The More Tragic I Act, the Stronger I Get — My Fans Beg Me to Stop Killing Off My Roles-Chapter 174: Reality’s Too Sweet—How Are We Supposed to Cry Onscreen?

#Su Qingying Jiang Ci Relationship#

The popularity of this hashtag skyrocketed wildly upward.

Finally, it stopped at the third position on the trending chart.

In the hotel room, Sun Zhou's hands and feet felt ice-cold.

"Bro... it's number three..."

His voice trembled.

"It's not topping the chart... it's topping the chart at number three..."

Jiang Ci's attention was finally and forcibly dragged back to reality from that serious research topic about "the impact of gossip on Heartbreak Value production efficiency."

At this moment, online public opinion had already undergone a new round of complete fermentation.

The long analytical post by "IndustrySherlockHolmes" was merely the beginning.

Soon, various versions of "celestial love story" fanfiction spread wildly across major platforms like Weibo, Bilibili, and Douyin.

"The Iceberg Best Actress silently protects a talented newcomer. Isn't this more addictive than any idol drama?"

"She paved the way for him, he came for her. What kind of epic love story is this!"

Sun Zhou looked at those overly imaginative words on his phone, feeling completely numb.

"Bro, they... they seem to have already taken it for granted that you two are together."

Jiang Ci: "..."

The development of events was beginning to deviate from his most basic logical predictions.

Soon, even "harder" evidence was dug up.

Some netizens did a deep dive into Spark Media, the agency Jiang Ci was signed with.

"Everyone, although Spark Media has the great Lin Wan holding the fort, within the industry, it's just a small-to-medium-sized media company! It simply doesn't have the clout to shove a complete newcomer into a project like *Three Lifetimes Tribulation* as the Fourth Male Lead!"

This discovery added a raging fire to the already frenzied discussion.

Right at this moment, an anonymous account claiming to be a "former employee of Daylight Entertainment" posted a "tip from an insider."

"Stop guessing. I'll just state one fact. Back then, the role of Chu Wuchen in *Three Lifetimes Tribulation* never even considered Jiang Ci. It was Teacher Su Qingying who, at a dinner gathering, personally and strongly recommended him to the producer and director. That's how he got the audition opportunity."

This leak happened to be the final, scorching-hot puzzle piece, perfectly slotting into the gap of the entire story.

It instantly connected all the previous clues into a crystal-clear logical chain.

The conclusion pointed directly to the core.

This wasn't capital forcefully promoting him.

This was Su Qingying's personal "favoritism."

The mindset of the "Qingying Guards" also underwent a shocking 180-degree reversal amidst this storm.

The initial scrutiny and rejection vanished.

Now, what filled their hearts was curiosity about their goddess's taste, and a kind of... secret, fangirling excitement.

"So he's one of our own?"

"A man personally chosen by our goddess... seems like it's not completely unacceptable."

"I really want to see what kind of magic this Jiang Ci has, to make our iron tree bloom."

Faced with this public opinion trend that had spiraled completely out of control, Lin Wan and Spark Media's PR team chose the wisest, and only correct, response method.

Silence.

Any attempt to debunk the rumors at this moment would be interpreted as "having a guilty conscience" or "protesting too much."

The best PR was no PR at all.

Thus, Jiang Ci's Weibo comment section was completely overrun.

The style shifted from the initial uniform "Congratulations, brother" to a scene of large-scale, bewildering behavior.

"Bro, stop pretending. Hurry up and confess, how did you manage to win over my goddess?"

"Leniency for confession, severity for resistance! When did it start?"

"What kind of magic do you even have, kid? Can you teach me?"

Jiang Ci scrolled through those comments one by one, his brow slightly furrowed.

As the direct beneficiary of this incident, maintaining silence at a time when the woman's reputation might be affected did not align with his basic code of conduct.

He had to protect Su Qingying's reputation.

More importantly, he already had an answer in his heart regarding the relationship between gossip and Heartbreak Value.

Analyzing from the perspective of "Heartbreak Value KPI," this kind of pink-bubble-filled CP gossip was highly likely to affect the audience's immersion when watching a tragedy!

