Taking Liu Yifei back to Northeast China for the Chinese New Year has sent the entire internet into

March 19th.

There's only one day left until the Red vs. Blue battle.

The Chinese internet has been going crazy for a whole week.

The official accounts of Coca-Cola and Pepsi started a synchronized countdown seven days ago.

One promotional poster per day.

Coca-Cola here—

The background is bright red, featuring Fang Yu's silhouette in profile, with the slogan "Speaking brings happiness."

Pepsi over there—

The deep blue gradient, Liu Yifei's long hair flowing in the background, and the slogan is "Live colorfully now".

The comment sections of both companies have long since turned into a large-scale debate.

[Red Team Assemble! Fang Yu's creations are always top-notch! Delicious is forever the best!]

[Blue Team reporting for duty! The lyrics and music were personally composed by the celestial beauty! Who can fathom the value of this?]

I've subscribed to reminders for both, and I'll start listening promptly at midnight. I'll support whichever one sounds better!

When couples fight, it's us kids who suffer...

Anyone else like me, using Fang Yu in my left ear and Tian Xian in my right, ready for stereo contrast at midnight?

on Weibo.

The topic "March 20th Red vs. Blue Battle" has garnered over 1.8 billion views.

1.8 billion.

Last year's New Year's Eve gala had about the same number of related topics across all platforms.

And right now, this is just the warm-up.

On Douyin and Kuaishou.

Countless music bloggers prepared templates for their "midnight first listening reaction videos" in advance.

We're just waiting for the floodgates to open.

……

3 PM.

A male dormitory at a university.

Four people each occupied one bed.

No one spoke; everyone was staring at their phones.

The dormitory curtains were half-drawn, and the afternoon sunlight of March slanted in through the gaps.

Several milk tea cups that hadn't been thrown away were crookedly squeezed together on the table, with half-dried tapioca pearls still hanging on the straws.

The dorm next door is playing game voice chat outside.

Every word of the cursing at teammates came through.

"Do you even know how to play jungler?!"

"So, you're supporting your dad in the bottom lane, huh?"

"This is my qualifying match! Please stop acting!"

Nobody in the dorms here is paying attention to me.

They're even more nervous than their neighbors right now.

Bed A, Zhao Yuhang.

A die-hard fan of Fang Yu.

The phone wallpaper is a screenshot of Fang Yu's six songs topping the charts.

He rolled over, held his phone above his head, and the speaker was still playing Fang Yu's previous songs.

"Let's put it that way."

"If Brother Yu writes any song, it can beat ten of the opposing team's songs."

"Fairy Sister sings well, but she has never written songs before."

"You think you can beat Brother Yu on your first try?"

Zhao Yuhang's tone became arrogant as he spoke.

"I'm not targeting anyone in particular, I'm saying—anyone here who can't compete with Brother Yu in terms of creative ability is a noob."

He paused for a second, then added.

"Oh no, little sister!"

"I'll beat her up no matter what, even if she's my girlfriend!"

Lin Jie, who was on the upper bunk across from him, rolled his eyes.

He was in bed B and was a fan of Liu Yifei's looks.

"You don't know anything."

Lin Jie pulled his phone out from under his pillow and opened Liu Yifei's new song preview page.

"See that?"

"Lyrics, music, production, and vocals—all four titles are hers alone."

"It was personally reviewed by PepsiCo's Global Brand Director and passed on the first try."

"You, Fang Yu, also had a version like that, right?"

"That's perfect, a worthy opponent."

Zhou Chen is in lower bunk C.

A third-year physics student.

Neutral observer.

At this moment, he had two music apps open on his phone, splitting the screen to the left and right, and both were set to remind him at midnight.

Bed D sneaked over.

"Old Zhou, how are you going to listen?"

Zhou Chen pushed up his glasses, his tone serious.

"Left ear for deliciousness, right ear for everything."

"Play the recordings simultaneously to create a control group experiment."

Bed D was silent for two seconds, then gave a thumbs up.

"People who study physics are just different."

"While others listen to music, you conduct human experiments."

Zhou Chen did not refute.

He nodded seriously.

"Strictly speaking, with only one sample size, the results are not universally applicable."

Bed D: "..."

Row.

There isn't a single normal person in this dormitory.

Four grown men huddled together in a dormitory room of less than 20 square meters.

Someone is dribbling a basketball on the court outside the window.

The sound of the basketball hitting the ground was muffled.

The sound came through the glass, only a rhythmic "thump, thump" could be heard.

Everything was normal.

But everyone is waiting for midnight.

……

8 PM, Hangzhou.

The master bedroom of a shared apartment in the west of the city.

Su Xiaoyu sat cross-legged on the bed, with a ring light and a phone stand in front of her.

The light shone on her face, making the dark circles under her eyes even more noticeable.

Su Xiaoyu is a music blogger with 50,000 followers.

His cover songs and music reviews usually receive mediocre ratings.

But today, she posted a preview—

[Live stream starts promptly at midnight! Frame-by-frame analysis of the two songs, Red and Blue! From arrangement structure to vocal processing, a professional analysis of which is superior! No pay-to-win elements required!]

More than 800 comments flooded the comment section.

It was more than ten times her usual amount.

Su Xiaoyu's palms were sweating.

She repeatedly tested the connection between the sound card and the monitoring headphones, and checked the network latency of the live stream three times.

My finger remained on the mouse for a long time.

This is the biggest surge in traffic she's had in the two years since she entered the industry.

She poured herself a glass of cold water and casually pushed the two cans of drinks on the table toward the camera.

A can of Coca-Cola.

A can of Pepsi.

I went downstairs to FamilyMart this afternoon to buy it.

The red and blue colors, placed side by side under a fill light, look very accurate.

She took a picture with her phone and posted it on her WeChat Moments:

"Let's give it our all tonight."

There are thousands of bloggers like Su Xiaoyu across the internet tonight.

Big and small.

Professional and amateur.

People who make videos, write articles and graphics, and do live streaming.

Everyone is waiting for the same moment.

The entire Chinese internet music content sector is collectively suffering from insomnia tonight.

……

Nine o'clock in the evening.

Mohe.

Kaoshantun, Fangjia.

March in Northeast China is still cold; the snow outside the courtyard hasn't completely melted, but the heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed) inside the house is nice and warm.

Zhao Guifang had already lain down.

The phone was propped up next to the pillow, screen facing up.

The alarm was set for 11:50.

Fang Daqiang rolled over beside him, pulled the blanket up to his chin, and muttered.

"Why are you listening to music in the middle of the night... I have errands to run tomorrow, I have to get up early."

Zhao Guifang slapped him on the back.

"Your son has released a new song!"

"Your daughter-in-law has released a new song too!"

"The whole nation is waiting!"

"You, as the father, aren't you waiting?"

Fang Daqiang remained silent for two seconds.

He turned over, his back to her.

There was another two seconds of silence.

"...Set two alarms."

"I'm afraid I won't wake up if I make a sound."

Zhao Guifang pursed her lips but didn't say anything.

The night in Kaoshantun has quieted down again.