This director is vindictive.

Chapter 314 The Chen Mo Effect: A Film that Triggers Transnational Justice

From July to August, it can be said that these two months almost became Chen Mo's time!
The box office of "Missing Her" has surpassed that of its predecessor, exceeding 40 billion yuan in less than a month since its release.

Crucially, the impact of this film may be attributed to the global support of the "814 Welfare Day," which led to the attention and intervention of international human rights and women's organizations.

This also put a lot of pressure on Thailand.

The final hearing, which was originally scheduled for next year, has been brought forward because of this.

However, it makes sense when you think about it. After all, this case has the pressure of public opinion brought about by "The Vanished Woman," plus international attention, with even Interpol and human rights lawyers getting involved.

This is also closely related to the nature of the case, because in recent years, the victims of cases that have occurred in Southeast Asia have not only been tourists from China, but also tourists from Europe and America, as well as tourists from other Asian countries.

This naturally gave them an excuse to make a fuss.

Therefore, the other side's efficiency this time was frighteningly high.

The final judgment date of the court in Thailand was nine months ahead of schedule.

Moreover, this trial has attracted global attention; everyone is watching this case.

More details of the case have been revealed due to the high level of attention it has garnered, making the case clearer.

Meanwhile, numerous questions have begun to emerge regarding the second instance verdict.

You can imagine the pressure they are under.

Especially on the day of the final verdict, media reporters from various countries gathered outside.

Therefore, when the final judgment upheld the first-instance verdict of life imprisonment, journalists from various countries gathered outside the courtroom immediately made the hashtag #JusticeForVictims a global trending topic.

A BBC reporter remarked during the live broadcast, "This may be the first time in Southeast Asian judicial history that a transnational judicial collaboration has been driven by cultural products."

This cross-border acceleration of justice is driven by the chain reaction triggered by "Gone Girl"—in the fourth week of the film's release, the Thai Tourism Authority's protest mailbox was flooded with 20 international letters. 37% of these came from women's rights organizations in Europe and America, and 15% included screenshots of "Gone Girl" ticket purchase receipts.

"The Vanished" once again continues the influence of Chen Mo's realistic films.

This time it was even more outrageous, with overseas media reporting on it. Reuters stated in a special report: "This is not just a movie. After Chen Mo used the 814 Welfare Festival to prove the soft power of China's cultural export, 'The Vanished' became the last straw that broke the camel's back."

The accompanying image shows a movie trailer playing on a loop in a Thai shopping mall, with a scrolling Thai-English bilingual notice below it stating "Strengthening Tourist Security."

However, the combined impact of the 814 Welfare Festival, "The Vanished Woman," and the issue of women's safety goes far beyond this.

A montage video is going viral on TikTok, showing Thai police escorting criminals, alternating with the end credits of the movie "The Vanished" which says "This film is based on a true story," while the background music is "Let Love Go Home," the song from the 814 Welfare Festival.

A commentary published overnight by Time magazine stated, "The ultimate form of business for good is to make entertainment products a cog in the wheel of social progress. While Hollywood is still making superhero movies, Chen Mo has used a film to shift the scales of justice in reality."

Chinese netizens are raving about this movie.

Regardless of whether a movie is a classic or not, the fact that a movie can influence reality is enough to make everyone rave about it.

"The Vanished Woman + Welfare Festival = Transnational Judicial Accelerator! If the Thai case hadn't been pressured by this 40 billion yuan box office, could it have completed a three-year process in just a few months? What some people call a 'commercial film' is, in the eyes of the victim's family, 'justice delayed' [gavel]!"

A Southeast Asian tour guide said: "In ten years of experience, this is the first time I've seen the Thai tourism bureau proactively buy safety insurance for Chinese tourists. Chen Mo's movie is more effective than ten years of warnings [smack]!"

"I suggest the Oscars give Chen Mo a 'Real-World Impact Award'! The end credits of 'The Vanished' saying 'This film is based on a true story' have now become the screensaver for Thailand's travel warning. This wave of cultural export is ten times stronger than the Confucius Institute [doge emoji]. Did you see the Reuters photo? Their shopping malls are playing our movie trailers on a loop!"

