This director is vindictive.

Chapter 347 Just as King You of Zhou played with the feudal lords by lighting the beacon fires, Chen Qianyi now dresses as a woman to amuse netizens.

The controversy arose from a Weibo influencer who raised the question: Does a billionaire's use of a social media frenzy for marketing cross ethical boundaries?

The blog post mentioned:

"As a billionaire and a top figure in the entertainment industry, Chen Mo's social death naturally possesses the attributes of viral spread. The fact that his photos in women's clothing were used as teaching cases by universities and that international brands used the incident to promote men's makeup is essentially an abnormal transformation of the social influence of a public figure."

The frenzy surrounding "male beauty consumption" in the incident (such as netizens calling each other "wife" and Wang Sicong's Photoshop interactions) blurred the line between entertainment and objectification.

The biggest beneficiary, Huayun Apparel (a company under Chen Mo), has a clear history of transferring benefits to Shengshi Film Industry. Designer Li Rongrong defined Chen Mo's women's clothing styling as "cultural breakthrough," but in reality, it was just an artistic cloak used to attract commercial attention.

The public's irrational consumption in an entertainment-oriented context, coupled with Chen Mo's team's failure to explain the actual effects of the product (such as the questionable effectiveness for men), suggests that they are exploiting information asymmetry.

The romanticization of "men dressing as women" in this incident (such as glorifying it as "aesthetic deconstruction" in university professors' papers) may mislead teenagers' understanding of gender expression. Chen Mo, as a father, failed to control the scope of its dissemination.

The trend of wealthy individuals like Wang Sicong making jokes and comments may give rise to a distorted business model where "the more you die, the more money you make," raising concerns about whether this undermines the bottom line of business integrity.

The essence of this event is a clash between the publicization of private entertainment and the legalization of social death economy.

So the question arises: when personal privacy becomes the fuel of commerce, do wealth and online traffic enjoy immunity from moral judgment?

Controversy was inevitable, and Chen Mo had anticipated it. However, more and more people used the guise of controversy to actually smuggle in their own agendas, attacking Chen Mo while simultaneously trying to gain attention.

Controversy means that there are both supporters and opponents.

Some people believe that Chen Mo, as a public figure, set a very bad example by blurring the boundaries of gender!
Others, however, believe that these people are being hypocritical.

"No one criticizes ordinary people for dressing as women, so why are wealthy people labeled with moral accusations for dressing as women?"

"Those male and female celebrities who cross-dress were not criticized, but suddenly so many people are attacking Chen Mo. This is a typical case of 'hatred of the rich'!"

"The idea that 'misleading teenagers' is an unfounded worry. Gender awareness requires long-term education, not a single event. Does watching Sun Wukong fight the White Bone Demon three times in 'Journey to the West' really turn someone into a violent man?"

"Netizens using memes (such as calling someone 'wife') is essentially just for entertainment purposes, so let's not make such a big deal out of it, okay?"

Although these debates didn't actually have much impact on Chen Mo, he knew he couldn't let the controversy continue.

In fact, once such controversies arose, the instigators, Yang Mi and others, already regretted it.

Their original intention was just to see Chen Mo make a fool of himself, but they never expected it to escalate to this extent.

The key point is that it also caused Chen Mo a lot of trouble.

At least that's how they see it.

"Chen Mo, I'm so sorry! We didn't expect it to turn out like this," Yang Mi said to Chen Mo, looking at him with frustration.

"Now you realize you regret it? You were the one jumping around the most back then!" Chen Mo rolled his eyes.

"Okay, it's my fault, it's my fault. So what do we do now?" Yang Mi asked.

The others also looked at Chen Mo with some concern.

It's no wonder they're so worried right now. The main reason is that the controversy surrounding them is escalating and becoming increasingly difficult to control.

As for profiting from Chen Mo's cross-dressing incident, they really didn't think about it, because there was no need for it at all!

"I've arranged to meet a reporter. Come with me to give the interview!" Chen Mo had already made arrangements for this. In fact, Shengshi Pictures' public relations team had already prepared a contingency plan.

The platform where Chen Mo gave the interview this time was Douyin. Although Chen Mo could appear on any platform if he wanted, this incident should be resolved in an entertaining way, and it would be inappropriate to appear on an official platform.

"Director Chen, hello, can we begin?" asked Xu Jie, a reporter from ByteDance.

Chen Mo and Yang Mi both nodded.

