17. Chapter Seventeen

The unified examination results were released in mid-January, and Meng Kaiyan achieved a respectable score, ranking 9th in the city.

This was a cause for celebration, and she rewarded herself with a slice of chocolate mille-feuille cake.

Simultaneous with checking her exam results was the registration for the artistic entrance exams. Meng Kaiyan had signed up for all three major institutions, and it was easy to foresee that February would be a very busy month for her. Aside from these matters, the airing of "Steel Woman" occupied most of her remaining attention.

On January 15th, "Steel Woman" officially premiered on CCTV-8.

As the channel's major kickoff drama for the year, the station had released trailers at the beginning of the month, and to her surprise, Meng Kaiyan had spotted herself in one of them. Though it was only a fleeting glimpse, it was enough to thrill her.

Meng Kaiyan sat on the sofa, hugging her knees. "Mom, this is the first time I've seen my face in a trailer."

Jian Zhenzhu was holding her phone, recording the screen, and said happily, "There will be many more in the future."

Meng Kaiyan stared at the television without blinking, nodding firmly. "Mm."

The drama opened with a scene of the young Qiaohua herding sheep. It had to be said that the actress playing the younger version of the character was quite good. Her eyes drooped slightly, and there was a unique stubbornness in her expression—it was no wonder the director had chosen her.

Jian Zhenzhu sent the video she had just taken to Meng Minghai, who was working overtime, and looked up at the TV, saying, "We didn't see this girl on set; she’s quite pretty."

"That’s because she had already wrapped up her scenes and left by the time we joined the crew," Meng Kaiyan explained. "But she added me through the production group chat; she’s a student at the Beijing Dance Academy."

Jian Zhenzhu praised, "No wonder she’s so tall and has such a good face. She’ll probably pursue an acting career."

Meng Kaiyan only watched the drama for the first two days; by the second day, she couldn't keep up. She had no choice—she had to prepare for the upcoming entrance exams and manage her academic coursework, though she kept track of the data every day.

As expected, the drama fulfilled its duty as a major year-opener, with ratings climbing steadily from the day it premiered. Meng Kaiyan had guessed it would rise, but she hadn't expected it to climb so quickly.

On the first day, the rating was 1.8. This was entirely due to the built-in audience base of Fang Qun, as the previous show on CCTV-8 had performed quite poorly. Even though Fang Qun didn't appear in the first few episodes, the audience knew from the trailers that she was the lead, so they tuned in.

From the second day on, the ratings took off, jumping straight to 2.02, driven by the compelling plot. On the third day, it was 2.12; the fourth, 2.38; the fifth, 2.56; and the sixth was even more exaggerated, soaring to 2.88.

In just six days, the ratings had climbed by a full point—a result many dramas only achieve toward their finale. Meng Kaiyan followed the data with obsessive fervor, even opening a secondary Weibo account to follow several data analysts. Even Lan Tong, who never watched this type of drama, specifically asked her about it.

"What is it actually about?" Lan Tong asked.

"What's it about? Let me think. Well, it's the story of Qiaohua growing from a rural girl with no background into the director of a steel mill," Meng Kaiyan summarized in one sentence. "Hey, didn't you say your fan circle wasn't planning on watching this?"

"..."

"We aren't, but my grandmother is watching it very intently," Lan Tong said. "Though, listening to your summary, it doesn't sound very appealing. But since my Kong Lin is in it, I'll watch it. I need to edit some content featuring him."

Meng Kaiyan, who was frantically catching up on her homework, said quickly, "I have scenes with him. Remember to keep a few shots of me; don't edit them all out."

"OK, would I ever treat you unfairly?" Lan Tong took out her phone, clicked into Weibo, thought for a moment, and asked, "By the way, when do you appear?"

Meng Kaiyan put down her pen and counted on her fingers. "I should appear tomorrow."

She had finally caved and asked Chen Man yesterday. Chen Man had told her she would appear starting from episode 16—earlier than Meng Kaiyan had anticipated.

