[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-more-tragic-i-act-the-stronger-i-get-my-fans":3,"chapter-the-more-tragic-i-act-the-stronger-i-get-my-fans-the-more-tragic-i-act-the-stronger-i-get-my-fans-chapter-155":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","The More Tragic I Act, the Stronger I Get — My Fans Beg Me to Stop Killing Off My Roles",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1297769,1723,"Chapter 155: “Heartbreak Smile” — A Phenomenal Frenzy","the-more-tragic-i-act-the-stronger-i-get-my-fans-chapter-155",155,"\u003Cp>The shoot wrapped, and Director Wang personally walked Jiang Ci to the soundstage entrance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She gripped his hand tightly, with a surprising force,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>completely unlike the perfunctory business handshake from before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Teacher Jiang, thank you!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her sincerity was practically overflowing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This collaboration is the craziest gamble of my career!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She looked at Jiang Ci’s face, which had quickly returned to a placid calm after the shoot, and declared, “I guarantee this ad will become a phenomenon!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ci nodded politely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether it became a phenomenon or not didn’t concern him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beside him, Sun Zhou watched the client team so excited they nearly danced with joy,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>then glanced back at the unflappable artist next to him, and still felt an intense sense of unreality.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back in the entourage van, Sun Zhou finally couldn’t hold it in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He asked Jiang Ci in a low voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Bro, about this ad… are we really okay?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I feel like Director Wang and her team are a little… off?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ci leaned back in his seat and rested his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If the client is satisfied, that’s the only normal thing.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Zhou remained uneasy; he pulled out his phone and found the work memo Lin Wan had sent earlier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Brother, there’s one more thing.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The contract requires that, to cooperate with the brand’s first wave of preheat, we need to post one Weibo today.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Zhou read the memo’s requirements.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The copy must tag the brand’s official account, and include your smiling selfie.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ci’s eyes slowly opened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He picked up his phone and turned on the front camera.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly Jiang Ci spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Turn off the lights.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Zhou blinked, “Huh?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The lights in the car, turn them off.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though puzzled, Sun Zhou obediently pressed the switch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The van’s interior darkened instantly,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>only the neon glow from the city outside poured in, casting flickering light across his face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ci raised his phone again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t deliberately think about anything happy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His mind drifted back to the shoot that afternoon, to Director Wang’s instructions that bordered on the perverse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t fuss over angles, he simply lifted the phone casually, fully immersed in the bad ending mood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he pressed the shutter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Click.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A photo was frozen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Zhou instinctively scooted closer to take a look.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One glance and his whole body stiffened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the photo, light and shadow were mottled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Half of Jiang Ci’s face melted into deep shadow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The other half was outlined clearly by the neon from outside the window.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On that face was a “smile” that defied description.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t happiness, nor warmth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was an utter shattering, heartbreakingly beautiful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Zhou sucked in a breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A sense of dread washed over him in an instant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Bro… this… if we post this, something big will happen, right?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ci felt nothing wrong at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Isn’t this exactly the vibe from the daytime ad shoot?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The client liked it then.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the most plainspoken style, he composed a Weibo post.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wrap. @Lang Feng official Weibo.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He attached that freshly taken selfie, a photo capable of making any living person want to break along with it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Click, send.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Weibo success notification flashed across the screen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ci tossed the phone aside, closed his eyes, and continued his unfinished “resting business.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t know that at the exact moment the Weibo went live, a storm on the other end of the internet was quietly brewing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first to fall were Jiang Ci’s die-hard fans.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ahhhh! New fresh Ci-ge!!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No way! That smile! I can’t handle this smile!!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wrap? What wrap? Did he just finish filming?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fans who had been silent for ages instantly erupted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They analyzed the blurry selfie frame by frame.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Look at this light! Half in brightness, half in darkness!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Waaah… this is him! This is the General Gu we know! That BE aura straight from his bones, I love it so much!!!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under the fervent interpretation and mass sharing by true fans, curious onlookers were pulled in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Who is this? Are male stars’ selfies supposed to be so story-driven now?