This director is vindictive.

Chapter 306 A trailer, and a massive army arrives.
The saying that successful people will always succeed is not without reason.

Just like Chen Mo, if he were still that penniless newcomer back then, would the release of a trailer for "The Vanished She" have sparked so much discussion?

This is impossible.

Now, his every move is under the spotlight, and even a trailer is more effective than many movies' expensive marketing campaigns.

It's not because its cost is lower, but simply because the inherent value it brings is not as obvious as simply spending money directly.

With the first trailer doing so well, Chen Mo naturally wanted to strike while the iron was hot.

Soon after, the second trailer, "The One I'm Looking For," was released.

Because of the wave of discussion and speculation sparked by the first trailer, the second trailer has garnered even more attention.

After all, those who solve riddles want to know more clues, and curious people want to know the answer!

The couple Cao Yu and Lin Ying also debated the first trailer, each sticking to their own opinion. Cao Yu naturally sided with the "schizophrenia fantasy" theory, while Lin Ying believed it was a "body double conspiracy"!
No one can convince anyone else, because the information revealed in the first trailer is not convincing enough.

So when the second trailer was released, the couple watched it together immediately.

Both of them were somewhat surprised when they saw the title.

"The one I've been searching for?"

The video begins in the style of black and white surveillance footage.

Zhu Yulong's character, He Fei, breaks down in the police station, slamming his fist on the table and screaming, "She couldn't have left on her own!"

"My wife is missing, missing!" He was so agitated that the veins in his Adam's apple bulged.

The scene switched back to color, and He Fei stared blankly into the distance from the balcony.

Suddenly, a pair of fair hands wrapped around his waist from behind.

A woman's voice rang out: "Honey, what are you looking at? You seem so engrossed."

The camera pans out to reveal a strange-looking, dirty vehicle that is working there.

"Septic tank warning?" Upon seeing this, Cao Yu and Lin Ying exclaimed in unison.

While it's inappropriate for this meme to be turned into entertainment, it's undeniably sensational.

Although the trailer downplayed the scene, they immediately realized it was the one.

Suddenly, the two seemed to recall what Chen Mo had said in a previous interview: that the story was based on a true case and had garnered widespread attention.

Then the so-called real-life cases become obvious.

The Hangzhou wife-murder case!
At this moment, in the trailer, the scene changes again, and He Fei, sitting opposite Ni Ni's character "Chen Mai," says in a hoarse voice, "My wife has disappeared!"

The scene then cuts to a segment from the first trailer, "Happiness of Her".

He Fei and Li Muzi shared a kiss on the beach, bathed in sunlight—a scene of unparalleled romance.

The camera pans out to reveal a group of people swimming in a natural pool in the sea.

"Honey, let's go swimming!"

Li Muzi pulled He Fei and ran in that direction. Suddenly, she turned around and saw that it was Fan Binbin playing the "fake Li Muzi"!
Suddenly! The scene shifts to a dark hotel room, where He Fei wakes up with a start, drenched in cold sweat, clutching a medicine bottle tightly in his hand, his eyes filled with terror.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Fan Binbin, playing Li Muzi in a red dress, said, her face very close, almost touching his.

"Ah!" Startled, He Fei fell off the bed.

He Fei asked, trembling, "Who exactly are you?"

The scene shifts again, and Du Jiang, playing a police officer, hands the passport back to He Fei, glances at Fan Binbin, and says, "This lady is your wife!"

He Fei looked at Fan Binbin's character "Li Muzi" with a blank and helpless expression!
She looked very worried!

"A swimming pool?" Cao Yu asked in surprise.

"The Thai swimming pool murder case?" Lin Ying blurted out.

"That's not right. That's the seaside, a natural swimming pool. Isn't it a bit much to forcibly link it to the Thai swimming pool murder case?" Cao Yu said, disagreeing.

However, the trailer then switched scenes again in the next moment.

This time it was on a cliff by the sea, where waves crashed against the rocky cliff, and the sea breeze lifted Li Muzi's skirt on the cliff.

Li Muzi opened her arms, closed her eyes, and enjoyed the sea breeze on her face.

Behind her, He Fei was holding her waist.