"Data speaks for itself: After the movie's release, Southeast Asian women's helplines saw a 47% increase in calls from Chinese citizens! The 'cloud family portrait' feature from the welfare festival is now being used by anti-domestic violence organizations to secure evidence. Chen Mo's move is a triple kill of technology, law, and feminism! [fist emoji]"

"It's true! We just used the 8K video function of #XiaomiFamilyWatch# to record the entire process of a trafficked woman reuniting with her family. The video quality is so good that you can even see the mole on the suspect's neck [tears]!"

"I'm devastated! Japanese netizens have created a mashup of the courtroom scenes from 'The Vanished' and the 814 Welfare Festival, titled 'The Tale of Eastern Justice,' and it's already surpassed 100 million views! The comments section is full of questions like 'When will the Chen Mo cinematic universe get a sequel?' [laughing emoji] This reverse output is smoother than Dove chocolate!"

"Now I finally understand that the next line after 'Pixels can't block family affection' in the welfare festival is—'Data traffic can't crush justice!'"

Moreover, this collaboration is truly astonishing.

Although many people know that this is most likely just a coincidence, the fact that Chen Mo directed the movie and organized the event makes it clear that he was in control of the whole thing, and naturally, this case has been praised by many people.

Even a professor of social psychology couldn't help but comment: "The chemical reaction between 'The Vanished Woman' and the Welfare Festival: 1. A collective sense of justice is activated; 2. Technology reconstructs trust in family relationships; 3. Commercial behavior is elevated to a social movement. I suggest including it in university textbooks—see how Chen Mo uses 'compassionate business' to deconstruct the 'rational man assumption' [paper link]!"

Even more outrageous, a research group at a university actually stated: "We are already designing a special research project on the 'Chen Mo Phenomenon'! From Parkinson's patient's AI signature to transnational judicial advancements, it's all excellent case analysis [striving]!"

Not only did the outside world rave about it, but even those close to Chen Mo believed that Chen Mo orchestrated it all, thinking that he had thought of this from the very beginning!
I think this whole thing was orchestrated by Chen Mo!
Zhang Yuqi's exquisitely painted almond-shaped eyes shone brightly. Her fingertips unconsciously twisted the cuffs of her silk shirt, and she leaned forward slightly: "So... you've been planning this since you were filming the movie?" Her voice was filled with undisguised excitement, just like a little fan who had discovered her idol's secret.

The tiger girls' eyes were practically drooling.

There's no way around it; sometimes, talent is just more alluring than wealth!

Chen Mo paused, dropping a sugar cube into his coffee, the porcelain cup clattering. He lifted his eyelids to look at her, a wry smile playing on his lips: "Do you think I'm a god? Can't predict the future?"

"I even came up with this 'Family Portrait Welfare Week' on the spur of the moment. Weren't you all there? How could I have thought of it from the beginning? Besides, I didn't even plan to do a global version of Welfare Week in the first place!"

Zhang Yuqi pursed her lips upon hearing this, twirling her fingertips around the ends of her hair twice, clearly dissatisfied with the answer: "Come on! The release of 'The Vanished' just before the 814 Welfare Festival, and the final trial of the Thai case just happened to coincide with the time when the movie became a hit—this series of 'coincidences' is too smooth, isn't it?"

She suddenly lowered her voice and leaned closer: "Actually, you secretly learned fortune telling, didn't you? Like that character in that movie who can predict death."

Chen Mo almost choked on his coffee, and when he put down the cup, there was still a helpless smile in his eyes: "If I could really do divination, I should first predict that I would be interrogated by you today."

"Besides, when the movie was being filmed, the final trial date for that case hadn't even been set yet, okay?"

He suddenly became serious: "Promoting justice is a good thing, but it's unfair to give all the credit to me, especially to the lawyers and journalists who have worked so hard for so many years."

Zhang Yuqi stared at the densely packed public opinion monitoring charts on the tablet and suddenly noticed a coffee stain on his ring finger.

She handed him a wet wipe, her tone softening slightly: "But Reuters said this is a 'social experiment in cultural products'! Do you know what's going on in the industry right now? They're saying your move is comparable to using popcorn movies to launch a color revolution." Before she could finish speaking, Chen Mo lightly tapped her forehead with the wet wipe.

"You're getting more and more outrageous. You might as well just call me a god! Movies just shine a spotlight on the darkness that already existed. What truly changes reality is every person who takes things seriously."

