This director is vindictive.

Chapter 256 Chen Mo: You Can't Learn My Romance
Jing Tian stood in front of the glass curtain wall of Huayun Apparel's headquarters, her fingertips lightly brushing against the buttons of a moon-white cheongsam in the display case.

The design sketch for this modified cheongsam was something she casually drew seven years ago on the set of "My Love from the Star." At the time, she was acting with Chen Mo while wearing her costume, and the wide sleeves of her Hanfu kept brushing against the teacup. So she doodled on the back of the script, thinking how wonderful it would be if traditional elements could be made more everyday.

Later, it evolved into the fact that all the lead actors in the production team participated in the "design," and each person had a special set of costumes that they "designed" themselves.

"What are you looking at so intently?" Chen Mo appeared behind her at some point, holding two cups of coffee in his hand.

"Look at this."

Jing Tian pointed to the subtle pattern on the collar of the cheongsam: "Isn't this exactly the same pattern as the one on Cheon Song-yi's pajamas in the drama?"

Chen Mo leaned closer to take a look, then suddenly burst out laughing: "It really is! Isn't this the one we altered at the last minute? You said the collar was too plain, so you insisted on embroidering a few lines yourself." He reached out and touched the fabric: "I remember you pricked your fingers several times with a needle back then, and I..."

“You even went to the pharmacy and bought ten different kinds of band-aids.” Jing Tian chimed in, her eyes crinkling with laughter. “But when I got them, I found they were all sports band-aids. They looked like I was wearing ten rings on my fingers.”

The two exchanged a smile, their overlapping figures reflected in the glass seeming to transport them back to the set of "My Love from the Star" seven years ago. Back then, Huayun was just beginning to emerge, and many people knew that the costumes in the show were meticulously designed by Huayun's designers.

But that's not entirely true. For example, this piece was something Jing Tian casually changed on a whim.

Back then, she was a naive girl who loved needlework but was also bad at it. Even though she didn't know how to sew, she insisted on trying, and ended up pricking her fingers until tears streamed down her face.

At that time, Chen Mo felt both sorry for him and amused.

Of course, she doesn't actually know how to design, but that doesn't stop her from having a wild imagination!

"Chairman Chen, Teacher Jing, everything's ready over there. Shall we go over now?" Zhang Bing asked as she walked over.

Chen Mo nodded and casually stuffed the coffee into Jing Tian's hand: "Try it. It's from your favorite shop back then. You always had this shop deliver coffee to the film crew. Try it and see if the taste has changed."

"Oh? You still remember?" Jing Tian took the coffee cup and examined the familiar yet unfamiliar packaging, saying with some surprise.

"The taste is a little different!" she said, taking a sip and then frowning slightly.

“Of course, after all these years, that store has become a chain.” Chen Mo wasn’t too surprised by this.

"By the way, Chen Mo, why did you suddenly bring me here?" Jing Tian asked in confusion.

"You'll find out in a bit!" Chen Mo said, keeping everyone in suspense.

Led by Zhang Bing, the two arrived at a room in Huayun Clothing.

The moment Jing Tian pushed open the carved wooden door, her breath caught in her throat—a room full of bright red wedding gowns burst into view like flames, the gold-embroidered dragons and phoenixes shimmering under the lamplight. The most magnificent bright red gown in the very center was undoubtedly the most eye-catching.

"Chen Mo!" Jing Tian grabbed the arm of the person next to her, her nails digging almost into his suit fabric. As she turned her head, her hair brushed against Chen Mo's chin, her voice trembling: "This...this is..."

Chen Mo chuckled softly and reached out to brush the strands of hair stuck to her lips: "Hmm, surprised? These were all made just for you!"

At this moment, designer Li Rongrong came out from behind the clothes rack.

"Let me introduce you!" Chen Mo said with a smile.

Li Rongrong walked to the most eye-catching "main" outfit and introduced it: "This is the main dress from the 'Phoenix Auspiciousness' series!"

She pointed to the phoenix crown headdress placed to the side and said, "This phoenix crown headdress is made of pure silver with gilt or kingfisher feather inlay, and is adorned with pearls, gemstones, and a gold phoenix hairpin."

"It consists of a main crown, a beaded curtain, sideburns, and matching hairpins!"

