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On September 6th, the day after Lu Chen's debut album "My Old Classmate" was promoted on WeChat Music, a user with the ID "Entertainment Circle Gossip Guy" posted on Wave Blog, tagging @Lu ChenFMX.
The post featured a video clip of an interview with Cui Zhengzhi from the entertainment channel of Wave Net that aired the previous day.
The Entertainment Circle Gossip Guy added a smirking emoji, hinting at mischief while tagging Lu Chen.
This account is somewhat famous on Wave Blog, boasting over a million followers. It specializes in reposting various gossip from the entertainment industry, churning out hundreds of articles daily.
The public has a voracious appetite for gossip, especially regarding the latest happenings in the entertainment world, making it a hot topic of interest. This user has capitalized on that demand, consistently curating and sharing entertainment news, which has earned him considerable popularity on the platform.
His favorite tactic is to tag the individuals involved in the gossip directly in his posts.
While most celebrities tend to ignore the Entertainment Circle Gossip Guy, there are always exceptions.
Five minutes later, Lu Chen replied: "Come to War!"
A simple three-word response, punctuated with an exclamation mark, left the Entertainment Circle Gossip Guy momentarily speechless.
He recognized each word but was puzzled by their combination— what did "Come to War" mean?
Finding it amusing, he posted again, asking for clarification on "Come to War."
He tagged @Lu ChenFMX once more.
However, this time, Lu Chen did not respond.
But the Entertainment Circle Gossip Guy had a loyal following, and upon seeing this intriguing post, his fans began to chime in with their guesses.
Responses ranged from the absurd to the hilarious, eliciting laughter from many.
Eventually, someone explained, based on the context of previous posts, that it was shorthand for "let's have a good fight."
The Entertainment Circle Gossip Guy suddenly got it, sending three laughing emojis while tagging @Lu ChenFMX and Cui Zhengzhi!
His intention was clear: he wanted to stir up a conflict between the two.
Unfortunately, neither Lu Chen nor Cui Zhengzhi paid him any mind.
However, the phrase "Come to War," with its unique connotation, began to circulate widely on Wave Blog.
Lu Chen has over 5 million followers on Wave Blog, while Cui Zhengzhi boasts over 9 million. Both rose to fame through talent shows— one as the runner-up of Xiangnan TV's "Super Boy" and the other as the champion of "Singing China."
Moreover, both are young and talented, releasing their albums on the same day on the same platform, which was bound to create a buzz in the entertainment world.
As a result, many users, including verified accounts, shared the Entertainment Circle Gossip Guy's post, amplifying Cui Zhengzhi's provocation and Lu Chen's spirited response to a broader audience.
Fans familiar with Cui Zhengzhi know that this idol, of mixed Chinese and Korean descent, is known for his directness and arrogance, believing he will easily outshine Lu Chen, which he sees as entirely reasonable.
But Lu Chen's response genuinely surprised everyone.
As a newly debuted independent artist, Lu Chen had cultivated an image of humility and politeness. Even when provoked, he typically refrained from reacting aggressively, preferring to let his work speak for itself.
However, today, his response to Cui Zhengzhi's taunt was full of energy!
'If you want to fight, then let's have a proper showdown!'
Not silent, not enduring, not humble, nor arrogant— these three simple words carried immense weight!
The demographic that frequents blogs is primarily young people, many of whom are at a rebellious and impulsive stage in life. Thus, under careful embellishment and dissemination by some, this fresh phrase gained traction on the blog and quickly spread to forums, discussion boards, and WeChat groups.
The ones who truly ignited this phrase were Lu Chen's fans!
Many members of the Lu family army, upon grasping the situation, were filled with righteous indignation. They didn't need anyone to organize or incite them; they logged into their accounts and stormed into Cui Zhengzhi's blog, discussion boards, and related forums, leaving the powerful declaration of "Come to War!"
Naturally, Cui Zhengzhi's fans were not pleased and immediately retaliated against Lu Chen's supporters!
September 6th happened to be a Sunday, and with many people having free time, this phrase gained even more momentum.
That evening, "Come to War" topped the trending search terms on Wave Blog.
Thousands of blog users learned about Lu Chen, the confrontation between him and Cui Zhengzhi, and the upcoming release of the album "My Old Classmate" on the 8th.
As this hot term appeared on the homepage of Wave Blog, in dorm room 307 of the graduate building at Capital City University of Technology, Wang Yu had just opened a post.
As a moderator of the Beihai City forum, Wang Yu greatly enjoyed this part-time job. While his roommates were out on romantic outings with their girlfriends, he sat in front of the computer, like a vigilant lord surveying his domain. If he noticed any discordant situations, he would decisively eliminate them.
