Box office earnings aside, what she urgently needed right now was a really good film to boost her portfolio. She needed one to secure her footing in the entertainment industry and show everyone that she meant business.
“This one.” She placed the script for Divorced before Yi Ling.
“This one?” Yi Ling frowned as she stuffed the remaining half of her bun into her mouth.
“Huanhuan, this movie doesn’t have anyone famous working on it. Why don’t you choose from the other two movies? You won’t get to be the female lead in those movies, but you should be able to get the secondary or tertiary roles. I have faith in your acting skills, I know you can do it. I mean, you held your ground against Liang Chen, so I’m sure you’ll be able to pull off spectacular performances in these movies, too. In fact, I have a good feeling about this one here.” She picked up one of the scripts.
“I think Sword God looks like a good movie, I have a feeling it’ll do well.”
Yi Ling was genuinely enthusiastic about the movie she had chosen; she had already had her heart set on it when she received the three scripts from the agency. It was a big budget movie by Song Hongsheng, a movie director with a solid reputation within the industry. His movies were always a hit, and he was known to be picky with his actors: he only cast famous A-listers in his movies.
Yan Huan had only been offered the opportunity to audition for these movies because Journey to Fairyland had given her a huge boost in popularity. If it had not been for that show, nobody would give Yan Huan the time of day.
“No, I want this one.” Yan Huan was not interested in playing the supporting role to other famous superstars. Any other newbie actor would have jumped at the chance to observe veteran actors in action and learn from them, but Yan Huan was already a veteran herself. Besides, not every famous star was as open-minded and easygoing as Liang Chen; they were much more likely to resent talented newcomers than assist them. Also, Yan Huan knew that there was no guarantee that she would be able to get the secondary or tertiary roles, despite what Yi Ling had said; it was just as likely that she would end up being a background actor, and she was already sick and tired of being just another throwaway extra.
She would rather participate in Divorced than be a glorified background actor in the other movies. She liked the script, and she knew for a fact that the story and the director’s cinematic style would end up impressing both the critics and the masses.
“You’re taking this one? Really?”
Yi Ling’s frowned so deeply her eyebrows almost joined into a unibrow. “Huanhuan, are you absolutely sure about this?””
“Yup. This one.” Yan Huan did not even take a second look at the other scripts. Yi Ling knew then that Yan Huan had made up her mind; well, if that was what she wanted, so be it.
Yi Ling had initially felt that the other two movies were a lot more promising than the melodrama project, but after thinking about it, she realized that they were probably about equal.
After all, Yan Huan would only be able to get a minor supporting role in the other two movies. For the small budget Divorced, however, she was famous enough now to be the female lead for it, no questions asked.
A minor role in a big budget production, or the female lead in a small movie.
Which was better?
Yi Ling concluded that they presented the same opportunities. Yan Huan needed a solid movie credit under her belt, and they were not in a position to be choosy.
Yi Ling removed the scripts for the other two movies from the table, leaving the script for Divorced behind. She would have to contact the production team for Divorced to ask them whether they needed Yan Huan to audition for the role.
Journey to Fairyland was still showing on TV; as there were only four episodes a week, the story unfolded slowly, keeping audiences on the edges of their seats and hungering for more. The show was still No. 1 in the viewer ratings, outranking the no. 2 show by a large margin.
Liang Chen’s and Qi Haolin’s popularity increased with each episode, but Yan Huan was the real talk of the town.
She was just a newcomer to showbiz, but she had earned her current popularity; she was gorgeous, and had incredible acting skills. Many young men and women were hopelessly enamored with her; in the latest episode, Yan Boxuan and Guan Yuexin had flirted with each other in a cave, leaving Qing Yao devastated. Her inner despair stabbed the viewers in the heart; secret crushes were supposed to be beautiful, but behind the romantic facade there was always untold misery and pain.
Outside the cave, Qing Yao clawed furiously at the stone wall, gouging it again and again. The pain and misery in her heart was evident from the way her fingers attacked the wall.
The viewers who related to Qing Yao were just as devastated.
“Dammit Yan Boxuan! I don’t like you anymore!” A woman flung the plush doll in her hand to the floor.
“Beautiful secret crush my ass! Stop making her cry, Boxuan!”
Another woman wept openly before her TV as she emptied the box of facial tissues on her table, one facial tissue at a time. Yan Huan had masterfully captured the pain and despair of unrequited love; the viewers could not help sympathizing with Qing Yao.
Someone captured a still frame of Qing Yao from the scene, and turned it into a chat sticker, complete with speech balloon:
“I’m crying inside, but I’m not going to tell you about it.”
It was the perfect, meme-worthy caption for it.
Yan Huan’s popularity received yet another boost. But not everyone liked the idea of Qing Yao being a rival for Yan Boxuan’s love, and a portion of the audience quickly split into Team Guan Yuexin and Team Qing Yao.
As the saying went: “Different strokes for different folks.”
From that day on, Liang Chen’s Guan Yuexin and Yan Huan’s Qing Yao became the subject of many debates among viewers.
One was a showbiz veteran, an award-winning actress who had been a household name for a very long time. The other was a newcomer, a flower that had just blossomed—and yet they were already being compared with one another.
The viewers were only comparing their acting skills, not their looks or anything else.
The fact that the viewers actually considered her a worthy rival to Liang Chen was already a huge win for Yan Huan. It did not matter who they ultimately thought was the better actress; the important thing was that the viewers had acknowledged that she was a good actress, good enough to be included in a match-up with Liang Chen.
Her popularity continued to soar. There was a significant spike in her popularity when Qing Yao turned to the dark side; her makeup, her long dark dress, and the black mandala flower on her face reflected her transformation from a fairy into a demon. It was a 180 degree transformation, and the viewers were pleasantly surprised to see that Yan Huan had pulled it off flawlessly.
In the meantime, Yan Huan’s Weibo exploded with comments.
I’m Really A Cabbage: “It breaks my heart to see my sweet goddess like that. I’m sure she didn’t mean to turn evil. Sheonly did it because her sect was destroyed and her father died a horrible death. She may have turned evil, but deep down, there’s still some good left in her.”
Innocent Auntie: “My daughter is so beautiful.”
Fake Innocent Auntie: “Stop saying she’s your daughter! She’s MY daughter, okay?! I won’t stop loving my daughter, not even if she turns evil.”
Call Me Cabbage: “Everyone should Follow my lovely goddess.”
I Am A Cabbage: “+1”
A Cabbage: “+2. The rest of you below me, get in line.”
Yan Huan’s Weibo now had a solid following. She had a “Cabbage Army,” a legion of fans who claimed that their brains had turned into cabbage because of their overwhelming love for Yan Huan. The army rapidly increased in size; many people who initially only had a passing interest in Yan Huan began to follow her Weibo, and then eventually turned into her die-hard fan.
The biggest factor contributing to Yan Huan’s meteoric rise in popularity was her inspirational life story: she had started working at an early age to pay for her mother’s medical fees, and had never shied away from the physically demanding jobs. She had started as a stunt double, and had taken every tumble and scrape from her dangerous stunts without complaint. She was 21 years old now, no longer a child, but no one could deny that she had been a very brave young girl when she first started working to feed her family at the tender age of 15.
It was only natural for a life such as hers to inspire feelings of sympathy.
Yan Huan was not yet a household name, but she was well on her way to stardom.