Suddenly, the advertising jingle for the 814 Welfare Festival, "Let Love Come Home," drifted in from outside the window. He turned his head and raised an eyebrow: "Just like this song, it was originally made for families left behind by migrant workers."

"Okay, okay—"

Zhang Yuqi suddenly jumped up and tugged at his sleeve: "But the 'Chen Mo effect' is real! Didn't the tourism bureaus of five Southeast Asian countries jointly invite you to be a tourism safety ambassador?" She shook her phone screen, the lock screen wallpaper was the line from "The Vanished She" that said "This film is based on a true story", which was dazzling in the sunlight.

The invitation to Chen Mo to be a tourism safety ambassador is indeed true, and it has attracted considerable media attention, as this is truly the first time someone has received such treatment.

However, Chen Mo would never agree to that. What a joke! Those people would probably want to cut him up.

And if Chen Mo really agreed, what would that mean?
However, Zhang Yuqi's ideas are not an isolated case.

In fact, Yang Mi and Fan Binbin had excitedly called Chen Mo beforehand to ask if he had expected this all along.

Chen Mo kept denying it, but they just wouldn't believe him!
Chen Mo's coffee cup trembled slightly on the table, the porcelain bottom making a crisp sound as it collided with the glass surface.

He rubbed his temples, looked at Zhang Yuqi who was beaming with excitement, and sighed helplessly: "Do you guys think I'm some kind of mastermind? The movie's success was luck, the case was brought forward due to public pressure, and the welfare festival's explosion was a team effort—how come you've all turned it into a conspiracy theory that I orchestrated everything?"

However, sometimes reality is too surreal. Zhang Yuqi snorted indignantly, swiped her finger on the tablet, and brought up a data chart: "Then how do you explain this? After the release of 'The Vanished,' the number of proposals for women's safety bills in Southeast Asia surged by 300% year-on-year, and even UN Women sent a letter of thanks! Reuters said this is a typical case of 'film sociology'..."

"Coincidence upon coincidence, it's still just a coincidence."

Chen Mo interrupted her, his tone softening slightly: "If I had to say what I did, it would probably be not cutting or altering the darker aspects of the real case for box office reasons. Like the finale."

As he spoke, Chen Mo pointed to the movie trailer playing on a loop on the mall's large screen outside the window: "What audiences care about is never how brilliant the director is, but whether the story has 'human touch'."

Chen Mo felt exhausted and had an urge to destroy everything!
At the same time, the 814 Welfare Festival's Family Portrait Welfare Week also reached its climax.

Because many people have started receiving "family gift packages"!
Then they all started showing off the special perks and prizes they received online.

Even many shopping malls have started to get involved.

Outside the shopping mall, a giant LED screen was playing a compilation of unboxing videos of a "family gift package" on a loop. In the video, an elderly man with gray hair trembled as he put on Huawei's latest AR glasses and "virtually hugged" his daughter in Australia. The glasses automatically captured a tear effect, which triggered a barrage of comments: "Technology has finally made longing warm!"
In another set of images, a left-behind child in a mountainous area took his first family photo with a Xiaomi 8K camera. The image quality was so clear that the serial number on his father's work clothes was clearly visible. The comment section was instantly flooded with thousands of requests for the same camera.

The top three trending topics on Douyin and Weibo were all dominated by the "814 Welfare Festival" and "Family Photo Welfare Week".

#Reverse Shopping During Welfare Festival#
A Southeast Asian tour guide unboxed a "family gift package" during a live-stream sales event, sparking outrage among Thai netizens who flooded the chat with comments like, "Why do we only get dried mangoes here?! We want to be treated the same as everyone else!"

#PixelsCan'tBlockFamilyAffection2.0#
An anti-domestic violence organization posted a wound detection report recorded by a Honor smartwatch, with the caption: "What's more heartbreaking than the wound report is the AI-generated 'future wound prediction map'."

#BringAIHome#
A tech company launched an "AI-powered family reunification" feature overnight, allowing users to upload old photos and generate animated videos. When the server crashed at 3 a.m., backend data showed that 67% of the requests came from the "40-50-year-old only child" group.

To be honest, Chen Mo knew that this week's benefits would be quite effective, but he didn't expect that the effect would be even more exaggerated than last year's super benefits live stream.

Of course, the investment in this year's welfare week is indeed no less than that of last year's super welfare live stream.

even more!