With gold dust still clinging to her fingernails, she flicked it onto the phoenix crown: "Look here, the base is made of genuine silver gilt, and the kingfisher feather inlay is made from kingfisher feathers salvaged from antique pieces—the law doesn't allow the use of kingfisher feathers anymore, so these are all old stock materials."

As Jing Tian leaned closer to look, the pearls adorning the phoenix crown suddenly dazzled her eyes.

"All the pearls are South Sea pearls, each with a diameter of over 9mm."

Li Rongrong twirled the string of beads, making a rustling sound. "This string of beads is called 'picking the beads.' When the bride walks, she has to lower her head slightly, and the beads feel cool against her face—our ancestors loved playing this coy and inviting game."

She couldn't help but laugh as she spoke.

However, Chen Mo could tell that the other party had indeed put their heart into it.

Of course, it's impossible to actually release all wedding dresses in this series in this way, as most people probably couldn't afford them anyway.

However, this set was naturally custom-made for Jing Tian, ​​so money was no object.

After introducing the phoenix crown, she then began to introduce the "embroidered robe"!
Many people know about the phoenix coronet and embroidered robe, but they may not really know what they actually look like.

"The xiapei is divided into an upper garment and a lower garment. Our series is based on the style of the Ming Dynasty, with a wide embroidered ribbon that wraps around the neck like a modern sash, and a gold and jade pendant at the end."

The pattern used was the pheasant, a bird reserved for imperial concubines.

The top features wide sleeves and a front opening, while the bottom comes in two designs: a horse-face skirt and a pleated skirt. The horse-face skirt has a smooth surface in the front and back, pleats on the sides, and dragons and phoenixes embroidered on the skirt panel!
The pleated skirt has fine pleats all over, and moves like waves.

In fact, noble children in ancient times would wear three to twelve layers. We have only designed three layers here, from the inside out: a plain gauze inner garment, a cloud-patterned silk jacket, and the outermost luxurious gold-woven satin main robe.

The waist ornament was a leather belt inlaid with gold plates and jade. There was also this, called "Forbidden Steps," which was actually a jade pendant hanging at the waist; it jingled as the bride walked, reminding her to walk with dignified grace.

To be honest, Chen Mo didn't expect that Li Rongrong and the others would actually bring out the "phoenix coronet and embroidered robe" when they were designing it.

More than that.

Soon, Li Rongrong walked to the side and continued introducing, "And this footwear!"

"The shoes have upturned toes and are embroidered with 'twin lotus' patterns. Of course, we have modernized the design to enhance comfort."

And this is a pair of red silk stockings dyed a deep crimson with natural madder root; the color won't fade even after a month of wear!

Jing Tian was so taken aback by Li Rongrong's elaborate design, from head to toe, inside and out, that her mouth gaped open, and she didn't even have time to close it.

But that's not all.

Finally, she magically produced a veil, a round fan, and a bridal veil: "The veil with copper coins at the four corners can ward off evil spirits, and the round fan with an ivory handle and double happiness embroidery is called a 'que fan'."

The bridal veils, embroidered with the phrase "May you have a son soon," are used to wipe hands or cover the face during the ceremony—they are all made based on items from the Palace Museum collection!

She suddenly sighed: "The main problem is that you gave us too little time, so we used machine embroidery more. Actually, if we had enough time, hand embroidery would have a better texture than machine embroidery, especially the 'all-over embroidery' on the hem of the skirt."

Jing Tian stared blankly at the magnificent wedding attire filling the room, her fingertips unconsciously tracing the pearl pendant hanging from the phoenix crown. The cool, smooth touch finally convinced her that this wasn't an illusion. She turned to look at Chen Mo, her eyes slightly red: "Chen Mo!"

"What's wrong?" Chen Mo asked.

"I'm so happy!" Jing Tian said emotionally.

"Give it a try?" Chen Mo said, affectionately flicking her nose.

"Yes!" Jing Tian nodded vigorously. Then she followed Li Rongrong to the dressing room to try on clothes.

While waiting, Zhang Bing asked, "Chairman Chen, what's the plan next?"

“I’d like to film an ancient wedding ceremony according to ancient etiquette as a promotional video for this series. What do you think?” Chen Mo had already had this idea for a while.

