"I think... I can't tell the difference anymore."
Warm breath brushed against his ear, carrying the trembling confession of a young girl, attempting to stir heartstrings long since filled with nothing but KPIs.
Jiang Ci's body instinctively stiffened for a mont.
The thoughts flashing through his mind were neither touched nor a desire to respond.
Instead, they were...
Does stage play performance co with industrial injury insurance?
If an actor gets too imrsed in a role and can't distinguish reality from drama, what level of occupational injury does that count as according to the "Psychological Trauma Assessnt Standards for Specialized Occupations"? Does the school reimburse ntal distress compensation?
If Xia ng really can't find her way back, would her pair of "theorist" parents see him as the culprit who ruined their precision instrunt and directly apply for humane termination?
Does the system reimburse life span for such high-level risks?
Jiang Ci only pondered for a mont before an answer ford in his heart.
Under the utterly moved gazes of the entire audience, amidst thunderous applause, Jiang Ci reached out and gently steadied Xia ng by her shoulders.
His movent was light, pushing her half a step away from him—a perfect social safety distance.
Xia ng was forced to look up, her eyes filled with confusion and dependency crashing unprotected into Jiang Ci's line of sight.
She waited for his response.
A hug? A word of comfort? Or, even just an equally confused look?
However, Jiang Ci's expression was solemn.
He looked directly at her, speaking in a serious tone, enunciating each word clearly:
"Classmate Xia ng, congratulations on a successful performance."
"You've drawn a perfect full stop for your university acting career."
Xia ng froze completely.
The confusion in her eyes slowly solidified, then shattered, finally reassembling into one enormous question mark.
Jiang Ci completely ignored the dramatic change in her expression, continuing in his standard, broadcaster-like tone to add:
"Oh, and don't forget."
"The eight-hundred-word performance reflection report, submit it to Teacher Liu's office before Friday."
Boom—
At that mont, the faint, romantic fantasy that had just ignited within her was instantly doused by this bucket of ice water, not even a single spark remaining.
The crazy, obsessive, all-consuming world of Ma Lu and Ming Ming collapsed with a crash before the words "eight-hundred-word reflection report."
Jiang Ci had rcilessly kicked her back into the cold reality of "student Xia ng."
What love or no love.
What forgetting or not forgetting.
Nothing felt as real as the report due before Friday.
The applause from below the stage was long and unending, drowning out everything.
The audience was still imrsed in that imnse sadness and emotion, excitedly standing up to offer their warst respect to the perfect couple on stage.
No one noticed.
Right there in the center of the stage, under the spotlight of thousands, an absurd micro-drama had just taken place.
In a shadowy corner of the theater.
Su Qingying saw everything clearly.
She saw that desperate, all-in embrace.
She also saw Jiang Ci's slightly distant, yet impeccably polite, pushing-away motion.
A sharp, unfamiliar emotion stabbed her heart without warning.
What was that feeling?
A faint sourness bubbling in her chest when she saw that embrace?
Or a bit of... indescribable, inexplicable satisfaction that rose from the depths of her heart when she saw him push Xia ng away, ending everything in that unbelievable way?
She couldn't understand it.
She only felt that the man on stage was like an anomaly that could never be categorized. The mont you thought you'd captured his sorrow, the next second he displayed ultimate calmness.
This unpredictable sense of contradiction made her restless and unsettled.
Su Qingying didn't watch any further.
Before the actors prepared for their final curtain call, she pulled down the brim of her hat, turned, and, just as she had arrived, silently lted into the darkness and left the theater.
"Holy shit! Look!"
In the third row, Chen Mo's elbow jabbed hard into Zhao Zhen's ribs.
"Cough... Look at what..." Zhao Zhen, still not out of the play's mood, was jabbed so hard he almost lost his breath.
Chen Mo adjusted his glasses, the lenses reflecting the stage lights. His voice was extrely low, yet brimming with excitent.
"Su Qingying! She left!"
"I bet you anything, she definitely ca specifically to see Jiang Ci!"
Hearing this, Zhao Zhen whipped his head around, only catching a glimpse of a low-profile back rging into the crowd at the exit.
"Really?"
"Absolutely true!" Chen Mo's tone was certain. "A student performance—she had no reason to be here. Unless... she wasn't here for the performance itself, but for a specific person."
...
The following program was the graduation performances of other groups.
But after the extre madness and tragedy of "Rhinoceros in Love," everything that followed—whether cheerful codies or equally profound serious dramas—seed bland and tasteless.
The audience's emotions had already been wrung dry, unable to stir any more ripples.
People were still imrsed in the world of Ma Lu and Ming Ming, unable to extricate themselves.
Jiang Ci stood on the stage, smiling professionally and bowing to the audience along with the rest of the cast.
His face wore just the right amount of fatigue and the lingering afterglow of being imrsed in a role.
But in his heart, he was calmly taking stock of the gains on his system panel.
[Remaining Lifespan: 153 days, 2 hours, 10 minutes]
[Heartbreak Value Balance: 850 points]
"KPI achieved, lifespan successfully extended."
"Core target Xia ng's emotional repair completed, value reset to zero. This 'cash cow' project is officially concluded."
His heart was utterly calm, even beginning to plan for the next round.
"Next task..."
The script content of Chu Wuchen's wrapped scene in "Three Lifetis Tribulation" clearly surfaced in his mind.
Along with Qiao Xinran's sweet face, tinged with a desire to conquer.
"Beginner Fisherwoman..."
The corner of Jiang Ci's mouth lifted into a barely noticeable curve.
The curtain call ended, and the actors filed off the stage one after another.
Xia ng stood dazedly in place, watching the man before her who was waving goodbye to the audience.
The standard smile on his face was flawless.
Yet, this was the sa man who, one second earlier, had lifted her into artistic heaven, and the very next, dragged her back to the hell of submitting reflections.
The myriad emotions churning in her heart, a tempestuous sea, ultimately all transford into a sense of absurdity that made her not know whether to laugh or cry.
For the first ti, she discovered.
This man possessed a terrifying ability to instantly drag everything romantic and profound back down to the silly, mundane human world.
This ability made her feel even more at a loss than when he had driven her to the brink of collapse in the rehearsal hall.
She let out a long, deep sigh.
She walked to his side, looked at his handso profile, and spoke in a voice so low only the two of them could hear:
"Jiang Ci."
"You... are truly a devil."
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