The More Tragic I Act, the Stronger I Get — My Fans Beg Me to Stop Killing Off My Roles-Chapter 65: It’s Over! The Money Tree Only Drops Pennies Now
Liu Guodong rushed in front of Xia Meng, but slammed on the brakes just a step away.
His face wore a look of disbelief bordering on madness.
"Student Xia Meng... how are you?"
The surrounding classmates also crowded around, their eyes filled with concern.
Xia Meng did not answer immediately.
She just stood there, letting the tears continue to fall, washing away the dust of the past twenty years.
After a long time, she slowly raised her head, meeting everyone's concerned gazes.
The corners of her mouth actually lifted slightly, forming an extremely faint, yet incredibly genuine curve.
"Teacher," her voice was hoarse from crying, "I'm fine."
She took a deep breath, as if trying to expel all the gloom from her chest.
"Let's continue."
These four words were spoken lightly, yet they exploded like thunderclaps in everyone's ears.
Continue?
In her current state, she could still continue?
Liu Guodong was dumbfounded, and the classmates were equally stunned.
Only Jiang Ci, standing to the side, looking at her face glowing with vitality, felt his heart drop with a heavy *thud*.
An extremely ominous premonition instantly enveloped his mind.
"Good! Good! Good!"
After snapping back to reality, Liu Guodong roared three "goods" in a row, overcome with excitement.
He waved his large hand and bellowed with booming energy, "What are you all standing around for! Continue! The 'Rainy Day Argument' scene! Give me the best performance of your lives!"
The performance began again.
It was the same open space, the same two people.
This time, the atmosphere was completely transformed.
Jiang Ci was still that obsessive, crazy Ma Lu.
But Xia Meng was no longer the "Ming Ming" who would only retreat in terror.
Her technique was still there.
Every turn, every blocking movement, carried a sense of dance.
But everything was different.
When Jiang Ci, as Ma Lu, roared the pleading question "Do you love me?", Xia Meng's body executed the script-required, wide-arc dodging movement.
Clean, sharp, flawless.
However, at the very moment she completed the technical movement, her back turned to Jiang Ci...
Her shoulders, imperceptibly, slumped ever so slightly.
That wasn't the reaction of the character "Ming Ming."
That was a sliver of vulnerability belonging to Xia Meng herself, revealed after her hard shell had been torn open.
The vulnerability existed for only a fraction of a second, so fast it was almost impossible to catch with the naked eye.
But Jiang Ci saw it.
His brain instinctively captured this detail.
According to the script, he should immediately pursue her, pressing the question with even more explosive intensity.
Yet at that moment, as if guided by some ghostly whim, he stopped in his tracks.
The hand about to reach out and grab her shoulder froze in mid-air for an instant.
This tiny pause disrupted the original performance rhythm, but injected a heart-wrenching sense of realism.
It was as if Ma Lu had truly been struck by Ming Ming's vulnerability in that moment.
That obsessive love became tinged with pity.
Dangerous.
And captivating.
A suffocating chemical reaction formed between the two of them.
And it was precisely in that second of Jiang Ci's hesitation.
A notification box that made his heart and lungs stop popped up before his eyes.
[Ding! Heartbreak Value +1 detected from Xia Meng!]
"..."
Jiang Ci's pupils contracted violently.
Plus... one?
That's it?!
While he was still experiencing an earth-shattering internal tsunami, Xia Meng across from him had already perfectly transformed that sliver of vulnerability into power for her character.
She spun around abruptly, tear tracks on her face, but delivered Ming Ming's lines in a completely new way.
"You're crazy! I'm crazy too!"
It was no longer simple fear, but a fierce counterattack after being pushed to the brink!
The entire scene was exhilarating.
When the final movement froze, the entire Rehearsal Hall fell into a deathly silence.
Everyone was so shocked by this god-tier performance that they were left speechless.
A few seconds later, Liu Guodong was the first to react.