The scene then switched back to a "candlelight dinner"!
"Fake Li Muzi" sat on He Fei's lap, her arms wrapped around his neck.

But the next moment, she was mercilessly thrown to the ground.

"The Thai cliff-fall case?" Cao Yu and Lin Ying asked in unison once again.

Moreover, the previous case of a wife being murdered in a swimming pool has also been connected.

Both of them were somewhat taken aback, because at this moment they finally understood what the title "The One I'm Searching For" really meant.

Good guy, really good guy!

This is not He Fei searching for his missing wife at all; it's clearly He Fei looking for a way to "kill his wife"!
"Honey, don't hit me!" Fan Binbin's voice suddenly rang out.

Suddenly, Li Muzi, played by Fan Binbin, burst into a terrifying laugh and smashed a bottle on her head, causing her head to bleed profusely!
As the cue ball struck the other balls, He Fei's voice rang out: "That woman is insane!"

Chen Mai said, "To others, you're the crazy one!"

Welcome to Southeast Asia!

The scene shifts again to an art exhibition, where he and Li Muzi are looking at Van Gogh's "Starry Night" together!
On the seabed, the two stood in a shark cage, looking up at the starry sky.

A breathtakingly beautiful scene of a starry underwater world!

But the next moment, Li Muzi's face kept flashing and switching, sometimes it was Li Muzi played by Huang Ziqi, sometimes it was Fan Binbin, and sometimes it became Chen Mai.

"Are you in the same group?"

"What exactly do you want?"

He Fei's voice was hysterical.

I want you!

Fan Binbin's voice is cold and alluring!

The screen went black, followed by the sound of a lighter being lit, and a blood-red title appeared in the flames—"The Vanished She"!
This trailer is much richer in content than the first one.

But in reality, it only made everyone more confused.

Cao Yu and Lin Ying started arguing again.

They agreed on the three real-world examples referenced in the second trailer.

However, the content shown in this trailer has sparked considerable debate.

After the trailer ended, Cao Yu quickly pressed the pause button, and the living room fell into a brief silence.

Lin Ying suddenly grabbed her phone and quickly searched for "details of the septic tank case in Hangzhou," muttering, "Chen Mo is too ruthless. This scene definitely implies that He Fei used the same method... but why are there three different versions of Li Muzi?" Cao Yu, however, pointed to the frozen black screen and retorted, "Look at the last line, 'I want you,' Fan Binbin's eyes don't look like he's seeking revenge at all, but rather like he's controlling He Fei! How can a hallucination of schizophrenia have three personalities appearing at the same time?"

He dug up screenshots of Chen Mo's early interviews: "This still doesn't make sense. Chen Mo clearly said that this film focuses on women's safety!!"

Suddenly, Cao Yu exclaimed in astonishment, "Wait, if Huang Ziqi and Fan Binbin are playing the real wives at different times, and Ni Ni's lawyer is the imposter? Then what about 'Underwater Starry Sky'—"

The two froze, recalling how the whirlpool in Van Gogh's "Starry Night" resembled the deadly undercurrents of the Southeast Asian seas.

Meanwhile, the second trailer sparked another wave of heated discussions.

In particular, the second trailer clearly connects to real-life cases, and Chen Mo's words during his interview officially revealed part of the mystery.

"Holy crap, 'Searching for Him,' what a lousy title! The 'victim' image of the husband, He Fei, in the trailer is exactly the same as the performative sexual behavior of the murderer in the real case. And what are they searching for? The method of committing the crime?"

"It's obvious. In the first scene, the vehicle is clearly a septic tank truck. Look up the warning about the septic tank. Then there's the swimming pool scene. Look up the Thai swimming pool murder case. And then there's the cliff scene. It's even more obvious. It's the Thai cliff fall case!"
Holy crap, that final underwater starry sky!

"Wait a minute! What's going on with Fan Binbin and Chen Mai? And if He Fei is the murderer of his wife, why would he have a split personality?"

"My brain's almost fried, hurry up and release it! I hate riddle people the most!"

"Is it possible that our guesses are just what Chen Mo wants to see? If it were really that easy to guess, who would watch the movie?"

"Is there another possibility that the three women are actually He Fei's wives at different times? Otherwise, why would Li Muzi's face keep changing?"