As of 12:8 noon on August 14, the value of the welfare packages distributed during this welfare week has exceeded 50 billion!
This only covers the domestic portion; overseas portions are not included in the statistics.

However, the promotional value created left those brands extremely satisfied.

There's no way around it; this week, the sales of various brands' products, especially those from the top 10 brands, saw many of their gift sets sell out instantly.

This alone is enough to make them reinvest, not to mention the value of this wave of brand promotion.

With the prelude to the Welfare Week, Chen Mo's signature program tonight, the Super Welfare Live Stream, saw a record number of reservations.

In China, the number of reservations on Douyin has exceeded 500 million! And this is based on strict real-name authentication (requiring binding of ID card/mobile phone number). 500 million reservations means that one in three Chinese netizens is participating. After removing the inflated numbers, the real user scale crushes all e-commerce promotions.

Despite the slowdown in domestic market growth (which is nearing saturation), the base is ridiculously large—equivalent to doubling the total number of reservations made by top livestreamers on all platforms during last year's Double Eleven.

Meanwhile, the number of people booking TikTok's live streams overseas has also exceeded 300 million, which is ten times that of last year!
Of course, this is understandable, after all, Chen Mo's actions last year were, in a sense, a "surprise attack"!
Moreover, the concept of the 814 Welfare Festival was not even introduced at the beginning, and there was no idea of ​​a global live broadcast.

But this year is completely different. With the pre-event Super Welfare Week and a series of synergistic effects, this number is understandable.

Actually, at this point, many netizens may not necessarily be after those free products. After all, many users are already quite wealthy and don't care about those few tens or hundreds of yuan in benefits.

According to backend data, about 12% of the users who make reservations spend more than 50 yuan a year. In the comments section, it is common to see comments like "I don't care about the benefits, I just want to see what kind of black technology Chen Mo will come up with this time".

That's not all; in fact, it has become a form of social currency.

Posting screenshots of appointments on WeChat Moments has become a status symbol. The CEO of a listed company even posted on Weibo: "The whole company will watch the live stream tonight, and 10 employees will be randomly selected to receive a Chen Mo co-branded phone."

Many companies have organized special "team building" activities, such as watching live streams together.

What's even more interesting is that one fund company started playing a "bonus" game directly in its internal group.

"The whole company will watch the live stream tonight. Whoever wins, the company will provide a benefit of equal value!"

Indeed, due to the "Family Welfare Week," many people are celebrating the "Family Reunion Festival" ahead of schedule!
Many netizens shared photos of their families waiting for the live stream.

#WaitingForChenMoWithTheWholeFamily# immediately became a trending topic.

On Weibo's trending topics list, under the hashtag #WaitingForChenMo#, a programmer working in Beijing posted a family photo that he hadn't seen for ten years—his parents specially brought cured meat from their hometown, his wife took time off to come from another province, and even his younger sister, who is in her final year of high school, squatted in front of the camera with her workbook and made a peace sign.

The caption read, "I won this AR photo frame during the welfare week. I'm going to put it in a screenshot from the live stream tonight and keep it as a family heirloom." The post instantly garnered over 20 likes.

The comments section instantly turned into a "reunion expo"!
Many netizens spontaneously thanked Chen Mo, saying that this welfare festival live stream felt like having more people together than during the Chinese New Year.

Under the Weibo hashtag #ThankYouChenMoForMakingMyFamilyCelebrateChineseNewYear#, a mother of a left-behind child posted three photos:

The first picture shows an empty dining table during last year's Spring Festival, captioned "His dad is rushing to meet the construction deadline at the construction site";
The second photo is a family AR group photo taken during this year's 814 Welfare Week, with the virtual images of the father and son standing next to her making a heart shape with their hands;
The third image is a screenshot of tonight's live stream reservation. The family group chat record shows that "all the aunts and uncles are waiting for the 20:00 lottery."

The top comment reads: "Chen Mo's welfare week can gather more relatives than the Spring Festival Gala. Even my distant cousin, whom I haven't contacted for ten years, popped up [laughing and crying]!"

There were countless comments like this before the live stream even started.

However, compared to the unprecedented success of this live stream, many couples went to shopping malls to watch the live stream last year because it was Qixi Festival.

But this year, it was almost a complete "empty streets"!
Because everyone rushed home to "reunite" with their families!

(End of this chapter)