He didn't call cut, just stared dumbly at the two people in the center, his eyes turning murky.
"It's done..."
He muttered to himself, his voice choked.
"It's really... done..."
Thunderous applause erupted in the Rehearsal Hall.
The classmates spontaneously clapped, their gazes at Xia Meng and Jiang Ci filled with awe and fervor.
They had witnessed the birth of art.
They had witnessed the emergence of a genius from its cocoon.
Xia Meng stood amidst the applause, somewhat at a loss, but her face displayed a vividness never seen before.
She looked at Jiang Ci, her expression complex, carrying a trace of... dependence that even she hadn't noticed.
And at this moment.
The focus of everyone's attention, the architect of this miracle—Jiang Ci.
He was standing with his head lowered, expressionlessly staring at the system panel before his eyes.
During that nearly perfect performance just now, Xia Meng, due to being overly immersed and emotionally stirred, had contributed a few more scattered points of Heartbreak Value.
[Ding! Heartbreak Value +2!]
[Ding! Heartbreak Value +1!]
Jiang Ci's face turned ashen, inch by inch.
He looked at that radiant Xia Meng, who seemed to be glowing from within.
He watched her discussing the details of the performance with her classmates, a smile he had never seen before blooming on her face.
An absurd and desolate thought exploded in his mind.
It's over.
This money tree... I cured it with my own hands.
From now on, it only drops pennies.
...
Rehearsal ended early.
The results were astonishingly good. Liu Guodong, in a rare show of mercy, let everyone go back early to rest.
After the other classmates had left, Liu Guodong's voice came.
"Jiang Ci, stay for a moment."
Jiang Ci walked over to him with heavy steps.
"Kid, I have to thank you."
The wild joy and lingering fear were still interwoven on Liu Guodong's face. "You have no idea what an incredibly awesome thing you did today!"
He calmed his excitement slightly, his expression turning serious.
"Jiang Ci, I also need to tell you something else."
"This Graduation Play isn't just a graduation performance."
Jiang Ci lifted his eyelids, waiting for him to continue.
"Besides the school leadership, the school has pulled quite a few strings this time, inviting several heavyweight figures from the industry."
Liu Guodong's voice was very low, each word carrying weight.
"The programming directors from top-tier TV stations, the golden producers from leading film and television companies... they'll all be here to watch."
He paused, staring intently into Jiang Ci's eyes.
"Among them, the most important one," Liu Guodong's tone grew grave, "is the Artistic Director of Huaxing Pictures, Director Wei Song."
"He's currently looking for the male lead for his next big-budget production, a historical costume drama with an investment exceeding five hundred million."
These words were like a heavyweight bomb.
Any acting student hearing this would probably faint from excitement.
It meant leaping straight to the top.
It meant going from an unknown student to a highly-anticipated movie star with just one film.
After finishing, Liu Guodong stared tightly at Jiang Ci, expecting the reaction he should have.
However.
Jiang Ci listened quietly.
He just looked at Liu Guodong very calmly, his mind rapidly calculating another account.
Curing one Xia Meng had directly slashed Heartbreak Value production by 99%!
Not even a random lifespan reward was triggered!
Where in this world were there so many broken "Xia Mengs" waiting for him to cure?
Looking at Old Liu across from him, spraying saliva with shining eyes, Jiang Ci suddenly felt as if there was a thick wall separating him from this world.
Liu Guodong stared at his utterly unperturbed expression, dumbfounded.
This kid... why isn't he reacting at all?
Doesn't he understand what "Huaxing Pictures" and "five hundred million" mean?
Just as Liu Guodong thought he was scared stiff, Jiang Ci finally moved.
Those eyes, which had been lifeless just moments before, suddenly erupted with a terrifying, sharp light!
He slowly raised his hand. Under Liu Guodong's expectant gaze, he leaned forward slightly and asked urgently:
"Teacher!"
"That five-hundred-million historical drama... is it... tragic?"
"Are there many female characters in it?!"
