The More Tragic I Act, the Stronger I Get — My Fans Beg Me to Stop Killing Off My Roles-Chapter 179: Destiny and Companionship

That declaration of "I'll take it," landed with decisive weight in the elegant private dining room.

The atmosphere of the dinner reached a certain peak at that moment.

A hint of relaxation finally appeared on Zhang Mouyi's serious face, the satisfaction of finding a kindred spirit.

Gu Huai's expression was complex, containing both worry for Su Qingying choosing a path of hellish difficulty,

and a faint, underlying anticipation for the birth of a top-tier, insane performance.

The dinner concluded.

A server pulled open the wooden door. Zhang Mouyi walked out first but stopped in the doorway.

He took a thick folder from his assistant and handed it to Su Qingying.

It wasn't an ordinary script. The cover was plastered with colorful sticky notes,

and the opened side pages revealed dense notes annotated in both red and black ink.

"This is the homework I pulled several all-nighters to complete. It's yours now."

After speaking, Zhang Mouyi glanced at Jiang Ci once more.

"The two of you are the 'eyes' of this drama."

"Don't let me down."

On the ride back to the hotel, it was still Gu Huai's black entourage van.

Sun Zhou had already been arranged to return in another car earlier. At the moment, only the driver, Gu Huai, and Jiang Ci were in the vehicle.

The car remained quiet for a long time before Gu Huai finally couldn't hold back and spoke.

"This is too difficult for Qingying."

His fingers tapped unconsciously on his knee, as if organizing his thoughts.

"Switching between Ling Xi and A Li forcibly within one drama will be immensely draining for the actor."

Gu Huai turned to Jiang Ci.

"When you're acting opposite her, cooperate with her more, give her more reactions. Help her find the 'switch' between the two characters as quickly as possible."

Gu Huai's concern stirred something in Jiang Ci's heart.

If Su Qingying's performance collapsed, wouldn't his Heartbreak Value KPI plummet into the green across the board?

From this perspective, this Film Emperor was actually on the same front line as him.

Su Qingying *had* to perform well.

Jiang Ci nodded, his attitude utterly sincere.

"Don't worry, Teacher Gu. I will cooperate fully."

Back in his hotel room, Jiang Ci walked straight into the bedroom.

Just as he was preparing to enter a state of deep meditation, his phone screen lit up.

It was a WeChat message.

From Su Qingying.

The content was brief, fitting her usual style.

"Friday afternoon, 3 PM. Do you have time? To discuss the script."

Jiang Ci looked at that line of text, not surprised in the least.

This problem was too hard.

Portraying two roles, two characters with completely opposing personalities, emotional logic, and behavioral patterns.

As one of the country's top-tier actors, Su Qingying would inevitably seek the most direct and effective way to break through this impasse.

That was to establish the deepest possible character connection with her acting counterpart before filming began.

He had to become her "anchor."

To give her a clear, unchanging reference point when switching between Ling Xi's destructive personality and A Li's healing personality.

Jiang Ci replied.

"I have time. I'll arrange the location."

He needed an absolutely private environment, free from any external disturbances.

He didn't want to conduct this "academic discussion," which concerned his future life-extension efficiency, in a cafe or restaurant.

He immediately sent a WeChat message to Lin Wan, outlining his requirements.

Lin Wan's efficiency was astonishingly high.

Ten minutes later, an address came through.

It was the top floor of an old Western-style house in the former concession area. It had once been the private study of a writer who lived in France,

and was now converted into a members-only reading space not open to the public.

Excellent soundproofing. Tight security.

Friday afternoon, 2:45 PM.

Jiang Ci arrived early.

The study was large, with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves on three walls. The air held the quiet scent of old paper mingled with wooden furniture.

He didn't prepare tea and snacks as one might conventionally do when waiting for someone.

Instead, he walked over to the massive redwood desk and spread out a pre-prepared, one-meter-square sheet of white paper.

Then, he took out a marker and drew two timelines on it, starting from different points and ultimately intersecting.

He labeled two names at their respective starting points.

"Ling Xi."

"A Li."

At exactly 3 PM, Su Qingying arrived on time.

She was still wearing a plain-colored long dress. Pushing open the slightly ajar door, her gaze immediately fell on the focused figure at the desk.

When her eyes landed on the large sheet of white paper on the desk, covered in lines and notations, her forward steps subconsciously paused for a moment.

Countless CP fans had been imagining all sorts of heart-wrenching, unrequited love scenarios about their rumored affair.

Yet here were the two protagonists, in the same place, about to conduct a character dissection.

"I thought we would start with the lines."

Su Qingying's voice broke the quiet of the study.

She walked closer slowly, her gaze fixed on the complex analytical diagram.

Jiang Ci didn't look up. His pen tapped on a node he had just drawn on the white paper.

"The lines are the result. The emotions are the driving cause."

"I want to first align with you on what the 'anchor point' of the character 'Ye Chen' is in the hearts of each of these two women."

Su Qingying listened quietly.

Jiang Ci picked up the pen and wrote two words heavily directly below the timeline belonging to "Ling Xi."

"Destiny."

"Ling Xi's love is passionate, destructive, intolerant of flaws."

"What she fell in love with was Ye Chen, the half-demon, that powerful and perfect Ye Chen. It's a love based on worship and possession."

"Therefore, when she discovers this perfection contains variables she cannot control, her love instantly collapses."

"Destroying him, sealing him, turning him into a specimen that belongs to her forever becomes the only way for her to maintain this 'perfection.'"

After speaking, he moved to the other timeline.

Directly below "A Li," he wrote two different words.

"Companionship."

"What A Li encountered was a Ye Chen who had slept for a thousand years, accidentally awakened, weak, lonely, and tsundere."

"What she fell in love with was his imperfections and the gentleness hidden beneath his tsundere shell."

"So her love is about acceptance, about healing."

Su Qingying was completely drawn into his rhythm.

Looking at the two clearly distinct emotional paths on that white paper, she realized for the first time that performance could be deconstructed in such a "rational" way.

The immense difficulty that had troubled her these past days—how to switch between the two characters—seemed to have found a clear problem-solving approach at this moment.

Looking at Jiang Ci's profile, overly focused in the afternoon sunlight, she suddenly felt the person before her didn't seem like an actor.

More like an... emotional engineer, skilled at calculation, capable of quantifying all emotional feelings into data.

Looking at Jiang Ci's profile, overly focused in the afternoon sunlight, she suddenly spoke.

"You seem to have an... unusual obsession with 'tragedy.'"

She asked.

"Why?"