The More Tragic I Act, the Stronger I Get — My Fans Beg Me to Stop Killing Off My Roles-Chapter 36: From today onwards, the entire crew will join me in torturing her!
"Don't play dumb with me."
Gu Huai's gaze sharpened considerably.
"Everyone knows exactly what level Qiao Xinran is at. The director spent an entire day polishing her performance, yet she couldn't even deliver the most basic 'awe'."
"And you—with just one sentence, one look—made her produce her most 'Su Nian'-like reaction since joining the crew."
Gu Huai took half a step forward, his powerful aura as a top-tier actor instantly enveloping Jiang Ci.
He spoke word by word, as if conducting an interrogation.
"That look of being utterly crushed by overwhelming humiliation wasn't acted."
"You provoked her."
"How did you precisely locate her sore spot in such a short time and use it to complete your own performance?"
Cold sweat seeped through Jiang Ci's back.
Gu Huai's eyes were too sharp!
He had actually seen completely through Jiang Ci's maneuver—using Qiao Xinran's emotions to achieve his performance goals!
If he admitted to this, his "madman dedicated to art" persona would completely collapse.
In front of a true master like Gu Huai, manipulating a fellow actor's emotions was a despicable trick that couldn't be shown in public.
What should he do?
Countless thoughts exploded in Jiang Ci's mind, finally settling on the "Complete Guide to Scumbag Quotes and Techniques" in the System Store.
He raised his head, meeting Gu Huai's probing eyes.
His gaze showed no evasion whatsoever, instead radiating a strange calmness.
"Teacher Gu, you've misunderstood."
"I never intended to provoke her, nor am I interested in finding anyone's weaknesses."
His voice was soft, yet carried a sense of power.
"I simply..."
"In that moment, became Chu Wuchen."
"Chu Wuchen lived for five hundred years with only one person in his heart. When he saw Su Nian, the reincarnation of his dao companion from five hundred years ago, clumsily falling and crying out in pain..."
Jiang Ci didn't answer directly, but threw the question back.
"Who would he think of?"
A ripple stirred in Gu Huai's eyes.
Jiang Ci continued, his voice seemingly stained with millennia of loneliness:
"He would think of her from five hundred years ago, the woman who would softly call him 'husband'."
"He would feel heartache, he would be gentle, he would want to reach out and touch her, yet because of heavenly fate, he had to desperately restrain himself."
"So what I saw wasn't Qiao Xinran, but Su Nian."
"Through Su Nian, I saw the person in Chu Wuchen's heart who could never return."
"As for what reaction Qiao Xinran had, what she was thinking in her heart—I don't know, and I don't care."
Jiang Ci's gaze shifted into the distance, as if piercing through the noise of the set to see some sorrowful world unknown to anyone.
"Because in Chu Wuchen's world."
"Aside from 'her'."
"Nothing else matters."
As his words fell, dead silence enveloped the surroundings.
This speech was half true, half false.
The true part was that he had indeed used the "substitute" trope.
The false part was that he hadn't thought that much at all—it was purely for survival!
But this line of reasoning was the highest-level "self-deification" technique from the "Complete Guide to Scumbag Quotes and Techniques"—explaining all aggressive behavior as uncontrollable deep affection, thus instantly occupying the moral and emotional high ground.
Gu Huai fell completely silent.
Madman.
He had never seen such a madman before.
He wasn't performing.
He was truly sacrificing himself to the role!
Gu Huai instantly understood.
Jiang Ci's words just now, translated, meant: When I'm acting, I recognize neither family nor friends. I'm not targeting anyone, I'm just entering the character's world. You ordinary people are merely NPCs triggering my emotions in my eyes.
He finally understood why Jiang Ci's performances could so easily shatter people's hearts.
Because he wasn't using technique, but "truth."
He used the obsessive, maddeningly real emotions he constructed to crush his opponent's fake performance, which was why he could evoke Qiao Xinran's most instinctive, most genuine reaction.
"I understand."
The look he gave Jiang Ci contained a trace of appreciation even he hadn't noticed.
"Keep it up."
Gu Huai raised his hand and firmly patted Jiang Ci's shoulder, his tone extremely solemn.
"Your method is extreme, but very effective."
"This production needs a 'madman' like you."
After speaking, Gu Huai turned and left, his retreating figure carrying a hint of desolation.
Jiang Ci watched his departing back, his suspended heart finally settling back in place.
He had managed to bluff his way through.
"Brother Jiang Ci..."
A timid voice sounded not far away.
Jiang Ci turned to meet Qiao Xinran's complex eyes. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
She had changed back into her own clothes, her face adorned with exquisite makeup, yet still unable to conceal her pallor.
She looked at Jiang Ci, her eyes filled with resentment and anger, but even more with curiosity and inquiry.
What kind of woman could make this man so unforgettable even while acting?
Who was "she"?
This thought fell into her heart like a seed, instantly taking root, sprouting, and growing wildly.
She walked up to Jiang Ci, took a deep breath, and was about to speak.
But Jiang Ci merely gave her a faint glance, as if looking at an insignificant piece of scenery, then walked around her and headed straight for his entourage van.
From beginning to end, not a single word, not one superfluous expression.
This was a weapon more hurtful than any humiliation.
Qiao Xinran's body stiffened in place, her fists clenching tightly.
Jiang Ci, just you wait!
I will definitely make you look at me willingly, look only at me!
...
Jiang Ci returned to the hotel, lay on the bed, feeling as if all his bones had fallen apart.
He opened the system panel, looking at the skyrocketing Heartbreak Value and his life extended by thirty days, finally feeling some comfort.
[Current Heartbreak Value: 621 points]
[Remaining Life: 95 days 8 hours 16 minutes]
Just as he was about to take a shower, his assistant Sun Zhou knocked and entered.
"Brother Ci, the director asked me to tell you that starting tomorrow, your scenes will undergo some adjustments."
"Adjustments?" Jiang Ci sat up.
"Yes." Sun Zhou's face was full of excitement and admiration.
"Teacher Gu personally suggested to the director that you and Qiao Xinran have incredible chemistry in your scenes together, and he hopes to give you more room to perform, to let you... well, help Qiao Xinran get into character."
Jiang Ci was stunned.
Such good fortune?
Gu Huai's move was like divine assistance falling from heaven!
This was essentially giving him an "officially certified" license to openly "torment" Qiao Xinran and madly harvest Heartbreak Value!
Sun Zhou looked at Jiang Ci, lowering his voice:
This was essentially giving him an "officially certified" license to openly "torment" Qiao Xinran and madly harvest Heartbreak Value!
"Now everyone's privately saying that the Chu Wuchen you play is the most affectionate and most tragic fourth male lead in history!"
Jiang Ci coughed dryly twice, putting on a profound and mysterious expression: "I'm just doing what I should do."
"Now everyone's privately saying that the Chu Wuchen you play is the most affectionate and most tragic fourth male lead in history!"
Just then, Sun Zhou's phone rang.
He answered, listened for a few sentences, then his expression turned somewhat strange.
After hanging up, he said to Jiang Ci: "Brother Ci, Teacher Gu's agent just called. Teacher Gu would like to invite you to dinner tonight, just the two of you."
Sun Zhou paused, then added in an incredulous tone:
"To discuss the script."
Jiang Ci was momentarily stunned, then quickly understood.
Was the top-tier celebrity seeking to "consult" him about acting skills?