"Director Chen, could you elaborate on this cross-dressing incident?" Xu Jie himself was also very curious.

After all, it's hard not to be curious about why a big shot like Chen Mo would do something so inexplicable.

Others might say they have a personal hobby in this area, but it's highly unlikely for Chen Mo.

After all, Chen Mo's romantic escapades are practically common knowledge.

He's an absolute straight man, as straight as can be!

Chen Mo simply leaned back lazily on the sofa and gestured with his chin toward Yang Mi beside him: "Let Mi Mi answer. She's the one who started this."

Yang Mi chuckled upon hearing this, twirling a strand of hair between her fingers, a sly glint in her eyes: "That's right, we teamed up to 'force' him."

She paused, and under Xu Jie's surprised gaze, continued, "Isn't the third phase of Huayun Wedding Dress about to start production? Since this time the theme is space, we went to the space experience center together that day to experience the feeling of weightlessness."

Her voice was tinged with the sweetness of reminiscence: "We made a bet back then. It was originally a group of us girlfriends, and then we just wanted to play a prank on him."

"He could have refused outright. After all, given his status, who would dare force a billionaire to wear a skirt?"

At this point, Yang Mi suddenly leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, a glint of light in her eyes: "But guess what he said? He said—'If you really think it's fun, then give it a try.'"

She turned to look at Chen Mo, her tone suddenly softening: "This guy, on the surface he always complains about us being noisy, but actually he never wants to spoil everyone's fun."

Xu Jie noticed that Chen Mo's ears were slightly red and was about to retort when Yang Mi interrupted her, saying, "Sometimes he makes some really weird requests, like asking a few of us women to play 'Honor of Kings' with him all night!"

She couldn't help but burst out laughing at this point.

"He ended up choosing Cheng Yaojin, and with the ID 'Peerless Beauty,' he wreaked havoc in the Rift."

"And this time, seeing the controversy caused by his cross-dressing, we realized that some pranks that we thought were very ordinary actually carry a lot of responsibility and can cause a lot of trouble for him!"

He never told us any of this!

Xu Jie glanced at Chen Mo and then at the emotional Yang Mi, feeling incredibly bittersweet!
Then Yang Mi said, "If you ask me, our biggest mistake was that we shouldn't have posted the photos, because this was our own absurd romance."

She lightly tapped the group photo on the coffee table with her fingertip—in the picture, Chen Mo, dressed as a woman, was surrounded by seven female stars, his pearl Adam's apple necklace reflecting the light, and his expression was both helpless and indulgent.

"Of course, outsiders can discuss moral boundaries, but for us, this is just a game we played on a whim."

She blinked and said, "After all, only the seven of us in the whole world have the privilege of getting Chen Mo to lower himself and cooperate with our nonsense."

Xu Jie's pen paused on the interview notebook.

She suddenly understood another meaning of this incident: when wealth and power reach their peak, being willing to "ruin one's image" for the one you love may be the ultimate luxury of romance.

Just like what Yang Mi whispered to her—"What's so special about lighting the beacon fires to amuse the feudal lords? Our boss Chen personally donned his armor and played the role of Diao Chan."

At this moment, Chen Mo spoke up again: "Actually, we didn't think that much about it at first. When I was a child, there was a period of time when I was raised as a daughter because of some customs in my hometown!"

"So I didn't think there was anything wrong with doing this. After all, I don't have any ambiguous understanding of gender anymore. It's just that times have changed!" Chen Mo said with a sigh.

After the interview video was released on Douyin.

It quickly topped the trending searches.

Meanwhile, the number of views exceeded 100 million within just a few hours.

"I knew it! How could a billionaire like Chen Mo suddenly do something so outrageous? I'm totally blown away! Turns out, the romance of a billionaire is having crazy fun with his wives! Yang Mi's eyes were absolutely gorgeous when she said 'our unique and absurd romance.' This isn't just being ridiculous, it's top-tier PDA!"

"Yang Mi's 'privilege theory' is the key point—the 'gender ambiguity' criticized by the public is essentially jealousy of class privilege. Ordinary people dressing as women is called perverted, but wealthy people dressing as women is called pampering their wives—that's true double standards!"

"Help! Yang Mi's line 'Our absurd romance is unique to us' has made me so jealous! Chen Mo's 'indulgent pampering of his wife' is the ultimate domineering CEO, right?!"

