This director is vindictive.

Chapter 315 Earn Tears First, Then Give Out Rewards: A Ten-Year Record of Love Bank's Debt Collection

Compared to Weibo, Douyin is even more tear-jerking. A "classroom live stream" video uploaded by a middle school teacher in a county town went viral—more than 20 left-behind students gathered in front of a multimedia screen, holding up their Xiaomi phones to take pictures of the countdown on the blackboard.

The background noise included children talking all at once:
"My mom said she won the lottery and will be back tomorrow!"

"My aunt said if I win the lottery, she'll buy me a plane ticket to Guangzhou!"

The most heartbreaking thing was when the girl in the back row muttered quietly, "So, family reunions don't have to wait until New Year's Eve."

Under this video, Xiaomi's official account replied overnight: "We have arranged a special car to pick up the children's parents to watch the live broadcast. Family reunion should not rely on a lottery [heart]".

On TikTok, a wave of viral fan art has swept across the country, with Southeast Asian Chinese mixing "Let Love Go Home" with folk songs from their hometowns.

In a viral video, a Malaysian Chinese family dressed in Hanfu filmed an early Mid-Autumn Festival vlog. The grandfather hummed "The moon is rounder on August 814th" in Hokkien, and the grandson suddenly held up an AR lantern he won during a welfare week. The barrage of comments was instantly flooded with "The cultural DNA is moving".

In fact, compared to the "family values" of Chinese people, those in Europe and America are less focused on this aspect.

Interestingly, this time, due to the "Family Photo" welfare week, many netizens in Europe and America have suddenly started a wave of "family gathering" culture.

It's important to understand that in China, even in blended families, divorces are rare, often occurring only once, and even twice is considered an exaggeration.

However, in Western countries, family structures are often much more complex than in China, especially blended families, which are very common. In a family, children may come from different parents, and even the same child may have multiple "fathers" or "mothers." This complex family relationship can sometimes result in astonishingly large "family portrait" combinations.

Recently, an extremely exaggerated "family photo" has gone viral online - there are more than 50 people in the photo! At first glance, it may be mistaken for a group photo of several generations of a large family, but in fact, the special thing about this photo is that it is not a traditional "parents + children" combination, but rather it brings together all the children's biological parents, stepparents, and even ex-partners!
This family's composition is an extreme example of a "blended family":

1. The husband has a child with his ex-wife;
2. The wife has two children from each of her two previous husbands;

3. And these people have each gone through new marriages or romantic relationships, bringing with them more "step-siblings"...

So when this family suddenly had the idea to take a "real family photo", they directly called all the relevant "parents" - and as a result, one pulled another, and one brought another, and in the end they managed to put together a super large group photo of more than 50 people!
This photo quickly went viral on social media, with netizens making numerous jokes and comments.
"This isn't a family photo! It's a 3D version of a 'family tree'!"

"The complexity of blended families in Europe and America is comparable to the blood relationships in 'Game of Thrones'..."

"I suggest adding a family tree description to this photo, otherwise it's impossible to tell who's who!"

"So, the saying that you can still be friends after breaking up is perfectly illustrated in this photo!"

What's even more remarkable is that the people in the photos are not embarrassed at all; on the contrary, they are all smiling broadly, and some are even holding up signs that read "Best Ex Ever," which fully demonstrates the open attitude of Western society towards blended families.

The viral spread of this photo has also prompted many people in China to reflect on its significance:
"So this is how you can celebrate a 'family reunion'?"

"When Chen Mo's 'Family Portrait Welfare Week' was promoted to Europe and America, wow, it turned into a 'Reunion of Exes'?"

"Sure enough, when it comes to the definition of 'family,' foreigners are way more creative than we are..."

"No way, this has turned into the 'six degrees of separation' theory? To exaggerate a bit, isn't it really a case of everyone being one family?"

However, Chinese netizens underestimated the "openness" of foreigners!
One netizen posted a family photo and captioned it: "Although I'm in this family photo and live in this family, I'm sorry, they're not related to me by blood! And I wasn't adopted!"

Domestic netizens all reacted as if they'd never seen anything like it before.

"Good heavens, this is incredible! So the question is, how did he even get in there?"

"It's easy to understand, right? For example, he is the child of this stepmother's ex-husband and his ex-ex-husband, but after the divorce, he was awarded to the stepmother and joined this new family. It's reasonable that there is no blood relation, right?"