"Don't forget, when Chen Mo was interviewed, he also said that all the 'evidence' might be carefully designed props. Including our current discussion!"

This wave of hype is even more popular than the first wave of trailers.

Moreover, the key point is that these two trailers unfold in a "progressive" way, which is still quite novel for many people.

The results were so impressive that it made its peers green with envy and jealousy.

Many marketing analysts have shared their insights, analyzing why Chen Mo's two trailers were so effective.

Marketing analyst @Breaking the Circle Handbook: "From 'happiness' to 'danger,' Chen Mo lets the audience piece together the crime puzzle themselves, only to discover in the end that all the sweetness is a bloody foreshadowing—this is the ultimate form of 'selling fear.'"

Film critic @BlackBox: "Chen Mo's second trailer completely confirms the 'female revenge alliance' setting, but He Fei's collapse and reversal suggest that he may be a victim - this kind of narrative with all villains is the high-level suspense."

The second trailer triggered a chain reaction that far exceeded expectations.

Among the top five trending topics on Weibo, three were #Searching for the man who killed his wife and the woman who disappeared (reappeared)#, #Deadly Romance in the Underwater Starry Sky#, and #Chen Mo Trailer Psychology#.

The comments, analyses, and interpretations below completely dominated the screen.

Many people have never seen a trailer generate more exaggerated discussions than a movie, yet this absurd thing keeps happening again and again.

Looking at the overwhelming number of discussions and reads on that topic, our peers are absolutely envious!
Meanwhile, Fan Binbin was reading aloud the interpretations and comments from netizens to Chen Mo.

"It's terrifying to think about! In the trailer, each of He Fei's 'searches for his wife' corresponds to a different method of murder—a septic truck (Hangzhou case), a swimming pool (Thailand case), and a cliff (falling off a cliff case). But in the final underwater starry sky shot, three women's faces appear alternately. This is some kind of ghost revenge alliance! Is Chen Mo making a Chinese version of 'Why Women Kill'?"

"Hahaha! This netizen has such a wild imagination! A ghost avengers!" Fan Binbin couldn't help but laugh as he read it.

“This guess is the closest to the answer. There are indeed many experts among ordinary people!” Fan Binbin suddenly said.

"Oh? Someone guessed it?" Chen Mo asked, somewhat surprised.

“Okay, I’ll read it to you!” Fan Binbin nodded and then read: “Case solved! ‘The one we’re looking for’ is a double entendre: on the surface, He Fei is looking for his wife, but in reality, the police/his wife’s relatives and friends are collecting evidence of his murder! Fan Binbin’s line ‘I want you’ wasn’t a love confession at all; it was ‘I want you to pay with your life!’ Considering what Chen Mo said in the interview, ‘all the evidence is just a prop,’ I bet there will be a courtroom reversal in the main feature!”

"To be able to guess to this extent is truly impressive!" Chen Mo nodded.

However, as the saying goes, there are many experts among the people. With so many netizens analyzing and interpreting, some of them are bound to hit the mark.

For example, this netizen guessed the motive of collecting evidence of He Fei's murder, but unfortunately guessed the wrong person. If we follow the original plot, it seems that he was right all the way through.

It's just that Chen Mo's version has undergone significant changes compared to the original.

All I can say is that netizens have incredibly creative minds!

Suddenly, Fan Binbin chuckled, reading with a hint of schadenfreude: "After watching the trailer, I canceled my Bali flight overnight. Chen Mo's Southeast Asian background design is absolutely brilliant: a romantic pool turns into a murder weapon, a cliffside embrace becomes a deadly trap, and an underwater starry sky hides a corpse cage—I suggest the tourism bureau seek compensation from him!"

"You know what, once the movie is released, the Thai Tourism Board will probably really hate you! Wait, didn't you tell me years ago not to take on tourism endorsement and promotion jobs for Thailand and Southeast Asian countries? Did you already think of that back then?" Fan Binbin couldn't help but laugh as he spoke.

“However, there have indeed been too many things happening in Southeast Asia in recent years,” she then added.

"Hehe, this is the most interesting!" Fan Binbin then laughed again.

