# Zhang Yingfei (张颖菲)
**Zhang Yingfei** (张颖菲) is a Chinese mainland actress known for her lead roles in vertical-screen short dramas, including *The Heiress Who Won With Brains* (真千金她是学霸), and a supporting role in the 2024 wuxia television series *[Dashing Youth](https://www.edgepedia.org/dashing-youth)* (少年白马醉春风).[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E5%BC%A0%E9%A2%96%E8%8F%B2/64670299?fromModule=lemma_inlink) She was born in 2004 in Qinhuangdao, Hebei, and trained at the [Central Academy of Drama](https://www.edgepedia.org/central-academy-of-drama).[2](https://www.cpophome.com/zhang-yingfei-2004-profile/) • [3](https://duanjubaike.cn/actor/40/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 2004, Qinhuangdao, Hebei, China[2](https://www.cpophome.com/zhang-yingfei-2004-profile/) |
| Training | Central Academy of Drama, musical theater class of 2021; graduated in June 2025[3](https://duanjubaike.cn/actor/40/) • [1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E5%BC%A0%E9%A2%96%E8%8F%B2/64670299?fromModule=lemma_inlink) |
| First television role | Supporting role (the woman in black) in *Dashing Youth* (少年白马醉春风), aired July 19, 2024[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E5%BC%A0%E9%A2%96%E8%8F%B2/64670299?fromModule=lemma_inlink) • [2](https://www.cpophome.com/zhang-yingfei-2004-profile/) |
| Breakthrough | Lead role Lin Siwang in *The Heiress Who Won With Brains* (真千金她是学霸), aired September 12, 2025; the drama surpassed 1 billion views within a week of release[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E5%BC%A0%E9%A2%96%E8%8F%B2/64670299?fromModule=lemma_inlink) |
| Short-drama output | 22 listed works totaling 1,551 episodes on one streaming catalog[4](https://tv.xiaoai.me/actor/%E5%BC%A0%E9%A2%96%E8%8F%B2.html) |
| Social media | Weibo account 张颖菲Fifi with about 73,000 followers as of late 2026[5](https://www.sina.cn/media/6014091952) |
## Training and stage work
Zhang Yingfei entered the Central Academy of Drama's musical theater class of 2021 and completed her degree, including graduation defenses, in June 2025.[3](https://duanjubaike.cn/actor/40/) • [1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E5%BC%A0%E9%A2%96%E8%8F%B2/64670299?fromModule=lemma_inlink) During her student years she performed the role of Mingfeng (鸣凤) in the musical *Jia* (家) in tour productions in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, and Langfang between July and November 2023.[6](https://y.saoju.net/yyj/artist/2141/show?other=1&page=1) In December 2024 she took part in the stage production *禾下乘凉梦*.[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E5%BC%A0%E9%A2%96%E8%8F%B2/64670299?fromModule=lemma_inlink)
Her Weibo profile identifies her as a performer in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.[5](https://www.sina.cn/media/6014091952)
## Short-drama career
**Television debut.** Her first broadcast credit was a supporting role as the woman in black in *Dashing Youth* (少年白马醉春风), an ancient-costume wuxia series starring Hou Minghao and [He Yu](https://www.edgepedia.org/he-yu), which aired on July 19, 2024.[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E5%BC%A0%E9%A2%96%E8%8F%B2/64670299?fromModule=lemma_inlink) • [2](https://www.cpophome.com/zhang-yingfei-2004-profile/) In her second year at the academy a short-drama crew had invited her to play a lead, but she declined at the time because of preconceptions about the short-drama industry and existing performance commitments.[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E5%BC%A0%E9%A2%96%E8%8F%B2/64670299?fromModule=lemma_inlink)
**Breakthrough.** After graduating she joined the cast of her first leading vertical-screen short drama, *The Heiress Who Won With Brains* (真千金她是学霸), in August 2025; it aired on September 12, 2025, and its viewership reportedly exceeded 1 billion within the first week.[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E5%BC%A0%E9%A2%96%E8%8F%B2/64670299?fromModule=lemma_inlink) Playing Lin Siwang, a clear-eyed true heiress who rises to become a woman executive, she is credited internationally with the role under the English billing "[Linda Walker](https://www.edgepedia.org/linda-walker-character)".