The More Tragic I Act, the Stronger I Get — My Fans Beg Me to Stop Killing Off My Roles-Chapter 164: After Digging Up All That Dirt, You’re Telling Me His Dad’s a Martyr?

Upon receiving the death order, Xiao Ran's agent grasped at the last lifeline.

With a grim expression, he walked out of the private club and got into his car.

With a "thud," he closed the car door, shutting out everything from the outside world.

He picked up his phone and scrolled through his contacts, finding a number he had never dialed during the day.

"Vulture."

The industry's top paparazzi team, specializing in dirty work. As long as the price was right, there was no privacy they couldn't dig up.

The call connected.

A slick male voice came through.

"Brother Li? What brings you to call?"

Li Zhen, Xiao Ran's agent, didn't waste words.

"A job. Take it or not?"

"Jiang Ci."

"Dig up every single thing about him from birth until now. I want all his information."

There was a moment of silence on the other end, assessing the difficulty and value of the task.

"Brother Li, from what I know, this Jiang Ci guy... is a bit weird. Spark Media protects him like he's the apple of their eye."

Li Zhen sneered coldly.

"Name your price."

"I want the fastest speed, the most explosive dirt."

"Deal."

On the other end, Vulture's voice became excited. "Brother Li is straightforward! Three days. Within three days, I'll give you a satisfactory answer."

Hanging up the phone, Li Zhen leaned back in his seat, his tense body finally relaxing a little.

Lin Wan, aren't you capable?

Aren't you good at creating concepts?

Let's see how you'll build that "founding father" persona for Jiang Ci when his dirty laundry is all aired!

...

The capital city, a five-star hotel.

On Sun Zhou's phone screen, the hashtags #JiangCiPsychoticStyleActing# and #SurgicalStyleActing# were battling fiercely.

He looked up from time to time, glancing at the figure sitting on the carpet.

Jiang Ci was sitting cross-legged, the script for "The Lurker" spread out in front of him.

The storm outside existed in a different world, completely separate from him.

"Ci-ge..." Sun Zhou finally couldn't hold back. "You... aren't you worried at all?"

"The internet is about to erupt into war! Xiao Ran's fans are going to flood your Weibo!"

Jiang Ci finally looked up from the script.

He looked at Sun Zhou's face, filled with anxiety, and was genuinely confused.

He didn't answer Sun Zhou's question. Instead, frowning, he looked around the room.

Then, leaning closer, he lowered his voice, adopting the posture of someone analyzing a case, and asked Sun Zhou quietly.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Is there a listening device in the room?"

Sun Zhou: "?"

Am I fucking worried about a listening device?!

Sun Zhou almost fainted on the spot.

Pointing at his phone, he practically wailed.

"Bro! It's blackmail material! It's Xiao Ran's side trying to take us down!"

Jiang Ci let out an "oh," then lowered his head to look at the script again.

"Blackmail material?"

He thought about it.

He was single since birth, never been in a relationship, his biggest hobby was filming tragic movies.

What kind of blackmail material could he possibly have?

Couldn't figure it out.

So he decided not to think about it and continued studying Shen Qingyuan's next torture scene.

The efficiency of the "Vulture" team was indeed worthy of their price.

They split into several groups.

One went to Jiang Ci's alma mater, the Capital Film Academy.

Another went straight to Jiang Ci's hometown, a third-tier small city.

However, after two days, the information fed back made Li Zhen's frown deepen.

"Brother Li, it's no use! This kid is clean as a blank sheet of paper!"

"Teachers and classmates at school all say he had good grades, spent the first three years basically holed up in the library, and never caused trouble."

"The only 'out of line' thing was going crazy with his role in the graduation play, but that's considered a plus in the acting department!"

The information from the other side was equally disappointing.

"His hometown was checked too. Single-parent family, he and his mother Chu Hong depended on each other. Old neighbors all said Chu Hong had it tough, raising the child alone. Jiang Ci was sensible since he was little, never gave the family any worries."

"Romantic history? Not even a fart! On the film academy forum, posts about him, aside from discussing his role as Ma Lu, you can't even find a single photo of him with a girl!"

Listening to the report coming through the phone, Li Zhen was so angry he almost crushed his phone.

A young male entertainer in his early twenties, studying for four years at a place like the film academy, and he has no black marks at all?

That's not scientific!

Just as his patience was running out and he was about to explode over the phone.