Chen Mo peeked over and said, "Let me explain the feasibility of He Fei's crime: The murderer in the Hangzhou case used 2 tons of water to wash away the bloodstains, but the septic truck in the trailer only worked for 3 seconds, which is not enough to handle the situation! So either it's misleading editing, or—He Fei is imitating a stupid murderer who failed in his crime! (Attached is a diagram of how the septic truck works)"

He was speechless. Good heavens, what do you mean by working for only 3 seconds?
This is supposed to be a trailer? It's only a little over two minutes long. Are they going to spend hours telling everyone how long the septic truck will work?

All I can say is, when it comes to using memes and having wildly creative ideas, who the hell can compare to netizens?
Indeed, the imagination of the masses is the richest and the most imaginative!
The key is that netizens love watching these topics, which brings them traffic and popularity, thus attracting more people to participate.

However, fame often brings trouble, especially given the high level of attention this time.

So controversy quickly followed.

After all, the world can't always revolve around you!
In particular, Chen Mo's trailer dominated the trending topics and media resources, damaging the interests of many of his peers.

Furthermore, since comments and discussions can generate traffic, what about questioning?

Whether the same approach could generate traffic, questions quickly arose regarding Chen Mo's two waves of promotion.

A prominent social commentator questioned: "The trailer for 'The Vanished Woman' deliberately links to real heinous cases such as the 'Hangzhou Wife-Killing Case' and the 'Thailand Swimming Pool Wife-Killing Case,' using suggestive images such as 'septic tank warnings' and 'corpses hidden in the underwater starry sky' to stimulate the public's nerves."

Chen Mo's approach of turning tragedy into entertainment is essentially exploiting social pain to gain attention.

Is such behavior inappropriate for a public figure?

It must be said that the other party has indeed mastered the secrets of traffic generation, and this questioning post also received a high number of views and discussions.

Seeing this, people quickly started to follow suit.

A well-known film critic stated: "The film 'The Vanished' employs a progressive trailer design, deliberately releasing contradictory information such as how Li Muzi is both the murderer and the victim, presenting three versions of herself, leading the audience into endless speculation. While this manipulative marketing tactic increases buzz, it damages the authenticity of the work's information."

Meanwhile, the two trailers generated more discussion than a movie, and the fragmented information bombardment (such as trending topics like #DeadlyRomanceUnderseaStarrySky#) squeezed out public opinion space.

Furthermore, the trailer focuses on a negative image of Southeast Asia, with scenes like swimming pool weapons and cliffside dangers reinforcing regional prejudices. Does this pose a risk of regional stigmatization? Is it an overreaction?
Finally, is such excessive publicity really appropriate?

In response, netizens were divided into two camps.

Those who support Chen Mo believe that:
"These people are nothing but empty talk! What do you mean by regional stigmatization? Aren't those things true?"

"How many tragic cases have occurred in Southeast Asia in recent years? People like you who are afraid of affecting the tourism environment of those places, and even try to dissuade people from believing that those places are dangerous, are the ones who are truly malicious, okay?"

"I just don't understand. If a movie is about to be released, are they going to keep it under wraps without any promotion? What do you mean by excessive promotion? It's easy for you to talk when you're not in the situation!"

"Support Chen Mo, reality is crueler than movies. Chen Mo uses the trailer to deliver a social warning: when the search term 'how to cause the accidental death of one's wife appears under the trending topic 'The Search for Him,' this movie has already won."

And those people who worry about exploiting social trauma for attention—they dared to film it, so they must have obtained authorization. The people involved want more people to know about these cases, and you're worried about that? Are you really worried? I doubt it.

The majority of those who oppose Chen Mo believe that:

"While Chen Mo's marketing strategy has been commercially successful, the practice of gaining traffic by exploiting tragedy, manipulating public opinion, and creating anxiety reflects the current ethical lapses in film and television marketing. This kind of excessive marketing, where 'all sweetness is a bloody foreshadowing,' may harm the healthy development of content creation in the industry in the long run."

"This practice of 'using real tragedies to build commercial suspense' essentially transforms the suffering of victims into a tool for generating traffic, and its ethical implications deserve reflection from the industry."

"Chen Mo is best at adapting realistic films, but has he gone a bit too far this time?"

(End of this chapter)