Chapter 017 V Studies

Chapter 017 V Studies

Marketers have tirelessly dug through even the earliest stage costumes and interview records of Verse, eventually concluding that Lu Xu's outfits were mismatched with his teammates' much earlier than fans had realized.

"Let's go over Verse's debut timeline. Initially, Ling Ge Entertainment planned to debut Xie Qingyang, Gu Sinian, and Meng Qin as a trio. Lu Xu was added later. At that time, Verse's main agent described Lu Xu as someone who 'had good fortune.'"

"Thus, we can consider that Lu Xu's much-criticized skills in the early years were simply because he joined the group late and didn't undergo the same long-term, systematic training as the others."

"This is a comparison of individual popularity within Verse a year and a half after their debut. We compiled search data from six platforms, which shows that at this stage, Lu Xu's popularity was far ahead within Verse."

"However, please note that from this stage onwards, the standing positions of the four members changed—Lu Xu, who was previously positioned more towards the center, was moved to the edge, forming the more widely recognized Verse standing arrangement today."

"At this point, Verse had completed their initial popularity accumulation and entered the stage of becoming a top boy group. The members' costumes became more refined, Lu Xu's erratic fashion choices officially began, and he started losing fans due to incidents like being impolite during signing events, giving fans the cold shoulder, giving his teammates the cold shoulder, and acting like a diva."

"..."

A certain marketer, known for data analysis, exposed the rumor that Lu Xu allegedly purchased his stage outfits himself. Starting from Verse's debut and continuing until their disbandment, he thoroughly analyzed the popularity, costumes, and resources of the four Verse members, using real data. His account was thus distinguished from other marketers who simply reposted for money, earning considerable trust from fans.

In the early days, Lu Xu was highly popular, but his popularity plummeted due to scandals. However, no matter the period, his resources were disproportionate to his popularity (referring only to the resources provided by Ling Ge Entertainment).

↑This is the data-driven analysis.

Another marketer, known for dissecting language and expressions, gave birth to the renowned "V Studies" after analyzing numerous interview videos and live event footage of Verse.

For example, in V Studies, Gu Sinian's "notes and tears" are just the basics.

If one can analyze which editing apps each of the three used to make Lu Xu look different in the same scene, and why, despite being the tallest, Lu Xu always appears shorter in group photos, they have reached the intermediate level of V Studies.

The advanced stage of V Studies involves Lu Xu helping an elderly person cross the road and donating multiple times, only for his teammates to claim credit by saying "this is what we Verse do."

"…Oh my god, I used to think Lu Xu looked quite aggressive, with his strong features, and assumed he was the scheming type, but he's actually naive and sweet!"

"To be honest, I wouldn't survive three episodes of V group activities."

"Lu Xu was really played out."

As for another marketer, with the formidable ability to uncover the brands, occasions, and prices of hundreds of outfits in a single day, they stood out in the great Verse exposé.

It turns out that even as marketers, without solid skills, it's hard to stand out in this chaotic battlefield.

"…I'm starting to feel a bit sorry for Lu Xu."

"As someone who used to be a fan of Lu Xu, even though I've long stopped being a fan, Lu Xu himself is someone who is shy and reserved and not good at winning people over."

"+1, the timeline and popularity analysis should be correct. When Verse first debuted, Lu Xu was very popular, and he often brought his teammates on variety shows, but the teammates' fans refuse to admit it and say Lu Xu was the one being brought along."

"…I was really shocked by the photo editing. They actually used three different editing methods."

"Ahhhh, the teammates are becoming increasingly dramatic, and Lu Xu, who always falls into their traps, is really just naive and sweet, right?"

"Laugh die, as an outsider, I can sense the traps in their words, but Lu Xu is completely oblivious to it, help!"

"I kind of feel lucky that Lu Xu left the group. I feel like he's already graduated from V Studies, which is why he can go head-to-head with Gu Sinian."

...

The moment Yang Shu's costumes in The Noble Son were exposed, Ling Ge Entertainment had already sensed something was wrong.

The fire had initially only burned Gu Sinian alone, but based on the current trend, it seems that Xie Qingyang and Meng Qin might not be able to escape it either.

Currently, the three members of Verse are cash cows for Ling Ge Entertainment. Not only do they command astonishingly high appearance fees, but each of them also carries double-digit commercial deals. If their reputations are tarnished, Ling Ge Entertainment's year-end financial report might be cut in half.

So, as marketers and netizens quietly scrutinized their outfits, hashtags like #Lu Xu's Performance Outfits# and #The Noble Son's Look# disappeared from the top of the trending list.

Several high-profile discussions were hit with 'false rumor' warnings and lawyer letters from Ling Ge Entertainment.

But this couldn't curb the curiosity of the masses.

The entertainment world was starving for some juicy gossip, and now that a big story had come along, who would let it go?

