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Hong Kong is the gateway to South China, the bridgehead through which the mainland connects to South Asia and the Western world. Since the beginning of the last century, Hong Kong's economic development has consistently outpaced that of the mainland, reaching the standards of developed countries long before others.
But after entering the new century, especially with the explosive growth of the internet industry, Hong Kong gradually began to fall behind. This was particularly obvious in the IT sector, where the number of local high-tech companies was pitifully small. Talents cultivated by Hong Kong Polytechnic University often choose to develop their careers either on the mainland or overseas.
Its unique cultural atmosphere, combined with an outdated industrial structure and a fast-paced, high-pressure lifestyle, resulted in Hong Kong's young people spending relatively little time online on average.
The online spaces Hong Kong youths usually liked to browse and interact on were mainly concentrated in several major BBS forums, large overseas social networking sites, and finally, Hong Kong's own Hong Kong Island Blog.
Aside from professionals, very few people liked visiting mainland websites. Even though mainland websites were far more developed than those in Hong Kong, young people in Hong Kong rarely interacted or communicated with mainland netizens.
Proud and isolated, that was the best way to describe them.
As a result, Hong Kong's online community was a relatively closed virtual world, and Hong Kong Island Forum was undoubtedly one of the largest strongholds in that world. Most people had their own accounts on this BBS site.
Accounts on the Hong Kong Island Forum were linked directly to the Hong Kong Island Blog, and together the two basically formed the Hong Kong people's online home. If you wanted to know about anything big or small happening in Hong Kong, browsing the Hong Kong Island Forum and the blogs would get you first-hand information.
The Hong Kong Island Forum had a total of twelve main sections, one of which was the [Pop Music] board.
The thread titled "Has Anyone Heard This Song Before?" was posted a little after 11 p.m. There were still quite a few users active in the section, most of whom were pop music enthusiasts, including no shortage of professional or semi-professional singers.
Hong Kong pop music had originated in the 1970s and, like Hong Kong cinema, once enjoyed a glorious era. A large number of Hong Kong singers represented by Cantonese songs had once enjoyed extremely high popularity on the mainland.
Although Hong Kong pop music was now showing signs of decline and had, in recent years, fallen into the awkward predicament of producing no classic hits, its fanbase nevertheless remained enormous. As a result, the [Pop Music] board had always been highly active.
Threads asking for song identification or information like this were very common, so quite a few enthusiastic users clicked into it.
The original poster's username was Vivianne. Her verified registration showed she was female, and in her post, she wrote:
"Tonight I went to Lan Kwai Fong with friends and ended up at LaDolceVita97. It just so happened that the bar was holding the LDV King of Singers Awards. Quite unexpectedly, I saw Ye Xuan go on stage and perform Heavenly King Liu's Dawn's Dawn."
At this point, everyone was a little confused. Since it was Ye Xuan singing Heavenly King Liu's Dawn's Dawn, who hadn't heard that song before?
Unexpectedly, Vivianne didn't waste much time talking about Ye Xuan. Instead, she focused on introducing a contestant who appeared after him. Using an almost exaggeratedly enthusiastic tone, she described just how handsome this contestant was, how amazing his singing was, and how deeply moving his performance had been.
At the end, she eagerly asked where she could download the original version of the song this contestant had sung.
Attached to the post was also a short video recorded on her phone.
This sudden twist in direction, combined with her over-the-top tone, made many of the forum's single male members feel rather irritated. Quite a few secretly suspected this was deliberate hype, using Ye Xuan as a stepping stone to gain attention.
Such suspicions were hardly surprising. Hong Kong's pop music scene was currently full of chaos, and new artists and singers constantly resorted to shameless, bottomless publicity stunts to gain fame. Naturally, the [Pop Music] board couldn't escape being affected by this trend.
But regardless of whether it was hype or not, everyone clicked on the video.
They had already made up their minds: first watch the video, then decide. If it really was just hype, they didn't care whether the original poster was a girl or not, they'd definitely roast her mercilessly and then call for the moderators to delete the thread and ban her account.
This seven-minute video was, unsurprisingly, footage of Lu Chen performing "Favorite in Life" live at LaDolceVita97, recording the entire scene from the moment he took the stage all the way until Ye Xuan appeared afterward.
After watching the video, this group of self-proclaimed veteran forum users all fell into a brief silence.
A flood of replies only began appearing several minutes later.
"I haven't heard this song before, but to be fair, it's a really excellent piece!"
"Agreed with the person on the 7th floor, it's a great song, and I haven't heard it before either."
"Can't find it anywhere online. If that's the case, then it's probably an original song. I can only say this singer is seriously impressive."
"Mm, his guitar skills are sharp, and his singing level is very high. He should be a professional, right?"
"Real or fake?"
"Huh, he's this handsome and this capable? He should've become famous ages ago. Why haven't I seen him before? Is he a newcomer?"
"Did none of you pay attention? He said he's from the Mainland and that this is his first time visiting Lan Kwai Fong!"
"From the Mainland? What the hell."
"Not talking anymore, I'm going to transcribe the sheet music for this song first."
"Great song!"
Although many people were puzzled and suspicious, most users in the [Pop Music] section believed that "Favorite in Life" was an outstanding Cantonese song. At the same time, they all expressed shock and surprise that Lu Chen, the singer performing it, had come from the Mainland.
There were countless Hong Kong singers who went to the Mainland to sing Mandarin songs, but Mainland singers coming to Hong Kong to sing Cantonese songs were genuinely rare. There were a few famous examples, of course, but Lu Chen definitely wasn't among them.
In fact, among all these veteran forum users participating in the discussion, not a single one actually recognized Lu Chen.
That was until an account with the ID [Three Bowls of Wine] appeared.
"Hehe, and you still won't admit how ignorant you all are. Do you know who this guy is?"
"The people saying he's using Ye Xuan for hype are honestly laughable. Compared to this guy, Ye Xuan is barely qualified to carry his shoes!"
"You people are all frogs at the bottom of a well!"
As soon as [Three Bowls of Wine] posted, the comment section instantly exploded.
"Old Jiu, if you've got something to say, just say it. What kind of hero acts all mysterious like this?"
"Forgive my ignorance."
"Damn you!"
"Screw you, you bastard!"
"Wine God, please enlighten us!"
[Three Bowls of Wine] was a famous figure on Hong Kong Island BBS, especially in the [Pop Music] and [Film & TV Discussion] sections. He was well-known for his strong professional knowledge, sharp commentary, and poisonous tongue. His fans called him "Wine God," while haters mocked him as "Broken Bowl." He was definitely a highly controversial figure.
His combat power online was absolutely top-tier, and his ability to attract hostility was first-rate. In just a few sentences, he had stirred up a forum war and dragged a whole crowd into the chaos.
As a result, the thread "Has Anyone Heard This Song Before?" blew up, really blew up.
It quickly made its way onto the BBS homepage, and after being spotted by an administrator, it was pinned and marked as a featured thread.
Along with it, the song "Favorite in Life" became known to even more Hong Kong netizens.
(End of Chapter)