Sometimes he would enthusiastically assist newcomers to the forum, answering everyday questions with great care, earning much praise and immense satisfaction from it.
Opening a newly posted thread in the "Free Space" section, Wang Yu felt a sense of disgust.
Because this post was a promotional one and an official promotional post at that.
The Beihai City Forum, also known as the Beihai University City Forum, has a 20-year history and is a nationally recognized BBS community for college students, famous for gathering a large number of students from capital universities.
For a BBS community to endure for such a long time, it requires a continuous influx of funding, which must be achieved through advertising and other means to generate profit or subsidize operational costs.
Official promotional posts are also a way for the website to make money. The forum strongly suppresses external advertising posts and promotional articles, not only to maintain the normal order of the community but also because they want to keep the profits within.
As a moderator, Wang Yu has the duty to protect such posts, ensuring they remain at the forefront of the forum.
Being a moderator of the Beihai City forum not only satisfies his inner needs but also provides him with a subsidy.
Despite this, Wang Yu still dislikes official promotional posts.
He feels that allowing such posts tarnishes a certain sacred part of his heart.
Well, although Wang Yu is a science and engineering guy, he has an artistic soul.
[The most touching voice of this graduation season, I cried listening to it, how about you?]
Just seeing the title of the post made Wang Yu's skin crawl.
He opened it with a pinched nose, preparing to perform his routine duty of pinning it to the top.
However, the next moment, Wang Yu was stunned.
Because he recognized the person in the still frame attached to the video in the post.
And he was very familiar with him.
Lu Chen— champion of "Singing China"!
Wang Yu first learned about Lu Chen not from this popular reality show, but from a post on the forum a few months ago titled [Discovered a Handsome Guy at Houhai Bar, and a Great Song!].
At that time, this post sparked quite a bit of controversy in the "Free Space" section.
This was Wang Yu's first time hearing Lu Chen sing, performing "My Old Classmate."
He awarded that post with a "Moderator's Recommendation" badge.
Posts in the forum that receive the "Moderator's Recommendation" badge are automatically pinned to the top for 24 hours, allowing everyone browsing the forum to see them.
This prestigious badge is not given out lightly; Wang Yu's authority allows him to award it only ten times a month.
Most importantly, once a recommended post is pinned, it will be scrutinized by countless users.
Thus, moderators who value their reputation and care about their image would never easily give out recommendation badges.
Even for official promotional posts.
Because of the song "My Old Classmate," Wang Yu learned about Lu Chen, the bar vagabond singer, and later saw him again in the "Singing China" competition, following his journey closely.
When Lu Chen won the championship of "Singing China," he even excitedly celebrated with two bottles of beer!
Now, seeing that this official promotional post was actually related to Lu Chen, Wang Yu immediately chose to play the video.
The video was very clear, obviously not shot with a phone. The background shown in the video made him realize that this was a recording from the 2015 graduation party of Jianghai University.
Lu Chen stood on the big stage with a guitar, and the giant screen behind him displayed the words "Those Flowers."
'Those Flowers!'
Wang Yu almost jumped up; he had heard Lu Chen sing this song during "Singing China" and had liked it very much. Later, he downloaded the live version audio file from WeChat Music and had kept it on his phone.
This was the first time he had seen this video.
"That laughter reminds me of my Those Flowers, Quietly blooming in every corner of my life."
"I once thought I would always be by her side, But now we have blown apart."
The moving melody quietly drifted into Wang Yu's ears.
Unlike the competition in "Singing China," Lu Chen accompanied himself with just a guitar at the graduation party, and the sound quality could not compare to the professional equipment used by Capital City TV.
But listening to this familiar song and watching Lu Chen sing alone under the spotlight, with images of beautiful, lovely, innocent, and passionate girls appearing and disappearing on the screen behind him, his heart felt as if it were being tightly grasped by an invisible hand, even his breathing paused.
Lu Chen's voice floated through the auditorium, and the camera turned to the audience, where many girls were in tears, either sobbing alone or hugging each other for comfort, freely expressing the emotions stirred within them.
Wang Yu could fully feel the atmosphere of the scene through the video.
That intense sadness made his nose tingle and his eyes feel sore.
As the camera returned, Lu Chen on stage had tears in his eyes, yet he still wore a faint smile, singing so emotionally that his voice became choked!
Wang Yu felt that he sang even better than in "Singing China."
This moderator of the Beihai City forum, without a second thought, awarded this post a pin and sent it a recommendation badge!
Whether it was an official promotional post was completely irrelevant!
(End of this chapter)