[2](https://www.cpophome.com/zhang-yingfei-2004-profile/) A sequel, *The Heiress Who Won With Brains 2* (真千金她是学霸2), was scheduled for November 28, 2025 and aired on November 21, 2025; the first season had surpassed 2 billion views on the Honguo short-drama platform by the time of the sequel's promotion, which itself passed 2 million reservations.[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E5%BC%A0%E9%A2%96%E8%8F%B2/64670299?fromModule=lemma_inlink) • [5](https://www.sina.cn/media/6014091952)
**Output and recurring roles.** Her short-drama catalog is large by volume: one aggregator lists 22 works totaling 1,551 episodes.[4](https://tv.xiaoai.me/actor/%E5%BC%A0%E9%A2%96%E8%8F%B2.html) Recurring characters tie the catalog together. As Yun Ling (云苓) she led *Hustler at Elite School* (误入贵族学校，她只想搞钱, 2025), a 70-episode campus women's-growth comedy flagged as a breakout hit on the short-drama database.[3](https://duanjubaike.cn/actor/40/) • [2](https://www.cpophome.com/zhang-yingfei-2004-profile/) As Su Nian (苏念) she led *Doing Homework to the Sound of Mahjong, I Turned the Tables* (在麻将声中写作业，我逆风翻盘了) and its second season in 2026; her Weibo promotion reported that the series' Honguo viewership had surpassed 1 billion.[5](https://www.sina.cn/media/6014091952) Other lead roles include Shen Zheng (沈筝) in the costume time-travel drama *女县令她又美又霸道* (75 episodes), Er Duo (尔朵) in the Republican-era romance *偏偏惹上她* (55 episodes), and credits billed internationally as *Her Maid Plays the Villain* (2025), *Her Lies, My Rise* (2026), and *No Way Back* (2026).[3](https://duanjubaike.cn/actor/40/) • [2](https://www.cpophome.com/zhang-yingfei-2004-profile/)
In her Weibo posts she has described her screen persona through these characters, calling herself to fans the "top-student sister" (学霸姐) after Lin Siwang, Yun Ling, and Su Nian.[5](https://www.sina.cn/media/6014091952)
## By the numbers
The scale of short-drama production shows in her engagement figures: the short-drama database records 10.74 million likes on her profile there.[3](https://duanjubaike.cn/actor/40/) Per-episode counts are typical of the format, with most of her listed dramas running 55 to 95 episodes of vertical-screen shorts.[4](https://tv.xiaoai.me/actor/%E5%BC%A0%E9%A2%96%E8%8F%B2.html) Viewership figures cited on her social accounts, including 1 billion views within a release week for *The Heiress Who Won With Brains* and over 1 billion for the mahjong-homework series, mark her as a short-drama lead whose works reach audiences on the scale of long-form streaming series.[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E5%BC%A0%E9%A2%96%E8%8F%B2/64670299?fromModule=lemma_inlink) • [5](https://www.sina.cn/media/6014091952)
## Independent status
In an October 1, 2026 post she announced that she had formally left her management agency and would continue working as an independent actor.[5](https://www.sina.cn/media/6014091952) In 2026 she also appeared in public-interest activity abroad, attending an education-focused campaign at Manila City Hall in June 2026 organized by the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry.[7](https://hua.in.th/portal.php?aid=8642&mobile=no&mod=view) A July 2026 interview in the Philippine newspaper *Philstar* carried the headline framing her career as one in which ability, not innate gift, drives success.[8](https://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2026/07/12/2541552/chinese-actress-zhang-yingfei-you-dont-have-be-gifted-succeed)
## References
1. [张颖菲, Baidu Baike](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E5%BC%A0%E9%A2%96%E8%8F%B2/64670299?fromModule=lemma_inlink)
2. [Zhang Yingfei Profile, CPOP HOME](https://www.cpophome.com/zhang-yingfei-2004-profile/)
3. [张颖菲, 短剧百科 (duanjubaike.cn)](https://duanjubaike.cn/actor/40/)
4. [张颖菲, 演员详情, 小爱短剧](https://tv.xiaoai.me/actor/%E5%BC%A0%E9%A2%96%E8%8F%B2.html)
5. [张颖菲Fifi的微博, 新浪新闻](https://www.sina.cn/media/6014091952)
6. [张颖菲过往演出, 秀聚](https://y.saoju.net/yyj/artist/2141/show?other=1&page=1)
7. [中国短剧演员张莹菲现身马尼拉市政厅参与公益活动, 泰国华人网](https://hua.in.th/portal.php?aid=8642&mobile=no&mod=view)
8. [Chinese actress Zhang Yingfei: You don't have to be gifted to succeed, Philstar.com](https://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2026/07/12/2541552/chinese-actress-zhang-yingfei-you-dont-have-be-gifted-succeed)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of East and Southeast Asia › Chinese actors, 2000s onward › Surnames M to Z*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license