"It is suggested that this be included in the textbook 'Contemporary Psychology of Love'—On how a 'cross-dressing master' can become the ultimate love talker!" "In ancient times, King You of Zhou played with the feudal lords by lighting the beacon fires; today, Chen Mo dresses up as a woman to pamper his wife! From the perspective of an emperor, playing with the feudal lords by lighting the beacon fires is obviously a huge mistake, but from a woman's point of view, it is the ultimate romance."

Similarly, from Chen Mo's perspective as a public figure and a billionaire, doing this would undoubtedly bring him negative publicity. However, from the perspective of his women, it's the most enviable and even infuriating romance of our time!

Soon, #BeaconLightsPlayTheLords2.0# became a trending topic. Netizens photoshopped a picture of Chen Mo in women's clothing with the caption "This lord is teasing his own seven fairies." Yang Mi reposted it, saying, "Wrong, it's the seven fairies teasing the lord (doge)."

This interview, while not completely eliminating the negative impact and controversy brought about by the previous cross-dressing incident, did not completely eliminate the negative impact and controversy brought about by the previous cross-dressing incident.

However, it greatly reversed the direction of public opinion.

The more you lack something, the more you crave it.

In this contemporary era, it can be said that love has almost become a luxury.

People yearn for the ultimate romance of "lighting the beacon fires to amuse the feudal lords," but in reality, it often simply doesn't exist, or is becoming increasingly rare.

Chen Mo's interview was, in some ways, somewhat "willful" and "stupid"!
But netizens actually love his "willfulness" and "foolishness" in doing things for women!
Some details from the interview, such as Chen Mo being raised as a daughter for a period of time when he was a child, have also sparked a lot of discussion among netizens.

Thus, Chen Mo's interview video, like a depth charge, exploded in a new wave of public opinion. Six of the top ten trending topics on Weibo included related hashtags: #BeaconFirePlaysWithTheLords2.0#, #ChenMoChildhoodClothingPhotos#, and #UniqueAbsurdRomance#.
Yang Mi, scrolling through her phone, suddenly exclaimed, her eyes widening, "Honey, look! They've dug up a photo of you wearing a princess dress when you were three!"

However, this world is never short of people who take things too seriously.

In the photo, little Chen Mo, with pigtails, is holding a doll, his cheeks puffed out as he makes a peace sign at the camera. A parenting blogger reposted the photo with the caption: "Beware! Traditional bad habits are stifling the masculinity of boys!"
The comment section was instantly flooded with comments:

"Is the blogger blind? This is clearly an adorable trait common to human babies!"

"What's wrong with my son acting as Snow White in kindergarten? I suggest the blogger first let go of their own mindset about foot binding!"

Chen Mo: Thanks for the invitation. Wearing a skirt doesn't stop me from becoming a billionaire (with a comparison of my photos in women's clothing and my Forbes list)

"Actually, there really was such a custom when I was a child. I was often sick when I was a child, and I don't know who told me that raising a child as a daughter before the age of three could reverse the problem. My mother actually did that, and as a result, my health really did get better and better. It's just very mysterious!"

"American writer Ernest Hemingway was also raised as a girl during his childhood, and he didn't turn out badly as an adult! So, we really shouldn't make a big deal out of this!"

"Those who seize on a small thing and magnify it, saying this is bad and that is unacceptable, are actually either stupid or malicious! Because the process of growing up is long, and many ideas are formed over a long period of time! Although I don't recommend doing this, don't make a big deal out of it!"

at the same time.

Fan Binbin laughed so hard he slapped the sofa armrest: "The whole internet is digging up your dark history now!"

She waved her phone: "Even the video of you cross-dressing as the White Snake in your elementary school arts performance has leaked!"

In the scene, ten-year-old Chen Mo, wearing a paper snake headdress, sings "Waiting for a Thousand Years" in a childish voice, causing the seven women to burst into laughter.

Liu Yifei wiped away tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes: "So you've been a cross-dressing master since you were little!"

Chen Mo shook his head and chuckled.

Of course, he knew that the women felt apologetic about the incident, but in Chen Mo's opinion, it wasn't really that important.

If he really doesn't want to, can they really force him?

the answer is negative!

It was just Chen Mo's own indulgence.

Of course, Chen Mo didn't get nothing in return.

At least this time, although it sparked a series of controversies, his image as a doting husband was unexpectedly established.

People are all hypocritical.

Human nature is inherently biased; we tend to view the world through tinted glasses.

