Chapter 3: 003 Debt Collector Xiao Lu

Chapter 3: 003 Debt Collector Xiao Lu

Netizens initially thought that Lu Xu was just cashing in on Verse’s fame again, but the moment the transaction records were posted, the comments section exploded.

"How much is that, exactly?"

"Seeing the transaction records, I suddenly get the whole ‘dumb and loaded’ thing."

"Didn’t someone say that Lu Xu cleared his Weibo to get on the trending hot search? Well, getting on the hot search helps in collecting debts, I guess."

"Am I the only one who thinks this is a huge amount of money? I wouldn’t even dare to borrow this much funny money. How can someone sleep at night owing that much?"

Yao Yuan was about to blow up, too.

He had never imagined that the usually good-tempered Lu Xu would suddenly flip out!

Less than an hour after Lu Xu posted the records, the hashtags "Lu Xu demands debt" and "Yao Yuan owes money" rapidly climbed the hot search list. Yao Yuan, who had been clinging to Xie Qingyang’s hot search, saw it pushed down by the debt scandal, which had just been in the top three but now fell below 30th place.

Yao Yuan figured Ling Ge Entertainment, Xie Qingyang’s agency, was probably trying to bury the hot search.

Ling Ge Entertainment is famous for its marketing skills. Otherwise, with Verse disbanded for nearly a year, Xie Qingyang and the others wouldn’t still be raking in cash and clout.

Of course, Ling Ge Entertainment realized that relying on Verse’s legacy, it would be hard for the three to continue. This year, their activity was partly due to Lu Xu’s numerous scandals, which naturally made fans more sympathetic to the other three Verse members.

So, when Yao Yuan proposed to ship himself with Xie Qingyang, or rather, unilaterally showed admiration and adoration for Xie Qingyang, Ling Ge Entertainment immediately agreed.

It boosted Xie Qingyang’s profile and gave him some serious buzz.

But right when things were heating up, Yao Yuan got busted by Lu Xu for owing money, totally contradicting his public persona as a generous, straight shooter.

...

Yao Yuan indeed hadn’t repaid the money, but the moment he saw the chat records, his first reaction was to send a message to Lu Xu. However, he found that he was no longer Lu Xu’s friend.

"He’s crazy, can’t he see someone doing well?" Yao Yuan cursed. "It’s just a small amount of money; does he think I can’t afford it?"

He clicked on the hashtag "Yao Yuan Owes Money" and found a screenshot where Lu Xu had called him a close friend in an interview: "Although Lu Xu isn’t great, he did lend someone hundreds of thousands, right?"

"Hundreds of thousands couldn’t even buy the title of a good friend—think about that!"

"Today’s hot search is something I really want to rant about. That variety show was pushed by Lu Xu for Yao Yuan, right? But Yao Yuan only remembers 'Misty Pass.' Isn’t he too old for amnesia, or is the name Lu Xu too hard to say?"

"Now’s not the time to argue," the agent said, eyeing Yao Yuan. "We need to fix this first. Do you have Lu Xu’s account info? Send the money now."

Yao Yuan said he did, but his actions of unlocking his phone were slow. The agent’s brows furrowed slightly, almost imperceptibly.

With the rising heat, Yao Yuan’s appearance fees had also increased, and with his current worth, repaying Lu Xu’s money should have been easy.

He hadn’t repaid the money, leaving himself vulnerable to Lu Xu’s exposure, which was already a mistake. In this situation, Yao Yuan still didn’t seem eager to repay the money to shut Lu Xu up. In the agent’s eyes, this was a bit stingy.

However, Yao Yuan was his most high-profile artist, and although the agent felt dissatisfied, he didn’t say much.

Yao Yuan slowly unlocked his phone, saying he needed to download an app, then claimed his bank card had a limit, showing no intention of repaying for a long time. The agent’s brows furrowed even deeper—he didn’t remember Yao Yuan’s bank card having a limit when he bought a luxury car without blinking an eye last month.

Sighing, Yao Yuan said, "I think we should issue a statement first to explain."

The agent: "..."

Given Yao Yuan's request, it was difficult to refuse. After all, his agency wasn't as big as Ling Ge Entertainment, and as an agent, he didn't have much say in front of the artist.

Thus, Yao Yuan's agency quickly issued a statement on his behalf. The statement mentioned that Yao Yuan's career had only just started and his income was limited. "Yao Yuan expressed gratitude for Lu Xu's help during tough times, and he plans to repay the loan with additional interest once he has saved enough money."

"However, when he tried to reach out to Lu Xu, he discovered his account had been deleted."

"It's common for young idols to struggle financially; not everyone gets lucky like Lu Xu did with Verse, right?"

"No need to be so hard on Yao Yuan—he never planned to skip out on the debt."

"This is ridiculous, how can he repay you if you've deleted his account?"

