The More Tragic I Act, the Stronger I Get — My Fans Beg Me to Stop Killing Off My Roles-Chapter 40: She seems to have misunderstood

Gu Huai was someone truly exceptional, the cream of the crop among shrewd individuals.

Just from Su Qingying's tone, he immediately detected there was more beneath her words.

He smiled slightly and followed her lead, asking, "In what way is it good?"

Su Qingying's gaze swept over the director and producer's oily, beaming faces before finally settling on Gu Huai. Her voice was cool as she said, "The newcomer has drive, and the senior is willing to mentor him. That's quite rare."

The words sounded like praise for the production team, but Gu Huai detected another layer of meaning.

"Newcomer" referred to Jiang Ci, while "senior" referred to himself.

Su Qingying was subtly calling him out.

"You're talking about Jiang Ci, right?" Gu Huai didn't beat around the bush with her, directly laying things out plainly. "That kid really is a treasure."

"Oh?" Su Qingying raised an eyebrow, looking like she wanted to hear more details.

"His acting method is very special, or rather, extremely intense." Gu Huai recalled Jiang Ci's performance on set over the past few days, a complex emotion flickering in his eyes. "He's not acting—he's 'living' the role. He can use his own emotions to forcibly twist his scene partner's emotions, making the fake become real."

Gu Huai briefly explained how Jiang Ci had "stimulated" Qiao Xinran to elicit genuine reactions from her performance.

Of course, he omitted Jiang Ci's whole "madness for the craft" spiel, analyzing it purely from a performance technique perspective.

"So I had the director give him some freedom for improvisation. It proved my decision was right. These past few days, Qiao Xinran's scenes have clearly leveled up." Gu Huai concluded.

After hearing Gu Huai's explanation, Su Qingying fell silent.

The hand holding her teacup showed knuckles slightly whitened.

So that's what happened.

He wasn't flirting with Qiao Xinran; he was "training" her.

Forcing her to grow through an almost cruel method.

This realization made Su Qingying's feelings even more complicated.

She felt shocked by Jiang Ci's ultimate pursuit of performance.

Yet she also felt a trace of... unease about his ruthless, almost cold-blooded methods.

What kind of person could manipulate a fellow actor's emotions so effortlessly? What was really going on inside him?

If this was how he approached acting, then how did he approach relationships?

Su Qingying's mind uncontrollably conjured Lu Yifeng's gentle, refined face.

Lu Yifeng was also someone extremely skilled at manipulating people. Using his perfect acting, he wove one gentle trap after another, making countless women fall for him.

Could Jiang Ci be the same kind of person?

No, he couldn't be.

Su Qingying immediately rejected that thought.

Jiang Ci's eyes were different from Lu Yifeng's. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Lu Yifeng's eyes held calculation, a desire for control.

While Jiang Ci's eyes held exhaustion, an undissolvable sorrow.

He was just... too immersed.

Yes, he was just a pitiable "acting fanatic" who didn't know how to protect himself.

Su Qingying found a reasonable explanation for Jiang Ci in her heart, convincing herself.

That inexplicable sense of irritability gradually subsided.

She lifted her head and said to Gu Huai, "He's a genius, but you need to look after him too. Don't let him burn himself out."

Hearing this, Gu Huai gave her a deep look and smiled.

"Don't worry, I've got it under control."

This meal was filled with undercurrents.

Su Qingying didn't mention Jiang Ci again, but everyone could tell she had come today specifically because of him.

After the meal ended, Gu Huai personally saw Su Qingying to the parking lot.

"You seem quite concerned about him." Before she got in the car, Gu Huai said casually, as if making idle conversation.

Su Qingying's movement of fastening her seatbelt paused briefly before she regained her composure, replying calmly, "I recommended him to the production team. Isn't it only natural that I show some concern?"

"Natural, completely natural." Gu Huai smiled as he opened the car door for her. "But having known you for so many years, this is the first time I've seen you take such an interest in a newcomer."

A flicker passed through Su Qingying's eyes. She didn't say anything, just nodded, then got into the entourage van and left.

Gu Huai watched her receding taillights, the smile slowly fading from his face, replaced by an expression of complete understanding.

...

Jiang Ci returned to the hotel, took a shower, and felt completely drained both physically and mentally.

Lying in bed, tossing and turning, his mind was filled with Su Qingying's cool, detached gaze.

He took out his phone, opened his chat with Su Qingying, and looked at that lonely message: "I'm here, Sister Qingying, is something wrong?" His heart was filled with mixed emotions.

He felt like he had messed up.

Su Qingying must have misunderstood him somehow.

A newcomer who could make a top-tier powerhouse actor look at him differently, who could make the female lead's rival character obey him completely, who was thriving in the production team...

This image completely contradicted the "tragic acting fanatic" persona he had built for himself.

It's over, it's over.

His "top patron" was going to abandon ship.

Jiang Ci groaned miserably, burying his face in the pillow.

He missed his days on the Palace Conspiracy set intensely right now.

Even though he worried about his life back then too, at least the interpersonal relationships were simple!

The director was easy to coax, screenwriter Lin Wan was his boss, veteran actor Qin Feng was stern outside but warm inside, and while Su Qingying was aloof, at least back then her gaze held pure appreciation and curiosity.

Unlike now, with a predatory female Player watching him closely, plus a completely unpredictable Su Qingying.

Just as Jiang Ci was wallowing in self-pity, his phone vibrated again.

He thought it was just more spam notifications from some app and ignored it.

But the phone kept buzzing several times in succession.

Annoyed, he picked up his phone ready to mute it, but when he saw the messages on the screen, his entire body froze.

The sender was still Su Qingying.

She had sent several messages in one go.

[I was having dinner with the director and others just now, didn't check my phone.]

[How have you been in the production team lately?]

[I heard from Gu Huai that you're very immersed in your acting. Take care of your health, don't overwork yourself.]

[Also, I saw the trending search online. You handled it very well. Don't let those messy things affect you.]

Jiang Ci stared at these messages, his eyes growing wider and wider.

This... what was this situation?

The icy film queen had actually sent him the complete "showing care and concern" package?

And she even explained why she hadn't replied to his message earlier?

This was completely out of character!

Jiang Ci read them over several times, making sure he wasn't seeing things.

He felt his brain was overheating and shutting down again.

What did Su Qingying actually mean by this?

Was this "slapping then offering candy"? First making him anxious with coldness, then making him grateful with concern?

Or had she talked with Gu Huai, cleared up the misunderstanding, and resumed her "angel investor" role?

Jiang Ci couldn't figure it out.

But he knew he had to reply.

And his reply had to be flawless.

He deliberated for a long time before typing out a line.

[Thank you for your concern, Sister Qingying. I'm fine. You should rest early too.]