If reality is too sweet, how can they cry during the show?

This would severely impact his life-extending KPI!

"Bro, Sister Wan just called and said we shouldn't do anything, just act like nothing happened." Sun Zhou nervously relayed the company's top directive.

Jiang Ci ignored him and directly opened WeChat.

He found that avatar he hadn't chatted with in a long time.

Su Qingying.

The chat interface still remained from last year, where Su Qingying asked him about his graduation play.

His finger hovered over the screen as he began to carefully phrase his words.

How could he complete this communication in a way that was neither offensive nor unclear about his intent?

A few minutes later, he finished editing a message and clicked send.

[Teacher Su, is the online gossip causing you trouble? If needed, I can post a clarification on Weibo.]

He believed this message was practically perfect.

It expressed concern, proposed a solution, and clearly defined boundaries.

Tick.

Tock.

Time passed second by second.

No response ever appeared in the chat dialog box.

Just as Jiang Ci thought the other party wouldn't reply, his phone vibrated softly.

It was Su Qingying.

The content was brief, matching her consistent style.

[It's fine. The innocent need not defend themselves.]

Jiang Ci looked at these four words, feeling a bit bewildered.

The innocent need not defend themselves?

What kind of crisis management was this? This wasn't logical.

Suddenly, a scene flashed through his mind.

Back then, to thank Su Qingying for recommending him and getting him the audition opportunity, he had specially treated her to a meal.

To avoid awkward silences, he had practiced all the chapters from the *Complete Guide to Scumbag Quotes and Techniques* about "how to get along pleasantly with aloof women."

From "casually praising the other's unique taste," to "using self-deprecation to bridge the distance," to "sharing some harmless childhood embarrassments."

He remembered that night, Su Qingying had laughed several times, which was unprecedented.

Although the smiles were very slight curves, they were indeed genuine laughs.

That pleasant experience led him to a conclusion: this Iceberg Best Actress was not as difficult to approach as she appeared to the outside world.

She was just not good with words, accustomed to using a layer of aloofness to mask her inner uncertainty.

Therefore, in his eyes, the phrase "The innocent need not defend themselves" automatically translated to—"I don't know what to do, but this is all I can say."

A sense of responsibility spontaneously arose within him.

At this moment, he was even more unwilling to see her surrounded by these rumors.

"Bro! Please, whatever you do, don't act recklessly!"

Seeing the "I have a bold idea" expression on his artist's face, Sun Zhou was scared out of his wits.

"Sister Wan said we should play dead! Playing dead is the best strategy right now!"

Jiang Ci didn't heed the advice.

In his view, letting public opinion run rampant was irresponsible both to his KPI and to his professional partner.

He had to cut the Gordian knot swiftly.

He tapped open the Weibo editing page.

He was going to write a clarification statement.

A statement he believed was logically clear, factually accurate, and sufficient to quell the rumors.

Sun Zhou watched him type from the side, so anxious he felt like dying on the spot.

"Bro! I'm begging you! Let me see what you wrote first!"

After typing the last word, Jiang Ci handed him the phone.

"Help me check for any typos."

Sun Zhou took the phone with trembling hands and leaned in to look at the few lines on the screen.

[Regarding #Su Qingying Jiang Ci Relationship#, a unified response:]

[1. Teacher Su Qingying and I are colleagues on *Palace Conspiracy*.]

[2. It is true that Teacher Su recommended me to the crew for *Three Lifetimes Tribulation*, and I am very grateful to her.]

[3. We are not the type of relationship everyone is imagining. Please do not over-interpret, to avoid causing trouble for Teacher Su Qingying.]

[Thank you for your concern.]

Sun Zhou read it word by word.

These lines were simple, straightforward, and utterly devoid of emotion.

In the current fervent atmosphere where the entire internet was fangirling over this couple pairing, posting such a dry, "straight guy-style" clarification...

Sun Zhou could already imagine the bomb about to detonate on the other end of the network.

He jerked his head up.

"Bro! Don't post it! I'm begging you!"