For example, the story of King You of Zhou playing with the feudal lords by lighting the beacon fires is, from a historical perspective, absolutely a sign of a foolish and incompetent ruler.

After all, most people wouldn't think of or do something so absurd!

But from a woman's perspective, King You of Zhou was definitely the man they dreamed of most.

After all, this is a classic case of loving beauty more than one's empire! What more could you ask for?
It's just a difference in perspective!
The same applies to the present moment.

Men might marvel at how Chen Mo could become a modern-day Wei Xiaobao, gathering the seven Dragon Balls and conquering the seven most dazzling female stars in the entertainment industry—it really wasn't all about wealth!
Although they couldn't do it, that didn't stop them from admiring Chen Mo.

The men were scrolling through Chen Mo's cross-dressing photos, verbally criticizing them as "immoral," but secretly saving the pictures and sharing them in their group chats: "Learn how he won over seven goddesses!"

Women will be envious, jealous, and resentful!

They want a man like that too! After all, who can resist such absurd pampering!

As a result, female netizens posted sour lemon emojis in the #BeaconFirePlayingWithTheLords2.0# topic, and also cut out the part of the interview where Yang Mi said "unique absurd romance" as their phone ringtone.

Chen Mo's character has become more three-dimensional.

He's certainly not a perfect man! After all, what perfect man would be so promiscuous? So much of a scumbag?

Yet he is also the perfect lover in many people's eyes!

These days, who doesn't know that Chen Mo isn't some innocent boy?

His seven official girlfriends alone are enough to cement his place on the pillar of shame as a scumbag.

But he can't help but turn his "scumbag" behavior into performance art - while other rich men have to keep their relationships with female celebrities a secret, he went and formed an "Avengers" team for his girlfriends, and even personally cosplayed as Black Widow!
Are you angry?

A popular post on a straight men's forum, titled "On the Devastating Impact of Chen Mo's Cross-Dressing Photos on Men," received the most upvoted comment: "My wife now looks at me in a tank top and shorts like I'm sorting garbage!"

A late-night post on a Douban group: "I used to think it was tacky for a domineering CEO to give a yacht, but now I realize that a man who's willing to die for you is the real luxury!"
What's most amazing is that Chen Mo's actions have completely torn away the fig leaf of contemporary love—women suddenly realized that their complaints about their boyfriends playing games and not being romantic were essentially complaints about their lack of "Chen Mo-style romance," namely: a net worth of hundreds of billions + a cross-dressing master + a 1v7 battleground.

The men also realized: it wasn't that their girlfriends were being difficult, it was that they lacked the ability to turn their foolish behavior into the top trending topic.

Just look at the comments section on Douyin and you'll understand:

The top-rated comment reads: "It should be included in the textbook 'Contemporary Psychology of Love': When a man is willing to turn social death into a phenomenal marketing campaign for you, the Civil Affairs Bureau should award him a lifetime achievement award."

A highly-rated reply read: "Hilarious! My boyfriend watched the interview and said, 'Honey, I can dress up as a woman for you too.' I replied, 'Pay off your Alipay account first before you talk.'"

A Weibo influencer summarized: "This isn't some kind of cross-dressing controversy; it's a massive reality show of human nature—we laugh at King You of Zhou for being stupid, yet secretly yearn to be like Bao Si, who was pleased by the beacon fires; we criticize Chen Mo for being absurd, but our phone albums have links to Taobao images of the same pearl Adam's apple necklace he wore."

After all, who wouldn't want to experience the ultimate thrill of "making a billionaire go crazy for you"?

In the bedroom late at night, Chen Mo was rubbing his stiff, smiling cheeks when Yang Mi suddenly wrapped her arms around his waist from behind: "Actually..."

Her breath brushed against his earlobe: "We secretly kept a set of Hanfu."

"Um?"

Chen Mo turned around alertly.

The seven women had all changed into men's clothing at some point. Jing Tian, ​​waving a folding fan, lifted his chin: "Miss Chen, it's our turn to pamper you."

Hanging prominently above the bed was a Hanfu set adorned with a pearl Adam's apple necklace, its surface shimmering with an ambiguous glow under the moonlight.

Looking at the mischievous glint in their eyes, Chen Mo suddenly recalled that afternoon more than twenty years ago when his mother dressed him in a princess dress. Perhaps the seeds of fate had already been sown—so-called growth is nothing more than learning to share absurdity with loved ones.

(End of this chapter)