[{"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-315":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},1297979,1723,"Chapter 315: Fifty Thousand in an Anonymous Envelope","the-more-tragic-i-act-the-stronger-i-get-my-fans-chapter-315",315,"\u003Cp>After shouting, Jiang Wen threw the loudspeaker heavily to the producer Old Zhang beside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He turned and dove straight into that exclusive entourage van.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a bang, the car door slammed shut, cutting off everything outside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The crew members looked at one another, their faces sharing the same bewilderment and exhaustion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The wrap order had been given, but no one could immediately pull themselves out of the emotions from just now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ci huddled alone in a corner of the film set, far from the crowd.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He leaned against a big tree, head bowed, his face hidden from view.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had heard Jiang Wen’s roar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was none of the usual fury in that shout, only a dull, irritated pain from being stung hard by reality.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The screen lit, he unlocked it, and opened the banking app.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A string of densely packed zeros lay quietly on the screen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was the sales share from Vogue and the belated box office dividends from The Legend of Han and Chu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having debuted barely over a year, this figure was astronomical beyond what he had once dared to imagine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Money.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Numbers that didn’t feel real.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ci slid his finger across the screen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In his mind, the image of the little girl tilting her head to offer candy replayed over and over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The child had been both shy of strangers and eager for closeness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Familiar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A familiarity buried deep in his memory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He remembered being very small, not long after his father had left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The house had always been very quiet, his mother sitting by the window in a daze for entire afternoons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At those times, there would always be some uncles in plainclothes, smelling of tobacco and sweat, coming to the house in turns.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They brought fruit and meat, awkwardly played with him, and told him stories he could not understand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once, an uncle with a long Taoist Priest scar on his arm\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>had held him on his knee, rummaged in his pocket for a long time, and pulled out a candy whose wrapper had been pressed and slightly melted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That uncle unwrapped the candy and shoved it into his mouth, his rough big hands ruffling his hair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The uncle said nothing, just looked at him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back then Jiang Ci could read the uncle’s meaning, the same feeling as that child’s expression.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ci turned off his phone screen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stood, brushed the dirt from his pants, and walked toward the closed entourage van.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside the vehicle, smoke hung thick, stinging the eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Wen tugged irritably at his hair, his weathered face full of malice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The stronger the artistic sense in the lens, the heavier the reality slammed back into the heart at this moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That mud-smeared little face and those tear-filled eyes kept flashing in Jiang Wen’s mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked less like a director and more like an executioner,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>using the camera as a blade to flay those already fragile pieces of reality again and again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Knock, knock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A moderate knock sounded at the door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Wen opened the car door, about to curse, but saw who stood there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ci.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He still wore that gray-streaked old coat from the drama, his whole being radiating fatigue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Wen swallowed the obscenity he had on the tip of his tongue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He assumed Jiang Ci had come to talk about the script, or had become too deep in character and needed psychological guidance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leaning against the door, he blew an impatient puff of smoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Something?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ci did not beat around the bush.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Director Jiang, I heard you say just now that you were going to donate to the village.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His tone was flat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Wen raised one eyebrow, said nothing, and waited for him to continue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I want to add an extra amount.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Wen’s hand holding the cigarette froze midair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked him up and down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Jiang Wen’s impression, this kid lived like an ascetic out of step with the times.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His clothes were always basic, and he had no desire for material things.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Wen squinted and flicked the cigarette butt away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How much?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ci extended his right hand and spread five fingers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was dried mud on his fingers and dirt in the nail crevices.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Five hundred thousand.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Wen stared at that hand, all expression draining from his face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he thought, this kid earned eight figures or more just from The Legend of Han and Chu’s box office shares.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, he was curious about his motive. Actors of his age rarely did something like this without it being announced via their agency or studio.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Wen shifted his gaze from the hand back to his face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was not a director’s question to an actor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was an elder’s appraisal of a young man.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ci gave no lofty reason.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He lowered his eyes, avoiding Jiang Wen’s gaze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The look in that child’s eyes reminded me of how a friend looked at me when I was little.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He paused, then added, “A friend… I would never see again.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After speaking, he raised his head again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I have only one request.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No signature, no publicity. Transfer the money directly into the crew’s account and say it’s a donation from the entire film crew.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He did not want this to turn into a loud stunt, and he did not want those children to bear the burden of a specific name when accepting help.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Wen did not answer immediately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He just looked at Jiang Ci, for a long, long time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wanted to find traces of pretense, vanity, or calculation on the young man’s face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he found nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only calm and a weariness beyond his years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the end, Jiang Wen nodded and squeezed out a word between his teeth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“All right.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ci nodded as well, said nothing more, and turned to leave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching the thin figure disappear into the dusk, Jiang Wen closed the car door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Darkness and smoke once again shrouded the cabin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He sat back down and lit another cigarette.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sentence Jiang Ci had said replayed in his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The look in that child’s eyes was like a friend I saw when I was little.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A jolt ran through Jiang Wen’s chest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That phrase “a friend I would never see again,”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>mixed with Jiang Ci’s face and the file note “his father died in the line of duty as a narcotics officer,” detonated in his head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The thought crawled up Jiang Wen’s spine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Damn.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was an actor with blood and bone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Wen abruptly stubbed his cigarette out in the ashtray.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every cell in his body stirred.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the shabby guesthouse where the crew was staying,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Wen shut himself in his room and refused all interruptions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A stack of storyboards lay scattered on the table.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t glance at them and swept them all to the floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pulled from his backpack a brand-new, still-sealed hardcover notebook.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tearing off the plastic, he opened to the first page.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Blank pages waited under the dim light, ready to be given a new fate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Wen picked up a pencil sharpened to a point, his hand steady and unshaking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stared at the blank and let out a low, inscrutable chuckle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Jiang He…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He murmured.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The pencil tip struck the paper hard, leaving a deep mark.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I will make you… bloom the most tragic flower in this blackest mire.”\u003C\u002Fp>",1242,"2026-06-05T18:00:08.557Z",1,"novelbin.me","0b8f893d7e4445222aa374a9bb7db4c3b4a40543f5b2f45c1895f4a17056c45a","the-more-tragic-i-act-the-stronger-i-get-my-fans-chapter-316","the-more-tragic-i-act-the-stronger-i-get-my-fans-chapter-314",366,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-more-tragic-i-act-the-stronger-i-get-my-fans-cover.jpg"]