[{"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-79":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},1297893,1723,"Chapter 79: The \"Detective Father\" in the Wallet","the-more-tragic-i-act-the-stronger-i-get-my-fans-chapter-79",79,"\u003Cp>A bizarre delivery lunch tasted utterly bland among the three people, each nursing their own thoughts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ci found an excuse and left Spark Media.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Stepping out of Rongchuang Tower, Building A, the afternoon breeze was cool against his face, but he felt no clarity at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In his head, Su Qingying’s invitation for the variety show — “you can go try it” — replayed over and over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A reality show?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Have him go on a reality show, force a fake smile at the camera, play those childish games, and watch the one hundred and ninety-something days of his life tick down to zero?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was crueler than just telling him to die.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Wan’s tragic script was indefinitely postponed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All of Su Qingying the award-winning actress’s resources were things that could either sweeten someone to death or make them die laughing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ci stood at the curb as cars whooshed by.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He instinctively raised his hand and flagged down a taxi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Where to, sir?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The driver leaned out to ask.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Where to?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was dazed for a moment, then an address long sealed in his mind almost escaped his mouth automatically.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Changning Road, Hongye Residential Complex.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The driver answered and started the car.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ci leaned against the backseat and watched the streets blur past.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hongye Residential Complex.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was the place he had rented a few months earlier when he first came to Shanghai looking for casting opportunities.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A cramped, cheap single room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He hadn’t been back for months.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since moving into the crew hotel, he’d never set foot there again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could stop by, pack up his things, and return the room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The taxi pulled up at the gate of an old complex.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ci paid, grabbed his suitcase, and walked into one of the residential buildings like someone who knew the way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The stairwell was dim, the walls plastered with all kinds of flyers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He climbed to the third floor and used his key to open the chipped iron door at the very end.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Squeak—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A long-sealed smell of dust and desiccant rushed out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The room was tiny.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A single bed, a desk, a wardrobe took up all the space.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the desk sat a half-eaten instant noodle cup, beside a few performance textbooks with curled, well-thumbed pages.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everything here was a miniature of the cramped life he’d had before he got the system.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ci set his suitcase by the door and without hesitation began packing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His movements were practiced.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He folded clothes and packed them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He tidied the books and tied them with string.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he got to the bathroom, he noticed half a roll of toilet paper left on the shelf.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He reflexively reached to stuff that half roll into his suitcase.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That habit had been cultivated by his mother, Chu Hong, since he was little; it was in his bones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His hand froze halfway. He stared at it for a moment, then shook his head with a self-mocking smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Forget it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Surely not that extreme.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He turned back and began sorting the old outerwear hanging in the wardrobe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the pocket of a faded navy coat, his fingertips brushed against a hard, square object.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pulled it out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An old wallet, used for years, its edges worn and cracked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ci opened the wallet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was empty except for a few expired coupons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He habitually tugged at the inner compartment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A faded photograph, its edges yellowed, slid out and fluttered to the floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ci bent and picked up the photo.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the picture, a little boy with skin darkened by the sun, smiling so guilelessly he looked like a \"big sweet potato,\" was cradled in the arms of a young man in police uniform, standing tall and proud.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man was smiling too, flashing a row of white teeth, radiating sunshine and steely resolve.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ci’s movements stopped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In an instant, his thoughts were pulled back to that summer more than ten years ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He remembered the heat, the cicadas driving everyone mad.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His father, Jiang Yanjun, always carried a faint scent of tobacco.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When his rough, callused palms—rough from years of training—ran over the top of his head, it felt coarse but warm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He also remembered his father lifting him high above his head before a mission.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“When I finish this assignment and get my leave, I’ll take you to the biggest amusement park in the city to ride the roller coaster!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That promise was vivid as if it had been yesterday.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But a sudden death in the line of duty froze it in that hot summer forever.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no then after that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ci rubbed his thumb over his father’s young, resolute face in the photo.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His father had been an outstanding detective.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His mission had been to guard the peace of his area, to protect and save people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And now,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>his only son was desperately trying to “save himself” in such an absurd, bizarre way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A loneliness that could not be put into words swallowed him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Memories of his father naturally led to guilt about another person.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His mother.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After his father died, the compensation simply couldn’t support a single mother raising a son.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His mother had worked dawn to dusk, sold breakfast, worked as a cashier, and single-handedly brought him up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He realized he hadn’t gone home in a long time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since college, and plunging headfirst into his obsession with acting, his time at home had grown scarcer and scarcer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially over the past two months, in order to extend his life and meet KPIs, he had been wound up like a machine that never stopped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly, without warning, a single thought seized his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Go home!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had to go home immediately!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whatever heartbreak value KPI, whatever tragic script, whatever damned life-extension time...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, none of it mattered compared to seeing his mother.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once that idea rose, it could not be suppressed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He snatched up his phone, found the contact labeled “Sister Wan,” and dialed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The call rang a long time before it was answered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the other end, Lin Wan’s voice sounded a bit languid but with a thread of concern.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hello? Jiang Ci? What’s wrong?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sister Wan.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Jiang Ci spoke, he discovered his throat was dry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He cleared his voice and, keeping as calm as he could, briefly explained the situation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m going home for a bit. The script stuff... we’ll talk about it when I get back.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Listening to his exhausted voice and the pressure he was barely hiding, Lin Wan immediately “got it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This kid’s emotions had reached the breaking point.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In front of Su Qingying at the company he had kept it together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now alone, he couldn’t hold it anymore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Good.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An actor’s emotions are like a reservoir; you have to release water, not dam it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If you block it too long, something will go wrong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Wan didn’t scold him at all; instead her tone turned unusually gentle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course, go back and rest properly. Don’t think about work.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Family matters are the most important.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before hanging up, Lin Wan’s mind flashed to Jiang Ci’s mother’s forceful post on Weibo the other night, and she couldn’t help smiling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She added into the phone with a laugh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Say hi to Auntie for me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“She was right — you should eat more, you’re too skinny.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With that approval, an inexplicable weight lifted from Jiang Ci’s heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He moved quickly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The few personal belongings in the rented room were slammed into his suitcase.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most were old books and clothes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At last, he picked up the yellowed photograph and did not return it to the wallet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Carefully, he slid it into the innermost pocket of his coat, closest to his chest.\u003C\u002Fp>",1292,"2026-06-05T18:00:08.556Z",1,"novelbin.me","a8c8d027be562e5f991cfe884d965e72d53bee18867b57dc0fb15fb37964c18e","the-more-tragic-i-act-the-stronger-i-get-my-fans-chapter-80","the-more-tragic-i-act-the-stronger-i-get-my-fans-chapter-78",366,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-more-tragic-i-act-the-stronger-i-get-my-fans-cover.jpg"]