This director is vindictive.

Chapter 444 The biggest scam of the century, affecting 5 million people worldwide.
As the topic gained traction, the influence of "a short letter conveys deep feelings" continued to expand.

Although it is very likely that the impact will only be short-term, it is still amazing.

First, a university student club launched a "Three-Line Love Letter Competition," which resulted in far more entries than in previous years. One student joked, "Before, you could confess your love with a 'Are you there?' on WeChat; now you have to practice the 'Slender Gold' calligraphy style—Chen Mo has raised the bar for dating!"

A professor remarked in class: "The saying 'a short letter conveys deep feelings' has made young people rediscover that love is not an efficient game of algorithmic matching, but a serious matter that requires 'three hours of careful consideration before putting pen to paper'."

However, this also sparked some controversy. For example, an internet celebrity posted a sarcastic comment: "Chen Mo can get on the trending topics just by writing a letter to seven goddesses, while ordinary men who can't afford a bride price are called 'poor ghosts'—is romance a privilege of the top in this era?"

However, this was quickly countered: "Romance doesn't necessarily have to trend on social media, and not all women demand exorbitant dowries. What they want is genuine affection—like forgetting to call 'cut' when catching you in the rain. Some people objectify love as a transaction and then blame women for being materialistic?"

Meanwhile, ironic imitations of three-line love poems have also appeared online!
Netizens imitated the format of Chen Mo's love letters, playfully deconstructing real-world anxieties:
"You said the bride price should be 280,000 yuan, so I emptied my six wallets to scrape together the money—"

The most painful thing isn't being poor, it's smiling as you stare at the wedding gift registry.

These "darkly humorous love letters" resonated with readers and were praised for "using a romantic shell to contain a realistic core."

Many versions quickly emerged.

For example, the bride price version:

You said, "The bride price is a measure of sincerity."
When I handed you the property certificate, you finally smiled—

It turns out that love is measured in square meters, while my heart is a shared area.

Workplace version:

"You worked overtime until 3 a.m., and you said, 'A man who strives is sexy.'"
Until I saw you liked the post by the financial freedom blogger—

I just realized that you didn't love me, but rather my "promising future" pay stub.

Blind date version:

"In my dating profile, I wrote 'emotionally stable, annual salary of 30 yuan'."
You blushed and said, "I just like someone reliable."

But when I confessed that '30 is before tax,' your WeChat immediately showed 'The other party is typing.' Three hours later.

Involution version:

"You always say 'other people's boyfriends gave them Hermes bags',"
The day I stayed up all night to snag those limited-edition sneakers, you broke up with me—

Turns out I was on the wrong track; even my heartbreak was a step behind.

These ironic love letters quickly became trending topics, and under the hashtag #ThreeLinesOfHumanReality#, netizens left numerous comments:

"Chen Mo writes fairy tales, we write annotations to the marriage section of the Criminal Law!"

"When the 'honey pot' turns into a 'KPI assessment sheet,' you'll know what 'short on paper but long on debt' really means."

"Hilarious! So the ultimate version of 'taking a step back' is 'canceling the wedding package'!"

Later on, even official media outlets joined in the fun and offered their commentary.

"From 'a short letter conveys deep feelings' to 'a short letter conveys deep resentment,' young people are using this method to combat the alienation of emotions—when dowries and housing prices become frequent terms in love letters, perhaps we should reflect: who has turned romance into dark humor?"

One netizen commented: "That's because back when we were dating, a date was sweet enough if we just ate a plate of braised duck neck together. But now, when I stand outside a luxury store hesitating, people laugh at me for being poor!"

Although many people are complaining and venting, the "paper is short but feelings are long" activity still has positive significance.

In this nationwide emotional resurgence, the most touching comment was a Weibo post by a netizen: "After reading seven love letters, I finally understood that it's not that love has disappeared, but that we've all forgotten—the most expensive luxury is actually time. Chen Mo used fifteen years to prove that a true master of balance is not someone who loves many people at the same time, but someone who brews different kinds of sweetness over a long period of time."

“No problem. There are so many rich people, but why is Chen Mo the only one who is so special? He is rich too, but it turns out that writing love letters doesn’t really have to cost much money!”

"On the other hand, love letters are actually the most luxurious luxury these days, because true romance can't be bought with money!"

In fact, although the 814 Welfare Week is only held in the country, its influence extends far beyond the country.

This has also had a significant impact overseas. After all, August 814th Welfare Day is no longer just a special holiday in China; it can be considered an international holiday.

Although it is not certified by the United Nations, it is almost a universally known holiday.

Therefore, this welfare week also has a great influence overseas.

Sure enough, #ChineseRomanceRevival has become a trending topic in many countries. Japanese netizens shared photos of love letters from the Showa era, with the caption: "It turns out that the subtle aesthetics of East Asia have been revived on TikTok!"

A South Korean blogger joked, "Oppas, learn from Chen Mo! Now you can't just say 'Saranghae' when you confess your love, you have to include three lines of Chinese poetry!" Meanwhile, overseas netizens also spontaneously participated online. Although they didn't receive any rewards, the event was exceptionally lively.

