."

The door was pushed open a crack, and two heads peeked in, one after the other.

The one in front was Zhao Zhen.

He was wearing an obviously oversized black suit, his tie crookedly knotted.

Half a bottle of hair gel was smeared in his hair, making it stand straight up. Combined with his currently tense and twisted expression, he looked exactly like a puffed-up sea urchin.

Behind him was Chen Mo.

He was also wearing a suit, but it was a size too small, the sleeves a bit short, revealing his thin wrists.

That pair of perpetually unchanged black-framed glasses were covered with a suspicious layer of fog, making him seem somewhat unreal.

The two of them tiptoed in, every step taken with care.

A middle-aged man in a gray jacket, who looked shrewd and capable, stood up from the sofa.

He was the casting assistant director sent by Director Hou, surnamed Wang.

Assistant Director Wang's gaze swept over the two of them, his brow furrowing slightly.

He picked up the two resumes on the table; the resumes were pitifully thin.

Aside from their names, ages, and a passport photo, there was only one line: "Graduating Class of 2025, Capital Film Academy."

He put down the resumes and looked at Jiang Ci, a professional, polite smile on his face.

"Teacher Jiang, these two... are the people you recommended?"

"Yes."

Assistant Director Wang adjusted his glasses, his tone tactful yet tinged with disdain.

"You know Director Hou's productions, they're not child's play. Although these two roles are supporting characters, they still need experienced actors to carry them."

"Newcomers... especially newcomers who are complete blank slates like these, I'm afraid..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but his meaning was already clear.

Zhao Zhen's face flushed bright red instantly.

Chen Mo remained expressionless, only the frequency with which he pushed his glasses was three times faster than usual.

Jiang Ci paid no heed to Assistant Director Wang's implied meaning.

He remained seated on the sofa, not even standing up.

"Give them five minutes."

His voice wasn't loud, but it made everyone's movements stop.

"Let them do a scene. If they're not up to it, I'll personally apologize to you, Director Wang."

The powerful aura hidden beneath that calmness made Assistant Director Wang's next words get stuck in his throat.

He glanced at Lin Wan. Lin Wan gave no indication, just picked up her coffee cup, adopting a posture of "you sort it out yourselves."

Assistant Director Wang was silent for a few seconds, then finally nodded.

"Alright, five minutes it is."

He wanted to see what confidence this newly-minted "Bad Ending Aesthetics Master" had.

Jiang Ci's gaze turned to Zhao Zhen.

"You, come here."

Zhao Zhen moved over like a poor student called out by a teacher, his arms and legs moving awkwardly together.

Jiang Ci pulled out a page from the script and tossed it to him.

"You are a secret agent enforcer. You've just captured a stubborn patriotic student. Your task is to make him talk."

Zhao Zhen took the page, his hands trembling.

Jiang Ci continued.

"Forget the lines if you need to. Just think about one thing."

"Last year's college basketball finals, the last thirty seconds, how that 6'5" center from the directing department snatched the rebound over your head and scored the game-winner against you."

Zhao Zhen looked up.

In his eyes, which had been shifting nervously, a flame of "humiliation" instantly ignited.

Jiang Ci stopped looking at him and turned to Assistant Director Wang.

"Director Wang, you can begin."

Assistant Director Wang cleared his throat and half-heartedly read his lines, playing the patriotic student.

"You bunch of traitorous dogs selling out the country for glory, just kill me if you have the guts! I won't say a single word!"

The moment the words fell.

Zhao Zhen moved.

He pounced.

The suit jacket made a tearing sound from the sudden expansion of his muscles.

He grabbed Assistant Director Wang by the collar, his immense strength lifting this 150-pound middle-aged man off his feet.

"Won't talk?"

Not a trace of his usual goofy, naive self remained on Zhao Zhen's face.

It was filled entirely with a ferocious expression of brutality and mania.

His eyes were bloodshot, spittle almost spraying onto Assistant Director Wang's face.