Indeed, he could not truly marry them properly, nor could he give them a complete marriage.

However, he wanted to use this sense of ritual to give each of them a unique "wedding" in the name of a "promotional video"!
At the very least, the sense of ritual should be maximized.

This can be seen as a form of compensation he made to them.

Zhang Bing's eyes flashed with surprise. Although Chen Mo made it sound simple, in reality, Chen Mo's requirements for an ancient wedding were definitely not those of an ordinary commoner, but rather the wedding ceremony of aristocratic officials and their sons.

It's safe to say that doing this would be incredibly complicated, perhaps even comparable to filming a movie. Of course, given Chen Mo's wealth and status, these are things he doesn't need to consider.

But as a woman, she was also shocked by Chen Mo's idea.

She couldn't help but sigh, no wonder Chen Mo's womanizing was so well-known, yet all these women were devoted to him.

It's no wonder that the outside world doesn't have many negative feelings about Chen Mo's "womanizing" and "scumbag" behavior. On the contrary, everyone regards him as a modern "role model for men"!
While these factors certainly have a lot to do with Chen Mo's wealth and generosity, she knew that once Chen Mo's plan was revealed and became a reality, there would be even more people envious, jealous, and resentful of Chen Mo's female confidantes.

A wedding holds a very special meaning for any woman.

Chen Mo envisioned a retro and elaborate classical wedding ceremony, just like those of ancient officials' sons or even royalty. For any modern girl, that would be the epitome of grandeur and romance.

Of course, Chen Mo will probably get a lot of flak from his male compatriots, after all, this is just too damn outrageous.

Although many celebrities and tycoons in modern society have equally lavish weddings, ordinary people generally cannot access them.

At the same time, even the weddings of the wealthy are usually not so grand or complicated due to certain concerns, but Chen Mo has no such concerns at all!
After all, if it's just a promotional video, then it's actually a film or television production, so there's no problem with how it's handled.

Not to mention others, even Zhang Bing herself fantasizes that if someone treated her like that and was willing to put in such effort for her, she would probably be overflowing with happiness long ago.

What is romance? This is true romance!

Although it is indeed expensive, there are many rich people, but how many people are as dedicated as Chen Mo?

It's not just about being attentive; the key is that Chen Mo really considered every aspect.

You see, this is all just a gimmick for him to film a promotional video, but in reality, whether it's a promotional video or not is completely unimportant to him and his female confidantes.

The important point is that using the guise of a promotional video is primarily to provide a legitimate reason for the "wedding".

However, you can't say that the concept of this promotional video is not ingenious, because it is indeed a promotional video, and the effect is predictable. The male and female leads, Chen Mo and Jing Tian, ​​are already a huge draw.

It would be extremely difficult to find a better strategy for promoting this series of wedding attire.

At the same time, it can also be used to promote traditional Chinese wedding culture, which can be said to be a win-win situation.

Of course, spending money definitely means spending real money.

The wedding dress designed just for Jing Tian cost several million yuan. This was only because Chen Mo gave her a relatively short timeframe; otherwise, if it had been entirely hand-embroidered, the cost would have been even more outrageous.

Next, they will film a promotional video and go through the wedding ceremony, which is practically equivalent to holding a wedding in reality.

These expenses would certainly not be low, but can you really call Chen Mo extravagant and wasteful?
No way! Because of the effective advertising, it's definitely worth more than the price!
The key point is that this is just the beginning. With Chen Mo's mastery of balancing things, he certainly won't let the other women just watch. He has already made arrangements for these things.

Therefore, she began to look forward to Chen Mo and Jing Tian's wedding.

Because Zhang Bing could even imagine that in the future, whenever weddings were mentioned, people would think of Chen Mo and his female confidantes' weddings.

As she thought about it, her feelings became complicated, a mix of bitterness, envy, jealousy, anticipation, and excitement.

Just as Zhang Bing was lost in thought, the locker room door clicked open.

When Jing Tian changed into that magnificent phoenix coronet and wedding gown, pushed open the dressing room door and walked out, Chen Mo's breath hitched slightly.

She stood in the soft lamplight, her phoenix crown and beaded curtain swaying gently, reflecting shimmering light that accentuated her exquisite features. The gold embroidery on her wedding robe shimmered with light as she moved, the pheasant patterns so lifelike they seemed ready to take flight at any moment. She lowered her head somewhat uncomfortably, a pearl pendant lightly brushing against her cheek; the cool, smooth touch made her unconsciously purse her lips.