Western netizens started the #ChineseLoveLetters challenge on Twitter, trying to express their love to their partners using three-line poems, but the style suddenly went off track:
"You complained that your Chinese takeout didn't include chopsticks, so I peeled shrimp with my bare hands to prove my love—and then you filmed a video and posted it on TikTok (with a picture of your fingers covered in sauce)."

Japanese and South Korean netizens localized the event, with Japanese netizens rewriting it using the "tanka" (short poem) format:
"The oden at the convenience store at dusk / The chikuwa you handed me was suddenly very hot / It turns out that being moved is the seventh sense of taste."

A South Korean blogger imitated Chen Mo's "nurturing" love letters:
"I've watched 'Reply 1988' for the 12th time / You finally realize that Deok-sun's first love was me / -- It's a pity that in reality there are no screenwriters to help cut out the flashback scenes."

Indian netizens started writing "curry-flavored" parodies:
“You said you wanted a Tata as part of your dowry, so I sold my motorcycle to make up the difference—it wasn’t until you changed your mind and asked for a Tesla that I realized the ‘buffer zone’ was made up of rupees.”

A Cambridge University sociology professor wrote in The Guardian: "The popularity of 'short letters convey deep feelings' is actually a collective reflection on 'fast-food love' in the era of globalization—when Tinder turns dating into a game of swiping left and right, young Chinese people are rebuilding the weight of emotions with calligraphy brushes and letter paper."

The trailer for the BBC Culture documentary "China in Love Letters" has been released, with the narration stating: "In what is considered the most utilitarian country, a retro love letter movement is tearing open the cracks of materialism—perhaps the real 'China speed' is to bring love back to the era when travel was slow."

Western netizens expressed shock at the "seven love letters," with a trending Reddit post titled: "Chinese director's public 'balanced literature' receives nationwide blessings? This would be wrecked by the MeToo movement in Hollywood!"

A highly upvoted comment in the comments section countered: "Wake up, they've known each other for fifteen years—that's called a 'slow-burning relationship,' much more reliable than your Kardashian model of getting engaged in 48 hours."

While "love" and "romance" have become increasingly diluted and scarce in China in recent years due to the "money-first" mentality, the situation is actually more serious in Western countries.

But who can resist topics like "love" and "romance"?
The more you lack something, the more you crave it!
Therefore, although this event is only held domestically, its influence overseas is no less than that domestically.

Amidst the clamor and controversy, the 814 Welfare Week has come to an end.

This also means that the "paper is short but the sentiment is long" event has come to an end.

However, what follows is the signature program of the 814 Welfare Festival: a global super welfare live broadcast.

This year's Super Welfare Livestream didn't have more prizes in total value than in previous years, but it was still a huge success.

On Douyin's live stream reservation page, more than 3 million people in China had already made reservations, and more than 1.5 million people overseas had made reservations!
On the evening of August 814th Welfare Festival, with 30 minutes to go before the global super welfare live stream, the Douyin live stream room had already attracted 1.2 million viewers, and the barrage of comments flew across the screen like snowflakes:

"Chen Mo said that the keyword for this year's 814 Welfare Festival is AI. Could tonight's live stream be related to AI?"

"Hehe, the 'Paper Short, Love Long' campaign involves writing love letters. Various AI software companies have launched dedicated AI love letter writing functions, so there's nothing wrong with that. The key word is indeed AI!"

In fact, that's really the case. During the "Short Paper, Long Affection" welfare week event, the frequency of AI usage far exceeded that of the past. After all, this thing doesn't require too advanced or cutting-edge technology.

Therefore, according to statistics, during the 814 Welfare Week, the download volume of AI software from major companies saw a significant surge.

This can be seen in the A-share market, where major AI software companies have announced their new downloads and usage frequency during the promotional period, causing AI concept stocks, which had begun to decline, to enter a new round of upward momentum.

Getting back to the main point, Chen Mo didn't make any announcements about this year's super-generous live stream.

So everyone is speculating, after all, in the past few years, Chen Mo has always managed to come up with amazing ways to make the super-benefit live streams.

This time, Chen Mo's gamble was arguably the biggest one he'd ever done!
Why do you say that?

Because he wasn't even there this time!

If lying is a crime, then Chen Mo estimates he would be torn to pieces!

Because this time he's trying to scam hundreds of millions of netizens worldwide.

Of course, whether they can fool everyone remains to be seen.

Because current AI technology is not yet that advanced, although Chen Mo's "AI clone" can be said to be a product of cutting-edge technology, and it was specially customized and trained.

However, we'll have to wait and see how it performs in the future.

Finally, the time arrived at 8:08 PM on August 14th!
This super-generous live stream has officially begun.

When the live stream camera lit up, the "Chen Mo" on the screen, wearing his signature black shirt, with even the rolled-up cuffs showing perfectly to the viewers.

No one doubted that what they were seeing was AI.

Of course, this is also largely due to the fact that "Chen Mo" did not make many physical movements at this moment.

"Wow, it looks so much like him!" In fact, even Chen Mo's close female friends who were watching the live stream with him were exclaiming in surprise.

The main problem is that even they couldn't tell the "Chen Mo" in the live stream from the audience at first glance.

(End of this chapter)