"Wow, those foreigners really know how to have fun! My CPU almost got burned out!"

Even a BBC reporter shared the post and joked: "Chen Mo invented the Eastern Christmas—gifts, reunions, global celebrations, except Santa Claus is wearing a Chinese-language T-shirt."

Domestic media outlets have remarked, "The biggest benefit of this live stream has already been given out, and everyone has received it: 'Let love go home!'"

Finally, the ultimate live stream of the 814 Welfare Festival is here.

In fact, Chen Mo did far more work for this live broadcast than he did last year.

Mainly, he hoped that this live stream would be more than just giving away freebies, so he made many plans during the process. Fortunately, his influence was indeed large enough, or rather, the influence of the 814 Welfare Festival was large enough to change some things!
8月14日晚上8点14分00秒！
The moment the countdown to the live stream reached zero, the number of real-time viewers on Douyin and TikTok simultaneously broke historical records—2.8 million people in China and 1.3 million people overseas were online at the same time, causing a surge in server load and resulting in a brief pause in the live chat.

A torrent of comments instantly flooded the screen: "Chen the Immortal is here!" "The real Justice Accelerator!" "Finally!" "Will I win the 'Cross-border Reunion' prize tonight?"

However, to many people's surprise, when the countdown in the live stream reached zero and the camera slowly lit up, the image wasn't the familiar Chen Mo, but rather a live video feed—

In a classroom in a mountainous area, more than twenty left-behind children crowded in front of a screen, holding up hand-painted posters they had made for the "August 814th Welfare Day." In the background, the children shouted in unison in Mandarin with regional accents:
"Uncle Chen Mo, we've been waiting for you!"

The barrage exploded instantly:

"I'm devastated! This is that class of students who stayed behind from yesterday's Douyin video!"

"Did Xiaomi really bring the parents back?"

"He really... I'm going to cry, he showed us this right off the bat?"

The camera cuts, splitting the scene in two—on the left is a classroom, and on the right is a speeding high-speed train carriage. Five or six weary parents are waving at the camera on their phones, and the station sign outside the window reads "Yuezhou South → Guiyang".

Chen Mo's voice came from off-screen, unusually tinged with a sob:
"The director just told me that these parents were picked up by special cars arranged by Xiaomi overnight... but the welfare festival should not rely solely on corporate charity."

After hearing Chen Mo's words, the live chat fell silent for a moment. In fact, everyone understands this, and everyone shouts slogans loudly, but it is often very difficult to actually do them in reality.

Chen Mo understood this, of course, but he still hoped to change something, even if it was just a little.

The saying goes, "When poor, one should cultivate one's own virtue; when successful, one should benefit all under heaven." Chen Mo didn't understand this before, but now he understands it a little.

He couldn't possibly ensure that all children could reunite with their parents on this day, but at least it would be meaningful if some of them could see their parents again.

He suddenly clicked on the screen, and a huge electronic map descended from the dome of the live broadcast room, marking 370 areas across the country where left-behind children are concentrated.

Indeed, as the economy improves, everyone's lives are getting better and better.

However, some things are difficult to change.

These left-behind children are just the tip of the iceberg; there are many more left-behind elderly people in rural areas.

Getting back to the point, this scene left online viewers somewhat puzzled, wondering what Chen Mo was up to.

Is this all we're showing everyone?
Suddenly, Chen Mo smiled and said, "In the next three minutes, I'm going to give you a 'forced reunion' gift."

As soon as he finished speaking, countless bright dots suddenly popped up on the map—each dot representing a company that promised a 'paid family reunion leave on August 814th'! The list of companies scrolled wildly in the comments!
Xiaomi announced: On August 814th, parents can take an 8-hour day off to watch the live stream with their children!

"Three Squirrels is giving everyone a day off??"

"."

As soon as the list of these companies was released, the live chat exploded with comments.

However, what happened soon shocked them even more.

The live stream suddenly switched to a live feed from a manufacturing factory—the assembly line abruptly stopped, and an announcement came over the loudspeaker: "Special notice for the 814 Welfare Festival: All employees must immediately proceed to the auditorium to video chat with their children."

Yes, that's what most companies can actually do.

