A screenshot of the post rapidly spread on the internet.

Chou's fans began to flood social media with messages of support, aiming to lift his Super Topic ranking, after what many called a provocation from the younger crowd.

While many of Chou's older fans may have less time and inclination to spend hours on Weibo, that didn't stop them. On Sunday, four days after the post that stirred the pot, their man had overtaken Cai.

Chou was reported to have 110 million votes of support from the overwhelming number of posts and comments from his fans on his community page. Cai had 57 million votes of support.

"A singer's body of work speaks more loudly than figures relating to the internet," said Chen Minge, 27. "Of course, in my school years, when I had a lot more free time, I paid more attention to him, but his songs still serve as the background music of my life.

"In fact, there was no need for him to prove anything by climbing up the internet list. It was just a bit of fun, showing younger people that we could beat them at their own game."

As Chou's fans celebrated on Monday, Cai's fan club said it had enough of data competition on Weibo. "We'll now focus on supporting Xukun to improve his work, including his stage performances," the club's official Weibo account said.

There was even some backlash against internet rankings.

"I suppose in this thing you shouldn't judge either side, because they're just standing up for something they love," one Weibo user said.

Yangtze Evening Post quoted Zhu Lili, a professor at the school of journalism and communication at Nanjing University, as saying: "Chou's fans ... have been able to break the stereotype relating to star-chasing behavior. The gap between different generations of fans is not really that large. After all, they were able to conduct a conversation on the same platform."