The person in charge of "Vulture" suddenly spoke in an unusually excited tone, lowering his voice.

"Brother Li! Don't be impatient!"

"We dug something up! Absolutely earth-shattering blackmail material!"

"His dad... wasn't an ordinary cop!"

Brother Li's nerves tightened.

He was so excited he almost jumped out of his chair.

"Not an ordinary cop? Hurry up and tell me! What was he? Embezzlement? Or dereliction of duty?"

"Neither." 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

The Vulture person in charge pretended to be mysterious, stringing Brother Li along with every word.

"We used some methods, checked his file. His dad was named Jiang Yanjun. Died over a decade ago in a secret operation. The file is encrypted."

Secret operation?

Encrypted file?

Brother Li's mind instantly conjured up a ten-thousand-word conspiracy theory drama.

There must be something fishy here!

A cop who requires an encrypted file, could his identity be simple?

Either the mission failed, he was made a scapegoat, carrying a huge black mark!

Or he himself had problems, and the so-called "secret operation" was just a fig leaf to cover up his crimes!

Li Zhen's breathing became heavy.

He had finally found the most fatal wound on Jiang Ci that could be torn open!

"Dig in that direction!" He issued a new order into the phone. "No matter how much it costs, pry open that encrypted file!"

"I want to know what that Jiang Yanjun really was!"

Li Zhen had already started planning the follow-up public opinion strategy.

"Son of a Fake Hero."

This label was too perfect.

As long as it was confirmed that Jiang Ci's father had problems, then everything Jiang Ci had now could be interpreted as "using a tragic background to gain sympathy."

His proud "Bad Ending Aesthetics" would also completely become a joke!

On the evening of the third day.

The "Vulture" team, finally through illegal channels and at great cost, managed to obtain some declassified information.

An encrypted electronic file was sent to Li Zhen's email.

He eagerly opened the attachment.

The file content was very brief.

No long-winded story.

Just a few lines of formatted text.

[Name: Jiang Yanjun]

[Unit: Municipal Criminal Investigation Detachment]

[Event: 2008 "Operation Thunderbolt"]

[Details: In order to cover the safe withdrawal of an undercover colleague, drew the fire of an armed cross-border drug trafficking group alone, sustained seven gunshot wounds, died on the spot.]

[Conclusion: Posthumously awarded First-Class Individual Merit.]

[Posthumous Honor: Revolutionary Martyr.]

The smile on Li Zhen's face froze.

He stared intently at the two words at the very bottom of the screen.

Martyr?

He thought he saw wrong.

He reached out, rubbed his eyes hard, and looked at the screen again.

Correct.

Those two bright red words, stamped and certified by the official system, like two branding irons, were seared into his eyes.

Revolutionary Martyr.

What the hell kind of blackmail material is this?

This is clearly a protective golden aura!

Li Zhen's mind suddenly flashed to a piece of news that had caused a sensation across the internet not long ago.

The son of a sacrificed navy officer from the Xichang warship, still in elementary school, was taking a bus with his preferential treatment certificate. The driver publicly accused him of using a fake certificate, and the child cried on the spot from grievance.

When the incident was exposed online, it exploded instantly.

The fury of public opinion almost overturned the entire city.

In the end, all the drivers were sent for re-education on ideological education, and even the mayor personally visited the child and his mother to apologize.

Cold sweat soaked through Li Zhen's back.

If he dared to release this "blackmail material."

He would elevate Jiang Ci from a controversial entertainer with "psychotic-style acting" directly onto the altar of "orphan of a martyr"!

Right then, his phone rang.

It was Manager Liu.

Li Zhen's hand shook, almost dropping the phone.

Trembling, he swiped to answer.

"How's it going?" Manager Liu's tone carried a hint of impatience.

Li Zhen opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.

On the other end of the line, seeming to sense something was wrong.

"Speak!"

"M-Manager... Manager Liu..."

"Something... something's wrong..."

Li Zhen recounted the contents of the file.

A long silence fell on the other end of the phone.

Li Zhen could even hear the sound of his own teeth chattering.

After a long while.

Manager Liu's voice sounded again.

"This matter ends here."

"Withdraw everyone."

"Act as if nothing ever happened."

Beep... beep... beep...

The call was disconnected.

Li Zhen stood there holding his phone, dumbfounded.

His gaze fell back onto the computer screen.

Those two bright red words, "Martyr," were silently mocking his stupidity and overestimation of his own abilities.