Asking them to take an extra day off or make up for lost time might be difficult, but at least we can do what this factory does, allowing parents and children to "see each other" on this one day!
Even if we can't go back to each other, at least we can comfort each other!

This unique emotion is unique to Chinese people, and many netizens overseas find it difficult to resonate with, but that doesn't stop them from being touched.

The TikTok livestream chat exploded with comments: "This is the real 'welfare festival'! Chinese companies can actually go to this extent?!" (Japanese)

"Our company doesn't even let us leave early on Christmas... I'm so envious!" (A netizen from Southeast Asia)

"HR professionals worldwide should take note! This is the ultimate example of employee care!" (French)

Even more impactful than what was happening inside the live stream was what was happening outside. Overseas netizens began to spontaneously "compare" their own experience – one overseas netizen shared a screenshot of their factory's group chat, where the boss tagged all employees: "Did you see the live stream from China? We left work two hours early today to video chat with our families!" The caption read: "Although it's not as long as 8 hours, this is our '814 tribute'!"

Employees at a Japanese electronics factory livestreamed an unexpected perk in their workshop: the supervisor brought in a large screen, paused the assembly line for 10 minutes, and allowed employees to use company equipment to make video calls to their families. The livestream was flooded with comments like, "This is the first time I've seen such 'warmth from a corporate slave'!"

A female garment factory worker in Thailand livestreamed on Facebook that she was sewing while video chatting with her daughter. In the background, her supervisor could be heard shouting, "No pay deductions today! Chen Mo's 'reunion' is more important than rushing to finish the job!" The video quickly went viral, and the hashtag #814 (hoping every day is 814) was shared wildly. Vietnamese netizens shared a "knock-off" version of the perk—a small workshop owner gave each employee a packet of instant noodles with a note: "Go home early today and watch Chen Mo's livestream with your child."

The comments section was bursting with laughter: "It's shabby, but it's better than nothing!"

Meanwhile, a BBC reporter remarked during a live broadcast: "This live broadcast in China has redefined 'employee benefits'—it's no longer about free coffee or gym memberships, but about 'time' and 'family'."

A Black employee at a Chinese-owned mine posted a video in broken Chinese: "Thank you, boss! Today was my first video call with my son... He asked me, 'Dad, why are your hands so dark?' I said, 'Because I'm going to buy you a phone.'"

Under this video, Xiaomi's official African account replied immediately: "At the next welfare festival, we will give you a new phone - so that fathers and sons can see each other's smiles clearly."

Meanwhile, the first wave of "benefits" in the live stream was also coming to an end.

Back in the live stream, Chen Mo said, "Reunion should not be a luxury, nor should it be limited by national borders."

The large screen behind him suddenly displayed a global time zone map, with dots of light spreading from China to Europe, America, Africa, the Middle East... eventually transforming into a bullet screen message in 24 languages: "Today, we are all children of 814."

After a moment of silence, Chen Mo took a sip of water and then moved on to the next step.

He suddenly pulled out a customized Xiaomi phone, pointed the camera at the screen, and performed a magic trick for everyone!

Zooming in, AI is transforming the scribbles of left-behind children into 3D animations in real time.

A girl's simple line drawing of "Dad holding me up" was transformed into a holographic image of the father and daughter floating in the live stream!

The comments section went completely crazy:

"This technology shouldn't be called AI, it should be called 'love'!"

"Please mass-produce this! My grandfather has had Alzheimer's for ten years and hasn't recognized me..."

"I suddenly teared up!"

Since it's a global live stream, Chen Mo naturally can't completely ignore overseas viewers.

The next moment, an elderly Malay Chinese woman appeared on the screen—she tremblingly held out a yellowed family photo from 1950, and the AI ​​"revived" the deceased relatives in the photo, saying to her in dialect: "Sister, time to eat."

The old man immediately burst into tears.

Meanwhile, the live chat was flooded with "crying" emojis.

Subsequently, many netizens complained in the live chat: "I came for the perks, but before the perks were even given out, Chen Mo made me cry so much!"

"No problem, they even made me a pack of tissues!"

"He really... I'm going to cry my eyes out! I can't stand seeing this kind of thing, I just can't hold it in!"

Of course, this live stream is ultimately a giveaway, so while the above can be done, going too far would be counterproductive.

Soon, Chen Mo started giving away prizes and gifts.