The study of Verse never ends.

Among the onlookers were several celebrities who accidentally liked posts and then quickly unliked them, adding more heat to the Verse battle.

Of course, the most important thing was that Ling Ge Entertainment had gone a bit overboard.

"I can't even post about buying clothes myself, haha."

"+1, I just posted a famous Verse quote on Xie Qingyang's Weibo and got banned."

"...They're really good at bullying and silencing people, Ling Ge Entertainment."

"AAAAAAA!"

What really got the netizens screaming was that they couldn’t post keywords like 'self-purchased' and 'promotional outfits.' Even Lu Xu, at the center of the controversy, couldn’t post these terms either.

Lu Xu had to take screenshots of the posts he couldn’t send and tag Ling Ge Entertainment’s official account, his former bandmates, and his ex-agent.

The content Lu Xu wanted to post had nothing to do with the recent discussions; it was just "at the age of 20+, I can independently buy a bicycle and start exercising."

He included a picture of a shiny new mountain bike.

But he still couldn’t post it.

So he quietly asked his old team and agent, "Are you guys going to buy it for me?"

"I'll buy it!"

"I looked everywhere but couldn’t figure out why mentioning a bicycle was banned."

"Try changing it to 'dog buys bike,' that’s how I got mine through."

"...I only know about people buying paparazzi shots, but Ling Ge Entertainment is buying shots of people."

"At 20-something, 'dog buys bike,' LOL, poor Lu is speechless."

In short, Ling Ge Entertainment's actions only increased the discussion around the Verse members and pushed marketers to come up with even wilder theories.

Lu Xu did nothing, or rather, just bought a bicycle, which led to his Weibo gaining 2 million new followers.

In this wave of discussion, other members of *The Noble Son* also contributed.

For example, when several of Lu Xu's outfits were analyzed for their prices, the official account of *The Noble Son* would repost them with a shocked expression: "This is enough to film two episodes of *The Noble Son*, so much money!"

Verse experts noted that *The Noble Son* could shoot two episodes with just a few outfits, yet still outshone *Watchmen*, despite its massive budget.

Yang Shu posted: "Let me wear it for a bit [heart]."

Weibo Scholar analysis: Given that Lu Xu had lent clothes to Meng Qin before but was still accused of stealing clothes by Meng Qin’s fans, this is clearly sarcasm directed at Meng Qin.

Xia Xuewen posted two emojis—a clothes emoji and a tears emoji—echoing Gu Sinian’s previous music note and tears emojis.

Weibo Scholar: Initiated.

...

Despite the online uproar, Lu Xu himself wasn’t affected much.

He had already deleted almost all contact information from Ling Ge Entertainment. Even if they wanted to vent their anger, they wouldn’t be able to find him.

When Verse disbanded, Ling Ge Entertainment had already released all his "scandals," so later on, Xie Qingyang and the others could only repeatedly mention Verse’s group spirit to gain heat, but they couldn’t continue to smear Lu Xu.

When a person is covered in scandals, in a way, they become invincible.

Lu Xu was invincible, but Xie Qingyang, Gu Sinian, and Meng Qin were not. Even after Verse disbanded, they were still tightly bound to Verse. Verse was one of their key personas.

During this time, these individuals must have been overwhelmed.

...

Lu Xu was still waiting for his audition result.

In his previous life, he wouldn’t have had to worry about these things. Not to mention a secondary male role, even the male lead role, he had the first pick.

But Lu Xu didn’t see starting over as a regret.

Not being able to act was.

Starting a new life and still doing what he loved, for Lu Xu, this was more of a challenge. After all, the reincarnation was beyond his control. No matter how much he resisted, it would happen anyway.

Lu Xu waited for a week, but there was still no response from the crew. Lu Xu had a feeling that this role probably wasn’t his—there weren’t many actors who participated in the audition that day. Roughly every four people auditioned for one role, and only four or five roles needed to be finalized.

A casting result should have been out within a day, unless there was a power struggle between several agencies, which wouldn’t take that long.

But without any notification, he had to keep waiting.

Lu Xu sighed, then his phone suddenly vibrated.

It was a message from the assistant director who had added him.

The assistant director regretted to inform Lu Xu that he hadn’t been selected this time, but they would collaborate again in the future.

Lu Xu only replied with "Okay." Perhaps because he didn’t ask further, the assistant director added a few more sentences, essentially saying that the director and scriptwriter had originally had high hopes for him, but unfortunately, he had stirred up trouble online.

"Take my advice, bro, it’s normal for actors to suffer grievances. Our crew prefers obedient actors."

"If you’re too sharp-edged, this industry won’t have room for you. You’ll understand this later."

None of the grievances Lu Xu had endured were mentioned, only that the bad online backlash was all his fault.