"I've got plenty of ways to make you talk! I'll make you beg to talk!"

That unreasonable, savage glare, that brute strength honed from regular workouts, transformed in that moment into the most direct threat of violence.

Assistant Director Wang was completely terrified.

The pen in his hand clattered to the floor, his lips trembling, unable to utter a single word.

"Cut."

Jiang Ci's voice rang out.

Zhao Zhen let go. Assistant Director Wang fell back onto the sofa, gasping for breath.

Zhao Zhen stood where he was, sweating profusely.

Jiang Ci looked at Chen Mo, who was already dumbfounded.

"Your turn."

He pulled out another page.

"You are an actuary working for the Japanese. Report to your superior, which is me, on how to extract more 'Imperial Construction Tax' from a slum district."

Chen Mo walked forward and took the page.

He didn't start immediately, but instead did something none of them expected.

He took off his glasses.

Then, he pulled a glasses cloth from his pocket and began meticulously wiping them.

Without the lenses in the way, his eyes, which always seemed a bit dull,

were clearly exposed to everyone.

A pair of cold, indifferent eyes.

He put his glasses back on and looked at Jiang Ci.

His voice was flat, devoid of any inflection.

"Sir. According to my calculations, the slum population in Zhabei District consists of 3,214 households, totaling 11,072 individuals."

"Based on the current tax rate, 73,000 yuan in reserve notes can be collected monthly, but this is far from their pressure-bearing limit."

He adjusted his glasses, the lenses reflecting a cold gleam.

That kind of calmness, which completely reduced human lives to data, using the most rational logic to calculate the most cruel exploitation,

was even more chilling to the bone than Zhao Zhen's overt violence.

This was an "evil of banality."

A kind of evil from the human world, more terrifying than a devil.

Assistant Director Wang had completely stopped thinking.

His mouth agape, he stared blankly at these two young men.

It was as if they had time-traveled directly from Shanghai over seventy years ago!

He stood up, grabbed the contracts on the table, his voice changing pitch.

"Sign! Sign them now!"

...

After signing the contracts, Assistant Director Wang, as if having completed a sacred mission, left with the two contracts, his steps unsteady.

Only Jiang Ci, Lin Wan, and the two roommates still in a state of soul-shock remained in the office.

Zhao Zhen looked at the salary figure on the contract, a huge sum for a newcomer, his hands shaking as if he had Parkinson's.

"Ci... Ci-ge... I'm really... joining Director Hou's crew?"

"I... I'm going to play a traitor?"

Jiang Ci stood up, walked over to them, and patted each of their shoulders in turn.

"Don't celebrate too soon."

There was no trace of a smile on his face.

"From now until this film wraps, the three of us are going to play 'all villains'."

"On the crew, on set, even at the hotel, you are no longer my roommates."

He pointed at himself.

"I am the biggest traitor boss, Shen Qingyuan."

Then, he pointed at them.

"You two are my most capable dogs, understand?"

July 4th, 'The Lurker' crew officially announced.

At a time when the public opinion storm triggered by the "Cart Titan" hadn't yet subsided,

the crew's official Weibo account made the boldest response with a concept poster.

On the poster, Jiang Ci's Shen Qingyuan stood within a light and shadow split in black and white.

One half was a wealthy young master in Western formal wear, gentle and refined as jade.

The other half was hidden in shadow, wearing a traditional Chinese long gown, his face sinister and ruthless, his viciousness fully revealed.

The night of the announcement, Jiang Ci took his two brothers, who had just received their first payment, to a barbecue stall near the film studio.

The three of them ordered a table full of meat skewers and beer.

Zhao Zhen got drunk, hugging a half-eaten lamb spine, crying his eyes out.

"Ci-ge, when the movie comes out and I go back home, my dad will definitely break my legs..."

Jiang Ci didn't comfort him, just opened another bottle of beer for him, smiling as he filled his glass.

"It's fine."

"If your legs are broken, your acting will be even more realistic."