This first wave of benefits directly gave away tens of millions of prizes worth over 10 billion yuan, which helped to ease the previous tension.

Chen Mo's mouth was getting dry from talking.

Suddenly the live stream switched, and the subtitles "2011" appeared on the screen. Do you remember "The Museum of Broken Relationships" and "Love Bank" from that year?

Upon seeing this, the live chat was immediately flooded with comments like "My youth is back!"
The camera then takes us to the Museum of Broken Relationships, a place etched in the memories of countless people!
One exhibit after another appeared in front of the camera.

Magnifying glass (the donor didn't understand its meaning, but the former donor had said, "I feel so insignificant next to you");

A stack of train tickets to other cities (originally planned for love, but stopped by a breakup);

A vinyl record from 40 (51) years ago (donated by an elderly woman to commemorate a love affair that ended prematurely during her adolescence).

The scene then shifts to "Love Bank"!
The background music in the live stream gradually changed to the melody of "Looking Back," and the screen focused on a transparent glass display case—stacked with thousands upon thousands of "love savings accounts."

Each passbook cover is printed with a different year, and the worn edges silently tell the story of the weight of time.

The camera shows a savings book from 2011; opening the inner pages reveals:

Deposit records:

"Deposited on November 14, 2011: The first cup of milk tea he gave me (too sweet)"

"Withdrawal on May 20, 2012: Cell phone smashed during an argument (Interest: 3 days of cold war)"

The last page, written in red pen, reads: "Insufficient balance, this account is permanently frozen."

Soon, the second "love savings book" appeared.

Deposit records:

"Deposited on 2011.11.11: A rose (We fell in love)"

"Deposited on May 20, 2013: A wedding photo (We got married)"

Deposited on May 20, 2015: A photo of our baby (We have a child now)

The live chat exploded instantly.

"I'm so upset! My first love and I had one too! But I forgot to pick it up after we broke up. So touching!"

"This isn't a bankbook, it's a report on the anatomy of adolescence! [tears]"

"My wife and I dated for 11 years and have been married for 8. I think we made a deposit back then. I'll go check out the love bank tomorrow, haha!"

The live stream chat was flooded with comments like snowflakes, as viewers were immersed in the collective memories evoked by "Love Bank." Chen Mo's voice rang out at the opportune moment, tinged with a touch of melancholy:
"These savings books hold our most genuine joys and sorrows. Tonight, I want to give these stories a chance to continue."

He snapped his fingers, and the large screen suddenly switched to a real-time data stream—the AI ​​systems of 37 "Love Bank" branches across the country simultaneously lit up, beginning to scan those long-forgotten passbooks. The screen erupted with comments:

"Holy crap! What big move is Chen Mo up to?"

"Is he going to contact his ex? This is so exciting!"

"I haven't dared to retrieve my bankbook in ten years, why is my heart racing now?"

The screen is divided into a nine-square grid, showing live footage of "love banks" in various locations. In the footage from the Shanghai branch, a woman in a beige trench coat is trembling as she enters her fingerprint. When the teller takes out a yellowed passbook, the gold powder on the cover falls off in a flurry.

"These are the first batch of encrypted passbooks issued in 2011."

Chen Mo explained, "At the time, we designed a special feature—if neither party retrieved the item after ten years, the system would send a final notification."

He suddenly clicked on the control panel, and all eligible bankbooks across the country simultaneously lit up faintly. The Shanghai woman's bankbook opened automatically, and a holographic projection appeared on the yellowed pages—the "time capsule" she and her boyfriend had buried years ago was being unsealed.

"With the consent of the parties involved, today we are here to play their recorded messages to each other ten years from now!"

In the holographic image, a young boy grins foolishly at the camera: "If I dare to bully you in the future, just use this video to settle the score with him!"

Now she covered her mouth, tears falling onto the glass counter.

The live chat suddenly went quiet for a few seconds, then exploded with comments: "This isn't a welfare live stream, it's a massive emotional nuclear explosion!"

"Chen Mo, come out here! My makeup is ruined from crying, how are you going to compensate me?!"

"I'm watching a live stream on the subway, and now the whole carriage is stuffing their noses."

"I suddenly remembered the love I had stored in the love bank back then. It's a pity we haven't seen each other for so many years now. Chen Mo, you really deserve to die! We clearly agreed never to see each other again, what are you trying to do?"

(End of this chapter)