Yao Yuan discussed with his agent, "I can pay in installments, first return part of it, and slowly pay off the rest. Paying everything upfront would be really tough for me."

Agent: "..."

Thanks to the hype around his CP with Xie Qingyang, Yao Yuan gained popularity and landed several commercial deals and endorsements.

Yao Yuan appeared to be generous and straightforward, but in reality, he was very shrewd. He meticulously tracked his earnings and frequently negotiated with the CEO for a larger cut of the profits.

"This way, fans can also see my determination to repay the debt."

At the same time as the agency's statement was released, Yao Yuan also promised on his Weibo account that though his current income wasn’t enough to cover the debt, he promised to work hard and pay back Lu Xu as soon as possible.

"It’s great that he’s owning up to his mistakes!"

"Sure, Lu Xu made a lot during the Verse days, but let’s not forget how tough it is for young idols."

"Yao Yuan is amazing!! He is always the most sincere and warmest Yao Yuan!"

"It's really not easy to see Xiao Yao's journey. After debuting for so long, he still hasn't paid off his debt. By publicizing his debt, Lu Xu is basically crushing Yao Yuan’s dignity, right? Yao Yuan didn't have the luck to become an overnight sensation, but he will work hard to become better."

Seeing the comments under the hot search topic gradually shift from accusations of not repaying the debt to words of encouragement, Yao Yuan couldn't help but smile.

It was true that he was in the wrong for the debt, but who could blame him when Lu Xu had accumulated so much negative press during the Verse era? Even though Lu Xu didn't have many fans, the fans of the other Verse members were all speaking up for him.

Both Yao Yuan's agency's statement and his personal statement slowly climbed up the hot search list. Although the "Yuanyang CP" fell out of the top 50, thanks to this rare opportunity to be on the hot search, marketers began to repost Yao Yuan's personal story.

They detailed how he went from being a backup dancer to taking the stage, never giving up any chance to perform, and braving the sun at over 40 degrees to offer fans his brightest smile. Ultimately, his optimistic, cheerful, and enthusiastic personality won him a large fan base.

"This is the idol most worthy of admiration!"

"From obscurity to the shining stage, it took Lu Xu a year, but Yao Yuan took six years. But so what? The future is definitely going to be Yao Yuan’s!"

Lu Xu's comment section also gradually shifted from demands for repayment to abuse—this had been Lu Xu's daily experience since the dissolution of Verse a year ago.

At this moment, Lu Xu posted another Weibo.

"Qiu Qi √"

"Ning Weiran √"

"Zhou Zhaoyi √"

"Yi Quan √"

"Yao Yuan has repaid 0 yuan."

"Note: The checkmark (√) means the debt has been paid in full."

"This statistic is updated once a day until everything is settled."

"……"

"？？？？？What the hell, once a day? I'm dying of laughter."

"What's up, did Lu Xu just call people out? At this point, those who weren't called out must be shaking in their boots, right?"

"Lu Xu's message is, cut the crap and pay up already."

"What I'm curious about is, among these people, Yao Yuan probably has the best resources now, and no surprise, he also commands the highest appearance fees. So, while others managed to pay their debts right away, Yao Yuan keeps saying how difficult he is and how he has no money. His life seems better than the others, right?"

"He has money to buy a car but no money to pay back his debt. Didn't you see his fans trying to crowdfund for him? Can't let our idol suffer, after all."

Some marketers are speaking up for Yao Yuan, while others are just enjoying the drama. As soon as Lu Xu posted, marketers immediately turned his statistics into a chart, giving Lu Xu some serious publicity.

Yao Yuan markets himself as having struggled hard to reach his current position, but some marketers pointed out that many of the 'opportunities' he claims he 'didn't give up on' were actually opportunities that Lu Xu helped secure for him.

"Sure, Yao Yuan worked hard, but let's be real, not everyone can land spots on those variety shows, right? For small-time idols, just getting an appearance is a big deal. They'd be thrilled out of their minds to appear on such high-level shows."

"Not only does Yao Yuan's 'struggle journey' omit Lu Xu, but before Verse disbanded, Yao Yuan actually brought up Lu Xu multiple times. Once Lu Xu had scandals and Verse disbanded, have you heard him mention Lu Xu even once since then?"

"For the other three members of Verse, Lu Xu might be a jerk, but he's definitely not that way with Yao Yuan."

"Suddenly feeling bad for Lu Xu... and his wallet. Can I recover from this?"

After crossing off a list of names, Lu Xu went quiet for a while. Netizens thought his next update wouldn't come for at least 24 hours, but as soon as midnight passed, his Weibo page got another update.

——It was exactly the same content as the last one.

"Yao Yuan has repaid 0 yuan (Today marks 768 days since Yao Yuan first borrowed money)"

"Dying laughing—this is what daily updates do?"

Lu Xu specifically replied to this post: "Not hustling for that cash? Sounds like a mindset issue."

Netizens: "……"

Alright.