Kuang Youfang

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Kuang Youfang (匡有放)
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Ambition Studio 5
Occupation/Role	Fang Huiwang’s agent and studio partner; publicity and marketing strategist 5 9
First Appearance	Chapter 5

Background / History

Kuang Youfang manages Fang Huiwang’s career while serving as his partner at Ambition Studio. He treats celebrity relationships, fan culture, and online controversies as commercial tools, repeatedly attempting to convert Fang’s past relationship with Xie Ran into traffic, investment, and studio resources 5 14 31.

When Xie Ran publicly rejects Fang after their New Year’s reunion, Kuang alerts Fang to the resulting trending topics and supports his decision to move Nangong Xu’s launch to directly compete with Xie Ran Studio’s virtual-idol event 5. He initially regards Xie Ran’s technological claims as empty hype, but Meng Feixuan’s debut overturns Ambition Studio’s strategy and forces him to withdraw its planned smear materials 8 12.

Personality

Kuang is calculating, opportunistic, and highly attuned to online public opinion. He views fan conflicts, CP speculation, and negative publicity as assets that can be purchased, directed, and converted into commercial value 9 14 16.

He is also pragmatic rather than blindly loyal. When Ambition Studio’s situation worsens, he recognizes Xie Ran’s growing industry influence and urges Fang Huiwang to genuinely win him back rather than merely sustain a superficial publicity pairing 31. However, Kuang is prone to anxiety when his campaigns fail or when Meng Feixuan’s abilities exceed his expectations 12 46 50.

Abilities & Skills

Publicity Operations

Kuang organizes promotional campaigns around Ambition Studio’s projects and Fang Huiwang’s public image.

• Arranged Nangong Xu’s launch to match Xie Ran Studio’s event in date, time, and format, maximizing public comparisons between the two projects 7.
• Coordinated trending topics around Fang and Xie Ran’s appearance on Somewhere Else with You, preparing alternative narratives for either a warm or hostile reunion 14.
• Modified the Wangran CP campaign after Xie Ran’s dominant on-camera presence made Fang appear subordinate rather than romantically close to him 15 16.
• Used paid commenters to amplify comparisons between Xie Ran’s virtual-idol presentation and Nangong Xu’s debut 9.

Online Narrative Manipulation

Kuang employs troll farms and marketing accounts to influence public discussions.

• Secretly hired paid commenters to push “Xie Ran idol consciousness” into the trending searches, intending to turn Xie Ran’s presentation into publicity for Nangong Xu 9.
• Organized manipulated support for Fang Huiwang’s anonymous photography entry by having Fang photograph an identifiable subject and directing paid accounts to promote it 28.
• Attempted to remove prepared attacks on Xie Ran after Meng Feixuan’s unexpected transformation exposed the weakness of Ambition Studio’s position 12.
• Tried to discredit Meng Feixuan’s livestream by alleging that Xie Ran had hired actors, but the accusation was overwhelmed by Meng’s live gameplay and interaction 50.

Business Assessment

Kuang closely tracks Ambition Studio’s finances, investments, and commercial opportunities.

• Recognized that controversy surrounding Xie Ran’s launch could draw technology-industry attention to Nangong Xu and attract previously uninterested investors 9.
• Reported that Black Star Technology’s valuation and Ambition Studio’s cash flow deteriorated after Meng Feixuan overshadowed Nangong Xu 15.
• Initially advocated selling Nangong Xu cheaply to recover losses, but later supported Fang’s decision to redevelop the virtual idol 39.
• Reported Heavenly Sound’s investment and Ambition Studio’s doubled valuation following Nangong Xu’s successful music video 45.

Relationships

• Fang Huiwang — His artist and Ambition Studio partner. Kuang advises Fang on career decisions, arranges publicity campaigns for him, and later follows Fang’s increasingly forceful plans to revive Nangong Xu and maintain the Wangran CP 5 39 45.
• Xie Ran — Professional rival and frequent target of Kuang’s marketing strategies. Kuang alternately exploits Xie’s publicity value, attempts to undermine him, and recognizes that Ambition Studio may need Xie’s resources to survive 9 31 50.
• Ni Le — Collaborates with him during Nangong Xu’s launch and the project’s redevelopment. Kuang relies on Ni’s technical assurances when judging Xie Ran’s virtual-idol technology 7 10 39.
• Meng Feixuan — A rival virtual idol whose debut repeatedly disrupts Kuang’s campaigns and assumptions. Kuang initially dismisses Meng’s autonomous behavior as staged marketing before being forced to confront evidence of his exceptional intelligence 47 50.
• Yashen Internet Marketing — A marketing firm Kuang contacts to execute and revise the Wangran CP publicity campaign 16.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Nangong Xu Launch Rivalry

Following Xie Ran’s public rejection of Fang Huiwang, Kuang supports Fang’s retaliatory decision to advance Nangong Xu’s release and schedule it directly against Xie Ran Studio’s virtual-idol launch 5. He deliberately mirrors Xie Ran Studio’s press-conference format to intensify the rivalry and drive public attention 7.

Kuang believes Xie Ran’s claims about virtual-idol consciousness will help Nangong Xu by drawing technology companies to the competition. He escalates online comparisons with paid commenters, only for Lan Zhi’s endorsement and Meng Feixuan’s later transformation to reverse the situation completely 9 12.

Wangran CP Marketing Campaign

Kuang helps Fang use Somewhere Else with You to revive the Wangran CP. He arranges trending topics before Fang reunites with Xie Ran on camera and prepares multiple publicity narratives based on Xie’s response 14.

The plan fails to produce the intended romantic image: Xie Ran’s commanding demeanor makes Fang appear like an assistant, leaving Kuang’s team struggling to adapt already-paid-for campaign materials 15 16. Despite the poor results, Kuang remains invested in the campaign because of the money already spent 16.

Photography-Vote Manipulation

Kuang develops a scheme to secure Fang’s victory in the show’s anonymous photography vote. Fang photographs a predetermined marker, allowing Kuang’s paid commenters to identify and promote his entry across online platforms 28.

Xie Ran’s photograph is subsequently confirmed by Xia Xi as an almost exact recreation of the setting and composition of New and Old Xi. The resulting attention exposes irregularities in Fang’s unusually high vote count, leaving Kuang to delete comments and contain evidence of manipulation 30.

Ambition Studio’s Decline and Recovery

As Ambition Studio’s finances worsen and Xie Ran Studio rises, Kuang concludes that Fang must win Xie Ran back because Xie will soon hold major entertainment resources 31. Later, he worries that Nangong Xu has lost market value and advises selling the project, but Fang rejects the proposal and orders a renewed development plan 39.

After Nangong Xu’s music video and Heavenly Sound’s investment revive Ambition Studio, Kuang credits Fang’s negotiations and redevelopment strategy for the studio’s recovery 45. He nevertheless becomes alarmed again when Xie Ran secures the Stardust endorsement and Meng Feixuan’s Fight the Landlord controversy begins overturning public opinion 46 50.

Trivia

• Kuang once calls Xie Ran Fang Huiwang’s “lucky star” because Xie’s controversial launch unexpectedly drew technology-industry attention to Nangong Xu 9.
• He eventually suspects that Fang Huiwang’s hostility toward Meng Feixuan may be romantic jealousy rather than solely business rivalry 49.