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I don’t know him, but that smile makes my heart ache, I feel like crying for no reason.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Driven by fans’ momentum and bystanders’ curiosity, a brand-new tag quietly crawled onto the tail of the trending list.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>#JiangCiHeartbreakSmile#\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the same time, the public relations department at Lang Feng menswear was tense as if readying for battle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The PR director’s call hit Director Wang’s phone almost immediately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His voice couldn’t hide panic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Director Wang! There’s trouble! Jiang Ci’s preheat Weibo is trending!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the other end, Director Wang was holding her coffee, buoyant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t trending good? That means we picked the right person.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No, Director Wang!” the PR director nearly sobbed, “You have to see the tag! #JiangCiHeartbreakSmile#! Our theme is ‘Embrace the Sunshine’!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The smile at the corner of Director Wang’s mouth paused slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She set down her coffee and opened Weibo.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When she saw the tag and then clicked in to see Jiang Ci’s face—shattered and heartwrenchingly beautiful amid the light and shadow—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>instead of anger, her eyes gleamed even more fiercely than they had in the studio.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Director Wang? Are you still there? Should we issue an immediate PR takedown for the tag?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Or ask the artist to delete and repost a different photo?” the panicked voice pleaded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Director Wang didn’t answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She murmured in a near-dreamlike tone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A genius…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Such a genius…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>PR director: “???”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next second, Director Wang’s voice came through the receiver, clear and decisive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t do anything!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No! Not only do nothing, but ramp this up!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Contact media channels, buy some accounts, push this tag up! Praise it!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Praise it exactly as netizens are doing! Praise this unique ‘narrative’ and ‘high-end aura’!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The PR director was completely stunned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Director Wang gave him no time to react and continued issuing orders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Official account! Immediately! Repost Jiang Ci’s Weibo!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“For copy…” Director Wang stared at the photo on her phone, inspiration exploding, “Write this—This is the embrace for those who strive.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She hung up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silence fell across the PR department.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone stared at their director as if she had lost her mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The director wiped cold sweat from his forehead, gritted his teeth, and shouted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Do as Director Wang says!!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Minutes later,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>propelled by capital’s force, the strangely themed tag #JiangCiHeartbreakSmile# stormed into Weibo’s top ten!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lang Feng’s official repost completely detonated the topic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the capital, at the Spark Media office.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Wan had just finished a video meeting and habitually opened Weibo.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When she saw that familiar name on the trending list, her blood pressure spiked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ci again!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She clicked and saw that selfie that could be called “memorial portrait style,” accompanied by the three big characters “Heartbreak Smile” that stabbed at her eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Nonsense!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She immediately called Sun Zhou, her tone hostile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What happened?! Who let him post this? Don’t you know this endorsement’s theme is healing smiles?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the other end, Sun Zhou’s voice was choked and fragmented as if he might cry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sis Wan… this… it’s not Ci-ge’s fault…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, in a jumbled but terrified tone, Sun Zhou recounted everything that had happened that afternoon in the studio, in full.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From Jiang Ci being unable to force a smile, to the cinematographer’s meltdown, to Director Wang’s earth-shattering “reverse marketing” theory, and finally that eerie “Bad Ending Aesthetics” ad shoot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Wan listened, phone in hand, her expression shifting from anger to disbelief to utter incredulity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Sun Zhou finished the whole “divine development,” she fell into a long silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silence filled both ends of the line.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Zhou could even hear his own heart pounding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It’s over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sister Wan must be speechless with fury.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as Sun Zhou braced for a storm of wrath,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>the other side erupted in a peal of unrestrained laughter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hahahahahahaha!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Wan laughed until she trembled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She finally realized.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ci’s once-in-a-century “abnormal” constitution, in this equally abnormal era,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>had unexpectedly achieved a nearly perfect chemical reaction with a client who was a “madman”!\u003C\u002Fp>",1346,"2026-06-05T18:00:08.557Z",1,"novelbin.me","ed0edc8947c5211a48b23bc3be02095e9798c69abd5b93ef0e0f806a7a3351ee","the-more-tragic-i-act-the-stronger-i-get-my-fans-chapter-156","the-more-tragic-i-act-the-stronger-i-get-my-fans-chapter-154",366,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-more-tragic-i-act-the-stronger-i-get-my-fans-cover.jpg"]