Chen Mo's gaze swept over her inch by inch, from the swaying beads on her phoenix crown to the intricate patterns on her wedding robe, and then to the tips of her slightly reddened ears. His Adam's apple bobbed, and his voice was deep and gentle: "She is indeed more beautiful than I imagined."

Jing Tian looked up at him, her eyes filled with a mixture of shyness and anticipation: "Does it really look good? Isn't it too formal?"

Chen Mo chuckled softly, reached out to straighten a stray strand of her hair, and lightly brushed her cheek with his fingertips: "Not too formal, just right."

Chen Mo's gaze deepened slightly as his fingertips gently traced the gold thread embroidery on her wedding gown, his eyes filled with a mixture of nostalgia and doting affection.

Jing Tian's heart skipped a beat under his gaze. She subconsciously tugged at the cuffs of her wedding gown and muttered to herself, "This is much harder than altering a costume... I have to walk very carefully, afraid of stepping on the hem of the skirt."

Chen Mo smiled slightly, then suddenly reached out and took her fingertips in his hand, whispering, "It's okay, I'll lead you."

His palm was warm and strong. Jing Tian was stunned for a moment, then her eyebrows curved into a smile, and she gently squeezed his hand back.

Chen Mo gazed at her and said softly, "Now, I can finally rightfully let you wear the wedding dress I prepared for you."

"I'm sorry! This is the only way," Chen Mo said, looking at the overjoyed Jing Tian, ​​but feeling guilty.

"I'm very satisfied, Chen Mo. Everyone will envy me!" Jing Tian said, tightening her grip on Chen Mo's hand.

Do the whole show.

Since the main purpose is publicity, Chen Mo naturally doesn't mind creating momentum in advance.

Although his main idea was to give his women a "special" and "legitimate" "wedding"!
However, since it's intended as a brand promotional video, he certainly wouldn't mind taking this opportunity to create some buzz and spark some discussion.

People are always superficial, and Chen Mo is no exception.

Although it's true that you live your own life and don't need to care about the opinions of others.

But isn't the purpose of weddings, with their sense of ceremony, to pursue that kind of meaning?
Which woman wouldn't want to spread the word and receive more blessings in return?

Chen Mo was the same; one could only say he was hypocritical, but who could blame him when he was the protagonist?
And frankly speaking, which man hasn't dreamed of such a scene?

Of course, to avoid trouble at home, Chen Mo still had to give them a heads-up beforehand.

Although everyone seems to get along well most of the time, they can be quite lenient when it comes to certain things.

If he hadn't been informed in advance, Chen Mo didn't know if something might have gone wrong.

So we still need to plan ahead!
Chen, the master of impartiality, must be prepared to treat everyone fairly.

Of course, he had no qualms about this, because his plan was indeed to prepare a special wedding dress and a special wedding for everyone.

Look, like Jing Tian, ​​the theme and inspiration for this design comes from "phoenix coronet and embroidered robe", and the series is named "Phoenix Presentation". As for the others, Chen Mo had already made preparations.

At that time, there could be exotic flair, a combination of Chinese and Western styles, or even a traditional Confucian marriage or a military marriage!

Anyway, as long as everyone is unique, that's enough!
They can even let them think of it themselves now, and Chen Mo will be responsible for making it happen for them!

Of course, six weddings for six people, with six different customs and styles, cannot be accomplished overnight.

Sure enough, when Chen Mo started communicating with his female confidantes and told them about his plans and ideas, their reactions were all incredibly exaggerated.

Even someone like Zhang Yuqi, the "Tiger Girl," couldn't wait to come over and express her feelings directly.

Just as Zhang Bing had thought, no woman doesn't yearn for these things, and although Chen Mo couldn't provide a real "wedding ceremony," in reality, there wasn't much difference.

The biggest difference is simply that there's no marriage certificate.

Even the guests can be real guests.

Anyway, it's just a promotional video; at worst, we can just not include the guests in the footage.

All we can say is that they were all amazed and pleasantly surprised by Chen Mo's brilliant and thoughtful idea.

(End of this chapter)