"I’ll definitely watch tomorrow," Lan Tong said.

Meng Kaiyan felt a bit nervous. "I don't know how I'll look in the final cut."

Lan Tong scrolled through her phone. "Don't worry. The ratings and platform data for this show are great, but the discussion seems average. The audience is probably around the age of my grandmother and mother; even if the acting is bad, they won't go online to flame people."

Meng Kaiyan rolled her eyes. "Say something auspicious, would you?"

"My mouth is rarely right about anything. You’d better let me say more inauspicious things," Lan Tong retorted.

Meng Kaiyan covered her mouth. "Then you'd better just be quiet."

She hadn't taken Lan Tong's words to heart, but after the two episodes aired the following night, the discussion surrounding the drama seemed to head in a strange direction.

As episode 16 began, Meng Kaiyan, who was halfway through her homework, left her room and sat in the living room, eyes glued to the screen.

It started with the police officer played by Liu Lingyun calling out to Qiaohua. Just as Meng Kaiyan had thought at the time, Liu Lingyun was completely overshadowed by Fang Qun in this scene.

Next was Qiaohua running wildly, almost tripping in the process, forcing the workers pushing the manure transport carts to dodge out of the way.

The hallmark of Chen Man's work was how grounded and realistic it was; both the sets and the costumes captured the feel of that era perfectly.

At the time, Meng Kaiyan never dreamed this scene would go viral, be edited into "ghost-animal" meme videos, and lead to the drama breaking out of its niche on the internet.

"Mom, look, that's me!"

She had appeared. Meng Kaiyan’s eyes lit up, and she jumped up in excitement.

Jian Zhenzhu was even more excited than her, her cheeks flushed with joy as she held her phone up to record. "I see you, I see you."

It had been years since Meng Kaiyan had seen herself on television. Even if she had before, it was always a fleeting glimpse or just a single segment. She had never been given a growth arc like this, nor so many close-up shots.

Even then, she had always been full of joy and yearning for the future, firmly believing that one day she would play the lead.

Until she hit wall after wall, being rejected time and time again.

"Your face isn't right. No."
"Little girl, go back to school. You aren't meant for the screen."
"How did she even get selected? She should have been filtered out in the initial screening. Why waste time keeping her?"

...

Meng Kaiyan had heard these words too many times. Often, the moment she walked in front of a casting director, they would frown as if they were looking at a defective product.

She hated this feeling—the feeling of being looked down upon. Yet, she understood that it wasn't anyone's fault; this was just how the lens worked, how the circle was.

Each failure lit a raging fire in her heart. If nothing had changed, that fire would have slowly extinguished over time. She was unwilling, yet helpless.

That was until she obtained the system that changed her fate, like pouring a bucket of gasoline onto a burning flame.

*Boom.*

A wild ambition she had never felt before rose within her: she wanted to be the lead, she wanted to be famous, she wanted to have a voice, and she wanted to be impossible to ignore wherever she went.

"Are you my aunt?"

Cui Cui finally spoke on the television. That was Meng Kaiyan's first line in the show, and it pulled her forcefully out of the whirlpool of memories.

"It feels so strange, Mom. I feel so strange on TV." Meng Kaiyan pouted, her eyes suddenly turning red. She ran over and hugged Jian Zhenzhu. "I... I'm happy, but my heart feels a little sour."

"Oh, Nini, this is the sweetness after the bitterness. Heaven rewards the diligent; hard work will be rewarded," Jian Zhenzhu put down her phone, hugging her tightly with a pained heart, wiping away her tears.

Meng Kaiyan shook her head frantically, tears streaming down her face. Burying her face in her mother's chest, she muffled, "No, it's not. It's not true that hard work always gets rewarded."

It was her face! It was her face!

Once she became beautiful, the roles that had once been so far out of reach were now obtained with ease.

She just had to reach out, stand on her tiptoes, and she had them.

Meng Kaiyan wept. In truth, she still wasn't beautiful enough. She needed to become even more beautiful.